12
After Wilford's return from this, his first mission, he was asked to give up his home in Georgetown and move to Montpelier to become its bishop. In Montpelier, the young (30-year-old) Bishop bought the home of Roan Davis. Here he was to put in some of his most worthwhile years of service to man and God, and all the while retain a longing for his beloved Georgetown.
"Since his income, while he served as Montpelier's bishop, was derived from his Georgetown farm, W. W. Clark kept a close eye on both towns. Eventually his oldest son, W. W. Clark, Jr., was most instrumental in running the farm, living at first in a sheep camp and then in a granary."10
The home in Montpelier was to be a haven for family, friends, neighbors, and ward members for the next twenty years, with expert management by "Aunt Millie" and her ten children. Of her managing of a home, it was said that "she could do more in a day than most women in a week." 11 Perhaps her biggest help around the home was her son, Royal.
"When she was to prepare a big meal, such as at Thanksgiving or Christmas, and if Royal could just stop in for about an hour, boy, those two would really get things done!"10
"In appearance, the home was neither modest nor ostentatious. The decorations and furnishings came from the commonwealth of the Clark family generally, as well as occasional new items: the home had the first bathtub in Montpelier."11
After nineteen years as Bishop and one term each in the Idaho Legislature and Senate, W. W. Clark gathered up his family and moved back to Georgetown in 1913. He wanted to rear his children and grandchildren on the farm where, according to him, they all belonged. In 1916 the hilltop big red barn with the white bold-lettered words SPRINGDALE FARM was completed. This estate was to be Bishop Clark's headquarters for the remaining forty years of his life.