Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...
Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...
Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...
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—<br />
<strong>of</strong> nine to the senator at fifty; and when they<br />
go away, they have something to reflect on in<br />
their minds. He relies on his notes a great<br />
deal; but the clearness, the suitability, the<br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> human nature, the earnestness he<br />
displays in his speech, impell you to ignore<br />
everything else. And, above all, that which<br />
appeals to you most is the personality <strong>of</strong> the<br />
man himself.<br />
In the pulpit he is tall, erect, dignified, in his<br />
clerical "Prince Albert." It is then he reminds<br />
me <strong>of</strong> what Lincoln must have been, his fea-<br />
tures not homely, but pleasant, and kindly, with<br />
deep lines. His humorous mouth, and honest;<br />
intelligent, spectacled, eyes; his crinky gray<br />
hair, rebelliously crowding over its parting,<br />
seem fairly imbued with an energy, heightened,<br />
not lessened, by his age<br />
"As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,<br />
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the<br />
storm,<br />
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are<br />
spread,<br />
—<br />
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."<br />
If you meet him after the service, or on the<br />
street, or at some church gathering, his welcome<br />
is always whole-hearted, unsuperficial;<br />
every man is his neighbor, and he treats as his<br />
neighbor everyone with whom he comes in contact.<br />
The young people love and revere him<br />
as a father, just as their parents think <strong>of</strong> him<br />
as a friend and adviser. Like Chaucer's Parson<br />
"Wide was his parish, and houses far asunder,<br />
But he omitted not, for either rain or thunder,<br />
In sickness or in trouble, to visit<br />
The furthest in his parish, great and small,"<br />
— ;<br />
and to accomplish this, our parson makes use<br />
<strong>of</strong> an antiquated bicycle, and he generally manages<br />
not to be on the road at supper time.<br />
Happy indeed is the family at whose house he<br />
stops for a meal; for he is always entertaining<br />
and witty, with a ready supply <strong>of</strong> anecdotes and<br />
pleasantries, in short, he is "good fun."<br />
As for his spare time, he really hasn't much<br />
he then becomes either a farmer or a writer.<br />
He has an acre or two <strong>of</strong> land connected with<br />
the parsonage, which he cultivates himself. No<br />
doubt, in combating the hordes <strong>of</strong> weeds which<br />
besiege his onions and celery, in persuading his<br />
hens to lay, rather than set, he has derived the<br />
lessons <strong>of</strong> patience, perseverance, and tact, the<br />
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY<br />
371<br />
three things most essential to a minister's, or<br />
anyone's success, which he practices in all his<br />
dealings.<br />
All his literary work is imbued with the<br />
wholesome experience he has gained through<br />
his travels, through his knowledge <strong>of</strong> men, and<br />
through his work as a Yankee parson.<br />
Do you wonder, then, that we are exceedingly<br />
proud <strong>of</strong> our minister? That his friends, in<br />
church and out, admire and respect him? And<br />
even if they are not to be found in his congre-<br />
gation every Sunday, at least they feel rather<br />
ashamed <strong>of</strong> themselves for it.<br />
As a good citizen, Mr. Clark is identi-<br />
fied with the Wethersfield Grange, No.<br />
145. He is also a member <strong>of</strong> the college<br />
fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon. His<br />
Alma Mater has conferred upon him the<br />
degree <strong>of</strong> Master <strong>of</strong> Arts. Mr. Clark is a<br />
man <strong>of</strong> many sides and finds pleasant<br />
occupation in wood carving, in which he<br />
has become, highly skilled, and many examples<br />
<strong>of</strong> his beautiful work are found in<br />
his home.<br />
Mr. Clark married, December 19, 1876,<br />
Emma F. Kimball, <strong>of</strong> Lowell, Massachu-<br />
setts, daughter <strong>of</strong> David T. and Harriet<br />
("Webster) Kimball, born 1851, died 1912.<br />
She was the mother <strong>of</strong> five children. I.<br />
Webster Kimball Clark, M. D., a graduate<br />
<strong>of</strong> Yale College and Johns Hopkins Medi-<br />
cal School, now in practice at Greenfield,<br />
Massachusetts. He married Margaret B.<br />
Griswold, <strong>of</strong> Wethersfield, and they have<br />
three sons: Webster Kimball, Frederic<br />
Griswold, and George Larkin. 2. Flor-<br />
ence Elizabeth, wife <strong>of</strong> John S. Buck, <strong>of</strong><br />
Wethersfield. They have four children:<br />
Richard Salstonstall, Eleanor Kimball,<br />
John Webster and Harriet Fanning. 3.<br />
Grace Stevens, died in 1900, at the age <strong>of</strong><br />
nineteen years. 4. Eliot Round, a graduate<br />
<strong>of</strong> Yale College and Johns Hopkins<br />
University, was a pr<strong>of</strong>essor in the latter<br />
school, and is now a pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Anatomy<br />
in the University <strong>of</strong> Missouri at Colum-<br />
bus. He married Eleanor Linton, a