You may recall that in my last post, The Students, the subject photograph was inscribed to Jay and the identity of Jay remained a mystery. It turned out that a fellow named Jay Clark is the subject of two other photographs obtained from the same place on the same day.
Look at the following handwriting samples. First, from “The Students”:
Now, the new photograph:
The two handwriting samples appear to match. They may have been written at the same time with the same pen.
Alexander Jay Clark (1905-1985), who went by Jay, was the son of Clifford Campbell Clark (1879-1968) and Clara Little (1883-1969). Clifford was enumerated in the 1920 Census in Rainier, OR as a “store keeper” and his industry was listed as “Confectionary,” so that sort of dates the photograph. Jay and his brother Albert Campbell Clark (1907-1982) were born in Wisconsin. Their sister, Ruth Marie Clark, was born in 1910 in Whitman County, WA, but survived only two days. Jay married Jimmie Belle Neighbors (1909-1975) in 1932 and they had one daughter. Jay and Jimmie are buried in Mount Union Cemetery in Philomath, OR.
Clifford’s nickname was Jay. Clifford’s father was Adin Jay Clark (1855-1890). Jay had a grandson named Robert Jay.
Elva Marie Ingersoll (1905-1987) married William Douglas Mohney (1900-1981). Elva, William, and two of their three sons are buried in Lincoln Memorial Park in Portland, OR.
Below is another photograph of Jay. According to the inscription on the back it was given to him by the “Lo-Hi-Si Camp Fire Girls.” I could not find that specific camp but you can learn about the Camp Fire organization here.
Following are the reverses of the two photographs. Each one is approximately 2.5 X 3.5 inches. They were bought at an antique store in Baltimore, MD in July 2016.
This is quite interesting,
Thank you for posting this and details!!!! Elva was my grandma <3 <3 <3. She passed in 1987 in Portland Oregon. She was preceded by her husband and middle son. My dad was her oldest son. Her youngest son is still living.