- William Lewis Clark, city engineer of Hood River, has had many years of practical experience in surveying and supervising public work and is discharging the duties of his present position in an able and satisfactory manner. He was born in Baraboo, Sauk county, Wisconsin, on the 19th of May, 1867, and is a son of Newton and Mary (Hill) Clark. His paternal grandparents were Thomas L. and Delilah (Saddoris) Clark, the former of whom was born in New York and the latter in Pennsylvania. T. L. Clark drifted westward from the New England States with the general trend of the pioneer of his day, spending some years in Indiana and Illinois. At Lake Michigan he and his brothers operated one of the first boats which was called the "Lucky Boy." This was before the founding of the city of Chicago. From Illinois he moved to Wisconsin where he followed lumbering and farming, and from there went to Denver in the late '60s and was the pioneer truck farmer, supplying the new city with vegetables. He was also the original owner of the townsite of Golden.
His son, Newton Clark, was born in Illinois, May 27, 1838, and was but a lad when the family went to Wisconsin, in which state he was reared, securing his education in the public schools and at Point Bluff Institute, from which school he was graduated with honors. He engaged in farming and for several years was also identified with mercantile business in that state. He then became a pioneer of South Dakota and was prominent in the affairs of the territory. He was elected to the territorial legislature on the republican ticket and in that body made an enviable record, his public services being so highly valued that Clark county, that state, was named in his honor. He was chairman of the board of county commissioners of Minnehaha county for a number of years and was principal of the public schools of Sioux Falls. He was active in the conventions of his party in that state and exerted a marked influence on the affairs of that day. In 1877 he again turned his face westward and at Denver he was joined by his father and mother and all three drove overland to Oregon, locating in Hood River, in which locality he followed farming and surveying for eleven years. In the latter vocation he did much effective work and made the first survey of the upper Hood River valley. He was appointed grand recorder of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, which necessitated his removal to Portland, and he held that office up to the time of his death, which occurred in June, 1918. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in 1861 as a private in Company K, Fourteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out of the service with the rank of regimental quartermaster in October, 1865. During his service he took part in fourteen major engagements under General Grant; was all through the western campaign, fighting under General Canby in the Red River campaign; and was at the siege of Mobile when peace was declared. He furnished the flag which was hoisted on the court house at Vicksburg on the declaration of peace. In all the communities in which he resided he was regarded as an enterprising, progressive and public-spirited citizen and at all times commanded the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellowmen. He was a member of the first Masonic lodge organized in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the early '70s; was also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Grand Army of the Republic. On October 14, 1860, at Freedom, Wisconsin, Newton Clark married Miss Mary Hill, who was born in Greenock, Scotland, and whose death occurred in Hood River, Oregon, in July, 1918, but a few weeks after the death of her husband. She was a daughter of William Hill, who was a younger son of the Hill family who operated flouring mills and sailed a fleet of grain ships from the River Clyde. This business has been owned by the Hill family for generations and is operated by the oldest son of the family today. When Mr. Clark was but four months old, Mr. Hill brought his family to the United States, settling first in Ohio but later moving to Wisconsin, where he spent the remainder of his life. During his early years here he followed milling, but later turned his attention to farming. His wife was a native of the Isle of Jersey.
William Lewis Clark received his early schooling in South Dakota, and in October, 1878, he accompanied his mother on the overland trip to Oregon, to which state his father had preceded them the previous year. In the schools of the Hood River valley he continued his studies, also attending a private school in Hood River taught by Professor Thomas R. Coon, a pioneer educator of that locality. Mr. Clark then worked under his father in surveying the upper Hood River valley in Oregon and the White Salmon valley in Washington, and later on was employed under his father in engineering work during the location and construction of the railroad through the Columbia river canyon. He then secured a position under John Q. Jamieson, assistant engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad, at that time in charge of construction of Stampede tunnel, where he remained until the tunnel was holed through. Following this he was employed in various capacities by the Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads in Washington, Oregon and California. In 1900 he was appointed deputy city engineer by W. B. Chase, who was then city engineer of Portland. From 1903 to 1907 he was in the employ of the United States engineers at Cascade locks under the then Major W. C. Langfitt and James S. Polhemus, assistant engineer in the Portland office. During this time he was in charge of the engineering work of two contracts obtained by Kiernan & Taylor of Portland, who completed the middle lock chamber and various other details of the lock plans, and was also superintendent of the operating department of Cascade locks during the same period.
