Mrs. Jessie R. Clark

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

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Obituary

Mrs. Jessie Clark, Native of Scotland, A Pioneer Resident
Mrs. Bluntzer tells of hardships of Early Settlers

Editor’s Note:   The following story of the life of Mrs. Jessie Clark, who died here recently was written for the Caller-Times by Mrs. Kate D. Bluntzer, pioneer South Texan.  Mrs. Clark was one of the last three surviving residents of Kinney’s Colony – the original Corpus Christi.

          By Mrs. Kate D. Bluntzer

 

They die as the leaves die, they fall as the leaves fall, and the year its sun descending low, has called home Mrs. Jessie Clark.  She was our friend, the friend of many that are not and the multitude that live on and will treasure her memory forever.

Her life was so a part of the city, that its story must encompass that of Corpus Christi, for six and four score years.

But few are left of the British Islanders that so proudly claim the honor of being one of Kinney’s Colony, the first constructive attempt made to people the section of Texas south of the Nueces River. He bade them to turn to this land where health and wealth and freedom awaited the stout of heart that would answer “We come.â€

Ah, but it was a sturdy band that sailed away from Merrie England, from Old Ireland, Mother, from Scotland’s hills of purple heather!  How well they were fitted for this venture and how they succeeded is written today in the sterling qualities of their descendents.

Among them was a young physician of Keith, Scotland.  A graduate of Edinburgh University, he enjoyed a lucrative practice but this challenge to go to America outweighed the advantages of life in his native land.  With his wife and two children, William and Jessie, three months old, he set out in September of 1854.

 

"Mrs. Jessie Clark Succumbs to Heart Attack"
Resident of City for 84 Years to Be Buried Today

A heart attack yesterday afternoon was fatal to Mrs. Jessie Clark, 86, who had been a resident of Corpus Christi for 84 years. She died at 4 o'clock at her home, 801 North Broadway, after a short illness. A native of Scotland, Mrs. Clark came here with her parents when she was two years old, and she knew no other home. She was the widow of J. Clark, who preceded her in death by more than 40 years. Affectionately known as "Grandma" Clark by younger generations, she was one of the city's better known pioneers among young and old alike. Surviving are her son, George Clark, Sr., president of the State National Bank; three grandchildren, George Clark, Jr., Maggie Clark, and Mrs. Frances Lockett, and a great-grandchild, George Clark, III, all of Corpus Christi. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 o'clock this afternoon at the Clark home, 823 Buffalo Street, with the Rev. Dr. George West Diehl, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, officiating. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery (corrected in paper on October 14, 1938) under the direction of David T. Peel. Pallbearers will include Dr. Harry G. Heaney, Walter F. Timon, Edward Kleberg, H.L Guy, G.J. Merriman, and Moise Weil. The State National Bank will close at 1 o'clock this afternoon, two hours early, out of respect for its president and his family. Corpus Christi Caller, 13 October 1938, page 1, col. 4.

"Funeral Services to Be Held Today for Mrs. Jessie Clark"
Basically a repeat of the above text-Corpus Christi Times, 13 October 1938, p. 1B, c. 1.

Death Announcement of Jessie Clark (again same info above, but with correction of burial site as Old Bayview Cemetery) Corpus Christi Caller, 14 October 1938, page 4, col. 1.

 

Pestilence Breaks Out

Through the friendship with the captain, a cabin was erected on the deck for the family.  Violent storms overtook them and Mrs. Robertson calmly awaited the worst but only prayed that her children might go on in their sleep.  The dreaded pestilence ship fever, broke out, and night after night past her cabin she could hear the tread of the mourners as some loved one went down, down to an ocean grave.  Dr. Robertson ministered to the sick and dying and those stricken one blessed him as he went from one to another.

Three months of such as this, and Baby Jessie now six months old, all unconscious of the perils of the voyage, with her parents, landed in Corpus Christi in December 1854.

Henceforth the destiny of the Robertsons is linked with their new found home.  Dr. Robertson soon established himself in his profession.  He had bought a large stock of drugs and opened the first drug store in Corpus Christi, adjoining his home, where Lichtenstein’s now stands.  His cheerful, buoyant, kindly nature, traits inherited by his daughter, Jessie, made him a lover physician.

To Dr. and Mrs. Robertson were born three more children, Eliza, who died in infancy, Helen Mar, the late Mrs. E. T. Merriman and George, her twin brother.

Dr. Robertson filled the office of postmaster and was the city’s mayor.  Jessie was sent to the convent school, besides, she had the advantage of training by a mother especially competent.  Mrs. Robertson was a lady of gentle birth, a descendant of the DeGeorges, French Hugenots that fled to Scotland.  Her people were in the professions in Keith and her brother’s daughter, Marian, married to an Episcopal minister, followed Henry Stanley into Darkest Africa.

