By Charlie at Pasty Central (Chopper) on Sunday, March 30, 2014 - 03:46 am:
Your Honor, as today's Shoebox Memory is a web of historic U.P. relationships, I will present a series of exhibits, arriving at a relevant conclusion.
Exhibit 1: John D. Voelker, Supreme Court Justice from Ishpeming. We've mentioned him before on the Pasty Cam, the author of "Anatomy of a Murder". There is an excellent article about his life on the Michigan Bar website. In 1965 Justice Voelker wrote another novel under the pen name Robert Traver, entitled "Laughing Whitefish". It was a legal thriller - of polygamy, corporate intrigue, and romance - set in Marquette in the 1870's. The main character was William Poe (Willy), a young attorney who opened his practice in Marquette in 1873.
Exhibit 2: Frederick Owen Clark. Mr. Clark was the real-life Willy Poe. Clark had come to the U.P. in 1862 as a Civil Engineer, working on the railroads, making them more efficient in the delivery of men and materials for the war effort. At the and of the Civil War he took up the study of law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1870. In addition to his successful legal practice, Clark had an extensive record of public service: President of the Village of Escanaba, member of the Michigan Legislature, and eventually Mayor of Marquette. Clark was married to Miss Ellen Harlow, daughter of Amos Harlow, founding father of Marquette. In his spare time Frederick served on the boards of Dexter Mining Company, City Electric Street Railroad Company, Hazard Machine Company, and as an elder and trustee in the Presbyterian Church (whew!) F.O. Clark's biographical sketch appears in the Memorial record of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan
Exhibit 3: Fast forward a century to the cute kid in the third photo. She happens to be a descendant of Jeremiah Clark, founder of the Village of Clarkston, Michigan. Jeremiah's grandfather was also the great-great-grandfather of Frederick Owen Clark, making that young lady the cousin of Willy Poe, about sixth removed. She moved to the U.P. in 1988, and went on to become a student of Upper Michigan history, some of which you may have heard... She is my wife Edie. And my co-producer of Pasty Central "Day in History".
All of this, just as a way of wishing Edie an early Happy Birthday, coming up this Thursday.
I rest my case. Have a good week :o)
