Son of Richard Clark & Ann Elizabeth Shaffer
Married Susannah Dalley, 14 Mar 1850, Coopersvle, Council Bluffs, Pottawattomie, Iowa
George Sheffer Clark, one of the original band of Utah Pioneers who entered the Great Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young on July 24, 1847, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, November 7, 1816. He was the seventh child of Richard Clark and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer. His father was a direct descendant of William Clark who helped to establish the William Penn settlement of Chester, Pennsylvania in 1682. His mother was a daughter of Phillip Sheffer who fought with Washington in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the celebrated Minute Men of Pennsylvania and later with the Northampton County Militia of Pennsylvania, under Capt. Jacob Bolieb. Both of George Sheffer Clark's parents were born in Pennsylvania and were married there. The Clark family moved to Jefferson County, Ohio, probably in about 1802, and between the birth of George in 1816 and 1824 they moved north and westward to Richland County, Ohio. The year 1829 found them in Marion County, Indiana, where the youngest child, Nancy, was born, and where George worked at hauling goods down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and on down that stream to New Orleans. The Clark family owned an 80-acre farm near Indianapolis, and all of the family who were then unmarried worked very hard on this farm. In winter when the farm work was lighter all of the children were sent to school, usually walking three miles each way, for the school was that distance from their farm. The father drilled the children and they gained enough to make them value education and ever afterwards to avail themselves of every opportunity to learn.
The Clark family remained in Indianapolis for a number of years and it was there in 1842 that they heard the Gospel (restored gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and soon embraced the new creed. George was not at home at the time that his parents were converted, but joined the Church later. The family had been converted by Franklin D. Richards and soon after their becoming acquainted with Richards and other leaders of the Church, the Clarks moved to Marshall County and from there to Nauvoo, Illinois. The five youngest children in the family accompanied their parents and George was baptized in the Mississippi River in the spring of 1843, by Bishop Hale. He was confirmed by Orson Pratt and others and was later ordained an elder by President Baker.
Shortly after being ordained an elder, George returned to Indiana to dispose of some property he still owned there. He finally sold his $2,000 farm for $200. He then went to Williamsport, Indiana, where he worked for a Mr. Treadway during the winter. Mr. Treadway was in the butchers' business and during the winter months several thousand hogs were killed and the meat cured and in the spring placed on flat boats and taken down the Mississippi to New Orleans and sold. George joined his parents in Nauvoo as soon as this work was finished and he had completed the trip to New Orleans and back.
He was a strong healthy young man and almost immediately after he arrived in Nauvoo he was made one of the guards of the city. The Prophet Joseph Smith's life was in danger and the guards kept him informed of all mobs that infested the area.
On September 22, 1844, George Sheffer Clark was ordained a member of the Thirteenth Quorum of Seventy by George A. Smith and others, and he devoted much of his time to his Church duties.
After the death of the Prophet, the Saints effected an agreement with the mob whereby the members of the Church were to be allowed to complete the Nauvoo Temple and receive their endowments, after which they were to move out to the West. When the Nauvoo Temple was finished George Sheffer Clark and several of his relatives, went into the temple to receive their endowments. Church records show that he was endowed on January 12, 1846.
During the early spring of 1846, when the Saints left Nauvoo, George S. Clark was made a member of the company of Colonel Markham. At Richardson's Point, Iowa, he was placed in charge of one of President Brigham Young's teams and he acted as a teamster for President Young until the party reached the Missouri River. While the Saints were camping at Sugar Creek, Iowa, George S. Clark and John S. Gleason were chosen to take charge of the commissary of the Camp of Israel. Sunday School lesson sheet for July 5, 1931 gives this information and states that "the Camp of Israel remained at Mount Pisgah from May 18, 1846 to June 3, 1846". At Mount Pisgah, George S. Clark was chosen to take a mission to the Pottawatomie Indians to make arrangements for the purchase of land and the privilege of locating a station for the emigrants at Pisgah. The Indians received Clark and his companion very kindly and the agreements were made.
From Mount Pisgah the Saints moved on to the Missouri River, and while they were encamped near Council Bluffs, Iowa, Colonel Allen of the United States Army came to the camp with the request from the Government that five hundred men volunteer for service in the Mexican War. George S. Clark offered his services at once and was assigned to be a member of Company B of the Mormon Battalion. Just after they reached the Mexican Border, Clark and several others became very ill and were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado for the winter. In Andrew Jensen's story of the Mormon Battalion found in Volume VIII of the Historical Record, it states that a part of the sick detachment left Pueblo on Dec. 23, 1846 for Winter Quarters, under the leadership of Captain Brown. Some of the party's horses were stolen by the Spaniards and George S. Clark and ten others were sent ahead to try to recover the animals. These men reached Winter Quarters without having found the horses, but they learned that Brigham Young and the first party of Pioneers were on their way to the mountains. They decided to go on after this company. On June 13, 1847, they reached Amasa Lyman's camp and on June 16, 1847 arrived at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Here they were told that President Young and his company were only a few days ahead of them. Procuring fresh horses, eleven of the Battalion men set out to overtake the Pioneers. When they reached the Green River, they found, to their dismay, that the Pioneers had already crossed the river and also that the large ferry boat which was the only means of crossing, was on the other side of the river. With characteristic faith these eleven men of the Mormon Battalion knelt down on the bank and prayed to their Heavenly Father for aid. It was not long before their prayers were answered for the old ferryman chanced to see the men kneeling on the pier across the river from him. Watching them for a little while, he became so curious about the group that he finally guided his ferry boat across the water, and, learning their desire to cross over, he took the Battalion men and their horses and goods over the river that night. Since the Pioneers were encamped only a short distance from the river, the men soon reached the camp, this date being July 4, 1847. However, only two members of this Battalion group came into the Great Salt Lake Valley with President Young on July 24, 1847, George S. Clark and a Mr. Oakely who settled in Provo. George S. Clark was taken ill with the Mountain fever just before the Pioneer group reached Emigration Canyon, and Brigham Young had asked that Clark be placed in one the Young wagons to be made more comfortable. Thus it was that George Sheffer Clark rode into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 with President Young's own family. The other members of the Battalion, under Captain Brown, followed later and arrived in the Valley on July 29, 1847.
During the late summer of 1847, George S. Clark was a member of a group of horsemen, under Jesse C. Little, who were sent out to explore the region around the Great Salt Lake Valley and Utah and Weber Valleys. About the last of August he was chosen to drive President Young's carriage on the return trip to Winter Quarters.
In the spring of 1848 he crossed the Missouri into Iowa and took up a homestead there, continuing to farm his land until the spring of 1850. During this time he had met a young English girl who had recently come to America for the sake of the Latter-day Saint faith. This girl was Susannah Dalley, daughter of the widow Ann Davies Dalley who had been converted in Great Britain. George Sheffer Clark and Susannah Dalley were married March 20 or 23, 1850 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Libeus T. Coones. In June of 1850 they, with some of their relatives started for Great Salt Lake City in Captain Cook's company, arriving in Salt Lake City on Sept. 3, 1850.
The Clark family attended a conference of the Church on Sept. 8, 1850 and there volunteered to go as a group to settle in Utah Valley, near a spot where W. R. Adams, Philo Farnsworth and John Mercer had staked off some land a few weeks earlier.
In the party, which was under the leadership of George S. Clark, were his wife, Susannah Dalley Clark, Richard and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer Clark, John Greenleaf Holman and Nancy Clark Holman, Lewis Harvey and his wife Lucinda Clark Harvey, Johnathan Harvey and Sarah Herbert Harvey, Charles Price and wife and child, Widow Harriet Marler and children, John Wilson, Ezekiel Holman, and one or two others, relatives of those mentioned.
On Sept 13, 1850 they made their camp in the grove of cottonwood trees that bordered the Grove Creek stream as it ran down the sloping hill from the Canyon to the northeast. This grove was on property recently known as the Joseph Dickerson place and the Mark Bezzant place. Here in this beautiful grove they established their homes and founded the city of Pleasant Grove. George S. Clark soon wrote to Brigham Young asking that more settlers be sent in order that a strong community might be built. He headed his letter "Pleasant Grove" because of the lovely spot where they had located, and this name was immediately chosen as the name of the new city. It was not long before more settlers came and the community life was begun.
On March 25, 1851, Brigham Young visited the community and appointed George S. Clark to act as Bishop of the settlement. The Bishop's license written that day and signed by Brigham Young is a valued family possession. Later he was to preside over the North Utah County. In the spring of 1853 George S. Clark was selected as probate judge of Utah County. He had worked diligently and had cleared much land and led the community in many projects, including the establishing of a school and the building of a rock fort wall around the community center, as a protection against the Indians.
During the fall of 1853, the Indians became troublesome in Southern Utah and George S. Clark was called to organize a company of fifty families to go to Cedar City to strengthen that settlement. He undertook this mission at a great personal sacrifice. His second child, George Heber, was only two weeks old when George S. Clark and his wife and two children began their journey south. They had sold all of their property in order to purchase a comfortable carriage and equipment to make the trip. Susannah's brothers, William, James, and Edward Dalley and their families were among those who accompanied them on the mission.
George S. Clark had served in the Walker Indian War in 1853 under Captain Samuel S. White and at the same time endeavored to develop his land and raise crops to provide food in the community.
In the spring of 1855 the Clark family moved back to Pleasant Grove and at the spring Conference held in Salt Lake City, April 10, 1856 George S. Clark was called to go on a mission to Australia. He left at once and was gone from his family for almost three years, returning in the late fall of 1858. During this mission he labored among the peoples of Australia and New Zealand, reorganizing many of the branches in New South Wales, Australia where a number of the Saints had apostatized. He also re-baptized all of the Elders and members of this Branch at the time of the re-confirmation of the Saints in Utah in 1857. During all of the time that he was in Australia the mail service was so poor that he received only two letters, one from his wife and one from the General Authorities of the Church. Consequently, he knew nothing of the coming of Johnston's Army to Utah. Elders were called home from many of the missions but those in Australia received no word. However, George S. Clark received a revelation regarding the calling home of missionaries and he and seven others returned to Salt Lake City. The incident was one that Clark considered a faith-promoting story all of his life. It happened that he and his companion were walking along a little traveled road in New South Wales, when Clark suddenly stopped and told his companion that he could hear Brigham Young talking. He felt that he could hear President Young saying "All of the elders in Australia are now called home." He could not get this out of his mind, so clearly had he heard the voice of President Young. He talked the matter over with the other missionaries and they decided that they must arrange to travel back to the United States. They left the mission in good condition and after a number of weeks were able to obtain passage on a ship and to reach Utah after a long sea voyage. Immediately upon his return, George S. Clark reported his experiences to Brigham Young and learned that Brigham had indeed made just such a statement as Clark had revealed to him, and the Church President bore testimony of the truth of Clark's revelation.
