CHLOE CLARK, THE PERSON
This is the only known photograph of Chloe. The photograph was probably taken in the mid-1850's. There is also a photograph of her husband William Holden Willson who died in 1856 when Chloe was 38 years old and the mother of three daughters ages 8 and 4 years and a baby 6 months old. Photography was a new invention at that time and expensive. The photographs indicate that the Willson's were relatively "well-to-do" by then.
Married to William in July 1840 at the Nisqually Mission (located in today's DuPont, Washington), she gave premature birth to a son the following May who lived only three days. In her diary, Chloe records the difficult birth and the sickness she suffered at that time. She was fortunate to have the care of the Mission Leader, a college educated medical doctor; otherwise she may have perished. Chloe continued teaching until the birth of her first daughter in 1847 when she was 29 years old. She returned to the teaching profession in 1863 at Willamette University as the Governess of the Ladies Department.
Chloe's diary is the most reliable reference to Chloe's life. First entry was made in September 1839 while she was in New York City waiting with the 50 other missionaries, lay workers and their families to board the sailing ship Lausanne for the 235 day sea voyage to the Oregon wilderness. The last entry was written on June 24, 1849 while living in Salem, Oregon as a wife and mother. Entries were not made daily and there are no entries for long periods of time. The diary does reveal that Chloe was a deeply religious person and devoted to the teaching profession. She writes fondly of her husband and pleasantly records her experiences in teaching. When their first daughter is born, she writes a list of rules to be followed in raising the child that contain her religious approach to life and experiences as a teacher.
Chloe's granddaughter, Frances Gill, wrote a novel "Chloe Dusts Her Mantle" that was published in 1935. Based upon family stories, this novel delightfully romanticizes Chloe's life. It is difficult for the reader to include today's descendants, to determine fact from fiction. The problem is that today many use the book for reference. For example, the author spells Chloe's maiden name "Clarke" and describes Chloe's father as a "physician and something of a scholar." Their home was in East Windsor, Connecticut. Census taken in the 1840's in East Windsor recorded that her father was a farmer named Clark and her mother and grandmother were both named Chloe. Chloe was probably known by her middle name of Aurelia in her childhood years.
Chloe used the name Aurelia C. Clark at the secondary or high school that she graduated from in 1837, according to the records of today's Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Originally founded by the Methodist Church as the Wesleyan Academy, the school opened in 1825 and changed to the Wilbraham Academy in 1911. In Chloe's time, most secondary schools and the few colleges were men's institutions. And these secondary schools and colleges were not public tax supported. Instead, they required private organizations to establish, financially support and operate. Tuition at the Wesleyan Academy was a dollar and a half per semester. Board and room were extra. Chloe's schooling at the Wesleyan Academy gave her an education far above almost all women in our County at that time. As a Methodist stronghold, Wesleyan Academy graduates were leaders in the missionary field. It was there that Chloe was recruited in 1839 to join the reinforcement party as a school teacher for the Methodist Mission in the Oregon Country. She arrived in the disputed Oregon County before the land became a United States Territory in 1846.
Chloe Aurelia (Clark) Willson was only 4 feet, 10 inches tall. This diminutive lady had a distinct and lasting impact on the Pacific Northwest as a pioneer educator in the wilderness that she bravely entered at 22 years of age.
The Chloe Clark Memorial Committee solicits documented facts that would enhance and correct this page. Please use the Contact - Click Here page to communicate with the Committee.
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