William Arthur was one of 14 children born to Samuel George & Mariah Jane Balmer Clarke, both natives of Ireland. They emigrated to America and took up farming in Wisconsin.
On 16 Feb. 1897 William married Miss Christina "Tena" Anna Schulte in Milwaukee, WI. The couple led a somewhat nomadic life, William finding work wherever he could. He was a "Jack-of-All-Trades", back in the days when you could support a family that way. Tena and William had three children: Orin Ellsworth "Sonny", Frances "Toots", and Freda Wilhelmina "Fritz".
The family spent most of their lives in Wisconsin, but one of William's jobs took them to North Dakota, where they managed a ranch. It's said that Tena wrangled horses. One of Tena's granddaughters remembers a story told of the family's adventures in N.D.: "At that time Indians had been robbed of their lands by the white man, and some in North Dakota were left to wander about, begging for food and clothing. Tena was always generous with them. In those days, if you were going to fix chicken for dinner, you had to chop its head off, do some other disgusting stuff to it and put it in a pot of boiling water to loosen the feathers, making the chicken easier to pluck. The Indians who occasionally stopped by the Clark residence to see if they could get something to eat, or some clothing, knew how the chicken thing worked. It got so that they would watch Tena kill the chickens and throw them into the water. They would say: 'Bye-bye, hot water'".
Having had enough of frontier life, the family moved back to Wisconsin where William had a dray line, worked as an ice man and played a mean fiddle. At one point, when they lived in Fountain City, WI, the couple managed a hotel. One day a fire broke out across the street, and William and Tena worked feverishly to save the contents of the building. William was seen carrying linens out the front door very carefully, so as not to dirty them. At the same time, Tena was busy tossing furniture out of the second story windows!
Tena died of Parkinson's at age 53, and William finished raising their family as a single father.
He was a very kind grandfather, whose grandson, Gene remembered his grandfather showing him his carpentry tools, and spending time with him~~the father figure Gene needed.
William lived in later years in Arcadia, WI with his daughter, Frances Hunnicutt. He finally moved into a rest home five years before he died at age 89. He had lead a long and remarkable life.
On 16 Feb. 1897 William married Miss Christina "Tena" Anna Schulte in Milwaukee, WI. The couple led a somewhat nomadic life, William finding work wherever he could. He was a "Jack-of-All-Trades", back in the days when you could support a family that way. Tena and William had three children: Orin Ellsworth "Sonny", Frances "Toots", and Freda Wilhelmina "Fritz".
The family spent most of their lives in Wisconsin, but one of William's jobs took them to North Dakota, where they managed a ranch. It's said that Tena wrangled horses. One of Tena's granddaughters remembers a story told of the family's adventures in N.D.: "At that time Indians had been robbed of their lands by the white man, and some in North Dakota were left to wander about, begging for food and clothing. Tena was always generous with them. In those days, if you were going to fix chicken for dinner, you had to chop its head off, do some other disgusting stuff to it and put it in a pot of boiling water to loosen the feathers, making the chicken easier to pluck. The Indians who occasionally stopped by the Clark residence to see if they could get something to eat, or some clothing, knew how the chicken thing worked. It got so that they would watch Tena kill the chickens and throw them into the water. They would say: 'Bye-bye, hot water'".
Having had enough of frontier life, the family moved back to Wisconsin where William had a dray line, worked as an ice man and played a mean fiddle. At one point, when they lived in Fountain City, WI, the couple managed a hotel. One day a fire broke out across the street, and William and Tena worked feverishly to save the contents of the building. William was seen carrying linens out the front door very carefully, so as not to dirty them. At the same time, Tena was busy tossing furniture out of the second story windows!
Tena died of Parkinson's at age 53, and William finished raising their family as a single father.
He was a very kind grandfather, whose grandson, Gene remembered his grandfather showing him his carpentry tools, and spending time with him~~the father figure Gene needed.
William lived in later years in Arcadia, WI with his daughter, Frances Hunnicutt. He finally moved into a rest home five years before he died at age 89. He had lead a long and remarkable life.
