HERVEY HINDMAN CLARKE, the eldest living representative of the Clarke family in Franklin township, is a native of that county, having been born November 3, 1820, the eldest son of Joseph and Catherine (Andrews) Clarke. His boyhood and youth were passed on the old home place, and his education was received in the schools of the neighborhood, supplemented by a thorough course of training at West Alexander Academy and at Washington College, where he showed considerable ability. He was graduated in 1841, read law with Hon. T. M. T. McKennan, and was admitted to the bar, but did not practice. In April 1848, he married Margaret L., daughter of Archibald Brownlee, of Buffalo township, and he and his youthful bride then settled on the farm where they yet reside. The names of the children born to Mr. And Mrs. Clarke are as follows: Clara V. (married to James Ely), and living in Marion county, Kans.), Edmund H., J. Addison (both of Washington county, Penn.), Frank living in Anderson county, Kans.), Hervey H., Ella J. (Mrs. Henry Rudy), Earnest B. (living in the State of Washington); and Ethan (who died at the age of four years). Mr. And Mrs. Hervey H. Clarke were among the charter members of the Second Presbyterian Church of Washington, Penn., of which he is an elder and has repeatedly served as trustee. Politically he was originally a Whig, and since the formation of the Republican party, he has been an active member of the same. He has never sought party preferment, and has uniformly declined political honors, his time having been assiduously applied to the multitudinous duties of the farm, but has served as justice of the peace and also filled the office of school director for many years. Mr. Clarke's home place consists of 250 acres of prime land largely improved by his own industry and good management. The dwelling, a handsome and commodious brick edifice, stands an unimpeachable witness to the cultivated taste of the man who built it - Mr. Clarke himself; while the yard is adorned with many elegant trees planted by his own hand over forty years ago - the seal of industry and prosperity being stamped upon everything pertaining to the place.

Text taken from page 180 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Bobbi Steele of Indianapolis, IN as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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