This record contains a series of photographs of William Oglesby Clark throughout his life, provided by the Museum of the State of California. William O. is mentioned in the Wilford Woodruff Papers, and was the elder brother of Ezra. He lived in Drytown, CA.
Ezra's present living descendants who are elderly and have done extensive research on William refer to him as a "Josephite"—opposed to a "Brighamite".
These terms, and others (such as Strangite) were used after an apparent "schism" among the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka "RLDS") were often referred to as "Josephites", because they became believers that Joseph Smith's posterity should take the helm—opposed to Brigham Young. More on this matter can be read here.
Each colored image of the three was provided by the Museum, and the black and white images were improved in Adobe Photoshop to convey more detail.
Other names William went by were "William O. Clark", "W O Clark", and "William O.".
| Image #1 |
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| This first image in this series reveals a vignette of William, bearded and wearing a bowtie and patterned vest, in 1878. Beneath his portrait, there is cursive text as depicted in the transcription below. |
W O Clark 1878
The Museum libararian did not scan the reverse side of this image, but stated the following in my email communication with her:
"*As a note, the 1878 photograph has the following written on verso: "Grand Worthy Patriarch of the Sons of Temperance and a member Independent Order of Good Templars."
| Image #2 |
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| The second image in this series reveals a seated photo of William, bearded, and also wearing a bowtie and different vest, with pocket watch chain. His legs are crossed. His hand is placed atop a booklet which appears to be some type of ledger or wallet, or both. I estimate this image was taken about the same time of the former image, about 1878. |
| Image #3 |
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| The third image in this series reveals William, clearly older, but still bearded, and standing. He holds a cane in his left hand, and a napkin of sorts in his right hand, while leaning on a fur coat. It must be noted he wears some regalia of sorts, likely related to the temperance organization of which he took part in, called "Independent Order of Good Templars". |