| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE GREEK REVIVAL STYLE. RETURN EAVES ON BOTH THE SOUTH AND NORTH SIDES OF THE HOUSE ARE THE DOMINANT STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTIC. THE STRUCTURE WAS BUILT IN 1849 FOR JOHN OTIS AND WAS ENLARGED IN 1877 FOR JOHN G. CLARK, WHO ADDED A ONE-STORY WING TO THE SOUTH SIDE. THIS ONE AND A HALF STORY RESIDENCE HAS AN IRREGULAR SHAPED PLAN, A GABLE ROOF, SCALLOPED SHINGLES ON THE PENT ROOFS, WOODWORK AROUND THE DOOR, SLIM SIDELIGHTS, A BAY WINDOW ON THE SOUTH FACADE (BRACKETS), AND A CHIMNEY ON THE NORTH SIDE. THE BUILDING WAS FOUND TO BE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.
THE HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1849 FOR JOHN OTIS. (A,B). COLONEL JOHN G. CLARK LIVED IN THE HOUSE FROM 1853 TO 1917, A PERIOD OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR LANCASTER (B,D).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
BORN IN MORGAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS, IN 1825, JOHN G. CLARK SPENT HIS FIRST TWENTY YEARS IN ILLINOIS, WISCONSIN, AND MISSOURI. HE GRADUATED FROM ILLINOIS COLLEGE AT JACKSONVILLE IN 1847 AND SETTLED IN WISCONSIN'S LEAD REGION WHERE HE COMBINED MINING AND TEACHING. IN 1849, HE GAVE UP THIS DUAL CAREER IN FAVOR OF SURVEYING GOVERNMENT LANDS WITH JAMES E. FREEMAN. BY 1853, HE WAS BACK IN SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN AND SECURED AN APPOINTMENT AS DEPUTY CLERK OF GRANT COUNTY'S CIRCUIT COURT. HE WAS ELECTED TO THE OFFICE IN 1854 AND SUCCEEDED HIMSELF IN 1856 AND 1858 (C,D). DURING THIS EARLY PERIOD, CLARK ALSO SERVED AS VILLAGE TRUSTEE (1856), AS TOWN SUPERVISOR (1857, 1858), AND AS COUNTY SUPERVISOR (1858). (E)
AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR, CLARK JOINED THE UNION ARMY AND WAS COMMISSIONED LIEUTENANT AND QUARTERMASTER OF THE FIFTH WISCONSIN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. IN 1863, HE WAS MADE CAPTAIN AND PROVOST MARSHALL OF THE THIRD WISCONSIN DISTRICT AND IN 1865 HE WAS NAMED COLONEL OF THE FIFTIETH WISCONSIN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY AND WAS SENT TO MISSOURI IN COMMAND OF THE FIRST SUB-DISTRICT WITH HEADQUARTERS AT JEFFERSON CITY. (D)
FOLLOWING THE WAR, CLARK RETURNED TO LANCASTER AND ESTABLISHED A LAW PRACTICE. (HE HAD BEEN ADMITTED TO THE BAR IN 1861). HE ALSO CONTINUED HIS CAREER IN ELECTIVE OFFICE, FILLING THE FOLLOWING POSTS: MAYOR OF LANCASTER (1880-1882), TOWN SUPERVISOR (1877-1878), AND COUNTY SUPERVISOR (1877-1878, 1880-1883). (E) CLARK ALWAYS RAN ON THE REPUBLICAN TICKET AND WAS CREDITED WITH THE FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN GRANT COUNTY.
IN ADDITION TO THESE OFFICES, CLARK, IN 1889, WAS APPOINTED ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OKLAHOMA TERRITORY BY PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON. AFTER HIS TERM (1890-1894), HE AGAIN RETURNED TO LANCASTER WHERE HE LIVED UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1917. (D)
HISTORICAL STATEMENT:
HISTORICALLY, THE CLARK HOUSE IS ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF LANCASTER'S MOST PROMINENT RESIDENTS, COLONEL JOHN G. CLARK. SETTLING IN LANCASTER IN 1853, CLARK STARTED ON A POLITICAL CAREER THAT INCLUDED SERVING AS LANCASTER'S MAYOR, AS CHAIRMAN OF THE TOWN AND COUNTY BOARDS, AS STATE LEGISLATOR (1860), AND AS FEDERAL JUDGE OF THE OKLAHOMA TERRITORY (1890-1894). DURING HIS SERVICE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT, CLARK WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN SECURING A RAILROAD CONNECTION FOR LANCASTER AND IN CONSTRUCTING THE COUNTY ASYLUM. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH DESCRIBED THE COLONEL, WHO RECEIVED HIS MILITARY RANK DURING THE CIVIL WAR, AS ONE "WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED NO SMALL PORTION TO THE BEST ACTIVITIES OF THE CITY AND COUNTY." (C)
After Clark died, Charles Tiedemann, a baker, bought the house. The Tiedemann family lived in it for most the 20th century. |
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| Bibliographic References: | LANCASTER GRANT CO. HERALD INDEPENDENT 1/11/1996.
B. LANCASTER TAX ASSESSMENT RECORDS, ARC, UW-PLATTEVILLE. FROM 1849-51, JOHN M. OTIS OWNED THE PROPPERTY. IN 1852, J.A. BARBER WAS OWNER AND IN 1853, COL. CLARK).
C. ELLIS BAKER USHER, WISCONSIN: ITS STORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 1848-1913, 4 VOLS. (CHICAGO: LEWIS PUBLISHING CO., 1914), 4:1184.
D. WISCONSIN NECROLOGY, 16:111-113.
E. CASTELLO HOLFORD, HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN LANCASTER: THE TELLER PRINT, 1900), PP. 416-424, 144-160.
SANBORN-PERRIS FIRE INSURANCE MAPS OF LANCASTER, WI. NEW YORK: 1894, 1899, 1905, 1912, 1927, 1927 (UPDATED TO 1940).
CITY OF LANCASTER REAL ESTATE TAX ASSESSMENT ROLLS.
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF LANCASTER, WISCONSIN. MADISON: J. J. STONER, 1872.
ATLAS OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN. MINNEAPOLIS: C. M. FOOTE, 1895.
NEW MAP OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN. NEW YORK: WARREN GRAY, 1868.
GRANT COUNTY HERALD: JULY 26, 1877, P. 3.
STUDY UNITS:
1. STATE GOVERNMENT
2. COUNTY GOVERNMENT
3. EARLY PARTY POLITICS
Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square, Lancaster Historic Preservation Commission, 2006. |
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