CLARK, WILLIAM H.

William H. And Virginia Maxey Falls Clark
From Proud Heritage Vol II by DCPA. This 315 page hardcover book may be ordered online.

William Henry Clark
W. H. Clark was born in 1861 on a farm near
Brandon, Rankin County, Mississippi, the son of Colonel William Henry and Mary (McDowell) Clark. William received his education from Brandon Academy went to the University of Mississippi where he received his B.A. degree in 1892. He went to Cumberland University Law School at Lebanon, Tennessee, to graduate in 1885, the year he came to Dallas.

In 1886, William returned to Brandon to marry Virginia Maxey (Jennie) Falls. They moved to 613 Ross Avenue in Dallas. At some time, he brought his mother, Mary McDowell Clark and his wife's family, Absolom Theopolis (A. T.) and Sarah Elizabeth (Bettie) Maxey Falls, to Dallas. He built an important law practice and was the youngest president to the Texas Bar Association when he was elected in 1897. The memorial to him in the Dallas Law Journal in 1932 read, "Many laws in the life of Texas, dealing with the progress of the state, were inspired or framed by Judge Clark, although he was not a member of any law-making body. Among the first Railroad Commission laws in the United States were those adopted in the State of Texas, and Judge Clarkwas one of the foremost in framing these laws and setting up this part of our State government. The Insurance laws on our statute books were the result of advice given Judge Clark." Jennie always had the house ready for guests for meals and always did her own cooking even though she had all the help provided.
Their children, all born in Dallas, were:
• Joseph McDowell (Mack), bom 26 June 1887,
died 23 June 1895.
• Samuel Welch, bom 26 July 1889, married
Beulah Miller 27 October 1912, died 1985.
• Virginia Maxey, bom 19 August 1891, married William Foster Jacoby on 29 September 1917
and she died 18 March 1975.
• William Henry, Jr., bom 20 January 1893, died May, 1895.
• William Henry, Jr., bom 27 October 1895,
married Martha Mildred Harral. He died 15
October 1943, killed in a Tennessee plane crash while returning from Washington, D.C.
• Elizabeth Falls, bom 31 October 1897, mar-
ried Julian Capers, Jr. on 1 July 1918. She died 11 February 1988. (Most of my information about the Clarks comes from her files. WFJ)
• Thomas Campbell, bom 23 September 1899,
married Mary Ramsey on 8 November 1924
(see article in this volume). He died 13 June 1977.
• Baby boy, born July, 1901 but died very soon.
• Robert Lanier, bom 27 October 1903, married Mona Mai Cranfill on 28 March 1932. He later married Mary Collins. He died in 1963.
• Mary McDowell, bom 15 May 1906, married
Douglas W. Burchfield. She is the only child
still living.