1908: Clarkson 40th Wedding Anniversary

In September of 1908, most of the Clarkson family gathered in Fort Smith, Arkansas for a family reunion honoring the fortieth wedding anniversary of Richard Albert Clarkson and Elizabeth Jane Robinson, a remembrance of the marriage that took place on the 3rd of September 1868 in Washington county Missouri.  A “now treasured” family photograph was taken on that occasion.  This lovely recounting of the event was found, as a newspaper clipping, in the Clarkson family Bible.  The date “Sept 3rd 1908” was handprinted on the clipping.

Mr and Mrs RA Clarkson were given a most pleasant surprise on Wednesday, the occasion being a surprise family reunion in celebration of their 40th anniversary.  Early in the morning, unconscious of what the day would bring forth, Mrs Clarkson accompanied by her two grandchildren, Miss Elizabeth and Henryetta Boyd, of Oklahoma City, who have been visiting at the Clarkson home for a number of weeks, and Miss Etta Clarkson, went to Mt Vista to spend the day.  During their absence, Mrs Walter Boyd, Mrs WH Vick, Edwin Clarkson and little son, of Oklahoma City, arrived as a surprise to celebrate the anniversary of the marriage of their parents.  Mr Clarkson was soon let into the secret and upon the arrival of Mrs Clarkson and daughter at Electric park, returning from their day’s outing, they were most happily greeted by the rest of the family.  To complete the pleasant surprise a most sumptuous dinner had been prepared by the visiting members, and amid many congratulations and good wishes the day passed, making it one of great pleasure and thorough enjoyment.

  

Who’s in the photograph?

(front) Samuel EdwinClarkson, Albert L Clarkson, Henrietta C Boyd, Elizabeth Jane Robinson Clarkson. (rear) Elizabeth B Boyd, AnnieClarkson Boyd, Henrietta J Clarkson, Cammie Clarkson Vick, Richard Albert Clarkson.

For more details on the Richard Albert Clarkson and Elizabeth Jane Robinson Family, visit their page at Family Stories, pamgarrett.com.  Richard Albert Clarkson and Elizabeth Jane Robinson are my great, great grandparents.

Wordless Wednesday: Elizabeth Robinson Clarkson with her Grandsons

This delightful photograph of Elizabeth Jane “Lizzie” Robinson Clarkson with her grandsons was probably taken about 1920-1922.  The grandsons are Samuel Edwin “Ed” Clarkson jr (born 1908) and William Henry  “Billy” Vick jr  (born 1911).  Elizabeth Jane Robinson married Richard Albert Clarkson in 1868.  He died in 1913, and she lived on as a widow for seventeen years, dying in 1930.   The location of this photo may be Lizzie’s home in Fort Smith Arkansas, or the grandsons’ hometown of Oklahoma City Oklahoma.  Elizabeth Jane Robinson Clarkson is my great, great grandmother.

Oklahoma City Hardware Company, 1907

Just after 1900 my great-grandfather, Samuel Edwin Clarkson, moved from Arkansas to Oklahoma and established Oklahoma City Hardware.  He bought out another hardware concern and set up shop on Grand Ave in the young, but booming, city.  His brothers-in-law, Alfred Boyd and William H Vick, joined him in the business venture.  This article appeared in The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) on the 10th of March 1907. Later the business left off the “City” and became Oklahoma Hardware Company, moving operations to a large, new warehouse building on East California Street.  The building still survives today in the center of Oklahoma City’s Bricktown revival district.  The ghost sign, Oklahoma Hardware Company, is still clearly readable on the side of the building.  It is listed on the National Historic Register. 

One of the strongest possible illustrations of the fact that Oklahoma City has a great commercial destiny is the large scale upon which some of the mercantile concerns of more recent establishment here have been founded.  A leader among them is the Oklahoma City Hardware Company, one of the largest wholesale concerns of the entire southwest.  It does a jobbing business exclusively and represents some of the largest and best known concerns in the country.  The house of this company occupies Nos 19 to 25 East Grand avenue, and has an extensive building.  It was first established in business in this city in 1900, and has been constantly growing ever since.  The company is incorporated and has a capital stock of $500,00 making it one of the strongest competitors for the hardware business of the entire southwest, thus aiding in making Oklahoma City the greatest distributing point in this section. 

The large stocks carried by this company embrace everything in the hardware lines, especially including the materials and implements adaptable to the industries of the country.  The officers of the company are all capable and practical business men, progressive and modern in all of their methods, taking a lively interest in everything for the advancement of the material interests of the city and section.  They are Messrs. SE Clarkson, president and buyer; AW Boyd, vice president; WH Vick, secretary and treasurer.  The directors are WM Parker, WF Wilson, RA Clarkson, WH Vick, AW Boyd, SE Clarkson and Dennis T Flynn, all among the best known business men in this section.  The company employs a large number of experienced and efficient men, while the officers in charge of the establishment give their personal attention to the business and attend promptly to all orders.  This is especially one of the establishments which give credit to the city for doing business on a scale that entitles it to the name of a metropolis. 

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