Las Sabinas, Volume 35, Number 4, 2009 Page: 15
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Las Sabinas History Journal and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Orange County Historical Society.
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THE CLARK FAMILY
BY KATY ALLBRIGHT LATIOLAIS
Frank Clark was born in up state New York on June 12, 1873. He was a foster
child and was raised by Mr. George Thomdike and his wife in Grundy Center, Iowa.
Growing up there, he did chores in freezing weather. It was never mentioned that he
attended school but claimed to be self taught and seemed to be a fairly educated man and
an avid reader. In the early 1900's (about the age of 21 years), he had a two way train
ticket to Beaumont, Texas but never used the return ticket back to Iowa. Later, he
decided to come to Orange where he started a business of painting and wallpaper hanging
in town. Several years later, (about 1909) Judge John Keaghey, of Jasper, Texas and his
family moved to Orange. The judge's adopted daughter named May Dean Keaghey born
in 1891, (Keaghey was the adopted name), met Frank Clark, and a courtship began. It
was thought that they met at The First Baptist Church on Green Avenue, where Mr. Clark
was the choir leader, and sometimes sang at funerals, They were married on June 1t,
1910.
After Frank and May Dean Keaghey married, they continued to live in Orange.
Their first child was Ira George, born in 1911, the second child was Frances, born in
1914 and Grace was the third child, born in 1915.
In 1916, the Clark's purchased an old home with about 40 acres of land. (20 acres
was known to be the Dayton Perry Tract) The home was built in 1886 by Mr. A. Benoit,
a sawmill foreman, who personally selected every timber of virgin pine that went into its'
construction. John Peter Eddleman and his wife Mary acquired the home from Mr.
Benoit. The home was located at the end of a road simply called "The Lane" at that time.
It was the only house on the road and was considered to be in the country, but after the
city took in the area, (after the Clark family purchased the home) the road name was
changed to Clark Lane. During rainy weather, the lane would almost become impassable.
Their car would sometimes get stuck in the mud on that road and everyone would have to
get out and push!
Frank Clark soon grew tired of painting and wallpaper hanging. He purchased a
mule that was called Beck, and a horse named Bally, some chickens and began truck
farming. He grew huge watermelons, cantaloupes, tomatoes, peanuts, greens, and turnips
and sold them as a way to make a living for his family. Sometimes, Mr. Clark sold
watermelons and cantaloupes to the A.B.C. store in town. Frank and his son, Ira would
also go into the woods and shoot rabbits, squirrels, and ducks to help the family's food
supply. In the spring and summer the whole family would pick berries, which were used
by Mrs. Clark for baking pies and making jelly.
Several years later, Mr. Clark bought about 30 heads of cattle and began what was
known as The Clark Dairy. The Clark children were of school age at this time and hence;15
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Orange County Historical Society (Tex.). Las Sabinas, Volume 35, Number 4, 2009, periodical, 2009; Orange, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth312948/m1/21/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Orange County Historical Society.