On his return from this mission to Australia, George S. Clark again became very prominent in developing the city of Pleasant Grove and being unable to take part in the Black Hawk War because of his large farm and business interests, he furnished teams and money in lieu of his own services.
At the instance of Brigham Young a canal had been dug to bring water from Provo Canyon to the north end of Provo Bench. The project was soon abandoned, without success because of the gravel in the soil. A little later George S. Clark and Cornelius Baxter, both owners of tracts of land on the bench, decided to try this project again. With their young sons to aid them, these two men literally dragged the water to their land. With their shovels and hoes the men and their boys walked the entire distance from the mouth of Provo Canyon to their land, more than four miles, coaxing the water inches at a time, along the route of the abandoned canal. It was a great effort, because of the gravel. The water would flow a little way and then seep down through the gravel and disappear. However, the men persisted and in the end they were successful--the first men to bring water to what is now the fertile north section of Provo Bench. George S. Clark and his sons owned 160 acres of this Bench land, which they took up and homesteaded and obtained a government deed on.
George S. Clark also owned a large tract of land in what is now Manila Ward. He and John G. Holman, having homesteaded there also, and succeeded in bringing water from American Fork Canyon to irrigate their land, and also for the city of Pleasant Grove. Later when he and his sons went into the mercantile business, George S. Clark sold his North Field property in Manila to William Wadley for the small sum of $350.00. This property has since become extremely valuable, with orchards and clay beds bringing in a good income to the Wadley family.
In November 1871 George S. Clark was set apart to fill a short term mission in the United States and he went to labor with relatives and friends whom he had left in Illinois and Indiana many years before.
When the railroad was built from Salt Lake to Provo, George S. Clark and his sons had a contract to build the road bed from Draper to the Point of the Mountain.
In 1880 he and his sons established a mercantile business and opera house in Pleasant Grove, and soon had a thriving enterprise. It was a great blow to all of the family when the store and opera house burned to the ground in December 1890, just a week before Christmas. The cause of the fire was never known, but the loss was more than $35,000 with only $3000 of insurance. With characteristic energy, the Clark family set to work at once to rebuild their property and their business, and this time on a much larger scale. An old letterhead advertises that they not only sold the usual items of general merchandise, but hay, grain, coal, lumber, ice, and funeral supplies as well. There were caskets for burial of the dead and all kinds of household furniture to be obtained from this firm, known first as "George S. Clark and Sons" and later as "Clark Brothers." The firm flourished for many years.
The Opera House was known far and wide for its extremely well equipped stage and no traveling show troupe failed to present plays and entertainments in this building. It was much used by the community over a long period of years, the Pleasant Grove Home Dramatic Company presenting several plays each season, and Sunday School and M.I.A. groups presenting Christmas Cantatas and many other colorful entertainments very frequently. The Opera House was the scene of many political rallies and was the center of community life socially and recreationally over a long period of years. One can never forget the balls that were held there, nor the "Married Folks" parties, when banquets were served on long tables on the stage and everyone danced till morning, during the Gay Nineties and early 1900s. The store and Opera House were a Clark family contribution to the life of the community.
George S. Clark was always a staunch Latter-Day Saint and faithfully attended his Church duties to the day of his death. He was a great reader and kept himself well informed on all matters of importance at all times. In addition to being active in the Church, he held many positions of trust in civic affairs and was, among other things, a city councilman from 1867 until 1870. He was a man skilled in many trades and arts. His sons remember how with such crude instruments as a bottle of water, a level, and a few other crude tools, he could survey and measure land. He as always a builder and he believed firmly in taking excellent care of his tools. He was a man of great physical, as well as mental strength, and no job was too big for him to tackle. He was known in the community for the great amount of work he could accomplish.
Each of George S. Clark's six children were given splendid educational opportunities for he believed that no one could learn too much. Two of his sons filled missions, his daughter became a most gifted poet and highly skilled nurse, and his five sons became prominent businessmen and active leaders in the community of Pleasant Grove, one son serving as mayor and city councilman.
George Sheffer Clark built four homes in Pleasant Grove. The first was a log cabin of one room which he built in the Grove where the first site of the town was made. This home was built almost immediately after the settlers had determined on the location of their community. The Clarks, as well as most of the first settlers, set their wagon boxes on logs at the side of their one room house, to be used as bedroom for the first year in their new community. Their first child, Joseph Brigham Clark, was born in their wagon box bedroom. The second home built by George S. Clark was a small rock and adobe house in the corner of the lot which recently belonged to Hermese Peterson, just east of the Union Pacific tracks on the old State Highway. The third home of the Clark family was an adobe house which stood on the present site of the Bank of Pleasant Grove. In 1870 the large beautiful frame house which is now owned by H. Winfield Clark, a grandson of George S. Clark, was built and became a center of entertainment in the community. The fine ancestral home is an example of the best of early-day building. The rooms were large throughout the house, but the kitchen was especially large and from this kitchen, there opened two large double doors which opened to disclose a smaller room. The smaller room served as a stage and the kitchen served as an auditorium. To present a play in these two rooms was a simple matter. Saw horses made supports for benches and the benches were arranged across the large kitchen for seating the audience. The players played their roles in the small room, with the wide double doors open and taking the place of the usual stage curtain. Many entertainments were given in this hospitable pioneer home.
Above the first Clark's Store, a frame building erected in 1880, there was maintained the first Clark's Opera House, where the Home Dramatic company and out-of-town entertainers as well, performed for the public. In 1867 the old rock Opera House was constructed. This, with the first store, burned in December 1890, as mentioned above. The store was rebuilt soon after the ruins of the disastrous fire were cleared and the brick and stone building which now houses the business of C. R. Clark is the enlarged second store owned by George S. Clark and Sons and known later as "Clark Bros." It was a number of years after the store was rebuilt before the Opera House as rebuilt, but when it was opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day 1898, it filled a long-wanted need and became the most popular entertainment center of the community and of the county for many years, since it was so large and so well arranged that it proved adequate for even the largest crowds that ever assembled over a long period of time.
Mention should be made of the small Clark's Store that was opened Feb. 3, 1890 according to an item in the Provo Enquirer of that date. The item said it was opened in South Pleasant Grove, but it was generally known as the Lindon Store. It was a small frame building which stood about a half block north of the large store built by Albert E. Cullimore and now is owned and operated by Cecil Bullock. This south store was placed under the management of William E. Clark and Hyrum L. Clark, the two youngest sons of George S. Clark. Children of most of the Clark Brothers well remember the old orchard back of this store where they picked and devoured many early June apples in the summer when on rare occasions they were permitted to go along and spend the day visiting in what is now Lindon.
George S. Clark was a man who wished to achieve as much as was possible. He was known as an untiring worker in every project he undertook. His farms were noted for the very large crops produced and an item in Deseret News of Nov. 11, 1887 reads: "George S. Clark of Pleasant Grove raised 1350 bushels of potatoes on 2 1/4 acres of land this season. Many of the tubers weighed 5 pounds each and some of them 6 1/4 pounds. Mr. Clark has tilled this same piece of land for 37 successive years. Who can beat this?" This particular piece of land was the property now owned by D. W. West as his home property. George S. Clark had no patience with laziness and this high rate of production on his farm shows that much work was done to bring about such crops. One story is told by many early day residents of Pleasant Grove regarding George S. Clark's ability to work. A basement was being dug for a new building on Main Street and it worried Mr. Clark because the work proceeded so slowly. He said that he could complete half of the basement in one day if he were to do the work. He was challenged by the others present and next morning he went to work to prove that he could do what he had said he could do. By nightfall he had completed the task and one-half of the basement was ready for the carpenters to begin their work of constructing the framework of the building. He had met the challenge and won the admiration of the entire community for his ability to do work quickly and extremely well.
As was his father, Richard Clark, George Sheffer Clark was a stern, but a kindly man. He was quick to help others at all times and he was determined that his children should learn that every task was worth doing well and that the right way was the best way and the way he expected them to do whatever they were assigned to do. He wanted no half-done projects, for well completed tasks were a joy and a satisfaction to the doer and to the Lord. He was a firm believer in education and made an effort to have each of his children obtain the best schooling and training that it was possible to have. He, himself, was an inveterate reader and loved to know what was going on and how things were being done. In addition to his mission to Australia, he made a six-month mission to Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio in 1871 and in 1890 he and his sister, Lucinda Clark Harvey went to Indiana on a mission in search of genealogy, according to the Journal History of the Church. What was done with the material that was gathered in genealogy is not known now, but they did some temple work after their return home in 1891.
George S. Clark's wife Susannah, died April 9, 1891 and he survived her by a little more than ten years, passing away on August 28, 1901 at the age of almost 85 years. They were the parents of six children:
Joseph Brigham Clark
George Heber Clark
Susannah Matilda Clark Gamette
John Franklin Clark
William Edward Clark
Hyrum Lorenzo Clark
This history was written by Suzanna Mae Clark Grua, grand-daughter of George Sheffer Clark, in _______________. It was modified and edited by Roger E. Grua, great great grandson, and others in 1995 and again in 2001 with photo added, prior to submission to the modern Mormon Battalion organization for inclusion in their files of original members of the battalion. The Mormon Battalion is interested in placing a bronze medallion on the grave of George Sheffer Clark as they have with other battalion members.
The U.S. Mormon Battalion under the direction of Roger E. Grua, national Chaplin, placed the grave memorialization marker on the grave of George Sheffer Clark on October 20, 2001 in a solemn ceremony held at the grave site in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. The memorial service was conducted by Lyle Clark, son of Harold Clark and great grandson of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was unveiled by Harold Clark. A violin duet was played by Angela Grua Flamm and Natalie Grua Beesley, daughters of Roger E. Grua and great great great grand-daughters of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was dedicated by Roger E. Grua.
