Clark, Charles S., 1840-1914
Biography
Charles S. Clark was born in 1840 to Daniel and Clarinda Clark. He had nine siblings; Elsie, Mary, Sarah, Austin, George, Sheldon. Edgar, Josephine, and Addie. Charles Clark entered the Civil War as a Private on the side of the Union in 1862, joining the 20th regiment, Company C. Early into his service he suffered from an unspecified injury/illness which saw him transferred to the Invalid Corps in 1863. The Invalid Corps was composed of men who could no longer fight in the war, but could still serve the army in noncombatant positions, the government saw the Corps as a way to free up able bodied men to fight. The Corps was stationed in Alexandria, VA and was composed of two battalions. Clark served in the second, which included men that more serious illnesses including lost limbs, the first had less severe injuries. After returning from the war Clark went back to farming. He married three times over the course of his life, first to Addie Wilder Clark whom he married in 1868 and stayed married to until her death in 1869. His second marriage was to Addie’s sister, Rhoda Wilder Clark, in 1874. They had two children together, Grace and Addie. After Rhoda’s death he married his final wife Mary Wells Clark, with whom he remained married until his death in 1914.