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Neil A. CLARK, sheriff, Princeton, Ark. This popular and
successful official owes his nativity to Tennessee, his birth
occurring in Shelby County April 17, 1845, and is the son
of Peter & Lonisa Jane (SHAW) CLARK, natives of North
Carolina and Hardeman County, Tenn., respectively. The father was born in Cumberland
County in 1818, read medicine with Dr. Robertson & McCoy, of Fayetteville,
N.C., and moved to Haywood County, Tenn., in 1838. There he married Miss L. J.
SHAW in 1841, and resided until 1845, when he moved to Shelby County of that
State. On January 1, 1846, he moved to Arkansas, settled in Dallas County, and
there his death occurred February 3, 1853, when but forty-five years of age.
The mother was born February 27, 1827, and after the death of Mr. CLARK, or in
1861, she married James B. THRASHER. She is still living, makes her home with
our subject, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Her second husband died
in 1854. Of the six children born to his parents, Neil A. CLARK is fifth in order
of birth, and only three are now living. He divided his time in youth in assisting
on the farm and in attending the common schools where he obtained a good practical
education. When sixteen years of age, or in 1862, he enlisted in the Eighteenth
Arkansas Confederate Infantry, and later joined the Twelfth Arkansas Battalion
of Sharpshooters, with which he remained until captured on May 17, 1863. He was
captured at Big Black and taken to Camp Morton, Ind., thence to Fort Delaware
and to Point Lookout, Md., in December, 1863. He was then exchanged and afterward
joined the Twelfth Arkansas Confederate Infantry, with which he remained until
cessation of hostilities. He was in many battles, the most prominent of which
were Corinth, Port Gibson, Champions Hill, and at Big Black Bridge, where he
was captured. After the war, Mr. CLARK was left without means, and for several
years he was engaged in teaming form Pine Bluff to Princeton Township. He continued
this occupation until 1880, when he was elected assessor, and in 1882 he was
elected to the office of sheriff, which position he has filled in a very satisfactory
manner since. On April 11, 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Mollie GRAY,
daughter of Joseph GRAY, of this county, and this marriage resulted in the birth
of seven children: Mary L. (wife of A. J. FULLER, resides in Fordyce, Ark.),
Madora (at home), Gracie, Neil, Carrie, Helen B, and Hugh (who died July 10,
1873, when three years of age). Socially Mr. CLARK is a member of the A. F. & A,
M., the K of P., and is a Democrat in politics. He and Mrs. CLARK are members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.