Two Census Part 1

This blog-up to this point-has gone over the marriage and death of Clark E. Drown. This post will show the parents and siblings of Clark E. Drown. Showing Clark’s family is not as easy as finding them in one census; it will take more than one to show the family of Clark Drown.  Clark shows up in all of the Nevada censuses from 1880 to 1930. He was born in 1854. The only other time Clark is found in a census outside of Nevada is in the 1870 census.

This census shows indirect evidence as to who some of Clark’s family members are. According to the 1870 Ohio, Trumbull, Mesopotamia, United States Census, Clark’s parents are Calvin and Jennette Drown. Clark is also listed with two other siblings. As mentioned in an earlier blog post, Clark’s obituary said he was ether one of a household of ten, or one of ten children. Because the obituary was not specific enough, we will have to use some methodology to figure out what is going on with Clark’s family.

No Drowns matching this family can be found in the 1860 census. There is a family in the 1850 Ohio, Portage, Nelson Unites State Census; the same parents in the 1850 census match the parents named in 1870 but none of the children match and the birth places of the parents do not match the 1870 census.  

( Note the indexer indexed the last name as Duron on the first page. Indexing the next page and the last three children, the indexer indexed them as Drown. The image clearly shows Drown as the last name for this family on both pages.)

However, the youngest son’s name is Calvin Drown. In Clark’s obituary it says that he moved to Nevada with “his brother Calvin”. Portage, Nelson, Ohio is also the birth place listed for Clark in his obituary. Clark was born in 1854, four years after the census was taken. This is strong evidence that this family could be the same but the proof of this will be examined in the following blog post.  

The Obituary

In this post, an extensive look at Clark and Marie Drown's obituaries will be done to help put together their lives. This will help find the correct siblings and parents of Clark Drown.

Clark died on the 30th of August 1942. A search in the Elko, Nevada Daily Free Press Newspaper resulted in a prominent heading announcing the death of Clark Drown. In the 1940s not every death made headlines. Only those who were in high standing in the community could have their obituary reach headline status in the local paper. 

The first paragraph in Clark’s obituary indicated why he received a headlining obituary. It said "prominent resident, rancher, died". The article later said that "at age 19 he came to the Lee community in Elko county to engage in ranching with his brother Calvin”. The U.S. Census for the South Fork region in Elko County indicated a C. E. Drown living with a brother by the name of C. A. Drown. The territory of Nevada became a state in 1864 and Clark’s obituary said he was 19 when coming to Nevada; Clark would have arrived in Nevada in 1873 or 1874 depending on the time of year. Clark was among the first settlers within the first ten years of Nevada’s statehood and was also one of the first ranchers in the area.  This helped him to become well established and profit from the sale of livestock, food, and trade. These are just a few of the reasons Clark had such a high standing in the community and received such a large headline at the time of his death. 

Marie Drown’s obituary said that she was a long time member of the Presbyterian church and Clark’s obituary indicated that his funeral would be held at a Presbyterian church. This is a good indication that the Drowns were Presbyterian. Clark’s obituary stated that he was “One of a Family of 10.” Unfortunately this also leaves the reader to wonder if the family consisted of two adults and eight children, or simply a family with ten children? Clark’s obituary also indicated that he was the last of all his siblings to pass away. 
Marie’s obituary implied that she and Clark were married in Michigan but Clark’s obituary clearly indicated that they were married in North Dakota; an earlier post goes over this in much more detail. There are several other pieces of significant information in Clark’s obituary such as his death date and birth date. The obituary is important because it is one of the only sources that gives his entire birth date and it also speaks of him going back to North Dakota to visit family. It also gives an account of the many times he moved within the state of Nevada after retiring, as well as some insight into his early dealings when he came to Nevada. Overall, obituaries are among some of my favorite sources because of the great insight and information they give. Don't forget to find your ancestors’ obituaries.