top of page

Clark

Byron E.

Birthdate:

Nov 1860

Birthplace:

Douglas County, Kansas

Date of Death:

1936

Place of Death:

Monrovia, Los Angeles, California

Occupation:

Landlord

Properties Owned:

noun_person_3324299.png

Byron E. Clark was the first born child to Samuel L. and Leanora J. Market Clark who were farming in Kansas.  By 1880, the family, which numbered five children, had moved to Kansas, Missouri, where Samuel Clark either owned or was working in a feed store.


In 1885, Byron Clark marries Margaret Elzabeth Proebstel, and they move to Palms, California to farm.  Palms had just be founded as a town and was being marketed for agriculture and as a vacation destination.  Palms had been part of Rancho Ballona.  The 1890-1900  California Voter Registration list record Byron Clark as living in Ballona, but it is unclear if he and Margaret  moved to another section or if the area they were in was renamed.  Ballona morphed into the cities of Playa del Rey and Marian del Rey.


Margaret and Byron had five children while they were living in Ballona: Abigail Eliza  (1886-1929),  Leonora J. (1892-1979), Samuel Gilbert (1896-1944}, Anna May (1899-1990), Emma L. (1900-1981).


It is unknown how those to come to Monrovia,  but they definitely came with a plan. They buy Lot 21, Block B of the Town of Monrovia Subdivision.  They build a two-story structure that they intend to use a boarding house (furnished rooms) and, with their children,  moved into it in 1908.  City directories up to the time the structure was torn down for a parking lot show that the building remained in use as apartments.


The city directory lists Byron  Clark as a rancher, not a landlord.  However the entry maybe  indicating that Clark's former occupation was as a rancher.  Tax how that Clark owns no other property other than 133 E. Lime Avenue.


Clark's parents had moved back to Kansas from Missouri.  Census records indicate Samuel Clark was farming in 1900, but he was already 69 years old.  His wife dies in 1905, so as soon as son Byron opens his boarding house, Samuel moves from Kansas to Monrovia to live with his son.  Samuel dies in 1913.


Byron and Margaret's children,  Abigail, Leonora, Samuel, Anna, and Emma grow up in Monrovia, attending Monrovia schools. They all married and moved away from Monrovia.


Byron and Margaret continued running the boarding house until Margaret's death in 1921.  After that, Byron moved to Anaheim to live with his daughter Anna May and her husband, Oscar P. Wangler.  Byron died in 1936, and was brought back to Monrovia to be buried at Live Oak Cemetery.


bottom of page