Married Susannah Dalley, 14 Mar 1850, Coopersvle, Council Bluffs, Pottawattomie, Iowa
George Sheffer Clark, one of the original band of Utah Pioneers who entered the Great Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young on July 24, 1847, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, November 7, 1816. He was the seventh child of Richard Clark and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer. His father was a direct descendant of William Clark who helped to establish the William Penn settlement of Chester, Pennsylvania in 1682. His mother was a daughter of Phillip Sheffer who fought with Washington in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the celebrated Minute Men of Pennsylvania and later with the Northampton County Militia of Pennsylvania, under Capt. Jacob Bolieb. Both of George Sheffer Clark's parents were born in Pennsylvania and were married there. The Clark family moved to Jefferson County, Ohio, probably in about 1802, and between the birth of George in 1816 and 1824 they moved north and westward to Richland County, Ohio. The year 1829 found them in Marion County, Indiana, where the youngest child, Nancy, was born, and where George worked at hauling goods down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and on down that stream to New Orleans. The Clark family owned an 80-acre farm near Indianapolis, and all of the family who were then unmarried worked very hard on this farm. In winter when the farm work was lighter all of the children were sent to school, usually walking three miles each way, for the school was that distance from their farm. The father drilled the children and they gained enough to make them value education and ever afterwards to avail themselves of every opportunity to learn.
The Clark family remained in Indianapolis for a number of years and it was there in 1842 that they heard the Gospel (restored gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and soon embraced the new creed. George was not at home at the time that his parents were converted, but joined the Church later. The family had been converted by Franklin D. Richards and soon after their becoming acquainted with Richards and other leaders of the Church, the Clarks moved to Marshall County and from there to Nauvoo, Illinois. The five youngest children in the family accompanied their parents and George was baptized in the Mississippi River in the spring of 1843, by Bishop Hale. He was confirmed by Orson Pratt and others and was later ordained an elder by President Baker.
Shortly after being ordained an elder, George returned to Indiana to dispose of some property he still owned there. He finally sold his $2,000 farm for $200. He then went to Williamsport, Indiana, where he worked for a Mr. Treadway during the winter. Mr. Treadway was in the butchers' business and during the winter months several thousand hogs were killed and the meat cured and in the spring placed on flat boats and taken down the Mississippi to New Orleans and sold. George joined his parents in Nauvoo as soon as this work was finished and he had completed the trip to New Orleans and back.
He was a strong healthy young man and almost immediately after he arrived in Nauvoo he was made one of the guards of the city. The Prophet Joseph Smith's life was in danger and the guards kept him informed of all mobs that infested the area.
On September 22, 1844, George Sheffer Clark was ordained a member of the Thirteenth Quorum of Seventy by George A. Smith and others, and he devoted much of his time to his Church duties.
After the death of the Prophet, the Saints effected an agreement with the mob whereby the members of the Church were to be allowed to complete the Nauvoo Temple and receive their endowments, after which they were to move out to the West. When the Nauvoo Temple was finished George Sheffer Clark and several of his relatives, went into the temple to receive their endowments. Church records show that he was endowed on January 12, 1846.
During the early spring of 1846, when the Saints left Nauvoo, George S. Clark was made a member of the company of Colonel Markham. At Richardson's Point, Iowa, he was placed in charge of one of President Brigham Young's teams and he acted as a teamster for President Young until the party reached the Missouri River. While the Saints were camping at Sugar Creek, Iowa, George S. Clark and John S. Gleason were chosen to take charge of the commissary of the Camp of Israel. Sunday School lesson sheet for July 5, 1931 gives this information and states that "the Camp of Israel remained at Mount Pisgah from May 18, 1846 to June 3, 1846". At Mount Pisgah, George S. Clark was chosen to take a mission to the Pottawatomie Indians to make arrangements for the purchase of land and the privilege of locating a station for the emigrants at Pisgah. The Indians received Clark and his companion very kindly and the agreements were made.
From Mount Pisgah the Saints moved on to the Missouri River, and while they were encamped near Council Bluffs, Iowa, Colonel Allen of the United States Army came to the camp with the request from the Government that five hundred men volunteer for service in the Mexican War. George S. Clark offered his services at once and was assigned to be a member of Company B of the Mormon Battalion. Just after they reached the Mexican Border, Clark and several others became very ill and were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado for the winter. In Andrew Jensen's story of the Mormon Battalion found in Volume VIII of the Historical Record, it states that a part of the sick detachment left Pueblo on Dec. 23, 1846 for Winter Quarters, under the leadership of Captain Brown. Some of the party's horses were stolen by the Spaniards and George S. Clark and ten others were sent ahead to try to recover the animals. These men reached Winter Quarters without having found the horses, but they learned that Brigham Young and the first party of Pioneers were on their way to the mountains. They decided to go on after this company. On June 13, 1847, they reached Amasa Lyman's camp and on June 16, 1847 arrived at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Here they were told that President Young and his company were only a few days ahead of them. Procuring fresh horses, eleven of the Battalion men set out to overtake the Pioneers. When they reached the Green River, they found, to their dismay, that the Pioneers had already crossed the river and also that the large ferry boat which was the only means of crossing, was on the other side of the river. With characteristic faith these eleven men of the Mormon Battalion knelt down on the bank and prayed to their Heavenly Father for aid. It was not long before their prayers were answered for the old ferryman chanced to see the men kneeling on the pier across the river from him. Watching them for a little while, he became so curious about the group that he finally guided his ferry boat across the water, and, learning their desire to cross over, he took the Battalion men and their horses and goods over the river that night. Since the Pioneers were encamped only a short distance from the river, the men soon reached the camp, this date being July 4, 1847. However, only two members of this Battalion group came into the Great Salt Lake Valley with President Young on July 24, 1847, George S. Clark and a Mr. Oakely who settled in Provo. George S. Clark was taken ill with the Mountain fever just before the Pioneer group reached Emigration Canyon, and Brigham Young had asked that Clark be placed in one the Young wagons to be made more comfortable. Thus it was that George Sheffer Clark rode into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 with President Young's own family. The other members of the Battalion, under Captain Brown, followed later and arrived in the Valley on July 29, 1847.
During the late summer of 1847, George S. Clark was a member of a group of horsemen, under Jesse C. Little, who were sent out to explore the region around the Great Salt Lake Valley and Utah and Weber Valleys. About the last of August he was chosen to drive President Young's carriage on the return trip to Winter Quarters.
In the spring of 1848 he crossed the Missouri into Iowa and took up a homestead there, continuing to farm his land until the spring of 1850. During this time he had met a young English girl who had recently come to America for the sake of the Latter-day Saint faith. This girl was Susannah Dalley, daughter of the widow Ann Davies Dalley who had been converted in Great Britain. George Sheffer Clark and Susannah Dalley were married March 20 or 23, 1850 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Libeus T. Coones. In June of 1850 they, with some of their relatives started for Great Salt Lake City in Captain Cook's company, arriving in Salt Lake City on Sept. 3, 1850.
The Clark family attended a conference of the Church on Sept. 8, 1850 and there volunteered to go as a group to settle in Utah Valley, near a spot where W. R. Adams, Philo Farnsworth and John Mercer had staked off some land a few weeks earlier.
In the party, which was under the leadership of George S. Clark, were his wife, Susannah Dalley Clark, Richard and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer Clark, John Greenleaf Holman and Nancy Clark Holman, Lewis Harvey and his wife Lucinda Clark Harvey, Johnathan Harvey and Sarah Herbert Harvey, Charles Price and wife and child, Widow Harriet Marler and children, John Wilson, Ezekiel Holman, and one or two others, relatives of those mentioned.
On Sept 13, 1850 they made their camp in the grove of cottonwood trees that bordered the Grove Creek stream as it ran down the sloping hill from the Canyon to the northeast. This grove was on property recently known as the Joseph Dickerson place and the Mark Bezzant place. Here in this beautiful grove they established their homes and founded the city of Pleasant Grove. George S. Clark soon wrote to Brigham Young asking that more settlers be sent in order that a strong community might be built. He headed his letter "Pleasant Grove" because of the lovely spot where they had located, and this name was immediately chosen as the name of the new city. It was not long before more settlers came and the community life was begun.
On March 25, 1851, Brigham Young visited the community and appointed George S. Clark to act as Bishop of the settlement. The Bishop's license written that day and signed by Brigham Young is a valued family possession. Later he was to preside over the North Utah County. In the spring of 1853 George S. Clark was selected as probate judge of Utah County. He had worked diligently and had cleared much land and led the community in many projects, including the establishing of a school and the building of a rock fort wall around the community center, as a protection against the Indians.
During the fall of 1853, the Indians became troublesome in Southern Utah and George S. Clark was called to organize a company of fifty families to go to Cedar City to strengthen that settlement. He undertook this mission at a great personal sacrifice. His second child, George Heber, was only two weeks old when George S. Clark and his wife and two children began their journey south. They had sold all of their property in order to purchase a comfortable carriage and equipment to make the trip. Susannah's brothers, William, James, and Edward Dalley and their families were among those who accompanied them on the mission.
George S. Clark had served in the Walker Indian War in 1853 under Captain Samuel S. White and at the same time endeavored to develop his land and raise crops to provide food in the community.
In the spring of 1855 the Clark family moved back to Pleasant Grove and at the spring Conference held in Salt Lake City, April 10, 1856 George S. Clark was called to go on a mission to Australia. He left at once and was gone from his family for almost three years, returning in the late fall of 1858. During this mission he labored among the peoples of Australia and New Zealand, reorganizing many of the branches in New South Wales, Australia where a number of the Saints had apostatized. He also re-baptized all of the Elders and members of this Branch at the time of the re-confirmation of the Saints in Utah in 1857. During all of the time that he was in Australia the mail service was so poor that he received only two letters, one from his wife and one from the General Authorities of the Church. Consequently, he knew nothing of the coming of Johnston's Army to Utah. Elders were called home from many of the missions but those in Australia received no word. However, George S. Clark received a revelation regarding the calling home of missionaries and he and seven others returned to Salt Lake City. The incident was one that Clark considered a faith-promoting story all of his life. It happened that he and his companion were walking along a little traveled road in New South Wales, when Clark suddenly stopped and told his companion that he could hear Brigham Young talking. He felt that he could hear President Young saying "All of the elders in Australia are now called home." He could not get this out of his mind, so clearly had he heard the voice of President Young. He talked the matter over with the other missionaries and they decided that they must arrange to travel back to the United States. They left the mission in good condition and after a number of weeks were able to obtain passage on a ship and to reach Utah after a long sea voyage. Immediately upon his return, George S. Clark reported his experiences to Brigham Young and learned that Brigham had indeed made just such a statement as Clark had revealed to him, and the Church President bore testimony of the truth of Clark's revelation.
