From boxing gypsies to Civil War prison to Olympic medals in archery

Poking around in the past you never know what you will find and where it might lead you.

This week I was looking for something to write about for the blog and started by searching old newspaper articles, to see what happened in Wyoming  in some past July or August. The most interesting article I found was about an impromptu boxing match between traveling gypsies that occurred on Clark Avenue, apparently locally known as "Lovers' Lane" in July of 1905.

Cincinnati Enquirer, July 25, 1905.

I wanted to do more with this post than just re-print an newspaper article, so I considered what else I could research and write about. The article mentions the "Town Hall" a reference to the old Wyoming Amusement Hall, which was two buildings earlier than our current Civic Center, on the same site. The village maintained its offices in the building until it burned in a 1907 fire. There were tennis courts on the property, which is possibly where the audience of tennis players came from. But writing about the history of that corner could be a long post of its own, so I put that idea aside. I've already written about Springfield Pike, so I thought I would look into the history of Clark Avenue.

Clark Avenue was laid out in 1874 as part of the Wyoming Land and Building Company (WLBCo) Subdivision.

By 1905, when the gypsies had their boxing match on the street, there were only two homes built on Clark Avenue...

...this one built in 1875...

Source: Google Streetview 

 ...and this one constructed in 1882.

Source: Google Streetview

They were both at the western, Springfield Pike, end of the street, so I guess it could have been a secluded little "Lovers' Lane."

I started out guessing that the street was named for William A . Clark, who owned property in Wyoming (his house is noted on the map above, on Burns Ave. across from Durrell Ave.); was a "Director" of the Wyoming Land and Building Company subdivision, and an investor in other Wyoming real estate ventures; and who later was part of the village government. But ultimately I question why the street would be named for him, and not any of the other investors (see my final note at the end of this post for another guess at who the street was named for). However, I learned a lot about the very interesting life of William A. Clark.

William A. Clark

Source: Spalding's Archery Guide, 1910.

William A. Clark was born in Ohio in 1842, to Sarah Goudy and John Clark. In 1850 the Census lists their family living in Sycamore Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, on a fairly sizable farm--at his death in about 1863, John Clark owned a farm of almost three hundred acres that stretched from what is now Galbraith Road, toward the north, along both sides of Reading Road to about where Southern Avenue is in Reading.

William served in the Civil War, in the 6th Ohio Infantry (The Guthrie Gray Battalion). According to an article about his life and death, published in Forest and Stream magazine in 1913, William was injured at the battle of Stones River, captured, and spent time in Libby Prison and imprisoned on Belle Isle, both in Richmond, Virginia, until being released in a prisoner exchange.

Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia
Source: National Archives.

He returned to his unit, and was again injured in the battle at Chickamauga, left on the battlefield, and captured by Confederates. The article went on to explain "Mr. Clark always claimed that his life was saved by a surgeon in the Confederate hospital, who, finding that Mr. Clark was a fellow Mason, prevented proposed amputation and gave the wounded man special attention for several weeks." He was again released in a prisoner exchange, but this wound, a partial disability in his right arm, kept him from returning to combat.

After the war, William married Mary Jane Rankin of Lisbon, Ohio (located between Pittsburgh and Cleveland) in 1866. They moved to Cincinnati before 1870, when the Census lists them living in the 8th Ward and William having occupation of "clerk in store;" in the 1880 Census his occupation is listed as "clerk in shirt store." City directories indicate he worked for many years at the southeast corner of Walnut and Fourth Street for A.J. Clark Shirt Manufacturers and Dealer of Men's Furnishings (A.J. Clark also owned property in Wyoming in the 1870s, and his wife Helen's brother lived in my house in the 1870s - see this post). William may have been related to the owner of the firm, but I have not figured out through what connection.

Source: Kenny's Illustrated Cincinnati, 1875.

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, October 2, 1874.