Child though Jessie Robertson was, she was early to know the fear and witness the fatalities that followed in the wake of war.  When the Federals bombarded Corpus Christi in 1863, she was among the refugees to the Cody place, out of town.  Repulsed, they made frequent landings from their camp in the Island  and Dr. Robertson and Col. Charles Lovenskiold were marked men.

 

Spies in the City

It was only by the vigilance of friends and relatives that they escaped, for there were spies and friends of the Federals in the little city.  Each evening Father Ganard, in his one-horse buggy, would take them to the homes of friends a few miles away, the Mussetts, the Dunns and the Priours.

In the morning two little girl heroines, Jessie Robertson and Leona Swift, would start out, passing the soldiers as they went up the hill to Antelope and Leopard, carrying empty pitchers, presumably to get milk, in reality to intercept Dr. Robertson and Col. Lovenskiold if danger impended.

Col. Kittredge was taken prisoner at Flour Bluff, when he had gone to exchange coffee and sugar for buttermilk.

Mayor Doolittle was put in his place.  He was an insolent, cruel and overbearing officer.

One night he and his men appeared at the Robertson home.  Mrs. Robertson met them and calmly answered their inquiry for Dr. Robertson, saying that he was not it, although it so happened he was hidden in a tree in the yard.  They entered to search the house, piercing the canvas ceiling.  Then, seeing a form on the sofa, Doolittle exclaimed, “Here he is.  I’ll get him.† With that he plunged forth with bayonet.  Willie Robertson screamed “It’s my little sister Jessie,†Don’t kill her.† She had taken refuge under a blanket on the couch.  In another room, Mrs. Lovenskiold served cake and wine to the intruders while she had Colonel Lovenskiold under a sofa.  Hidden in an outhouse Dr. Robertson saw a woman spy throw poison to his two fine horses and John Riggs marched by to the music of a funeral dirge.

Only through the bravery and strategy of Mrs. Robertson and Mrs. Lovenskiold did they foil the plans of Doolittle and save their husbands lives.

Not for long did Corpus Christi enjoy cessation of war for then came in 1867, a visitor, an invader more terrible, yellow fever, that entered every home and took its tool.

And here we find the 12-year old Jessie Robertson, again a heroine.  Like an angel of mercy, she moved, among the sick and dying, cheering, consoling until she went down, a victim of the yellow herself. 

Three doctors, Robertson, Merriman, and Johnson and their friend, the gentle priest Father Ganard, died at their post of duty.  Mrs. Robertson, crushed by the cruel blows she suffered, returned to her mother in Scotland.  After a year’s absence and time had dulled the pain inflicted, she determined to return to Corpus Christi to take up life anew to give herself to its people, and when it was time to go she might rest beside her beloved dead.

A welcome awaited her and her home became a center of culture and a charming hospitality dispensed by its dignified and gracious hostess and her two daughters.

 

Married in 1876

Miss Jessie Robertson was married to Jasper Clark in 1876.  He was a native of Louisiana, and a relative of the Clark family identified with the growth of this section.  One child was born to them, George R., president of the State National Bank.

Mrs. Clark was a member of the Presbyterian Church, under whose guidance she journeyed unto death.

The message that we are glean as we review her life is one that merits praise and admiration.  Early, responsibilities were placed upon her.  She assumed them and became the “sister upon whose gentle bosom the household did lean.† When the nursing profession was unknown and neighbors and friends and relatives kept watch over the sick, she was ever foremost to do her duty.  All this served to strengthen her character, to broaden her sympathies with the unfortunate, to mete out justice to all, unmindful of its cost.

She was loyal to her adopted home.  She has seen it in the throes of war and pestilence, wind and wave.  But she always believed it would come back again.  And it did, when in 1926 Corpus Christi became the young and beautiful bride of old ocean gray.  A penitent he seemed, ready to make restitution for the wrongs he had done.

The closing years of Mrs. Clark’s life were calm and placid as the silver sea that rippled at her feet.  The vicissitudes she had met, the sorrows she had known lay behind her.  Bravely she entered into the lives of younger generations, interesting herself in all that concerned them and thus she failed to quell her youthful spirit or dim her mind so alert.  Only the body weakened and yielded to the inevitable.

The long cortege that followed her to her last resting place in Old Bayview was a silent testimony of how his remarkable woman had endeared herself to her fellow citizens, and it was an evidence that the world appreciates unselfish souls that radiate sunshine and cheer and strive to obey the Saviour’s command to “bear ye one another’s burdens.â€

 

Source:  Corpus Christi Caller, 1938

Transcription by: Rosa G. Gonzales and the Corpus Christi Public Libraries