On his return from this mission to Australia, George S. Clark again became very prominent in developing the city of Pleasant Grove and being unable to take part in the Black Hawk War because of his large farm and business interests, he furnished teams and money in lieu of his own services.
At the instance of Brigham Young a canal had been dug to bring water from Provo Canyon to the north end of Provo Bench. The project was soon abandoned, without success because of the gravel in the soil. A little later George S. Clark and Cornelius Baxter, both owners of tracts of land on the bench, decided to try this project again. With their young sons to aid them, these two men literally dragged the water to their land. With their shovels and hoes the men and their boys walked the entire distance from the mouth of Provo Canyon to their land, more than four miles, coaxing the water inches at a time, along the route of the abandoned canal. It was a great effort, because of the gravel. The water would flow a little way and then seep down through the gravel and disappear. However, the men persisted and in the end they were successful--the first men to bring water to what is now the fertile north section of Provo Bench. George S. Clark and his sons owned 160 acres of this Bench land, which they took up and homesteaded and obtained a government deed on.
George S. Clark also owned a large tract of land in what is now Manila Ward. He and John G. Holman, having homesteaded there also, and succeeded in bringing water from American Fork Canyon to irrigate their land, and also for the city of Pleasant Grove. Later when he and his sons went into the mercantile business, George S. Clark sold his North Field property in Manila to William Wadley for the small sum of $350.00. This property has since become extremely valuable, with orchards and clay beds bringing in a good income to the Wadley family.
In November 1871 George S. Clark was set apart to fill a short term mission in the United States and he went to labor with relatives and friends whom he had left in Illinois and Indiana many years before.
When the railroad was built from Salt Lake to Provo, George S. Clark and his sons had a contract to build the road bed from Draper to the Point of the Mountain.
In 1880 he and his sons established a mercantile business and opera house in Pleasant Grove, and soon had a thriving enterprise. It was a great blow to all of the family when the store and opera house burned to the ground in December 1890, just a week before Christmas. The cause of the fire was never known, but the loss was more than $35,000 with only $3000 of insurance. With characteristic energy, the Clark family set to work at once to rebuild their property and their business, and this time on a much larger scale. An old letterhead advertises that they not only sold the usual items of general merchandise, but hay, grain, coal, lumber, ice, and funeral supplies as well. There were caskets for burial of the dead and all kinds of household furniture to be obtained from this firm, known first as "George S. Clark and Sons" and later as "Clark Brothers." The firm flourished for many years.
The Opera House was known far and wide for its extremely well equipped stage and no traveling show troupe failed to present plays and entertainments in this building. It was much used by the community over a long period of years, the Pleasant Grove Home Dramatic Company presenting several plays each season, and Sunday School and M.I.A. groups presenting Christmas Cantatas and many other colorful entertainments very frequently. The Opera House was the scene of many political rallies and was the center of community life socially and recreationally over a long period of years. One can never forget the balls that were held there, nor the "Married Folks" parties, when banquets were served on long tables on the stage and everyone danced till morning, during the Gay Nineties and early 1900s. The store and Opera House were a Clark family contribution to the life of the community.
George S. Clark was always a staunch Latter-Day Saint and faithfully attended his Church duties to the day of his death. He was a great reader and kept himself well informed on all matters of importance at all times. In addition to being active in the Church, he held many positions of trust in civic affairs and was, among other things, a city councilman from 1867 until 1870. He was a man skilled in many trades and arts. His sons remember how with such crude instruments as a bottle of water, a level, and a few other crude tools, he could survey and measure land. He as always a builder and he believed firmly in taking excellent care of his tools. He was a man of great physical, as well as mental strength, and no job was too big for him to tackle. He was known in the community for the great amount of work he could accomplish.
Each of George S. Clark's six children were given splendid educational opportunities for he believed that no one could learn too much. Two of his sons filled missions, his daughter became a most gifted poet and highly skilled nurse, and his five sons became prominent businessmen and active leaders in the community of Pleasant Grove, one son serving as mayor and city councilman.
George Sheffer Clark built four homes in Pleasant Grove. The first was a log cabin of one room which he built in the Grove where the first site of the town was made. This home was built almost immediately after the settlers had determined on the location of their community. The Clarks, as well as most of the first settlers, set their wagon boxes on logs at the side of their one room house, to be used as bedroom for the first year in their new community. Their first child, Joseph Brigham Clark, was born in their wagon box bedroom. The second home built by George S. Clark was a small rock and adobe house in the corner of the lot which recently belonged to Hermese Peterson, just east of the Union Pacific tracks on the old State Highway. The third home of the Clark family was an adobe house which stood on the present site of the Bank of Pleasant Grove. In 1870 the large beautiful frame house which is now owned by H. Winfield Clark, a grandson of George S. Clark, was built and became a center of entertainment in the community. The fine ancestral home is an example of the best of early-day building. The rooms were large throughout the house, but the kitchen was especially large and from this kitchen, there opened two large double doors which opened to disclose a smaller room. The smaller room served as a stage and the kitchen served as an auditorium. To present a play in these two rooms was a simple matter. Saw horses made supports for benches and the benches were arranged across the large kitchen for seating the audience. The players played their roles in the small room, with the wide double doors open and taking the place of the usual stage curtain. Many entertainments were given in this hospitable pioneer home.
Above the first Clark's Store, a frame building erected in 1880, there was maintained the first Clark's Opera House, where the Home Dramatic company and out-of-town entertainers as well, performed for the public. In 1867 the old rock Opera House was constructed. This, with the first store, burned in December 1890, as mentioned above. The store was rebuilt soon after the ruins of the disastrous fire were cleared and the brick and stone building which now houses the business of C. R. Clark is the enlarged second store owned by George S. Clark and Sons and known later as "Clark Bros." It was a number of years after the store was rebuilt before the Opera House as rebuilt, but when it was opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day 1898, it filled a long-wanted need and became the most popular entertainment center of the community and of the county for many years, since it was so large and so well arranged that it proved adequate for even the largest crowds that ever assembled over a long period of time.
Mention should be made of the small Clark's Store that was opened Feb. 3, 1890 according to an item in the Provo Enquirer of that date. The item said it was opened in South Pleasant Grove, but it was generally known as the Lindon Store. It was a small frame building which stood about a half block north of the large store built by Albert E. Cullimore and now is owned and operated by Cecil Bullock. This south store was placed under the management of William E. Clark and Hyrum L. Clark, the two youngest sons of George S. Clark. Children of most of the Clark Brothers well remember the old orchard back of this store where they picked and devoured many early June apples in the summer when on rare occasions they were permitted to go along and spend the day visiting in what is now Lindon.
George S. Clark was a man who wished to achieve as much as was possible. He was known as an untiring worker in every project he undertook. His farms were noted for the very large crops produced and an item in Deseret News of Nov. 11, 1887 reads: "George S. Clark of Pleasant Grove raised 1350 bushels of potatoes on 2 1/4 acres of land this season. Many of the tubers weighed 5 pounds each and some of them 6 1/4 pounds. Mr. Clark has tilled this same piece of land for 37 successive years. Who can beat this?" This particular piece of land was the property now owned by D. W. West as his home property. George S. Clark had no patience with laziness and this high rate of production on his farm shows that much work was done to bring about such crops. One story is told by many early day residents of Pleasant Grove regarding George S. Clark's ability to work. A basement was being dug for a new building on Main Street and it worried Mr. Clark because the work proceeded so slowly. He said that he could complete half of the basement in one day if he were to do the work. He was challenged by the others present and next morning he went to work to prove that he could do what he had said he could do. By nightfall he had completed the task and one-half of the basement was ready for the carpenters to begin their work of constructing the framework of the building. He had met the challenge and won the admiration of the entire community for his ability to do work quickly and extremely well.
As was his father, Richard Clark, George Sheffer Clark was a stern, but a kindly man. He was quick to help others at all times and he was determined that his children should learn that every task was worth doing well and that the right way was the best way and the way he expected them to do whatever they were assigned to do. He wanted no half-done projects, for well completed tasks were a joy and a satisfaction to the doer and to the Lord. He was a firm believer in education and made an effort to have each of his children obtain the best schooling and training that it was possible to have. He, himself, was an inveterate reader and loved to know what was going on and how things were being done. In addition to his mission to Australia, he made a six-month mission to Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio in 1871 and in 1890 he and his sister, Lucinda Clark Harvey went to Indiana on a mission in search of genealogy, according to the Journal History of the Church. What was done with the material that was gathered in genealogy is not known now, but they did some temple work after their return home in 1891.
George S. Clark's wife Susannah, died April 9, 1891 and he survived her by a little more than ten years, passing away on August 28, 1901 at the age of almost 85 years. They were the parents of six children:
Joseph Brigham Clark
George Heber Clark
Susannah Matilda Clark Gamette
John Franklin Clark
William Edward Clark
Hyrum Lorenzo Clark
This history was written by Suzanna Mae Clark Grua, grand-daughter of George Sheffer Clark, in _______________. It was modified and edited by Roger E. Grua, great great grandson, and others in 1995 and again in 2001 with photo added, prior to submission to the modern Mormon Battalion organization for inclusion in their files of original members of the battalion. The Mormon Battalion is interested in placing a bronze medallion on the grave of George Sheffer Clark as they have with other battalion members.
The U.S. Mormon Battalion under the direction of Roger E. Grua, national Chaplin, placed the grave memorialization marker on the grave of George Sheffer Clark on October 20, 2001 in a solemn ceremony held at the grave site in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. The memorial service was conducted by Lyle Clark, son of Harold Clark and great grandson of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was unveiled by Harold Clark. A violin duet was played by Angela Grua Flamm and Natalie Grua Beesley, daughters of Roger E. Grua and great great great grand-daughters of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was dedicated by Roger E. Grua.
