After the last posting I wondered what had become of Frederick Converse Clark, assistant professor of economics at Stanford during its earliest years. In such matters it is useful to head off to a genealogical website such as Ancestry.com [often available at public libraries, otherwise subscription required] to get a lead. In a family tree at ancestry.com, the obituary below was referenced. There was even a link to the site www.findagrave.com where we see from Clark’s headstone the correct spelling of his last name (no “e”). He left a wife, son and daughter.
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FRED CONVERSE CLARKE [sic]
The friends of Professor Fred Converse Clarke [sic], ’87, of the Ohio State University, were inexpressibly shocked at the news of his death by his own hand at Columbus on the morning of September 20. Professor Clarke [sic] had made unfortunate investments during the last few years, and moreover had persuaded many of his friends to put their money into the same mining companies of whose success he was so sanguine. Upon the failure of these companies, Clarke [sic] was utterly cast down by the thought that he had been responsible for the misfortunes of his friends, and he allowed this thought to prey upon his mind until the result was as stated above. After his graduation from the University, Professor Clarke [sic] had taught in the Ann Arbor High School and in Leland Stanford, Jr., University. At the Ohio State University he was at the head of the department of economics and sociology.
Source: The Michigan Alumnus, v. 10, 1903/1904, p. 49.
Image Source: Clark gravestone in Forest Hill Cemetery, Ann Arbor Michigan. At findagrave.com.