Carrie Estelle Larkham Clark

of Voluntown and Canterbury, Connecticut

My great-great-grandmother, Carrie Estelle Larkham, was born on March 26, 1855 in Voluntown, Connecticut. She was named for her mother's sister, Caroline Palmer. Carrie was the third daughter and the sixth of eleven children born to William H. Larkham and Hannah Emeline Palmer.

Carrie married Levi Nelson Clark, the 18½-year-old son of Francis and Sarah (Heath) Clark, on January 11, 1882. Carrie was nearly 27, and was 8 ½ years older than Levi. I was surprised to learn of this age difference, and have often wondered about the circumstances that brought together an 18½-year-man with an almost 27-year-old woman, and how common a union of this sort would have been in the late-1800s.Carrie and Levi clearly had a long and happy marriage. Their first child was born a mere 10½ months after their wedding day. One year after their marriage, Levi bought a 75-acre tract of land at the south of Canterbury where he raised small fruits, vegetables and poultry. He also established a career in politics. Levi represented Canterbury in the State of Connecticut House of Representatives for several years and held many local offices in Canterbury. Carrie and Levi were together for 52 years and had 3 children, all daughters, two of whom survived to adulthood. Carrie died on March 3, 1933. Levi died one year later, on May 14, 1934.

Carrie Estelle Larkham

My great-grandmother, Sarah Hannah Clark, was the second of Carrie and Levi's three children. The children were:

Mabel Larkham Clark, born October 30, 1882, died September 13, 1884
Sarah Hannah Clark, born August 14, 1884, married Frank Rowland Burdick on July 7, 1907, died October 18, 1955
Bertha Maude Clark, born June 25 1886, married Henry Newton Davis on January 14, 1914, died November 10, 1962

When Carrie and Levi's eldest daughter, Mabel Larkham Clark, died just before her second birthday, Carrie's aunt, Sarah Harvey Palmer, wrote the following poem:

Composed for
Mr. & Mrs. Levi N. Clark

Little Mabel, your heart's treasure
Has been torn from your embrace,
God so loved her, that he called her
To his own abiding place.

Though your bosom swells with anguish
And your heart may throb with pain,
Look to Jesus, he can help you,
He will you in love sustain.

God in pity, looks upon you,
He beholds your sorrowing hearts
And he lovingly invites you;
To accept the better part.

She was a lovely precious flower,
Has gone to bloom in Heaven's bower.
It's there she will be forever blest,
It's there little Mabel has found rest.

Darling Mabel is now an Angel,
Robed in garments pure and white.
With a Crown upon her forehead,
As she roams the field of light.

Dear Stricken Mourning parents
Look to Heaven to find relief
God is ever, ever near us,
When our hearts are bowed with grief.

She may be your guardian Angel,
To guard you on Life's weary way,
Then look upward not despairing
Of a brighter happier day.

And when this stormy Life is O'er
And you have passed to the distant Shore
May you find little Mabel at the beautiful gate,
Waiting and watching for thee.

by Sarah Harvey Palmer, 1884

Mabel Larkham Clark
(October 30, 1882 - September 13, 1884)

Photo Gallery

Photo Below: Carrie, Levi and daughters Sarah and Bertha in front of their home in Canterbury, Connecticut in 1889.

Photo below: Carrie, Levi and daughters Sarah and Bertha in 1894
Written on back of photo:
Mr. and Mrs. Levi N. Clark, Sarah Hannah Clark 10 yrs., Bertha Maude Clark, 8 yrs.

A gathering of friends and family in the 1920s:
Carrie Larkham Clark is standing at the top center. Levi Clark is the man seated to Carrie's right, wearing a hat. Sarah Clark Burdick is seated in the second row, the second woman from the left. Frank Burdick is second from the left. My grandmother, Bertha Burdick, is sitting to his right.

Photo below: Levi Nelson Clark's birthday party at Bertha Davis' house
(probably in the late 1920s - early 1930s). From left to right,
Front row: Frank Burdick and dog, three little girls (unknown), Ellsworth Davis, Addison Davis.
Second row: Unknown man, Sarah Hannah Clark Burdick, Julia Melissa Larkham, unknown woman, Bertha Maude Clark Davis, unknown man, Levi Nelson Clark, unknown man.
Back row: unknown woman, unknown woman, unknown woman, Carrie Estelle Larkham Clark (sitting directly to the rear left of Levi Clark), Kenneth Davis.