Son of Richard Clark & Ann Elizabeth Shaffer
Married Susannah Dalley, 14 Mar 1850, Coopersvle, Council Bluffs, Pottawattomie, Iowa
George Sheffer Clark, one of the original band of Utah Pioneers who entered the Great Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young on July 24, 1847, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, November 7, 1816. He was the seventh child of Richard Clark and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer. His father was a direct descendant of William Clark who helped to establish the William Penn settlement of Chester, Pennsylvania in 1682. His mother was a daughter of Phillip Sheffer who fought with Washington in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the celebrated Minute Men of Pennsylvania and later with the Northampton County Militia of Pennsylvania, under Capt. Jacob Bolieb. Both of George Sheffer Clark's parents were born in Pennsylvania and were married there. The Clark family moved to Jefferson County, Ohio, probably in about 1802, and between the birth of George in 1816 and 1824 they moved north and westward to Richland County, Ohio. The year 1829 found them in Marion County, Indiana, where the youngest child, Nancy, was born, and where George worked at hauling goods down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and on down that stream to New Orleans. The Clark family owned an 80-acre farm near Indianapolis, and all of the family who were then unmarried worked very hard on this farm. In winter when the farm work was lighter all of the children were sent to school, usually walking three miles each way, for the school was that distance from their farm. The father drilled the children and they gained enough to make them value education and ever afterwards to avail themselves of every opportunity to learn.
The Clark family remained in Indianapolis for a number of years and it was there in 1842 that they heard the Gospel (restored gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and soon embraced the new creed. George was not at home at the time that his parents were converted, but joined the Church later. The family had been converted by Franklin D. Richards and soon after their becoming acquainted with Richards and other leaders of the Church, the Clarks moved to Marshall County and from there to Nauvoo, Illinois. The five youngest children in the family accompanied their parents and George was baptized in the Mississippi River in the spring of 1843, by Bishop Hale. He was confirmed by Orson Pratt and others and was later ordained an elder by President Baker.
Shortly after being ordained an elder, George returned to Indiana to dispose of some property he still owned there. He finally sold his $2,000 farm for $200. He then went to Williamsport, Indiana, where he worked for a Mr. Treadway during the winter. Mr. Treadway was in the butchers' business and during the winter months several thousand hogs were killed and the meat cured and in the spring placed on flat boats and taken down the Mississippi to New Orleans and sold. George joined his parents in Nauvoo as soon as this work was finished and he had completed the trip to New Orleans and back.
He was a strong healthy young man and almost immediately after he arrived in Nauvoo he was made one of the guards of the city. The Prophet Joseph Smith's life was in danger and the guards kept him informed of all mobs that infested the area.
On September 22, 1844, George Sheffer Clark was ordained a member of the Thirteenth Quorum of Seventy by George A. Smith and others, and he devoted much of his time to his Church duties.
After the death of the Prophet, the Saints effected an agreement with the mob whereby the members of the Church were to be allowed to complete the Nauvoo Temple and receive their endowments, after which they were to move out to the West. When the Nauvoo Temple was finished George Sheffer Clark and several of his relatives, went into the temple to receive their endowments. Church records show that he was endowed on January 12, 1846.
During the early spring of 1846, when the Saints left Nauvoo, George S. Clark was made a member of the company of Colonel Markham. At Richardson's Point, Iowa, he was placed in charge of one of President Brigham Young's teams and he acted as a teamster for President Young until the party reached the Missouri River. While the Saints were camping at Sugar Creek, Iowa, George S. Clark and John S. Gleason were chosen to take charge of the commissary of the Camp of Israel. Sunday School lesson sheet for July 5, 1931 gives this information and states that "the Camp of Israel remained at Mount Pisgah from May 18, 1846 to June 3, 1846". At Mount Pisgah, George S. Clark was chosen to take a mission to the Pottawatomie Indians to make arrangements for the purchase of land and the privilege of locating a station for the emigrants at Pisgah. The Indians received Clark and his companion very kindly and the agreements were made.
From Mount Pisgah the Saints moved on to the Missouri River, and while they were encamped near Council Bluffs, Iowa, Colonel Allen of the United States Army came to the camp with the request from the Government that five hundred men volunteer for service in the Mexican War. George S. Clark offered his services at once and was assigned to be a member of Company B of the Mormon Battalion. Just after they reached the Mexican Border, Clark and several others became very ill and were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado for the winter. In Andrew Jensen's story of the Mormon Battalion found in Volume VIII of the Historical Record, it states that a part of the sick detachment left Pueblo on Dec. 23, 1846 for Winter Quarters, under the leadership of Captain Brown. Some of the party's horses were stolen by the Spaniards and George S. Clark and ten others were sent ahead to try to recover the animals. These men reached Winter Quarters without having found the horses, but they learned that Brigham Young and the first party of Pioneers were on their way to the mountains. They decided to go on after this company. On June 13, 1847, they reached Amasa Lyman's camp and on June 16, 1847 arrived at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Here they were told that President Young and his company were only a few days ahead of them. Procuring fresh horses, eleven of the Battalion men set out to overtake the Pioneers. When they reached the Green River, they found, to their dismay, that the Pioneers had already crossed the river and also that the large ferry boat which was the only means of crossing, was on the other side of the river. With characteristic faith these eleven men of the Mormon Battalion knelt down on the bank and prayed to their Heavenly Father for aid. It was not long before their prayers were answered for the old ferryman chanced to see the men kneeling on the pier across the river from him. Watching them for a little while, he became so curious about the group that he finally guided his ferry boat across the water, and, learning their desire to cross over, he took the Battalion men and their horses and goods over the river that night. Since the Pioneers were encamped only a short distance from the river, the men soon reached the camp, this date being July 4, 1847. However, only two members of this Battalion group came into the Great Salt Lake Valley with President Young on July 24, 1847, George S. Clark and a Mr. Oakely who settled in Provo. George S. Clark was taken ill with the Mountain fever just before the Pioneer group reached Emigration Canyon, and Brigham Young had asked that Clark be placed in one the Young wagons to be made more comfortable. Thus it was that George Sheffer Clark rode into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 with President Young's own family. The other members of the Battalion, under Captain Brown, followed later and arrived in the Valley on July 29, 1847.
During the late summer of 1847, George S. Clark was a member of a group of horsemen, under Jesse C. Little, who were sent out to explore the region around the Great Salt Lake Valley and Utah and Weber Valleys. About the last of August he was chosen to drive President Young's carriage on the return trip to Winter Quarters.
In the spring of 1848 he crossed the Missouri into Iowa and took up a homestead there, continuing to farm his land until the spring of 1850. During this time he had met a young English girl who had recently come to America for the sake of the Latter-day Saint faith. This girl was Susannah Dalley, daughter of the widow Ann Davies Dalley who had been converted in Great Britain. George Sheffer Clark and Susannah Dalley were married March 20 or 23, 1850 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Libeus T. Coones. In June of 1850 they, with some of their relatives started for Great Salt Lake City in Captain Cook's company, arriving in Salt Lake City on Sept. 3, 1850.
The Clark family attended a conference of the Church on Sept. 8, 1850 and there volunteered to go as a group to settle in Utah Valley, near a spot where W. R. Adams, Philo Farnsworth and John Mercer had staked off some land a few weeks earlier.
In the party, which was under the leadership of George S. Clark, were his wife, Susannah Dalley Clark, Richard and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer Clark, John Greenleaf Holman and Nancy Clark Holman, Lewis Harvey and his wife Lucinda Clark Harvey, Johnathan Harvey and Sarah Herbert Harvey, Charles Price and wife and child, Widow Harriet Marler and children, John Wilson, Ezekiel Holman, and one or two others, relatives of those mentioned.
On Sept 13, 1850 they made their camp in the grove of cottonwood trees that bordered the Grove Creek stream as it ran down the sloping hill from the Canyon to the northeast. This grove was on property recently known as the Joseph Dickerson place and the Mark Bezzant place. Here in this beautiful grove they established their homes and founded the city of Pleasant Grove. George S. Clark soon wrote to Brigham Young asking that more settlers be sent in order that a strong community might be built. He headed his letter "Pleasant Grove" because of the lovely spot where they had located, and this name was immediately chosen as the name of the new city. It was not long before more settlers came and the community life was begun.
On March 25, 1851, Brigham Young visited the community and appointed George S. Clark to act as Bishop of the settlement. The Bishop's license written that day and signed by Brigham Young is a valued family possession. Later he was to preside over the North Utah County. In the spring of 1853 George S. Clark was selected as probate judge of Utah County. He had worked diligently and had cleared much land and led the community in many projects, including the establishing of a school and the building of a rock fort wall around the community center, as a protection against the Indians.
During the fall of 1853, the Indians became troublesome in Southern Utah and George S. Clark was called to organize a company of fifty families to go to Cedar City to strengthen that settlement. He undertook this mission at a great personal sacrifice. His second child, George Heber, was only two weeks old when George S. Clark and his wife and two children began their journey south. They had sold all of their property in order to purchase a comfortable carriage and equipment to make the trip. Susannah's brothers, William, James, and Edward Dalley and their families were among those who accompanied them on the mission.
George S. Clark had served in the Walker Indian War in 1853 under Captain Samuel S. White and at the same time endeavored to develop his land and raise crops to provide food in the community.
In the spring of 1855 the Clark family moved back to Pleasant Grove and at the spring Conference held in Salt Lake City, April 10, 1856 George S. Clark was called to go on a mission to Australia. He left at once and was gone from his family for almost three years, returning in the late fall of 1858. During this mission he labored among the peoples of Australia and New Zealand, reorganizing many of the branches in New South Wales, Australia where a number of the Saints had apostatized. He also re-baptized all of the Elders and members of this Branch at the time of the re-confirmation of the Saints in Utah in 1857. During all of the time that he was in Australia the mail service was so poor that he received only two letters, one from his wife and one from the General Authorities of the Church. Consequently, he knew nothing of the coming of Johnston's Army to Utah. Elders were called home from many of the missions but those in Australia received no word. However, George S. Clark received a revelation regarding the calling home of missionaries and he and seven others returned to Salt Lake City. The incident was one that Clark considered a faith-promoting story all of his life. It happened that he and his companion were walking along a little traveled road in New South Wales, when Clark suddenly stopped and told his companion that he could hear Brigham Young talking. He felt that he could hear President Young saying "All of the elders in Australia are now called home." He could not get this out of his mind, so clearly had he heard the voice of President Young. He talked the matter over with the other missionaries and they decided that they must arrange to travel back to the United States. They left the mission in good condition and after a number of weeks were able to obtain passage on a ship and to reach Utah after a long sea voyage. Immediately upon his return, George S. Clark reported his experiences to Brigham Young and learned that Brigham had indeed made just such a statement as Clark had revealed to him, and the Church President bore testimony of the truth of Clark's revelation.
