Master Book I, a book used by Gertrude Hueber [Clark]., 1926

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH James Alfred Clark was born June 18, 1873 in Ithaca, New York.  He came to Quincy, Illinois as an infant with his parents, however his mother died when he was 3, and his father when he was 10.  He lived with friends of the family up until he went to Dixon, Illinois to attend technical college.  Clark received certification as an electrical engineer.  In 1902 he began his career with the Central Illinois Light Company in DeKalb and in Harvey, Illinois.  In 1906 Clark and assumed the position of Electrician and Engineer at the Northern Illinois State Normal School.  He remained at Northern until illness forced his retirement in July of 1943. Clark married Henrietta “Etta” Ida Mae Wallschlaeger, of Little Rapids, Wisconsin on September 9, 1903.  They had three children James Merrick, Grace, and Shirley. Known as an avid reader, Clark was also a member of the Elks, the Moose, and the Modern Woodmen of America.  He died at St. Mary’s Hospital in DeKalb on September 29, 1948, and was buried in Fairview Cemetery. Twelve volumes of James A. Clark’s Operating Engineer’s Diaries and Logs, from 1906 to 1943 are filed in UA 47, Boxes 7 and 8.  A large panorama of “Altgeld Hall” taken ca. 1907, shows Clark in the window.  It is filed in UA 11, Drawer 6, Folder 5.