William Arthur was one of 14 children born to Samuel George & Mariah Jane Balmer Clarke, both natives of Ireland. They emigrated to America and took up farming in Wisconsin.
On 16 Feb. 1897 William married Miss Christina "Tena" Anna Schulte in Milwaukee, WI. The couple led a somewhat nomadic life, William finding work wherever he could. He was a "Jack-of-All-Trades", back in the days when you could support a family that way. Tena and William had three children: Orin Ellsworth "Sonny", Frances "Toots", and Freda Wilhelmina "Fritz".
The family spent most of their lives in Wisconsin, but one of William's jobs took them to North Dakota, where they managed a ranch. It's said that Tena wrangled horses. One of Tena's granddaughters remembers a story told of the family's adventures in N.D.: "At that time Indians had been robbed of their lands by the white man, and some in North Dakota were left to wander about, begging for food and clothing. Tena was always generous with them. In those days, if you were going to fix chicken for dinner, you had to chop its head off, do some other disgusting stuff to it and put it in a pot of boiling water to loosen the feathers, making the chicken easier to pluck. The Indians who occasionally stopped by the Clark residence to see if they could get something to eat, or some clothing, knew how the chicken thing worked. It got so that they would watch Tena kill the chickens and throw them into the water. They would say: 'Bye-bye, hot water'".
Having had enough of frontier life, the family moved back to Wisconsin where William had a dray line, worked as an ice man and played a mean fiddle. At one point, when they lived in Fountain City, WI, the couple managed a hotel. One day a fire broke out across the street, and William and Tena worked feverishly to save the contents of the building. William was seen carrying linens out the front door very carefully, so as not to dirty them. At the same time, Tena was busy tossing furniture out of the second story windows!
Tena died of Parkinson's at age 53, and William finished raising their family as a single father.
He was a very kind grandfather, whose grandson, Gene remembered his grandfather showing him his carpentry tools, and spending time with him~~the father figure Gene needed.
William lived in later years in Arcadia, WI with his daughter, Frances Hunnicutt. He finally moved into a rest home five years before he died at age 89. He had lead a long and remarkable life.
On 16 Feb. 1897 William married Miss Christina "Tena" Anna Schulte in Milwaukee, WI. The couple led a somewhat nomadic life, William finding work wherever he could. He was a "Jack-of-All-Trades", back in the days when you could support a family that way. Tena and William had three children: Orin Ellsworth "Sonny", Frances "Toots", and Freda Wilhelmina "Fritz".
The family spent most of their lives in Wisconsin, but one of William's jobs took them to North Dakota, where they managed a ranch. It's said that Tena wrangled horses. One of Tena's granddaughters remembers a story told of the family's adventures in N.D.: "At that time Indians had been robbed of their lands by the white man, and some in North Dakota were left to wander about, begging for food and clothing. Tena was always generous with them. In those days, if you were going to fix chicken for dinner, you had to chop its head off, do some other disgusting stuff to it and put it in a pot of boiling water to loosen the feathers, making the chicken easier to pluck. The Indians who occasionally stopped by the Clark residence to see if they could get something to eat, or some clothing, knew how the chicken thing worked. It got so that they would watch Tena kill the chickens and throw them into the water. They would say: 'Bye-bye, hot water'".
Having had enough of frontier life, the family moved back to Wisconsin where William had a dray line, worked as an ice man and played a mean fiddle. At one point, when they lived in Fountain City, WI, the couple managed a hotel. One day a fire broke out across the street, and William and Tena worked feverishly to save the contents of the building. William was seen carrying linens out the front door very carefully, so as not to dirty them. At the same time, Tena was busy tossing furniture out of the second story windows!
Tena died of Parkinson's at age 53, and William finished raising their family as a single father.
He was a very kind grandfather, whose grandson, Gene remembered his grandfather showing him his carpentry tools, and spending time with him~~the father figure Gene needed.
William lived in later years in Arcadia, WI with his daughter, Frances Hunnicutt. He finally moved into a rest home five years before he died at age 89. He had lead a long and remarkable life.
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