On his return from this mission to Australia, George S. Clark again became very prominent in developing the city of Pleasant Grove and being unable to take part in the Black Hawk War because of his large farm and business interests, he furnished teams and money in lieu of his own services.
At the instance of Brigham Young a canal had been dug to bring water from Provo Canyon to the north end of Provo Bench. The project was soon abandoned, without success because of the gravel in the soil. A little later George S. Clark and Cornelius Baxter, both owners of tracts of land on the bench, decided to try this project again. With their young sons to aid them, these two men literally dragged the water to their land. With their shovels and hoes the men and their boys walked the entire distance from the mouth of Provo Canyon to their land, more than four miles, coaxing the water inches at a time, along the route of the abandoned canal. It was a great effort, because of the gravel. The water would flow a little way and then seep down through the gravel and disappear. However, the men persisted and in the end they were successful--the first men to bring water to what is now the fertile north section of Provo Bench. George S. Clark and his sons owned 160 acres of this Bench land, which they took up and homesteaded and obtained a government deed on.
George S. Clark also owned a large tract of land in what is now Manila Ward. He and John G. Holman, having homesteaded there also, and succeeded in bringing water from American Fork Canyon to irrigate their land, and also for the city of Pleasant Grove. Later when he and his sons went into the mercantile business, George S. Clark sold his North Field property in Manila to William Wadley for the small sum of $350.00. This property has since become extremely valuable, with orchards and clay beds bringing in a good income to the Wadley family.
In November 1871 George S. Clark was set apart to fill a short term mission in the United States and he went to labor with relatives and friends whom he had left in Illinois and Indiana many years before.
When the railroad was built from Salt Lake to Provo, George S. Clark and his sons had a contract to build the road bed from Draper to the Point of the Mountain.
In 1880 he and his sons established a mercantile business and opera house in Pleasant Grove, and soon had a thriving enterprise. It was a great blow to all of the family when the store and opera house burned to the ground in December 1890, just a week before Christmas. The cause of the fire was never known, but the loss was more than $35,000 with only $3000 of insurance. With characteristic energy, the Clark family set to work at once to rebuild their property and their business, and this time on a much larger scale. An old letterhead advertises that they not only sold the usual items of general merchandise, but hay, grain, coal, lumber, ice, and funeral supplies as well. There were caskets for burial of the dead and all kinds of household furniture to be obtained from this firm, known first as "George S. Clark and Sons" and later as "Clark Brothers." The firm flourished for many years.
The Opera House was known far and wide for its extremely well equipped stage and no traveling show troupe failed to present plays and entertainments in this building. It was much used by the community over a long period of years, the Pleasant Grove Home Dramatic Company presenting several plays each season, and Sunday School and M.I.A. groups presenting Christmas Cantatas and many other colorful entertainments very frequently. The Opera House was the scene of many political rallies and was the center of community life socially and recreationally over a long period of years. One can never forget the balls that were held there, nor the "Married Folks" parties, when banquets were served on long tables on the stage and everyone danced till morning, during the Gay Nineties and early 1900s. The store and Opera House were a Clark family contribution to the life of the community.
George S. Clark was always a staunch Latter-Day Saint and faithfully attended his Church duties to the day of his death. He was a great reader and kept himself well informed on all matters of importance at all times. In addition to being active in the Church, he held many positions of trust in civic affairs and was, among other things, a city councilman from 1867 until 1870. He was a man skilled in many trades and arts. His sons remember how with such crude instruments as a bottle of water, a level, and a few other crude tools, he could survey and measure land. He as always a builder and he believed firmly in taking excellent care of his tools. He was a man of great physical, as well as mental strength, and no job was too big for him to tackle. He was known in the community for the great amount of work he could accomplish.
Each of George S. Clark's six children were given splendid educational opportunities for he believed that no one could learn too much. Two of his sons filled missions, his daughter became a most gifted poet and highly skilled nurse, and his five sons became prominent businessmen and active leaders in the community of Pleasant Grove, one son serving as mayor and city councilman.
George Sheffer Clark built four homes in Pleasant Grove. The first was a log cabin of one room which he built in the Grove where the first site of the town was made. This home was built almost immediately after the settlers had determined on the location of their community. The Clarks, as well as most of the first settlers, set their wagon boxes on logs at the side of their one room house, to be used as bedroom for the first year in their new community. Their first child, Joseph Brigham Clark, was born in their wagon box bedroom. The second home built by George S. Clark was a small rock and adobe house in the corner of the lot which recently belonged to Hermese Peterson, just east of the Union Pacific tracks on the old State Highway. The third home of the Clark family was an adobe house which stood on the present site of the Bank of Pleasant Grove. In 1870 the large beautiful frame house which is now owned by H. Winfield Clark, a grandson of George S. Clark, was built and became a center of entertainment in the community. The fine ancestral home is an example of the best of early-day building. The rooms were large throughout the house, but the kitchen was especially large and from this kitchen, there opened two large double doors which opened to disclose a smaller room. The smaller room served as a stage and the kitchen served as an auditorium. To present a play in these two rooms was a simple matter. Saw horses made supports for benches and the benches were arranged across the large kitchen for seating the audience. The players played their roles in the small room, with the wide double doors open and taking the place of the usual stage curtain. Many entertainments were given in this hospitable pioneer home.
Above the first Clark's Store, a frame building erected in 1880, there was maintained the first Clark's Opera House, where the Home Dramatic company and out-of-town entertainers as well, performed for the public. In 1867 the old rock Opera House was constructed. This, with the first store, burned in December 1890, as mentioned above. The store was rebuilt soon after the ruins of the disastrous fire were cleared and the brick and stone building which now houses the business of C. R. Clark is the enlarged second store owned by George S. Clark and Sons and known later as "Clark Bros." It was a number of years after the store was rebuilt before the Opera House as rebuilt, but when it was opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day 1898, it filled a long-wanted need and became the most popular entertainment center of the community and of the county for many years, since it was so large and so well arranged that it proved adequate for even the largest crowds that ever assembled over a long period of time.
Mention should be made of the small Clark's Store that was opened Feb. 3, 1890 according to an item in the Provo Enquirer of that date. The item said it was opened in South Pleasant Grove, but it was generally known as the Lindon Store. It was a small frame building which stood about a half block north of the large store built by Albert E. Cullimore and now is owned and operated by Cecil Bullock. This south store was placed under the management of William E. Clark and Hyrum L. Clark, the two youngest sons of George S. Clark. Children of most of the Clark Brothers well remember the old orchard back of this store where they picked and devoured many early June apples in the summer when on rare occasions they were permitted to go along and spend the day visiting in what is now Lindon.
George S. Clark was a man who wished to achieve as much as was possible. He was known as an untiring worker in every project he undertook. His farms were noted for the very large crops produced and an item in Deseret News of Nov. 11, 1887 reads: "George S. Clark of Pleasant Grove raised 1350 bushels of potatoes on 2 1/4 acres of land this season. Many of the tubers weighed 5 pounds each and some of them 6 1/4 pounds. Mr. Clark has tilled this same piece of land for 37 successive years. Who can beat this?" This particular piece of land was the property now owned by D. W. West as his home property. George S. Clark had no patience with laziness and this high rate of production on his farm shows that much work was done to bring about such crops. One story is told by many early day residents of Pleasant Grove regarding George S. Clark's ability to work. A basement was being dug for a new building on Main Street and it worried Mr. Clark because the work proceeded so slowly. He said that he could complete half of the basement in one day if he were to do the work. He was challenged by the others present and next morning he went to work to prove that he could do what he had said he could do. By nightfall he had completed the task and one-half of the basement was ready for the carpenters to begin their work of constructing the framework of the building. He had met the challenge and won the admiration of the entire community for his ability to do work quickly and extremely well.
As was his father, Richard Clark, George Sheffer Clark was a stern, but a kindly man. He was quick to help others at all times and he was determined that his children should learn that every task was worth doing well and that the right way was the best way and the way he expected them to do whatever they were assigned to do. He wanted no half-done projects, for well completed tasks were a joy and a satisfaction to the doer and to the Lord. He was a firm believer in education and made an effort to have each of his children obtain the best schooling and training that it was possible to have. He, himself, was an inveterate reader and loved to know what was going on and how things were being done. In addition to his mission to Australia, he made a six-month mission to Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio in 1871 and in 1890 he and his sister, Lucinda Clark Harvey went to Indiana on a mission in search of genealogy, according to the Journal History of the Church. What was done with the material that was gathered in genealogy is not known now, but they did some temple work after their return home in 1891.
George S. Clark's wife Susannah, died April 9, 1891 and he survived her by a little more than ten years, passing away on August 28, 1901 at the age of almost 85 years. They were the parents of six children:
Joseph Brigham Clark
George Heber Clark
Susannah Matilda Clark Gamette
John Franklin Clark
William Edward Clark
Hyrum Lorenzo Clark
This history was written by Suzanna Mae Clark Grua, grand-daughter of George Sheffer Clark, in _______________. It was modified and edited by Roger E. Grua, great great grandson, and others in 1995 and again in 2001 with photo added, prior to submission to the modern Mormon Battalion organization for inclusion in their files of original members of the battalion. The Mormon Battalion is interested in placing a bronze medallion on the grave of George Sheffer Clark as they have with other battalion members.
The U.S. Mormon Battalion under the direction of Roger E. Grua, national Chaplin, placed the grave memorialization marker on the grave of George Sheffer Clark on October 20, 2001 in a solemn ceremony held at the grave site in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. The memorial service was conducted by Lyle Clark, son of Harold Clark and great grandson of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was unveiled by Harold Clark. A violin duet was played by Angela Grua Flamm and Natalie Grua Beesley, daughters of Roger E. Grua and great great great grand-daughters of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was dedicated by Roger E. Grua.
