Beech Research page

Our ancestor, John Clark, was born near Gonzales on Peach Creek Texas in 1830. His parents came to Texas from Georgia sometime before that , as yet undetermined.

This new information is brought to light by the discovery of a Clark family bible and is
proven with Census Records..

U.S. Census Records:

1846 Texas Census, John Clark was only 16 years old.
1880 Burnet Texas states John Clark born Texas 1830
1900 Llano Texas Ivy Rowan and wife Nancy Ellen Clark Rowan

Also Wm A Clark her brother is on this census, same page both siblings list fathers birthplace as Texas
1910 Nolan CO, Texas Sam T. Clark states his father was born in Texas
1920 Dallas Texas Hugh Hartgraves and wife Julia Rowan Hartgraves
1920 Menard Texas Willam A Clark lists his father as born in Texas

The earliest document is a marriage license in 1859 Fannin County Texas. The lady, Eunice B. Jane Fowler, could have been his second wife according to his age, 36 at the time. The marriage license for John Clark to N.P. Jane Fowler in Fannin County Texas, is dated 15 Dec 1859 Fannin Co, Texas Marriage Records C.

I also found this..Philips, Simmons married Fowler, Jane 9-3-1857 Fannin Co.,Tx. Fannin Co, Texas Marriage Records P-Q, which means she was married previously.

Note: Eunice B. Jane Fowler Clark 1st/2nd wife

b. 1843 d. Bet. Jun 1864 - Apr 1865 Texas, probably San Saba

The information that first gave me a hint of her last name came from the "Call of the San Saba" and then her name was confirmed on her son's (John CC Clark) death certificate as Jane Fowler. Then I found her parents.

She is on the 1850 Hot Springs County Arkansas, listed with her parents, David and Elvira Fowler.

She is on the 1860 Fannin County Texas Census, listed with her parents, David and Elvira Fowler. Her husband is not listed but may have gone on to the frontier to find land.

In 1870 David and Elvira Fowler are listed on the Llano County Texas census. They are listed in the Tow Valley Precinct. But the Elvira and family are also listed on the 1870 Burnet Co. Census that same year.

Camp San Saba is on Farm Road 1955 and the San Saba River ten miles southeast of Brady in southeastern McCulloch County. The settlers, who in the early 1860s built the community known as Camp San Saba, were not the first to occupy the region. A group of Texas Rangers was stationed in the area in the mid-1850s to protect settlers from Indian attacks. The community took its name from this ranger camp. Confederate troops protected the settlers during the Civil war, 1861 - 1865.

All of these areas that they lived, San Saba, Burnet, Llano and Mason, are in close proximity of each other.

Their children:
James Christopher Columbus Clark b.February 12, 1861 Tx.
Laura or Louisa Clark b.1862 Tx. (listed as Louisa on 1870 census, listed as Laura in the letter)
Robert E. Lee Clark b.June 1864 Tx.

Jane must have died during or soon after the birth of her last child, Robert E. Lee Clark b.June 1864. Because John is remarried and on the census with Sarah Jane Tow by 1870 and has a child by her in Feb.1866, which means she was married to him by May 1865.
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Notes for 2nd/3rd wife wife:

Sarah Jane Tow Miller b. 22 Oct 1843 Missouri d.Bet. 17 May 1881 - 22 Dec 1884 Texas

Notes on Sarah Jane Tow:

She married John Clark Bet. July 1864 - May 1865 in Texas.
I can not find a marriage license. This marriage date is estimated from the children's ages, the last child of Jane Fowler Clark was born June 1864 and the first child of Sarah Jane Tow Clark was born February 11, 1866.
Most of the dates are taken from Texas Census records San Saba Texas 1870 and Burnet Texas 1880.

Her first husband, J. Henry Miller, Confederate soldier, died of "brain fever" on 2 Nov 1863 at Camp Nelson, Ark.
She was listed as the indigent widow of Confederate soldier J.Henry Miller and one child that must have died before, or soon after, she married John Clark. I don't have the child's name, as it was not on the census. Family hearsay says that her family, the Tows disapproved of her marriage to John Clark. No one remembers why.

Their children:

Margaret Clark b.February 11, 1866 Tx. (Her Death Certificate shows DOB as February 11, 1869; age at death 59 years, 0 months, 3 days, Date of Death March 14, 1928.
All early census records state a different age.) She married Ben Potts
Nancy Ellen Clark b.September 17, 1869 TX. married Ivy Rowan
William Albert Clark b.June 12, 1872 Tx.
Wilson Riley Clark b.about 1875 Tx.
Frances M Clark b abt 1876 Tx. married J.B.Poole
Samuel Tipson Clark b.May 17th 1879 Tx.
Sarah Elizabeth Clark b. May 1881 Tx. (this last child is not listed on the 1880 census, as she was not born yet.

