Frank Hamilton Clark

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For other people with the same name, see Frank Clark (disambiguation).

Frank Hamilton Clark (1844–1882) was a member of the Clark banking family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; an officer in the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry; and a president of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad.

Born on Sept. 26, 1844, in Philadelphia, Clark was the fourth and youngest son of Enoch White Clark (1802–1856), who founded the financial firm E. W. Clark & Co. in Philadelphia in 1837 and by mid-century had become one of the city's 25 millionaires.[1]

A member of a socially prominent family, Frank Clark joined or participated in several organizations of the Philadelphia elite. He entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1859 and left in 1860.[2] He was a member of the Delta (U.Penn) chapter of the Delta Psi fraternity.[3] In 1867, he was elected a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, joining several members of his family and other notables such as Asa Whitney.[4]

After the Civil War broke out, Clark fought for the Union side. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863.[2] On Nov. 3, 1864, he joined the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, another organization made up largely of the city's social elite; he resigned his active commission on Nov. 5, 1866.[5]

After the war, he joined the family firm. As part of the business, he became president of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad.[6]

In 1871, Clark married Jessi (perhaps "Jessie") Rice of St. Paul, Minnesota,[2] a daughter of Edmund Rice, a lawyer, railroad president, and U.S. Representative. She died four years later, at age 24.[7]

Clark died Nov. 29, 1882, in Philadelphia.

External links[]

  1. ^ Vitiello, Dominic; George E. Thomas (2010). The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and the City It Made. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0812242249. Retrieved December 8, 2010. There is obviously some confusion by the source; Clark died in 1856. But the passage was directly about fellow financier Francis Drexel.
  2. ^ a b c A committee of the Society of the alumni (1894). "University of Pennsylvania. Biographical catalogue of the matriculates of the college, together with lists of the members of the college faculty and the trustees, officers and recipients of honorary degrees. 1749-1893". University of Pennsylvania. p. 235. hdl:2027/mdp.39015036766767. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  3. ^ Catalogue of the Members of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (1889)
  4. ^ "Elections in 1867". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 19: 75, 243. 1867.
  5. ^ History of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry
  6. ^ Trowbridge, John T. (September 1960). "Railroad Route from St. Paul to Duluth in 1869" (PDF). Minnesota History: 102.
  7. ^ Empson, Donald (2006). The Street Where You Live: A Guide to the Place Names of St. Paul. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816647293.


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