Married Susannah Dalley, 14 Mar 1850, Coopersvle, Council Bluffs, Pottawattomie, Iowa
George Sheffer Clark, one of the original band of Utah Pioneers who entered the Great Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young on July 24, 1847, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, November 7, 1816. He was the seventh child of Richard Clark and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer. His father was a direct descendant of William Clark who helped to establish the William Penn settlement of Chester, Pennsylvania in 1682. His mother was a daughter of Phillip Sheffer who fought with Washington in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the celebrated Minute Men of Pennsylvania and later with the Northampton County Militia of Pennsylvania, under Capt. Jacob Bolieb. Both of George Sheffer Clark's parents were born in Pennsylvania and were married there. The Clark family moved to Jefferson County, Ohio, probably in about 1802, and between the birth of George in 1816 and 1824 they moved north and westward to Richland County, Ohio. The year 1829 found them in Marion County, Indiana, where the youngest child, Nancy, was born, and where George worked at hauling goods down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and on down that stream to New Orleans. The Clark family owned an 80-acre farm near Indianapolis, and all of the family who were then unmarried worked very hard on this farm. In winter when the farm work was lighter all of the children were sent to school, usually walking three miles each way, for the school was that distance from their farm. The father drilled the children and they gained enough to make them value education and ever afterwards to avail themselves of every opportunity to learn.
The Clark family remained in Indianapolis for a number of years and it was there in 1842 that they heard the Gospel (restored gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and soon embraced the new creed. George was not at home at the time that his parents were converted, but joined the Church later. The family had been converted by Franklin D. Richards and soon after their becoming acquainted with Richards and other leaders of the Church, the Clarks moved to Marshall County and from there to Nauvoo, Illinois. The five youngest children in the family accompanied their parents and George was baptized in the Mississippi River in the spring of 1843, by Bishop Hale. He was confirmed by Orson Pratt and others and was later ordained an elder by President Baker.
Shortly after being ordained an elder, George returned to Indiana to dispose of some property he still owned there. He finally sold his $2,000 farm for $200. He then went to Williamsport, Indiana, where he worked for a Mr. Treadway during the winter. Mr. Treadway was in the butchers' business and during the winter months several thousand hogs were killed and the meat cured and in the spring placed on flat boats and taken down the Mississippi to New Orleans and sold. George joined his parents in Nauvoo as soon as this work was finished and he had completed the trip to New Orleans and back.
He was a strong healthy young man and almost immediately after he arrived in Nauvoo he was made one of the guards of the city. The Prophet Joseph Smith's life was in danger and the guards kept him informed of all mobs that infested the area.
On September 22, 1844, George Sheffer Clark was ordained a member of the Thirteenth Quorum of Seventy by George A. Smith and others, and he devoted much of his time to his Church duties.
After the death of the Prophet, the Saints effected an agreement with the mob whereby the members of the Church were to be allowed to complete the Nauvoo Temple and receive their endowments, after which they were to move out to the West. When the Nauvoo Temple was finished George Sheffer Clark and several of his relatives, went into the temple to receive their endowments. Church records show that he was endowed on January 12, 1846.
During the early spring of 1846, when the Saints left Nauvoo, George S. Clark was made a member of the company of Colonel Markham. At Richardson's Point, Iowa, he was placed in charge of one of President Brigham Young's teams and he acted as a teamster for President Young until the party reached the Missouri River. While the Saints were camping at Sugar Creek, Iowa, George S. Clark and John S. Gleason were chosen to take charge of the commissary of the Camp of Israel. Sunday School lesson sheet for July 5, 1931 gives this information and states that "the Camp of Israel remained at Mount Pisgah from May 18, 1846 to June 3, 1846". At Mount Pisgah, George S. Clark was chosen to take a mission to the Pottawatomie Indians to make arrangements for the purchase of land and the privilege of locating a station for the emigrants at Pisgah. The Indians received Clark and his companion very kindly and the agreements were made.
From Mount Pisgah the Saints moved on to the Missouri River, and while they were encamped near Council Bluffs, Iowa, Colonel Allen of the United States Army came to the camp with the request from the Government that five hundred men volunteer for service in the Mexican War. George S. Clark offered his services at once and was assigned to be a member of Company B of the Mormon Battalion. Just after they reached the Mexican Border, Clark and several others became very ill and were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado for the winter. In Andrew Jensen's story of the Mormon Battalion found in Volume VIII of the Historical Record, it states that a part of the sick detachment left Pueblo on Dec. 23, 1846 for Winter Quarters, under the leadership of Captain Brown. Some of the party's horses were stolen by the Spaniards and George S. Clark and ten others were sent ahead to try to recover the animals. These men reached Winter Quarters without having found the horses, but they learned that Brigham Young and the first party of Pioneers were on their way to the mountains. They decided to go on after this company. On June 13, 1847, they reached Amasa Lyman's camp and on June 16, 1847 arrived at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Here they were told that President Young and his company were only a few days ahead of them. Procuring fresh horses, eleven of the Battalion men set out to overtake the Pioneers. When they reached the Green River, they found, to their dismay, that the Pioneers had already crossed the river and also that the large ferry boat which was the only means of crossing, was on the other side of the river. With characteristic faith these eleven men of the Mormon Battalion knelt down on the bank and prayed to their Heavenly Father for aid. It was not long before their prayers were answered for the old ferryman chanced to see the men kneeling on the pier across the river from him. Watching them for a little while, he became so curious about the group that he finally guided his ferry boat across the water, and, learning their desire to cross over, he took the Battalion men and their horses and goods over the river that night. Since the Pioneers were encamped only a short distance from the river, the men soon reached the camp, this date being July 4, 1847. However, only two members of this Battalion group came into the Great Salt Lake Valley with President Young on July 24, 1847, George S. Clark and a Mr. Oakely who settled in Provo. George S. Clark was taken ill with the Mountain fever just before the Pioneer group reached Emigration Canyon, and Brigham Young had asked that Clark be placed in one the Young wagons to be made more comfortable. Thus it was that George Sheffer Clark rode into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 with President Young's own family. The other members of the Battalion, under Captain Brown, followed later and arrived in the Valley on July 29, 1847.
During the late summer of 1847, George S. Clark was a member of a group of horsemen, under Jesse C. Little, who were sent out to explore the region around the Great Salt Lake Valley and Utah and Weber Valleys. About the last of August he was chosen to drive President Young's carriage on the return trip to Winter Quarters.
In the spring of 1848 he crossed the Missouri into Iowa and took up a homestead there, continuing to farm his land until the spring of 1850. During this time he had met a young English girl who had recently come to America for the sake of the Latter-day Saint faith. This girl was Susannah Dalley, daughter of the widow Ann Davies Dalley who had been converted in Great Britain. George Sheffer Clark and Susannah Dalley were married March 20 or 23, 1850 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Libeus T. Coones. In June of 1850 they, with some of their relatives started for Great Salt Lake City in Captain Cook's company, arriving in Salt Lake City on Sept. 3, 1850.
The Clark family attended a conference of the Church on Sept. 8, 1850 and there volunteered to go as a group to settle in Utah Valley, near a spot where W. R. Adams, Philo Farnsworth and John Mercer had staked off some land a few weeks earlier.
In the party, which was under the leadership of George S. Clark, were his wife, Susannah Dalley Clark, Richard and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer Clark, John Greenleaf Holman and Nancy Clark Holman, Lewis Harvey and his wife Lucinda Clark Harvey, Johnathan Harvey and Sarah Herbert Harvey, Charles Price and wife and child, Widow Harriet Marler and children, John Wilson, Ezekiel Holman, and one or two others, relatives of those mentioned.
On Sept 13, 1850 they made their camp in the grove of cottonwood trees that bordered the Grove Creek stream as it ran down the sloping hill from the Canyon to the northeast. This grove was on property recently known as the Joseph Dickerson place and the Mark Bezzant place. Here in this beautiful grove they established their homes and founded the city of Pleasant Grove. George S. Clark soon wrote to Brigham Young asking that more settlers be sent in order that a strong community might be built. He headed his letter "Pleasant Grove" because of the lovely spot where they had located, and this name was immediately chosen as the name of the new city. It was not long before more settlers came and the community life was begun.
On March 25, 1851, Brigham Young visited the community and appointed George S. Clark to act as Bishop of the settlement. The Bishop's license written that day and signed by Brigham Young is a valued family possession. Later he was to preside over the North Utah County. In the spring of 1853 George S. Clark was selected as probate judge of Utah County. He had worked diligently and had cleared much land and led the community in many projects, including the establishing of a school and the building of a rock fort wall around the community center, as a protection against the Indians.
During the fall of 1853, the Indians became troublesome in Southern Utah and George S. Clark was called to organize a company of fifty families to go to Cedar City to strengthen that settlement. He undertook this mission at a great personal sacrifice. His second child, George Heber, was only two weeks old when George S. Clark and his wife and two children began their journey south. They had sold all of their property in order to purchase a comfortable carriage and equipment to make the trip. Susannah's brothers, William, James, and Edward Dalley and their families were among those who accompanied them on the mission.
George S. Clark had served in the Walker Indian War in 1853 under Captain Samuel S. White and at the same time endeavored to develop his land and raise crops to provide food in the community.
In the spring of 1855 the Clark family moved back to Pleasant Grove and at the spring Conference held in Salt Lake City, April 10, 1856 George S. Clark was called to go on a mission to Australia. He left at once and was gone from his family for almost three years, returning in the late fall of 1858. During this mission he labored among the peoples of Australia and New Zealand, reorganizing many of the branches in New South Wales, Australia where a number of the Saints had apostatized. He also re-baptized all of the Elders and members of this Branch at the time of the re-confirmation of the Saints in Utah in 1857. During all of the time that he was in Australia the mail service was so poor that he received only two letters, one from his wife and one from the General Authorities of the Church. Consequently, he knew nothing of the coming of Johnston's Army to Utah. Elders were called home from many of the missions but those in Australia received no word. However, George S. Clark received a revelation regarding the calling home of missionaries and he and seven others returned to Salt Lake City. The incident was one that Clark considered a faith-promoting story all of his life. It happened that he and his companion were walking along a little traveled road in New South Wales, when Clark suddenly stopped and told his companion that he could hear Brigham Young talking. He felt that he could hear President Young saying "All of the elders in Australia are now called home." He could not get this out of his mind, so clearly had he heard the voice of President Young. He talked the matter over with the other missionaries and they decided that they must arrange to travel back to the United States. They left the mission in good condition and after a number of weeks were able to obtain passage on a ship and to reach Utah after a long sea voyage. Immediately upon his return, George S. Clark reported his experiences to Brigham Young and learned that Brigham had indeed made just such a statement as Clark had revealed to him, and the Church President bore testimony of the truth of Clark's revelation.
On his return from this mission to Australia, George S. Clark again became very prominent in developing the city of Pleasant Grove and being unable to take part in the Black Hawk War because of his large farm and business interests, he furnished teams and money in lieu of his own services.
At the instance of Brigham Young a canal had been dug to bring water from Provo Canyon to the north end of Provo Bench. The project was soon abandoned, without success because of the gravel in the soil. A little later George S. Clark and Cornelius Baxter, both owners of tracts of land on the bench, decided to try this project again. With their young sons to aid them, these two men literally dragged the water to their land. With their shovels and hoes the men and their boys walked the entire distance from the mouth of Provo Canyon to their land, more than four miles, coaxing the water inches at a time, along the route of the abandoned canal. It was a great effort, because of the gravel. The water would flow a little way and then seep down through the gravel and disappear. However, the men persisted and in the end they were successful--the first men to bring water to what is now the fertile north section of Provo Bench. George S. Clark and his sons owned 160 acres of this Bench land, which they took up and homesteaded and obtained a government deed on.
George S. Clark also owned a large tract of land in what is now Manila Ward. He and John G. Holman, having homesteaded there also, and succeeded in bringing water from American Fork Canyon to irrigate their land, and also for the city of Pleasant Grove. Later when he and his sons went into the mercantile business, George S. Clark sold his North Field property in Manila to William Wadley for the small sum of $350.00. This property has since become extremely valuable, with orchards and clay beds bringing in a good income to the Wadley family.
In November 1871 George S. Clark was set apart to fill a short term mission in the United States and he went to labor with relatives and friends whom he had left in Illinois and Indiana many years before.
When the railroad was built from Salt Lake to Provo, George S. Clark and his sons had a contract to build the road bed from Draper to the Point of the Mountain.
In 1880 he and his sons established a mercantile business and opera house in Pleasant Grove, and soon had a thriving enterprise. It was a great blow to all of the family when the store and opera house burned to the ground in December 1890, just a week before Christmas. The cause of the fire was never known, but the loss was more than $35,000 with only $3000 of insurance. With characteristic energy, the Clark family set to work at once to rebuild their property and their business, and this time on a much larger scale. An old letterhead advertises that they not only sold the usual items of general merchandise, but hay, grain, coal, lumber, ice, and funeral supplies as well. There were caskets for burial of the dead and all kinds of household furniture to be obtained from this firm, known first as "George S. Clark and Sons" and later as "Clark Brothers." The firm flourished for many years.
The Opera House was known far and wide for its extremely well equipped stage and no traveling show troupe failed to present plays and entertainments in this building. It was much used by the community over a long period of years, the Pleasant Grove Home Dramatic Company presenting several plays each season, and Sunday School and M.I.A. groups presenting Christmas Cantatas and many other colorful entertainments very frequently. The Opera House was the scene of many political rallies and was the center of community life socially and recreationally over a long period of years. One can never forget the balls that were held there, nor the "Married Folks" parties, when banquets were served on long tables on the stage and everyone danced till morning, during the Gay Nineties and early 1900s. The store and Opera House were a Clark family contribution to the life of the community.
George S. Clark was always a staunch Latter-Day Saint and faithfully attended his Church duties to the day of his death. He was a great reader and kept himself well informed on all matters of importance at all times. In addition to being active in the Church, he held many positions of trust in civic affairs and was, among other things, a city councilman from 1867 until 1870. He was a man skilled in many trades and arts. His sons remember how with such crude instruments as a bottle of water, a level, and a few other crude tools, he could survey and measure land. He as always a builder and he believed firmly in taking excellent care of his tools. He was a man of great physical, as well as mental strength, and no job was too big for him to tackle. He was known in the community for the great amount of work he could accomplish.
Each of George S. Clark's six children were given splendid educational opportunities for he believed that no one could learn too much. Two of his sons filled missions, his daughter became a most gifted poet and highly skilled nurse, and his five sons became prominent businessmen and active leaders in the community of Pleasant Grove, one son serving as mayor and city councilman.
George Sheffer Clark built four homes in Pleasant Grove. The first was a log cabin of one room which he built in the Grove where the first site of the town was made. This home was built almost immediately after the settlers had determined on the location of their community. The Clarks, as well as most of the first settlers, set their wagon boxes on logs at the side of their one room house, to be used as bedroom for the first year in their new community. Their first child, Joseph Brigham Clark, was born in their wagon box bedroom. The second home built by George S. Clark was a small rock and adobe house in the corner of the lot which recently belonged to Hermese Peterson, just east of the Union Pacific tracks on the old State Highway. The third home of the Clark family was an adobe house which stood on the present site of the Bank of Pleasant Grove. In 1870 the large beautiful frame house which is now owned by H. Winfield Clark, a grandson of George S. Clark, was built and became a center of entertainment in the community. The fine ancestral home is an example of the best of early-day building. The rooms were large throughout the house, but the kitchen was especially large and from this kitchen, there opened two large double doors which opened to disclose a smaller room. The smaller room served as a stage and the kitchen served as an auditorium. To present a play in these two rooms was a simple matter. Saw horses made supports for benches and the benches were arranged across the large kitchen for seating the audience. The players played their roles in the small room, with the wide double doors open and taking the place of the usual stage curtain. Many entertainments were given in this hospitable pioneer home.
Above the first Clark's Store, a frame building erected in 1880, there was maintained the first Clark's Opera House, where the Home Dramatic company and out-of-town entertainers as well, performed for the public. In 1867 the old rock Opera House was constructed. This, with the first store, burned in December 1890, as mentioned above. The store was rebuilt soon after the ruins of the disastrous fire were cleared and the brick and stone building which now houses the business of C. R. Clark is the enlarged second store owned by George S. Clark and Sons and known later as "Clark Bros." It was a number of years after the store was rebuilt before the Opera House as rebuilt, but when it was opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day 1898, it filled a long-wanted need and became the most popular entertainment center of the community and of the county for many years, since it was so large and so well arranged that it proved adequate for even the largest crowds that ever assembled over a long period of time.
Mention should be made of the small Clark's Store that was opened Feb. 3, 1890 according to an item in the Provo Enquirer of that date. The item said it was opened in South Pleasant Grove, but it was generally known as the Lindon Store. It was a small frame building which stood about a half block north of the large store built by Albert E. Cullimore and now is owned and operated by Cecil Bullock. This south store was placed under the management of William E. Clark and Hyrum L. Clark, the two youngest sons of George S. Clark. Children of most of the Clark Brothers well remember the old orchard back of this store where they picked and devoured many early June apples in the summer when on rare occasions they were permitted to go along and spend the day visiting in what is now Lindon.
George S. Clark was a man who wished to achieve as much as was possible. He was known as an untiring worker in every project he undertook. His farms were noted for the very large crops produced and an item in Deseret News of Nov. 11, 1887 reads: "George S. Clark of Pleasant Grove raised 1350 bushels of potatoes on 2 1/4 acres of land this season. Many of the tubers weighed 5 pounds each and some of them 6 1/4 pounds. Mr. Clark has tilled this same piece of land for 37 successive years. Who can beat this?" This particular piece of land was the property now owned by D. W. West as his home property. George S. Clark had no patience with laziness and this high rate of production on his farm shows that much work was done to bring about such crops. One story is told by many early day residents of Pleasant Grove regarding George S. Clark's ability to work. A basement was being dug for a new building on Main Street and it worried Mr. Clark because the work proceeded so slowly. He said that he could complete half of the basement in one day if he were to do the work. He was challenged by the others present and next morning he went to work to prove that he could do what he had said he could do. By nightfall he had completed the task and one-half of the basement was ready for the carpenters to begin their work of constructing the framework of the building. He had met the challenge and won the admiration of the entire community for his ability to do work quickly and extremely well.
As was his father, Richard Clark, George Sheffer Clark was a stern, but a kindly man. He was quick to help others at all times and he was determined that his children should learn that every task was worth doing well and that the right way was the best way and the way he expected them to do whatever they were assigned to do. He wanted no half-done projects, for well completed tasks were a joy and a satisfaction to the doer and to the Lord. He was a firm believer in education and made an effort to have each of his children obtain the best schooling and training that it was possible to have. He, himself, was an inveterate reader and loved to know what was going on and how things were being done. In addition to his mission to Australia, he made a six-month mission to Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio in 1871 and in 1890 he and his sister, Lucinda Clark Harvey went to Indiana on a mission in search of genealogy, according to the Journal History of the Church. What was done with the material that was gathered in genealogy is not known now, but they did some temple work after their return home in 1891.
George S. Clark's wife Susannah, died April 9, 1891 and he survived her by a little more than ten years, passing away on August 28, 1901 at the age of almost 85 years. They were the parents of six children:
Joseph Brigham Clark
George Heber Clark
Susannah Matilda Clark Gamette
John Franklin Clark
William Edward Clark
Hyrum Lorenzo Clark
This history was written by Suzanna Mae Clark Grua, grand-daughter of George Sheffer Clark, in _______________. It was modified and edited by Roger E. Grua, great great grandson, and others in 1995 and again in 2001 with photo added, prior to submission to the modern Mormon Battalion organization for inclusion in their files of original members of the battalion. The Mormon Battalion is interested in placing a bronze medallion on the grave of George Sheffer Clark as they have with other battalion members.
The U.S. Mormon Battalion under the direction of Roger E. Grua, national Chaplin, placed the grave memorialization marker on the grave of George Sheffer Clark on October 20, 2001 in a solemn ceremony held at the grave site in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. The memorial service was conducted by Lyle Clark, son of Harold Clark and great grandson of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was unveiled by Harold Clark. A violin duet was played by Angela Grua Flamm and Natalie Grua Beesley, daughters of Roger E. Grua and great great great grand-daughters of George Sheffer Clark. The marker was dedicated by Roger E. Grua.
Gravesite Details
Grave Coordinates A-04-007-07
Family Members
Siblings