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Document***1859 marriage license for John Clark to N.P. Jane Fowler in Fannin County Texas, dated 15 Dec 1859 Fannin Co, Texas Marriage Records C

Document***1862 A book on local history "Call of the San Saba" reveals that John Clark and his mother-in-law, Mrs.Fowler, were among the soldiers of Camp San Saba during the 1862-1865 period.

Document***1870 Texas Census:
John Clark age 46 birth year 1823/24 GA.
Sarah J. Clark age 27
James Christopher Columbus Clark age 9 b.February 12, 1861 Tx. This name is incorrect, it is John Christopher Columbus Clark.
Louisa Clark age 8 b.1862 Tx. Is this the Laura in the letter? Census taker makes more errors??
Robert E. Lee age 6 Clark b.June 1864 TX. (He was Tax assessor of Mason Co.,Tx. from 1914-1920.)
Along with the other children of John and Sarah
Margaret Clark b.February 11, 1866 Tx. Shown as age 4 and incorrect name of Martha
Nancy Ellen Clark b.September 17, 1869 TX. listed as M.J. age 1, this is the census taker's 4th error on this report
William Albert Clark b.June 12, 1872 Tx.
Wilson Riley Clark b.about 1875 Tx.
Frances M Clark Pool b. abt 1876 Tx.
Samuel Tipson Clark b.May 17th 1879 Tx.

Document***20 Dec 1862...Confederate index John Clark , age 37,(b.1825) enlisted at Camp San Saba, Texas on 20 Dec 1862 for 3 years or duration of war in Co.K Mounted Volunteer Regt., Col J.E. McCord, Cmdg.

Document***1870 Census of San Saba..lists John Clark age 46 b.1823/24 Georgia and new wife, Sarah Jane Tow Miller, age 27.
Note: Her family were the Tows that settled in Llano Co Tx in the early 1850 and their land is the land that Buchanan Dam/Lake is built on today.

Document***1872 One son born in Kimble County Texas. Note: even though some of these 7 orphans were told they were born in Llano, they could have been born elsewhere as there is no proof.

Document***Texas ranger 1870 to 1872
He was the only John Clark living there in San Saba of the right age to be a ranger.

Document***1880 Burnet Texas census
John Clark age 50 Texas
Sarah J. Clark age 35 Missouri
Margaret Clark b.February 11, 1866 Tx. listed as age 14 which means she was correctly listed as age 4 on the last census and born in 1866.
Nancy Ellen Clark b.September 17, 1869 TX. (Three census sources prove she was born in 1869).
William Albert Clark b.June 12, 1872 Tx.
Wilson Riley Clark b.about 1875 Tx.
Frances M Clark Pool b abt 1876 Tx.
Samuel Tipson Clark b.May 17th 1879 Tx.

Document***1884 December guardianship for their 6 of the 7 orphans mentions Sarah Jane ( Tow, Miller, Clark) death and says probate was in Llano Co.,Tx.
Note: Probate is not there, nor death record, nor will.
Sarah Jane Tow Clark's father, Wilson Riley Tow, died 03 Apr 1884, and the orphans received a portion of the land, which must have precipitated the guardianship papers filed by her brother, Wilson O. "Knob" Tow.

Document***Several other guardianship papers where the relatives shuffled the children around.

One heirship paper which states that both John and Sarah Clark died sometime before 1884.
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Texas Ranger Muster Rolls.

name: Clark, John
rank: private
Comm. Ofc: Wm. H. Ledbetter
organ: Co., N. Minute men, San Saba Co
date enlisted: Sept. 13, 1870
date disc: Oct. 20, 1872
description:
place birth: San Saba County
Occup: no service recorded
remarks:
Inform. source Ranger Muster Roll
They say place of birth but that is not accurate..it means the place they lived.

Was this second Texas Ranger our John Clark who moved to the Mason area about 1872?
If so, then this is also the famous Sheriff of Mason County during the HooDoo War.

name: Clark, John
rank: private
Comm. Ofc: C.C. Smith
organ: Co., R Minute Men, Mason Co.
date enlisted: Dec. 9, 1873
date disc: Feb. 24, 1874
age: not given
description: Mason Co.
place birth: not given
Occup: 25 days of service
remarks:
Inform. source: Ranger Muster Roll
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Note: This letter from Robert E. Lee Clark (He was Tax assessor of Mason Co.,Tx. from 1914-1920) to his brother, John "Jim" Christopher Colombus Clark, and mentions moving from Mason to Kimble Co.,Tx, right next to Mason County, with their father.
The letter was given to me by a grandson of John "Jim" Christopher Colombus Clark. This letter was written with no corrections. This grandson had no other information on the Clarks, no bible, no will, no probate, etc., etc.

