Joseph
W. Clarke, foreman of the round houses of the Central Pacific Railroad Company,
Sacramento, is a native of Madison County, New York, born at Brookfield,
February 26, 1836, his parents being Ethan and Amy (Crandall) Clarke. His father,
who was proprietor of a machine shop, came of one of the oldest families in
that part of New York, and was a son of a Revolutionary veteran. When the
subject of this sketch was nine years old, the family removed to Rockford,
Illinois. There he learned the machinist’s trade with his father and brother.
Afterward, during an interval of eight years, he worked off and on in the shops
of the Illinois Central Railroad at Chicago, the remainder of the time for that
period, at Rockford. For one year (during 1864 and 1865) he was in the service
of the Government about Chattanooga. In 1868 Mr. Clarke came to California, via
Nicaragua route. He left New York on the steamer Guiding Star, and landed at
San Francisco from the steamer Moses Taylor, May 3, 1868. He proceeded to Butte County, and mined at
Oregon City about a year. He then came to Sacramento, and on the 3d of May,
1869, entered the employ of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, as a
machinist in the shops. In 1874 he was
promoted to his present position; there are from 125 to 150 men in his
department, independent of engineers and firemen. Mr. Clarke was married in Illinois, March 31, 1868 (the day he
started for California), to Miss H. A. Stevens, a native of Mount Desert
Island, Maine. They have two children, viz.: Joseph Hermann and Amy. Mr. Clarke
is a member of Columbia Lodge, K. of P., and of Red Cloud Tribe, Red Men. He
has been identified with the shops since the early days, and enjoys the respect
and esteem of all in his department, as, indeed, of the community generally.
Transcribed
by: Marla Fitzsimmons
An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California.
By Hon. Win. J. Davis. Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 303-304.
© 2004 Marla Fitzsimmons.