Clark Clan Mysteries

The "Benson" Name; Mystery Solved

Anne Garnett Emory Clark

Anne Garnett Emory and Robert Stuart Clark named their second child Stuart Benson Clark, thus starting a 3 generation naming dynasty that has had me perplexed for years...until now. 

I have been searching for the connection of the middle name "Benson" to anyone in the direct ancestral line of this family and have come up empty handed until some clues surfaced after the death of Stuart Benson Clark, Jr. The documents were typed research notes and questions believed to have been compiled by Eleanor Gaither Clark (married name Bullard), daughter of Anne and Robert Clark. Next to the typed notes were some handwritten notes regarding Anne Garnett Emory's father, Frank Emory's maternal ancestry (the North family). Apparently, Anne's grandmother, Ann (North) had a sister named Sarah (North) who married Alexander Benson. They had a daughter named Harriet Smith Benson (Frank Emory's 1st cousin). Harriet was a spinster but was very good and kind to Anne (Garnett Emory Clark). She took her abroad and even helped put her through Miss Reid's school in New York. It would seem that she named her first son Stuart Benson Clark for cousin Harriet Benson, as she had no children of her own. Stuart Benson Clark named his son Stuart Benson Clark, Jr., and he named his son Stuart Benson Clark, III. What a wonderful tribute to a kind and generous woman who has namesakes living on through Anne's descendants.