History Of Rush County Indiana Brant & Fuller 1888 Surnames in this biography are: Clark, Sanders, Millhall, Mildenhall, Gardner, Newman Mendenhall, Test, Hackleman, GEORGE C. CLARK, Ex-President of the Bank of the State of Indiana, and President of the Rushville National Bank, whose portrait appears elsewhere, was born in North Carolina, November 5, 1821. The place of his nativity suggests the contrasts that time presents; for, from having been part of the battlefield of Guilford Court House, N. C., where had been carnage and death, it had become a scene of quiet and prosperity. His father was Hezekiah S. Clark, whose ancestors moved from England to Ireland, from Ireland to Pennsylvania, and thence to Virginia. There his parents, Daniel Clark and Mary Sanders were married, and from that State they removed to Randolph County, N. C. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Abigail G. Mendenhall. Her progenitors emigrated from the manor of Mildenhall, in Wiltshire, England (the family name then being Mildenhall, sometimes contracted to Millhall), out the time William Penn first visited America, and located in Chester County, Pa. Her mother, Judith Gardner, was of Welsh descent, and was born and raised on Nantucket Island. The Mendenhall and Sanders families both were very long-lived. While he was yet a child, Mr. Clark’s parents removed from Guilford to Randolph County, N. C., some ten miles northeast of the county seat, Ashboro, where his father who was a tanner, carried on a tan-yard, and engaged also, though less directly, in making pottery, shoes and harness, and in blacksmithing. George Clark assisted in the lighter work of the tannery until the spring of 1835, when the building and contents, including books, were burned. The loss thus incurred, added to liabilities which his father had to pay, as surety, left him with only enough to move comfortably to Rush County, Ind., where he had previously bought eighty acres of land, mostly in green timber, seven miles west of Rushville. Mr. Clark was blessed with an educated mother, who like her husband, was liberal in promoting the education of her family. She taught every one of them to read before leaving the parental roof to attend school, and her son George had learned to read at the age of four. In North Carolina he attended a subscription school about nine months. In Indiana he became a pupil, during a winter term at school in Carthage, and spent a second winter at another school in Walnut Ridge, supporting himself at both places by doing chores. Both of these schools were in Rush County, and in charge of the Society of Friends. But Mr. Clark’s advantages had not been limited to the meager ones afforded in these schools, for in his native State, under the instruction of an elder brother, he had learned Latin so far as to read “Viri Romae.” His progress was then interrupted by the departure of the family for Indiana, where other more pressing necessities left little time for study; yet, while clearing up green, beech forests, the nights and rainy days were employed in continued striving after knowledge. When the family left North Carolina, his maternal uncle, George C. Mendenhall, a wealthy slave holder and prominent lawyer of Guilford County, exacted a promise from Mr. and Mrs. Clark to allow their son George to return to his home when eighteen years of age. The father was extremely desirous to fulfill this promise, but his necessities prevented, until at last an opportunity was presented for him to ride back to North Carolina with relatives, who had driven through to Indiana in a private carriage. They had been directed by the uncle above named to bring George back with them. He went, and soon after his arrival his uncle sent him for one rear to the Friends’ boarding school at New Garden, near Greensboro. His predilections, up to this time, were for the profession of medicine, and he had read with care, “Bell’s Anatomy,” “Gibson’s Surgery” and other medical works. He was now a good Latin scholar, and had some knowledge of Greek; and, encouraged by an offer of his uncle, he commenced the study of the law under his instruction. After two years of close reading he passed a long and severe examination, by three Judges of the Supreme Court, without missing a question, and was duly licensed to practice in the County Courts. This was in June, 1843, and after he had studied another rear he was admitted to practice in all the courts of the State. On the 30th of that month, with horse and saddlebags given him by his uncle, and $100, Mr. Clark set out for Indiana. Going through Kentucky he called on Henry Clay, then a candidate for the presidency. On reaching home he remained there until the 13th of the following October, when he located in Rushville to practice law. Having no money nor influential friends, business came slowly. A Bar consisting of such men as Rariden, Newman, Parker, Test, 0. H. Smith, C. B. Smith, Perry, Hackleman, Tingley, Cox, Finley, Bigger, etc., left little room for a tyro, and he was compelled to engage temporarily in other pursuits. He acted as clerk in a store; taught school two years near Monrovia, Morgan County; was telegraph operator in the first office in Rushville, and became Town-ship Clerk. Finally, in March, 1851, he settled down to the practice of law, but the fates seemed unpropitious until 1854, when his success really began. In the fall of that year he was elected on the Whig ticket to the Lower House of the Legislature, and served one term, which wholly satisfied his political ambition. In March, 1856, Mr. Clark entered into partnership with Pleasant A. Hackleman, a prominent attorney and politician, and afterward a Brigadier-General. In this relation he toiled hard, chiefly in the preparation of papers, and the firm became one of the ablest in Eastern Indiana. In 1861, it was dissolved, Mr. Hackleman entering the army. The wrangling of pettifoggers in Justices Courts were always distasteful to Mr. Clark, and he had now gained experience and reputation that enabled him to dispense with such practice. He had given much attention to that branch of the law, which has to do with the titles of lands and the rights of heirs, and he came to be regarded as a safe counselor. In 1864 he was elected President of the Rushville branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana, and held that office by successive re-elections until the bank closed in April, 1875. In October, 1871, he was elected President of the Bank of the State of Indiana, which position he held until the closing of the bank, as above indicated. In 1865, he was chosen President of the Rushville National Bank, and still acts in that capacity. In all these responsible positions he performed his duties to the entire satisfaction of Directors and stockholders. In October, 1872, the Governor appointed him a Director of the Southern State Prison of Indiana, to fill a vacancy until the meeting of the General Assembly. Mr. Clark was formerly a Whig, and is now a pronounced Republican; and though not a politician in the sense of being an office-seeker, he has always held positive views of public policy, maintaining them manfully in debate. In 1846, at Rushville, he joined the 1. 0. 0. F., and is now Past Grand. Mr. Clark’s ancestors, on both sides, were mostly of the Society of Friends, and he has a birthright membership, which he has never broken. Personally, he is of good figure, rather above the average size, and his bearing is dignified and impressive. Naturally thoughtful, he early evinced a preference for the intimate acquaintance of men advanced in years; and among the lessons of wisdom derived from these associations he acquired that precision of language and steadfastness of deportment that have long characterized him. He believes that the legal profession is, or should be, the most exalted of all pursuits, and therefore holds in just contempt that class denominated shysters. He is profoundly versed in law, especially in the branch to which we have referred, and is one of the most reliable of counselors. It may seem at first glance paradoxical that a man who delights in the investigation of abstruse legal subjects should find equal pleasure in the cultivation of flowers; yet to this he devotes much attention. It affords him needed recreation, and he has displayed much care and taste in ornamenting his grounds. He not only excels in horticulture, but is a skillful botanist. Mr. Clark has a large fund of information, and the happy faculty of making it readily available. Naturally, and from long habit, he is so careful that he seldom makes a mistake or engages in a hazardous enterprise. He shrinks instinctively from the throng of men; but with chosen friends he is very companionable. His professional abilities and extensive reading, his perfect honesty and pure morals, and his many quiet acts of charity have rendered him one of the most useful and respected citizens of both the county and the State. I do not know anything more about this family, or any of the surnames mentioned. I have this in a book, and thought I would post for those that are researching these surnames. Enjoy! Lora, Jax, Fla

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