CLARKE, ISAAC A (FRONT) - Carroll County, Arkansas | ISAAC A (FRONT) CLARKE - Arkansas Gravestone Photos

Isaac A (front) CLARKE

Berryville Memorial Cemetery
Carroll County,
Arkansas

1837 - 1907

"His spirit lives on in all those he left behind; a great host if fortunate ones who called him teacher and friend."

"Erected by his students."

"Astronomers tell us the distance of each star from the earth, but no mathematician can calculate the influence which a noble teacher may exert upon posterity." Bryan

ISAAC ASBURY CLARKE.

Professor Isaac Asbury Clarke, who for years was principal of Clarke's
Academy of Berryville and was one of the most widely known and ablest educators
of the state, was born in Overton county, Tennessee, March 22, 1837. He acquired
his early education in Rhea's Academy at Berryville, which he attended for
several years, and he later became a student in the University of Missouri at
Columbia in the year 1860. He left school the following year, however, to enlist
in the Confederate army, with which he served until the close of the war. He was
on duty with the First Creek Regiment of the Indian Territory under General
Standwatie and participated in the battle of Pea Ridge and of Honey Springs. He
received his discharge at the close of the war, at which time he had risen to
the rank of captain.

It was less than two years after the close of hostilities that Professor
Clarke opened an academy at Berryville. The institution began with twenty-five
pupils on the 14th of January, 1867, and such was the success of the new
enterprise that the number of pupils had increased to one hundred before the
first term had closed. From the beginning the school was a success and Professor
Clarke continued his educational work until within a year and a half of his
death. He was a most capable educator, imparting clearly and readily to others
the knowledge that he had acquired, and many of the ablest men of the state and
of the west received at least a part of their training under his direction and
bear testimony to the thoroughness of the work and the inspiration of his own
career over their lives.

In 1871 Professor Clarke was united in marriage to Miss Virginia G. Layton
and they became the parents of a son and two daughters. The mother, Mrs. Clarke,
was killed on the 8th of August, 1879, while on an outing trip with her husband
and children. They were camped at Eureka Springs when a tree fell upon Mrs.
Clarke, causing her death almost instantly. Professor Clarke remained true to
her memory, never marrying again. His son, Cuthbert Clarke, resided for a time
at Victor, Colorado, but is now deceased. The daughters are: Vinnie, now the
wife of Malone Lewis of Denver, Colorado; and Fannie, the wife of Digby John
West of Berryville. In the summer of 1905 Professor Clarke made an extended trip
through the west and at every stop was greeted and entertained by his old
students, many of whom are now men of prominence in business circles and in the
councils of state and federal government. It was the arduous duty that he
imposed upon himself in carrying on the school and in writing nights and
evenings concerning his western trip that finally caused the breakdown resulting
in his death. He was for many years teacher of the Bible class in the Sunday
school of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and his entire life was guided
by a most earnest belief in the Christian faith, although he did not unite with
any church. However, he closely followed the Golden Rule and there are few men
whose lives have been such a force for intellectual and moral advancement in the
state of Arkansas. One of the local papers said: "He has, through his personal
influence and the influence of his school, done more to advance the educational
interests of the county than any other individual. It would be an impossibility
to estimate the loss Carroll county has sustained in the death of Professor
Clarke. Always public-spirited, he was ready at all times to give of his effort
and his means to any enterprise that promised good to his county or state, and
his voice will be missed in those councils that are called upon to act for the
good of the people. The moment of his death—sunset—was emblematic, for with the
going out of this life a source of both light and warmth was withdrawn from a
large section of the earth." He lived and labored long for the benefit of his
fellowmen and his influence remains as a power and a benediction among those
with whom he was associated.


Additional Comments:

Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.org/ar/carroll/bios/clarke7nbs.txt

Contributed on 8/14/10 by nailgal123
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Record #: 359522

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Additional CLARKE Surnames in BERRYVILLE MEMORIAL Cemetery

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Submitted: 8/14/10 • Approved: 4/14/11 • Last Updated: 8/19/12 • R359522-G0-S3

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