Sept 1914

Mr J.C.Clark

Dear Brother,

As the children have been writing, I have not answered your letter sooner.

I have just completed tax rolls for year so I am fine until the first of January.
Our country is very full on account of low price of cotton. Crops is not good here
but the stock interest is fine as the range is better than has been for years and prices for stock is good.
Cattle is the main money crop for our county.

Jim, I thought I would get to come to see you this year but this dredful war has come on and
looks like we shared all, with all the economy that we could so I dont know that I can come this year.

Jim, how is crops with you? I havent had a letter from any of the kin since I last heard from you.
Our folks that lived out here have scattered to the four winds, I guess, as I dont know where a
one of them is. Do you know where sister Saura lives? I'd like to hear from her.

Well Jim, seems but a few days since I and you was small boys and and drove our cattle through and
Mason town when Father moved to Kimble County. I hardly went pass one place in the road here in
the edge of Mason one incident comes to my mind and that when you found a small pocket knife. I
think you will remember that time. And then to think I have passed my 50 birthday last June..it all most
seems like a dream that such could be.

Love to all, I hope to hear soon.

Your brother,
R.E.L.Clark

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Robert E. Lee Clark
taken ca 1884

My Grandmother and her sisters told me that John and Sarah Clark, their grandparents, were both murdered. I now suspect that our ancestor was the John Clark who was the sheriff involved in the Hoo Doo War of Mason Co., Texas. However, this discovery does not give any clues as to his ancestry.

Many German settlers moved into the Mason area and the locals resented the land and the cattle that they owned. They also resented the fact that the Germans did not want to join the Confederacy and many were shot trying to escape to Mexico. After the Civil War, Confederate soldiers returned to the area down on their luck, broke and were angry that the German settlers prospered.

John Clark, Texas ranger, was hired as Sheriff by the German settlers that had cattle stolen and he tried to stop the rustling. The notorious Johnny Ringo was involved along with other local cowboys that were murdering and rustling and the Sheriff, John Clark, was also threatened to be murdered. There were so many hangings and murders that the people of the town, on both sides, turned against the sheriff. Soon after the dust settled, John Clark, the sheriff, moved out without a trace.

All traces of my Clarks death and probate were removed from the courthouse. All traces of their existance removed, even their tombstones in Tow Cemetery. Many people involved in the Mason HooDoo War also lived in the Burnet and Llano areas. Johnny Ringo was arrested in Burnet shortly before the Clarks were killed. He was the one who threatened to kill Sheriff John Clark and Burnet is where Clark moved to.

There are still hard feelings and discontent of that feud until today. Just recently the local people have begun to talk about it.

It's strange that suddenly, our John Clark and family moved out of the Mason area and back to Burnet (at the same time Sheriff Clark leaves Mason) and are on the 1880 Burnet census and were killed shortly thereafter.

Several genealogists think or guess that they know the identity of the Sheriff of Mason County Texas. It seems to be a tantalizing mystery that everyone wants to solve.
I have checked into the information of other researchers about John Clark, Sheriff of Mason County Texas and find no proof that he was from out of state, as other researchers have indicated. Most of their findings are pure speculation. The sheriff was called a "blue hen's chicken" and that phrase means "GAME" like a fighting cock. It does not mean Northerner or Yankee, as some researchers in Mason have decided. John Clark was definitely game and southern, as he named a son, Robert E. Lee Clark. In fact, my John Clark is the only one that can be absolutely placed in that area, at that time, who was a Texas ranger, and was murdered, as threatened. The sheriff was also a member of the Masonic lodge and the age fits as well.

Jan. 21, 1877 the Mason County courthouse burned in an obvious case of arson destroying all the legal records of the Hoo Doo War. Crime was rampant in Burnet, Llano and Mason Counties in the 1860's, 1870's and 1880's, Indian raids, counterfeiters, murderers and cattle thieves abound. Then they removed the evidence by burning the courthouses. There is no probate, tombstone, cemetery, newspaper or any other information on the Clarks deaths.

Llano County has had 4 courthouses. The Llano courthouse burned 17 Oct 1880 and then again twice later, the last one burned on January 22, 1892.

The records in Llano Co. prior to 1880 are almost totally nonexistant except for a few reconstructed deeds and brands dating back to around 1875. All probate records of the Clarks have vanished from the courthouse.

The Burnet Courthouses burned as well. Burnet County has had three courthouses: 1854 (burned), 1874, 1937. The total population of Burnet County in 1880 was only 6,855.