The record-union., 1897-07-06
REV. FRANCIS E. CLARK.
The Father of the Christian En-
deavor Society.

With one of the delegations that is
to arrive to-day comes Rev. Francis
E. Clark, the founder of the Christian
Endeavor movement, who will be one
of the most prominent figures at the
convention.
The life of a man who has been the
chief human agency in founding and
promulgating a movement that has
spread more rapidly and more widely
than any other cause in the history of
the world, cannot be without interest
to the general public. The activities
of DR. Clark have been so thoroughly
one with the Christian Endeavor cause
that to write a sketch of his life is to
write a history of the movement
It was in his earnest thought that
Christian Endeavor had it's origin, and
his wise discretion has been largely re-
sponsible, so far as man is at all re-
sponsible for the wonderful growth of
the organization. Dr. Clark himself is
as remarkable a man as Christian En-
deavor is a movement.
Only one man in a million could
found such a society, and, having
founded it, continue to direct it, ju-
diciously avoiding the manifold snares
and pitfalls that surround it on every
side. 1t is because DR.. Clark him
self is such an absolutely unselffish,
humble character, that Christian En-
deavor has not succumbed to the diff
culties that have beset it At no time
has he used the organization as
means to further his own ends, at no
time has he sought to put himself for
ward, and ever has he labored with
a view solely to extending the general
cause of Christ and the Church"
though this body of young people
Those who know Dr. Clark best are
the ones who admire him most heartily
and love him most thoroughly His
gentle spirit and modest demeanor are
only equaled by his sterling character.
This has ever been the chief charac-
teristic of the man. 1t is the record
that the friends of his early life and
young manhood unanimously bear of
him.
Rev. Francis E. Clark is of New Eng
land parentage, although born in Ayl-
mer, Quebec The date of his birth was
September i, 1851, so that he is still
in the prime of his manhood. His
father was civil engineer In 1853.
while engaged in ministering to emf
grants suffering from cholera, he con-
tracted the dread disease, and speedily
succumbed to it. When Dr. Clark was
seven years old, his mother also passed
away. She was an earnest Christian
worker and pioneer in religious eff
forts. 1t was from her that Dr. Clark
largely inherited his Christian charac-
ter and literary ability.
Upon the death of his mother the
seven -year-old boy was adopted by an
uncle, Rev. E. W. Clark of Auburndale
Mass. Here, and in Claremont, n. H.
DR.. Clark spent his boyhood He pre-
pared for college at Meridian. n. H,
and in 1869 graduated from the kim
ball Union Academy From there he
went to Dartmouth, graduating in 1873.
Three years were spent in Andover
Seminary, and the young clergyman
shortly afterward took charge of his
first church at Portland, Me-. the fa-
nous Williston Church, in which Chris
tian Endeavor was born
Dr. Clark had been pastor here for
four years before he conceived the idea
of the Christian Endeavor Society. The
young people had been largely cared for
by mission band, THE Mizpah Cir
cle." conducted by Mrs Clark, who has
ever been helpmeet for Dr. Clark in