Clara Catherine Hammer was born in 27 September 1900 in Rockville, Bates County, Missouri. She was the 5th of 12 children born to William Hammer and Adeline Hirni. Clara was born to a family of farmers. When she was a young child, the family moved to Alberta, Canada, from Bates Missouri, and in 1912 they moved to Davie Fl., lured by land promotions. "They were told you could grow anything," Clifford Lloyd said. The family and 12 yo Clara, traveled by railroad from Alberta to Jacksonville, where they boarded a paddleboat for the voyage to Fort Lauderdale. To get to Davie, they had to travel by barge on the New River Canal. Clara's father grew peppers, beans, eggplants, tomatoes and other vegetables on about 40 acres near what is now the center of town. During her lifetime, she saw Davie grow from a small rural town whose only link to Fort Lauderdale was by a barge canal, to a city of more than 40,000 residents.

"Clara was the first in her family to finish high school. She graduated from Lauderdale High and went to the University of Florida, took an exam and got her Florida Teaching certificate. She went on to get her Bachelors after many years of summer classes and taught children for 35 years."

Clara married Seth Joel Cormack in 1921, shortly after graduating high school, his second marriage. They moved to Palm Beach where he was a Construction Engineer and became Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Kelsey later Lake Park and she started teaching. They had 3 children, Orvis Elaine b.1922, Jane Adelyn (Patsy) b.1924, and Seth J. Jr.(Jerry) b,1934, all born in Palm Beach.

Seth was also a Justice of the Peace. He died in a fall from the two story roof of the Lake Park City Hall, while painting according to his 1938 death certificate.

The 1945 Census shows Clara as head of household living with a 11 yo boy named Jerry, Seth Jr.s nickname. It lists her occupation as Teacher.

"In 1960, Clara retired from teaching and embarked on an extended European vacation. She returned to Lake Park and worked as a librarian in the city library on park Avenue until roughly 1975. Clara also enjoyed playing bridge with anyone who would join her." Email from her great niece Paige Griffin on Friday Aug 28, 2020