Eli P. Clark

Eli P. Clark
Born	November 25, 1847 Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
Died	1931
Alma mater	Grinnell College
Occupation	Businessman
Spouse(s)	Lucy H. Sherman
Children	1 son, 3 daughters
Parent(s)	Timothy B. Clark Elvira E. Calkins
Relatives	Moses Sherman (brother-in-law)

Eli P. Clark (1847-1931) was a pioneer railway builder of Southern California and a leader in the civic, philanthropic and social activities of Los Angeles.

Eli P. Clark was born on November 25, 1847 near Iowa City, Iowa. His father, Timothy B. Clark, was a prosperous farmer at the time of his birth. His mother was Elvira E. Calkins.

Clark attended the public schools of his district and of Grinnell, Iowa, and later attended Iowa College, also in that city. When he was 18 years of age, he passed the teachers' examination.

Clark was a schoolteacher in Iowa for two years. At the end of that time, when he was 20 years of age, the family removed to southern Missouri, where they located on a large farm. There, Clark was associated with his father in the management and working of the farm during the summer months, and in the winter taught school in the neighborhood of his home.

Clark crossed the plains to Prescott, Arizona in 1875, the trip requiring three months. There he met Gen. M. H. Sherman, who afterwards became his brother-in-law. In 1877, Clark was appointed auditor of the Arizona Territory, in which position he served for five terms, or ten consecutive years. While in this capacity, he had the attention of Gen. John C. Frémont, then the 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona, and a friendship sprang up between them that ended only with Frémont's death. In 1878, in partnership with A. D. Adams, Clark engaged in the lumber business, operating under the name of Clark & Adams, and also for one year he filled an appointment as assistant postmaster. In Prescott, where he continued to make his home, Clark became interested in the railway business, then of vital import in the territory, and aided materially in securing the passage of a bill by the legislature granting a subsidy of $4,000 a mile for a railroad to be built from Prescott to connect with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad at Seligman, Arizona. Clark immediately evidenced his further interest in the undertaking by becoming one of the organizers of the new company, of which he was elected secretary and treasurer.

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