Dennis H. Clarke
It becomes the fortune of but few men to attain the success that has rewarded the efforts of Dennis H. Clarke before reaching their fortieth year and to gain it through individual endeavor and without the assistance of financial support or the influence of those already established in life. Still in the prime of manhood, with his best years before him, Mr. Clarke has attained a position that many men would deem sufficient at the end of a lifetime of honest endeavor, and as halfowner of the properties of the Model Laundry he must be accounted one of the influential factors in the business life of the Hanging Rock Region.
Mr. Clarke is a native son of Ironton, Lawrence County, born June 27, 1875, his parents being Columbus and Sadie (Kouns) Clarke. His father, a native of Millersport, Ohio, was born in 1853 and for a number of years was engaged in the grocery business at Ironton, where he died February 17, 1914. Mrs. Clarke, who was born at Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio, in 1856, died in 1904, leaving only one child, Dennis H., and the father contracted a second marriage with Mrs. Ella Guerin, who still survives and makes her home at Logan, this state. Dennis H. Clarke was given good educational advantages in his youth, attending the public and high schools of Ironton and then spending three years at Cornell University, which institution he left in 1896 to accept the position of bookkeeper in the Bank of Steele, North Dakota. He spent only one year in this capacity, however, then returning to Ironton, where from 1898 until 1905 he was superintendent of the water works and during this time established himself firmly in the public confidence. In the latter year he invested his savings in a one-half interest in the Model Steam Laundry Company, and with this concern has been connected to the present time. Associated with him is Mr. A. C. Shubert, who has charge of the company's other establishment at Williamson, West Virginia, which is operated under the same name. The name of this business is no misnomer, for it is model in every respect. The buildings have been arranged with the idea of securing the greatest sanitary conditions, the machinery is of the latest manufacture known to the trade, and every detail of the business has been worked out along the most up-to-date lines. Mr. Clarke is progressive by nature, and is known as a hustler and a business-getter, as well as a man of high business principles and of fidelity in the meeting of engagements. He has steadfastly "boosted" the interests of his city, and is an active and working member of the Chamber of Commerce. Politically a republican, his only office has been that of superintendent of the water works, but he has always taken an interest in politics as they have affected Ironton and its people. His fraternal connections include membership in the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. With his family he attends the Episcopal Church.
On October 5, 1904, Mr. Clarke was married to Miss Minnie B. Massie, daughter of Ephraim Massie. now deceased, who was formerly a well-known hotelkeeper of Ironton, One child has been born to this union: Dennis H., Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke reside in their own comfortable home at Ironton.
From "A Standing History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio" by Eugene B. Willard, Daniel W. Williams, George O. Newman and Charles B. Taylor. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, 1916