CPL Samuel Clarke
1846 – 1927
Co. C, 96th Illinois Infantry
CW
Samuel Clarke was born on March 14, 1846, in England, to Samuel and Ann (Bradford) Clark.
After his mother’s death, Clarke’s father emigrated with his brother and three small children in 1848, settling in Ela Township, Lake County.
Clarke mustered September 5, 1862, in Rockford, with Company C, 96th Illinois Infantry. The Regiment participated in the Tullahoma Campaign, battles at Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta Campaign, and battles at Franklin and Nashville. He mustered out with the rank of Corporal on June 10, 1865.
On February 12, 1868, Clarke married Betsy Briggs; they had one daughter before his wife’s untimely death in 1871. He never remarried, but farmed with his father, then lived with his daughter in his senior years.
Corporal Samuel Clarke died April 14, 1927 in Barrington; he rests with his wife and daughter’s family in Evergreen Cemetery.
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Remember. Honor. Teach.
Courtesy of Signal Hill Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution