CLARK
family
of Sunny Bank
| The first member of the "Clark" family,
William, arrived in Gaspe in 1828 from England. He
married Bridget Condon of Douglastown and settled on Lot
# 24 in Wakeham. This land was purchased from the
O’Hara family, and is still partly owned by the
Clark family today. Mrs. Jessie Clark resides near the
former homestead of William. The first Clark family was
devastated by the diphtheria epidemic of 1862, as was the
Eagle family of Sunny Bank. William and the last six of
his children all died in the month of February. The
children ranged from 6 to 18 years of age. His eldest
son, James moved to Australia, leaving only two sons and
three daughters in Gaspe. All three daughters married
Pattersons. The elder son David, born in 1833, married
Ann Miller of Sunny Bank. John married Frances Miller of
Sunny Bank, and after she died at the young age of 29 he
remarried Sophia Grant, also of Sunny Bank. Arthur John Clark, son of John Clark and Sophia Grant, married Maude Patterson and moved to lot #14 in Sunny Bank. Maude died a year later, after having only one child, Muriel. Arthur re-married to Ida Patterson and had five more children. Most of these children remained in the west end of Sunny Bank, where several Clark families still reside. |