The Marriage

Clark Eugene Drown, married Eva Marie Kling, on 11 July 1882. When trying to find where the marriage took place, there are two conflicting issues. In Eva Marie’s obituary, readers are left thinking that Clark and Eva were married in Ionia Michigan; however; Clark’s obituary said they were married in Tower City, North Dakota. A search for a Marriage record in Michigan, for Clark Drown and Eva Marie Kling resulted in no such record. A search for their marriage in Cass County, North Dakota also resulted in no so such record. 

Tower City, North Dakota sits right on the border of Cass County and Barns County. Naturally one would look at Barns County as well for the record. A search for a marriage record for Clark Drown on 11 July 1882 in Barns County, also resulted in no such record. There is however, an Eva Marie Kling that has a recorded marriage in 1883 a whole year after the marriage took place.

It seems that the clerk filed the marriage a year after the marriage actually took place. The reason for this may be because of the way the marriage was recorded. Requesting a copy of the marriage certificate revealed that the marriage was never written down on a formal document, but instead was written on the back of a card. perhaps when the clerk or preacher wrote down the marriage it was on this card that got set aside or misplaced and that is why there was a delay in filing the record. Be sure to search far and wide during your research to make sure you do not miss some vital pice of information. Future posts will examine the marriage document and the information provided in it. This information will help to prove the family relationships for Clark Drown.  

The Man

Clark Eugene Drown, was born in Nelson, Portage, Ohio on the 12th of December 1854. He died in Elko, Elko County, Nevada on the 30th of August 1942. Clark was a Frontiersman who helped settle the frontier of Nevada in the early 1880s. His parents were Calvin A. Drown and Jennet Baxter; Clark was one of ten children. Clark married Eva Marie Kling, in North Dakota, in July of 1882 and they had nine children. The purpose of this blog is to explore the records Clark left behind in order to give a clear example of where he lived, what he did, and who he was. This blog will look at his life using historical documents and records he created in his lifetime. This blog will also help clear up uncertain controversy about the when's and where's of his life.