"... In 1839 Mr. Clark married Rebecca McCoy, daughter of Joseph McCoy. He lived in Missouri until 1845 when, with his wife and three children, he moved to Philadelphia. There, in 1848, his wife died, leaving an infant son nine days old. Mr. Clark took his children, three boys and two girls, to relatives in Massachusetts, where they grew up and were educated. His oldest son, Joseph, was killed in the Civil War. The second son, Alonzo, graduated from Harvard in 1870, and in 1871 came to California to be with his father who was then keeping the hotel known as Clark's Station, now Wawona. Alonzo died in 1874 and is buried in the Mariposa cemetery. Elvira, the oldest daughter, came west to see her father in 1870 and married Dr. Lee. They lived in Oakland, California where her father, Galen Clark, died on March 24, 1910. Ruth, the youngest daughter, remained in the East. Solon, the youngest son, was drowned at the age of nine years." [Yosemite Indians and Other Sketches (1936) by Mrs. H. J. Taylor, Ch. 4: Galen Clark, 1814-1910]
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WAWONA'S FIRST SETTLER
His [Galen Clark Sr.] early personal life was tragic. His marriage to Rebecca Marie McCoy of Missouri ended when she died in Philadelphia, February 16, 1848, after having had three sons and two daughters. None of the boys lived to be thirty. Solon McCoy Clark drowned, Joseph Locke Clark was killed at Bull Run, and Galen Alonzo Clark, who came to California to be near his father died in 1873 while studying for the law in San Francisco. Alonzo died at Wawona but was buried in Mariposa. [Wawona's Yesterdays (1961) by Shirley Sargent]
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Contributed by Marilyn:
Galen Alonzo Clark, Stow, MA. In 1864 he enlisted in the 5th Regiment, M.V.M., Company I (100 days) on July 13. He was mustered into the service on July 19, 1864. G. Alonzo was mustered out of the service on Nov. 16, 1864. He was said to 20 years old and listed his occupation as a bootmaker. --Stow Historical Society--