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Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott
for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/
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History of the Great Lakes
Illustrated, In Two Volumes, Vol. II
Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co., 1899

    66-67

        JOHN PEARSON CLARK, who gave to the city of Detroit the handsome
     west side park which bears his name, was one of the men whom almost
     everybody knew, due to his striking personal appearance and somewhat
     odd ways. He was born at Catskill-on-the-Hudson, April 10, 1808, and
     when ten years of age came west with his parents, the family locating
     near Wyandotte. Here a small farm was cleared, but it proved of so
     little value that the family lived in straightened circumstances until
     the death of his father, in 1825. In the spring of 1826 young CLARK
     engaged in the fish business, and from the very beginning made money.
     While Detroit was yet a mere trading station, he found a market for
     tons of fish and laid the foundation for the large fortune he subse-
     quently accumulated. During the succeeding years up to 1836 he fished
     principally in the Maumee river, and at the same time furnished wood
     for the canal boats. In 1833 he added a steambarge to his possessions
     and conducted a towing business as aside interest. In 1836 he made an
     exploring expedition along the shores of Lake Michigan, and from the
     Indians learned the location of the choicest fishing grounds. He then
     took his brother GEORGE and SHADRACH GILLETT into partnership, and
     with a gang of some fifty men they thoroughly fished these waters for
     some years. He removed to Detroit and started in business as a ship-
     builder, erecting the shops and dry docks at the foot of Clark avenue,
     which are still known as CLARK'S shipyards, and owned by the Detroit
     Dock Company. Here Mr. CLARK built the Jay Cook, Alaska, Pearl and
     Gazelle, Riverside, and many other well known boats, in most of which
     he retained an interest for years. From this time his property accumu-
     lated rapidly, and all of his ventures proved successful. He acquired
     the ownership of the Hickory, Aleron, Sugar, and two or three smaller
     islands at the mouth of the Detroit river, one near Toledo, another at
     the mouth of the Huron river, and large tracts of land in Michigan and
     Wisconsin. He also owned a good deal of real estate in Detroit, and
     held stock in a number of manufacturing concerns.
        Mr. CLARK died at his home on the river road September 3, 1888. He
     was twice married, his first wife being SUSAN BOOTH, of York, England,
     his second wife, whom he married in 1863, being ELIZA W. WHITING, who
     died in 1883. The surviving children at the time of Mr. CLARK'S death
     were: Mrs. J. A. HEKKONG, of Paris, France; Mrs. GEORGE ATCHESON, of
     Detroit; Miss FLORENCE, afterward Mrs. W. O. ASHLEY; NORMAN S. CLARK,
     of Detroit, and ALVIN S. CLARK, of Detroit. JOHN P. CLARK was a man of
     strict honesty and integrity, and his career was a fine example of
     what can be done by energy and perseverance. He gave personal
     direction to many of his interests until within a few months of his
    death, retaining his shrewdness and farsightedness until almost at the
    very end.

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