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Charles W. Clark (businessman)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles W. Clark
BornNovember 3, 1871
DiedApril 3, 1933(1933-04-03) (aged 61)
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBusinessman
Spouses
  • Katherine Quinn Roberts
  • Celia Tobin
Parent(s)William Andrews Clark Sr.
Katherine Louise Stauffer
RelativesHuguette Clark (half sister)

Charles Walker Clark, also known as "C. W. Clark" or "Charlie Clark" (November 3, 1871 – April 3, 1933), was an American businessman and the eldest son of William Andrews Clark Sr., one of the Copper Kings.

Early life

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Clark was born on November 3, 1871, in Deer Lodge, Montana. His father, William A. Clark (1839–1925), was a Montana copper magnate and later a United States Senator for Montana.[1][2] His mother, Katherine Louise Stauffer (1844–1893), was a socialite.[3]

Career

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He served as the manager and later as chairman of the United Verde Copper Company in Jerome, Arizona.[1][2] Together with his father and his brother, he was also a partner in a bank in Butte, Montana.[2]

Personal life

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In 1896, Charles Clark married Katherine Quinn Roberts, who died in New York City in January 1904.[4] Later that year, he married Cecelia "Celia" Tobin (1874–1965), a member of San Francisco high society, who came from one of San Francisco’s founding families, who opened and grew its Hibernia Bank and were patrons of numerous civic causes.[5] She had been trained as a pianist and in equestrianism.[2] They divorced and she later moved into a home in Hillsborough, California, which became known as the Tobin Clark Estate.[6]

A fan and participant in equestrian sports, Clark resided at his "El Palomar" estate in San Mateo, California, a property he purchased in 1902 which had a polo field and race track.[1] The owner of Thoroughbred racehorses, among his successful runners was United Verde, a horse named for his mining company. United Verde won several stakes races including the 1920 Bashford Manor Stakes and the 1922 Ben Ali Handicap.[7][8]

According to Pulitzer winner Bill Dedman, Clark had "the longest private railcar ever built, which he sold to Howard Hughes."[1] He was prone to heavy drinking and gambling.[1]

He collected rare books. In 1917, the Book Club of California presented an exhibition of 66 incunabula from his collection at the Hill Tolerton Gallery, San Francisco.[9]

Death

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Charles Clark died of pneumonia on April 3, 1933, in New York City.[1] He was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Bill Dedman, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Loss of one of the World's Greatest Fortunes, London: Atlantic Books, 2013, p. 142
  2. ^ a b c d Miss Celia Tobin Weds C. W. Clark, The Son of Montana Millionaire, San Francisco Call, Volume 96, Number 66, 5 August 1904
  3. ^ "Daughter of Connellsville's controversial billionaire dies". The Tribune-Review. May 28, 2011. Retrieved Jan 6, 2017.
  4. ^ "Los Angeles Herald". Vol. XXXI, no. 121. 28 January 1904. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  5. ^ Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of Celia Tobin Clark, Lot 27, Sotheby's, 1904. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  6. ^ Sotheby's International Realty: Tobin Clark Estate Archived March 11, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "United Verdes Big Victory: Wins Valuable Bashford Manor Stakes in Gallant Style". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1920-05-13. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  8. ^ "Lexington Form Chart". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1922-04-30. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  9. ^ A Loan Exhibition of Incunabula Held by the Book Club of California in the Galleries of Hill Tolerton from October Second to October Thirty-first MDCCCCXVII. San Francisco: Book Club of California. 1917.
  10. ^ The Phantom of Fifth Avenue