Sometime before 1874 William A. and Mary Jane Clark purchased two lots in the Wilson Subdivision of Burns' farm: Lot  50 (two homes are now on this lot: 97 Burns Ave., built in 1926, and 101 Burns Ave., built in 1875) and Lot 51 (now 107 Burns Ave., built in 1870). I don't know how accurate those construction dates are--they are from the County Auditor's records. Maybe the family lived at 107 Burns for a few years and then built 101 Burns, but I found evidence that the Clarks lived in the home at 101 Burns in both 1875 and 1910. The family included children Carrie (b. 1868), Georgianne (b. 1872), Albert Rankin (b. 1877) and William W. (b. 1880). In 1880 the census reported their household included both of William and Mary's widowed mothers, as well as a young woman who was a servant.

William A. Clark Home, 101 Burns Ave.
Source: Google Streetview

107 Burns Ave.
Source: Google Streetview

Once in Wyoming, William got involved with local real estate and village government. In addition to being a Director on the board of the Wyoming Land and Building Company, he was a stockholder in the Park Place Land & Building Company, which was established in 1875 to sell lots in a large subdivision to the north of Wyoming (which is now part of Wyoming).  By 1897 he was Superintendent of the Wyoming Water Works (which had been established in 1892) and held that job through at least 1910. He also served as Wyoming Village Clerk for many years, and for a time managed the Wyoming Light, Water, Heat and Power Co.

When he wasn't working, and despite his injured arm, William was a leading proponent and practitioner of the sport of archery. In 1879 he helped found the Ohio State Archery Association, and was a member of the Highland Archers, a Wyoming-based archery club. William was also an early leader of the National Archery Association, serving as its Secretary and as its President in 1891, 1898, and 1901. William was national archery champion in 1886, 1887, and 1897. His children also became skilled archers; son Albert was national champion and 1900, and there were many years that daughter Georgia placed highly in the competition.

William A. Clark
Source: Spalding's Archery Guide, 1905.

Albert R. Clark
Source: Spalding's Archery Guide, 1905.

In 1904, the third modern international Olympics were held in St. Louis, Missouri, and included archery among the sporting events. However, this was only the second time archery was a part of the Olympics, there was no international archery organization nor any international rules, and only Americans competed in the sport at the 1904 Olympics (which, overall, were sparsely attended).

Source: Wkipedia

Some indigenous peoples of the world demonstrated their own forms of archery at the "Anthropology Days" held in conjunction with the Olympics and the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. See this article.

Source: Spalding's Athletic Almanac, 1905.

Source: Spalding's Athletic Almanac, 1905.

Nevertheless, Cincinnati and Wyoming were well represented at the 1904 Olympic archery event. William A. Clark was on a team that placed second in the team competition, earning him a silver medal. Wyoming had several other medalists in that Olympics. C.S. Woodruff was also part of the men's silver medal team, and his wife Emily Woodruff participated in the women's events. Eliza Pollock was on the gold-medal winning women's team, and received two individual bronze medals; her husband Henry W. Pollock was also an archer, but I'm not sure if he competed at the Olympics. Archery was the only sport in which women participated at the 1904 Olympics; there were six female archers at the games.

Clark Avenue, 2015.

So the next time you walk down Clark Avenue, whether by yourself, or with a lover, see if you can imagine yourself back to 1905, a dirt road, and a boxing match between traveling gypsies, watched by aristocratic tennis players dressed in white. Maybe standing among them was a Olympic-medal winning Civil War veteran with a wounded arm, who walked over from his office at the Village Amusement Hall to see what all the commotion was.

Now, I haven't forgotten the original question - Who is Clark Avenue's namesake? While William A. Clark's story is very interesting, the road may not be named for him; there is another potential candidate. John. A. Clark was the executor of the estate of Joseph T. Wilson, the man who first subdivided Burns' Farm. Maybe the street was named for him? But determining that would require more research, and another blog post!