Names on the Wall

Theodore Clark, 1840- 1922, died in Rooks County, but he only lived here during the final year of his life. His descendants in the area are through his daughter, Grace, who married Charles C. Cook in 1893, lived the remainder of her life in Rooks County, and had nine children of whom six survived to adulthood. Theodore Clark is on the wall because he is buried at the Woodston Cemetery. Details of his life before and after the Civil War are sketchy.

He was born 7 July 1840 in Hocking, Ohio. He enlisted in Company A, 73rd Ohio Infantry Regiment on 28 October 1861, for three years. The regiment was organized and outfitted at Chillicothe, Ohio and was mustered into federal service under Colonel Orland Smith on 30 December 1861. They spent most of the month of January 1862 at Camp Logan near Chillicothe where they received basic training.

In February they marched through West Virginia to Clarksburg, W.Va where they encamped for a month before moving on to Weston, Virginia. In April they marched to Monterey, Va. and fought at the Battle of McDowell in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia 8 May, where they faced Confederates led by General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. They lost this engagement and spent the next month moving to Harrisonburg, Virginia and met Gen. Jackson’s troops again at the Battle of Cross Keys on 8 June. They suffered another defeat and spent several weeks marching across northern Virginia. The 73rd Ohio fought in

The 73rd Ohio fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run, another Confederate victory, 29-30 August 1862, and suffered heavy casualties: 25 killed, 87 wounded, and 36 missing. They spent most of the following month at the defenses of Washington, D. C. The regiment performed reconnaissance duty in northern Virginia until late April 1863, when they joined the Chancellorsville Campaign and were defeated by Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army at Chancellorsville 1-6 May 1863.

In June they joined the Gettysburg Campaign and contributed to the Union victory there 1-3 July while suffering many casualties: 40 killed or mortally wounded, 104 wounded, and 1 missing. Private Clark was wounded there 3 July, shot in the wrist, and apparently did not engage in battle again. He was discharged 14 June 1864 on a Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability and received a pension the remainder of his life. There is a monument for the 73rd Ohio Infantry Regiment at the Gettysburg Battlefield, located near the National Cemetery. The regiment later joined the Atlanta Campaign and Gen. William T. Sherman’s march to the sea.

Theodore married Cynthia Saphronia Grosvenour 15 March 1868. After Saphronia died in 1876, he married a widow, Elizabeth J. (Dobbs) Maples, in 1884. During his lifetime, he was a member of both the G.A.R. and the I.O.O.F. lodge. He spent some time in Belleville, Kansas, and eventually relocated to Idaho before 1900. Elizabeth died in 1920, and Theodore moved to Rooks County in 1921 to live with his daughter, Grace (Mrs. C. C. Cook), who was his caregiver at the very end of his life. He died 10 March 1922 and is buried in the Woodston Cemetery. It is not known where either one of his wives is buried.

Theodore and Saphronia had five children, of whom only two outlived their parents. (Theodore and Elizabeth had no children.) Theodore’s two surviving children were Grace Rebecca (8 October 1874-9 May 1955) married Charles C. Cook (1867- 1963) 8 March 1893; and Bert LeRoy (1876-1949) married Anna Rose Greenwald, also spelled Gruenwald (1879-death date unknown) 1 January 1909.