San
Joaquin County
Biographies
W. SAM CLARK
The career of W. Sam Clark has been
one of remarkable self-achievement and self-advancement. Lack of finances in his early life made it
impossible to carry out his cherished ambitions as quickly and as easily as he
had anticipated and in the end he made his own way in gaining prominence in his
chosen line of work, so that his success is due rather to his energy and
perseverance in pushing ahead over obstacles to the goal of his ambition, than
to any fortunate circumstances.
California is his native state and he was born at Livermore, Alameda
County, August 11, 1873.
His father, John W. Clark, was born
in Illinois and there he married Jane M. Brady, a native of Indiana, who was
descended from a very distinguished old southern family, being an own cousin of
Jefferson Davis, the president of the Southern Confederacy. John W. Clark crossed the plains to
California in 1862, locating at Livermore, and there he made his home until his
death; Mrs. Clark passed away while on a visit to her daughter in
Portland. Seven children were born to
this worthy pioneer couple, five of whom are living.
W. Sam Clark received a good education
in the public schools and early in life showed a natural bent for horticulture
and viticulture. The culture of figs
engaged his attention before this fruit became of such commercial value as it
now has. In 1895, when twenty-two years
old, but with one thought in mind, he set out for Alaska to make his stake, so
that he could follow up on his cherished ambition to buy land and enlarge in
the culture of figs; this was two years before the discovery on the
Klondike. Mr. Clark mined on the
Klondike, then on the Koyukuk River, 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle, in the
land of the midnight sun, then in various other sections, among them Fairbanks
and the Tanana River, enduring the rigors and hardships of that northern
climate. He was a member of the committee
formed to maintain law and order and passed through many trying ordeals and
narrow escapes in the formation of that frontier country. Seventeen years were spent in the far north
and three different times Mr. Clark made a fortune, only to lose it, but he
finally came home with enough money to start his experiments in fig growing.
In 1912 Mr. Clark removed to Fresno
County and there started his first fig nursery, the variety of figs planted
being known as the Kadota. Later he changed to name to Clarkadota and
copyrighted it to protect his nursery business, and it is now known the world
over. His first planting was eight acres
near Dinuba and since that time he has established nurseries and fig orchards
in different parts of the state. His
large fig plantation near Stockton is one of special interest to the people of
this county. The Clarkadota fig is a
freak or bud-sport and was discovered by Stephen H. Taft of Sawtelle,
California some twenty-five years ago.
The first large plantings were in the home orchard of Mr. Clerk in
Fresno County and were at that time an undeveloped possibility. Climatic conditions in Fresno which were
exactly right for all other varieties of figs previously grown proved to be unfavorable
for the greatest development of this fig, which is a fresh shipper and
preserving fig. Slightly cooler weather
conditions as found around Stockton proved to be almost ideal for its greatest
production. The ideal shipping
facilities by rail and water makes Stockton the natural center for the future
development of this fruit.
The first unit of the Clarkadota fig
plantations, consisting of 370 acres, was planted four miles east of Stockton
in the spring of 1921 and 700 additional acres in 1922, and still further
plantings are to be made in the spring of 1923.
The original project was financed by Edward S. Munford and J. L. Craig,
but Mr. Munford retired from the business at the end of the first year. The plantations were subdivided and sold in
tracts of five or more acres under a five year caretaking contract, Mr. Clark
furnishing the stock and superintending the planting for the entire
project. The early and prolific bearing
of this variety of fig makes imperative the establishing of large preserving
plants in the city of Stockton to handle this exclusive California product,
which practically amounts to a state monopoly, with the whole world as a market
and Stockton as the center of production.
In addition to his interest in the development of the fig, Mr. Clark has
been an appraiser for the Federal Farm Loan Board for a number of years and
thus is one of the best-informed men in California on land values. For five years he was a director of the Dry
Fig organization of Fresno County and was also instrumental in the organization
of the California Peach & Fig Growers Association, with headquarters at
Fresno, and at the present time is a director in the Clarkadota Fig Growers Association
of Stockton and a trustee of the Antelope Valley Land Development Company of
Southern California. This company is
developing and planting a tract of over 1,000 acres and bringing into
production an orchard of figs and other fruits as well as a vineyard. Personally, Mr. Clark has his individual
nurseries in the following places:
Orland, Byron, San Fernando Valley, Riverside and Phoenix, Arizona. In each of these he is specializing in
Clarkadota nursery stock, being the largest grower in the United States.
On December 10, 1906, in Fairbanks,
Alaska, Mr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Frances Miller, who was born
in Chicago, a union that has proved very happy and has been blessed with the
birth of one son, W. Sam, Jr. Frances
Miller was the daughter of Giles Miller, a native of Syracuse, New York, who
was among the early pioneers of Chicago, first engaging in farming in that city
and then in the real estate business. He
married Louise Eighme, born in Buffalo, New York, and
both have passed away. Frances Miller
received a good education in Chicago, where she was reared in a home of culture
and refinement. In 1906 she made the
trip to Alaska to visit her sister, Mrs. M. L. Gleason, who had gone there in
the pioneer days of 1898 and in Fairbanks Miss Miller met and married Mr.
Clark. Fraternally Mr. Clark was made a
Mason in Dinuba Lodge No. 385, F. & A. M., is a member of the Scottish Rite bodies in Fresno and with his wife is a member of the
Eastern Star. He is vice-president of
the Stockton Exchange Club, and ever since he has resided here he has taken an
active interest in community affairs, always using his influence to advance the
civic, social and moral conditions. Mr.
Clark gives much credit for his success to his estimable wife who has taken a
deep interest in all his affairs and nobly done her share, encouraging him in
his ambitions and ready at all times to endure hardships and make sacrifices to
aid him in attaining his goal. Mr. Clark
well deserves the title of Father of the Clarkadota fig, as he has given many
years of his life to its propagation, and his perseverance will bring about the
enriching of hundreds of others in the culture of this wonderful fruit.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
872-877. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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