Elmer Clark was born December 6, 1895 in Red Oak, Ellis County, Texas to John Thomas "Tom" and Maggie (Pitts) Clark. He was the younger brother of "Almon" Fay Clark, who was born July 24, 1893.
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Lady in background is actually Belle (Williams) Pitts, Elmer's aunt,
married to Uncle Jim Pitts, Maggie (Pitts) Clark's brother |
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| Tom and Maggie (Pitts) Clark |
When Elmer was just 22 months old, his mother, Maggie, died on October 28, 1897. It is very likely that she died trying to give birth to Almon and Elmer's younger brother or sister. As you can see, there is a tiny marked off area in the family plot at Maggie's feet where this child may be buried. The cemetery does not have any record of the death, but why else would this area be separated from the rest?
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| Marked grave at Maggie's feet - Red Oak Cemetery, Ellis County, Texas |
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| I placed my shoe on the spot to show how small the grave is. |
Maggie's parents, Elijah and Lucinda (Lewis Johnson) Pitts had died in Mississippi, before Maggie and her brothers moved to Texas. So, Elmer, Almon and their father moved in with Tom's parents, Zachary Taylor and Eliza (Reed) Clark. And Elmer became the youngest in that family, too. Tom's youngest sister, Aunt Nay Clark, was six days younger than Almon, leaving Elmer the youngest, again!
Pa Tom never remarried, so Eliza, Elmer's grandmother, was the only mother he ever knew. Elmer was known in his family as "Ned" and Almon was known as "Pete". I have been told that there is a reason for those names in a children's book. I have been unable to find Almon and Elmer in the 1910 census, but by 1917, when all young men were required to register for the Draft for World War I, Elmer lists his occupation as farmer, working for his father, J T Clark in Lancaster, Dallas County, Texas, which is where Zachary Taylor Clark also lived.
On September 5, 1918, Elmer was inducted as a Private into the US Army 165th Depot Brigade and sent to Camp Travis in San Antonio, Texas for training. The war ended while he was in training and he was honorably discharged December 17, 1918.
Just a few months later, Elmer and his family joined First Methodist Episcopal Church South, Lancaster. Here is a quote from the Membership book.
"From Lancaster FUMC records (transcribed 4-19-1995 by Rick Springer) from 1911 Membership Book:
Received into membership on
Removed by on:
Mr. Z. T. CLARK
Jul 20, 1919
Death none
Mrs. Z. T. CLARK
Jul 20, 1919
Death Dec 27, 1940
Elmer CLARK
Jul 20, 1919
Certificate Feb 1, 1928
Almond CLARK
Jul 20, 1919
Charge Conf 1944
Nay CLARK
Jul 20, 1919
Certificate Mar 7, 1945"
And just 11 days later, Elmer married the love of his life, "Agnes" Maude Spurlock on July 31, 1919 in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas.
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| I believe Elmer "Ned" is on the left and Almon "Pete" is one of the others. |
I have not found Elmer and Agnes, as newlyweds in the 1920 census, but I will keep looking! Elmer and Agnes lived very close to the Clarks and the Spurlocks until around 1940, when they moved to Fort Worth. In fact, the Zachary Taylor Clark and John Wesley Spurlock families lived next door to each other in 1920.
On January 26, 1921, Elmer and Agnes's only child, Dorothy Nell Clark (my mother) was born in Lancaster, Dallas County, Texas. Mother and I looked for many years for her Birth Certificate, but it wasn't until about three years ago, that I finally found it. And guess what, her birthdate is not the same as we expected (it's January 21 on the Birth Certificate) and her last name and her father's last name are spelled "Clarke", instead of "Clark"! No wonder we had not been able to find it!
Elmer remained close to his father and Clark grandparents, and on December 14, 1926, his grandfather, Zachary Taylor Clark passed away at the age of 77.
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| Eliza (Reed) and Zachary Taylor Clark |
And just four years later, his father, Tom, passed away on February 19, 1930 at the age of 60. He was living with Elmer, Agnes and Dorothy Nell on Colonial Street in Fort Worth. His Death Certificate lists his occupation as Night Watchman for King Candy Company.
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| Tom Clark |
Elmer age 34, Agnes age 32 and Dorothy N. age 9, are living at 211 Colonial Street in the Riverside area of Fort Worth during the 1930 census. He is listed as renting the home and working as a laborer as a station keeper. Agnes had surgery that year and was in the hospital 31 days. Dorothy Nell would ride the street car from Riverside to the hospital on Hemphill to visit her. (According to the handwitten history Mother left.) The Great Depression was in full swing and jobs were very hard to come by. Later that year, Elmer moved his family to Dallas to live with Agnes's sister, Amanda and her husband Charlie Davis.
During the summer of 1930, they moved in with Elmer's mother's (Maggie) brother's (Bob) wife, Aunt "Ett", Mary Etta (Williams) Pitts. Also living there were cousins Edna Lou and her son, Bobby Jack Payne, and Mary Ruth Pitts. Elmer, or Ned as they called him always remained very close to Mary Ruth and her husband Clifford Chappell.
Elmer and his family went to Saner Avenue Methodist Church and in November, 1936, Dorothy Nell met a young man at a deer supper at church. They didn't see each other for about six months, but in April 1937, they accidentally ran into each other on the bus that Dorothy Nell was going to school. A funny story that mother told was when she had her appendix out in 1938, Delton would come to visit her in the hospital and the nurses thought he was her brother, not her "husband-to-be"! After courting for about two years, she and Aubrey "Delton" Springer were married on April 7, 1939.
In May of 1939, Elmer's grandmother, Eliza (Reed) Clark, turned 90 years old. The family gathered for the festive celebration.
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(L-R Back) Agnes, Elmer, Almon and his wife Bessie
(Front) Dorothy Nell, Eliza, Lemonde (Almon's son) |
The next year, it was time for the census again, and Elmer and Agnes lived at 2806 Alabama Street in Dallas, Texas. Agnes's sister, Arkie, lived with them. Eliza lived to be 91 years old and passed away on December 27, 1940 at the home of her youngest daughter, Nay Clark.
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| Eliza (Reed) Clark |
In 1942, all men were, again, required to register with the Selective Service, since the US was at war.
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| Ned working at tire store |
Elmer was still living on Alabama Street, and stated that Mrs. R. D. Pitts (Aunt Etta Pitts) would how to reach him at any time.
We visited Mama and Papa Clark frequently in Dallas and I remeber that it took most of a day to drive the old roads to get there. That was long before the Interstate Highway system!
At a routine doctor's visit on July 28, 1958, Agnes died of a massive heart attack in the doctor's office. This was a huge shock for Elmer and his family.
Not long after Agnes's death, Elmer moved to a garage apartment at the rear of the property belonging to Aubrey and Minnie Springer, Delton's parents. I remember many Sunday afternoons visiting with both sets of grandparents at the same time. Elmer loved to go fishing and he and Aubrey went to Lake Benbrook often to fish. They also spent many hours playing Dominoes. They were both expert players and had a great time.
In December 1964, Elmer's first grandchild, Steven George Springer was born.
Then, in March 1967, Cynthia Kay Springer was born. The family gathered for Christmas.
In June 1968, Deborah Ann Springer was born, making the third grandchild that Elmer knew.
In December of 1969 Elmer became ill and went to the Veteran's Hospital in Dallas. He passed away on January 8, 1970 and was buried next to Agnes in Laurel Land Cemetery, Dallas, Texas.
Elmer, the youngest child of Tom and Maggie, lived a long and happy life.
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