Charles B. Clark

Charles B. Clark
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 6th district
In office
March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891
Preceded byRichard W. Guenther
Succeeded byLucas Miltiades Miller
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Winnebago 2nd district
In office
January 1, 1885 – January 1, 1887
Preceded byPeter Vredenburgh
Succeeded byJohn Williams Tobey
Mayor of Neenah, Wisconsin
In office
1880–1883
Personal details
Born(1844-08-24)August 24, 1844
Theresa, New York
DiedSeptember 10, 1891(1891-09-10) (aged 47)
Watertown, New York
Cause of deathBright's disease
Resting placeOak Hill Cemetery
Neenah, Wisconsin
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Caroline F. Hubbard Clark
(1844–1922)
(m. 1867–1891, his death)
Children2 daughters, 1 son
Residence(s)Neenah, Wisconsin
ProfessionMerchant, manufacturing (paper) executive
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Union Army
Years of service1862–1865
Rank 1st Lieutenant
Unit21st Wis. Vol. Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Charles Benjamin Clark (August 24, 1844 – September 10, 1891) was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin and one of the founders of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Neenah with John A. Kimberly, Franklyn C. Shattuck, and Havilah Babcock.[1][2]

Born in Theresa, New York, Clark attended the common schools. He moved to Wisconsin in 1855 with his widowed mother, who settled in Neenah, Wisconsin The Civil War began in 1861 when he was sixteen, and he enlisted in Company I, Twenty-first Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, when it was formed and served with the same unit, rising from private to first sergeant to first lieutenant.

Clark engaged in mercantile pursuits, banking, and the manufacture of paper, notably Clark was a founder of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in 1872.[1][2] He served as mayor of Neenah (1880–83), was a member of its city council from 1883 to 1885, and became a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1885.

Clark was elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 1887 – March 1891). An unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890, he died of Brights Disease the following September at age 47 at Watertown, New York, while on a visit to his old home. Clark was interred in Wisconsin at Oak Hill Cemetery in Neenah.

ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah, opened in 1909 as Theda Clark Memorial Hospital, was named for his eldest child. Theda Clark Peters (1871–1903) died after childbirth at home at age 32 and the Clark family established the hospital.

  1. ^ a b "Founding to the invention of Cellucotton". Kimberly Clark Neenah. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Usher, Ellis Baker (1914). Wisconsin: its story and biography, 1848-1913. Vol. VI. Chicago, New York: Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 1651–1653.