Resigning in 1907, Mr. Clark came to Hood River, where for ten years he was engaged in the wholesale flour and grain business. In 1917 he entered the employ of the state highway department, with which he was connected until 1922, when he was appointed city engineer of Hood River, and is still serving in that capacity.
In 1889, at Middleton, Idaho, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Estella Mabee, a native of Lockwood, Missouri, and a daughter of S. P. and Mary Jane Mabee, both of whom are still living in Missouri, where the father is engaged in farming and stock raising. Mr. and Mrs. Mabee are natives of Indiana, in which state, in young manhood, the father enlisted in the Union army and served four years. They are the parents of eight children, George, Frank, John, Joseph, Jacob H., Ada, Cora and Estella. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have a son, Newton, who was born in Hood River; was graduated in civil engineering from Leland Stanford University, and is now employed as a surveyor in Hood River, being the third engineer in the Clark family in direct line of descent. He is a member of the Masonic order.
William Lewis Clark is a member of Hood River Lodge No. 105, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; Hood River Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., of which he is a past high priest; Hood River Council No. 8, R. & S. M.; Hood River Commandery No. 12, K. T., of which he is a past eminent commander; and Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Portland. He has served on the board of directors of the Hood River Chamber of Commerce, which was chiefly instrumental in promoting the Columbia River highway. He has shown a deep and effective interest in everything relating to the progress and advancement of his locality, supporting all measures for the betterment of the public welfare, and has well earned the reputation which he enjoys as one of Hood River's most valuable citizens, while socially he is extremely popular throughout the range of his acquaintance.
The History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Volume II, The J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, IL., 1928, page 23
William L. Clark, resident engineer for the United States government at the Cascade Locks and a man of a vast fund of practical experience, is one of the leading civil engineers in this part of the country. He has gained every part of this instruction while he followed working, by careful study after hours. While in some respects the college man has the advantage of trained professors, still there is nothing that can take the place of practical field work and the man who studies principles out at night and puts them into practical execution the next day, is more thoroughly drilled and equipped in his profession than can be done by any other method William L. Clark is thoroughly conversant with every part of his profession and has mastered it as few men have. He was born on May 19, 1867, in Sauk county, Wisconsin. His father, Newton Clark, was a native of Illinois and a civil engineer of great experience through Wisconsin. He is now residing in Portland. Our subject's parents moved to Hood River when he was about eleven years of age and there he completed his literary education in the public schools and the private school of T.R. Coons. He soon took a position under his father who was in the government employ and by him was thoroughly trained in civil engineering and remained with him until nineteen. Then he entered the employ of the Northern Pacific railroad under John Q. Jamison, assistant engineer of the Northern Pacific railroad. He was then in charge of the construction of Stampeded tunnel and our subject worked there until that enterprise was completed, being associated with various leading engineers during that time. Then Mr. Clark engaged on the Southern Pacific Railroad in various engineering enterprises until 1893, when he was appointed to the important work at the- Cascade Locks under G. W. Brown. In July, 1900, he resigned that position and accepted the position of district city engineer in Portland. In May, 1903, he was appointed to his present position aid is discharging the duties encumbent upon him in a very efficient manner.
At Middleton, Idaho, Mr. Clark married Miss Mary E. Mabee, on November 6, 1898. She was born in Dade county, Missouri, the daughter of S.P. and Jane Mabee, natives of Indiana. The father enlisted in the Civil war when very young and served four years. He is now living in Missouri. Mr. Clark has two sisters, Grace Dwinnell and Jeanette.
Mrs. Clark has five brothers, George, Frank, John, Joseph and Jacob H., and two sisters, Ada Pyle and Cora Polly. Mr. Clark has one son, Newton, Jr. four years of age. Our subject is affiliated with the A.U.U.W., while his wife is a member of the Christian church.
In political belief, he holds with the Republicans and is an active worker for the interests of his party. He is a young man of promise and scholarly attainments and stands exceptionally well with the people in his profession.
An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company, Spokane, WA. 1905, pages 289-290
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1867 - 1930 (62 years)
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