Household #73: Clark, Mary

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In the 1900 Barney census, Mary Clark headed a 7-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Mary Clark headed a 7-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 3 children and 3 boarders, employees, servants, or other non-kin residents.

Mary Clark's listed occupation was Farmer.

Reported birthplaces span Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, pointing to movement into Barney or family formation across county or state lines.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

This section is reserved for later-life child evidence. No later spouse, death, burial, obituary, probate, separate household, or descendant-line identification has been added here yet from direct records.

Family Narrative

Mary Clark can be followed across a useful four-census chain in Brooks County from 1870 through 1910. In 1870 she appears as the wife of Fortune Clark in Brooks County, with children Henrietta, Malinda, Margaret, and Edward in the household. That early census gives her birthplace as Georgia and places the family near Quitman. In 1880 she appears as Mary J. Clark in Morven with husband Fortum Clark and children Henrietta, Margaritte, and Edward. Those two censuses anchor the family before Fortune's disappearance from the record.

By 1900 Mary was a widow heading her own household in Barney. The census describes her as a farmer who owned a mortgaged farm. Living with her were son Ed Clark, daughter Ida Clark, and Henry Hunter, listed as an adopted son, along with three boarders. The same entry states that Mary had borne five children and that three were then living. That count fits the broader household pattern reasonably well, though it still leaves open the identity of the missing child or children between the 1870 and 1900 records.

The 1910 census places Mary J. Clark in the household of Coleman Rountree and Maggie Rountree, where Mary is recorded as mother-in-law to Coleman and mother to Maggie. That entry gives direct support for treating Maggie Rountree as Mary Clark's daughter and links this household to the Coleman Rountree household treated elsewhere in the encyclopedia. The 1910 census also reports that Mary had borne five children, with two then living, showing that one more child had died between 1900 and 1910.

Two later records help extend the lives of younger household members. A Brooks County marriage record dated 5 Jan 1924 shows Ed Clarke marrying Mary Larkins. The surname appears there as Clarke, which should be treated as a spelling variant rather than as a separate man. A likely later record for Henry Hunter appears in his World War I draft registration in Brooks County, dated 12 Sept 1918. That card gives his birth date as 23 Apr 1884, residence on Quitman Route 1, occupation as a laborer, and nearest relative as Addie Hunter. The draft card strongly suggests that the Henry Hunter in Mary's 1900 household remained in Brooks County into adulthood, though the age on the card does not align perfectly with the 1900 census age and the identification should remain slightly cautious.

Several points remain unsettled. Mary's birthplace is Georgia in 1870 but Virginia in 1880, 1900, and 1910. Fortune or Fortum Clark is present in 1880 but gone by 1900, yet no death, probate, or burial record has been located. Ida Clark is present in 1900 but has not yet been traced forward in a secure later record. No cemetery memorial has yet been found for Mary Clark or Fortune Clark in the Brooks County searches used for this revision.

Connections to Other Barney Families

• HH#73 to HH#122 Coleman Rountree: The 1910 census places Mary Clark in the household of daughter Maggie Rountree and son-in-law Coleman Rountree, giving direct evidence for the Clark-Rountree connection.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: Keep head-of-household and spouse parentage as unresolved unless a cited direct record names the parents or the entry explains the census chain supporting the identification.
• Child census audit: Continue direct-record tracking for each child named in the 1900 household where later census, marriage, death, burial, obituary, or other parent-link proof is not already cited above.
• Other household member audit: Verify every non-nuclear household member, including in-laws, boarders, servants, laborers, uncles, grandchildren, and collateral relatives, before treating the stated relationship as part of the proved family structure.
• A marriage record for Maggie Clark and Coleman Rountree would strengthen the HH#73 to HH#122 connection by documenting the relationship directly rather than through the 1910 household alone.
• Mary Clark's death record, burial record, or probate record has not been found.
• Fortune or Fortum Clark's death, burial, or probate record has not been found.
• Ida Clark has not yet been traced securely after the 1900 census.
• The likely identification of Henry Hunter in the 1918 draft registration is strong but not absolute because the reported birth year is a few years earlier than the age implied by the 1900 census.
• The 1900 census shows Mary owning a mortgaged farm, but the supporting land, mortgage, and tax records have not yet been gathered.

Research Status

Well documented for the core household structure from 1870 through 1910. The census chain establishes Mary with Fortune or Fortum Clark, then as a widowed head of household, and finally in the Rountree household of her daughter Maggie. Ed Clark is carried forward by his 1924 marriage record, and Henry Hunter likely appears in a 1918 Brooks County draft registration. The main remaining gaps are Mary and Fortune's end-of-life records, Ida Clark's later life, and supporting property records.

Sources

• 1870 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Fortune Clark and Mary Clark, including children Henrietta, Malinda, Margaret, and Edward.
• 1880 U.S. census, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Fortum Clark and Mary J. Clark, including Henrietta, Margaritte, and Edward.
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, Mary Clark household, including Ed Clark, Ida Clark, Henry Hunter, William Wood, Henrietta Allus, and Harvy Allus.
• 1910 U.S. census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Coleman Rountree and Maggie Rountree, including Mary J. Clark as mother.
• Brooks County, Georgia, marriage record, Ed Clarke and Mary Larkins, 5 Jan 1924.
• U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Henry Hunter, Brooks County, Georgia, registered 12 Sept 1918, residence Quitman Route 1, nearest relative Addie Hunter.
• Find a Grave search for Mary Clark and Fortune Clark in Brooks County, Georgia cemeteries, negative as of May 2026.

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