A family memorial
The Clarke–Avery Constellation
Every family is a constellation — points of light across the dark, held together by lines you only see once you know where to look. This is Rachel’s: a Dallas family of five Clarke brothers, a Kansas Pence, and the Oklahoma Averys, McFarlands, and Johnsons — traced ancestor by ancestor, with the confidence of each thread shown honestly. Touch a star to meet them.
16 people · 4 generations · 10 sources
- Clarke
- Pence
- McFarland
- Avery
- Johnson
The direct line
The people Rachel descends from directly — the spine of the constellation.
Parents
Grandparents
Great-grandparents
The branches
Each arm of the constellation is a people and a place.
Clarke
Dallas, Texas → Oklahoma → Oregon & California (via Louisiana)
1891–1940 · Louisiana → Texas → Oklahoma
Louis Clarke was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1891, raised his five sons in Dallas — where the 1920 census finds the whole household — and by 1940 the family had moved on to Oklahoma. Three states in one lifetime, and the spine of the Clarke arm.
Pence
Macksville, Stafford County, Kansas
McFarland
Elk City, Beckham County, Oklahoma
Avery
Oklahoma
Johnson
Oklahoma
The places
The towns that carried the family west — Louisiana to Texas to Oklahoma, Kansas, and on to California.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas County, Texas · 1911–1920s
The household of Louis & Susie Clarke. The 1920 census finds them in Dallas Precinct 24 with five Texas-born sons — Nick, Horatio, Phillip, Marvin, and Bob.
Monroe, Louisiana
Ouachita Parish, Louisiana · 1891
Birthplace of Louis Francis Clarke in 1891 — the Louisiana thread at the root of the Clarke arm, before the family moved west to Texas and then Oklahoma.
Macksville, Kansas
Stafford County, Kansas · 1895
Birthplace of Suzannah Rebecca “Susie” Pence in 1895 — the Kansas prairie origin of the Pence line.
Elk City, Oklahoma
Beckham County, Oklahoma · 1921
Birthplace of Roma Evelyn McFarland in 1921 — western Oklahoma, the McFarland arm.
Chico, California
Butte County, California · 1980s–2021
Where the Clarke–Avery story settled in California, and where Mark (2019) and Pamela (2021) each came to rest.
The record & the open threads
The Clarke arm is well documented — the 1920 census puts the whole Dallas household on paper, and the record runs back to Louisiana and Kansas. The McFarland, Avery, and Johnson arms are sure at the grandparent level and open beyond; the 2nd-great-grandparents shown are strong candidates, not yet confirmed. Where a thread is still open, the page says so — honesty is the whole point.
- Ancestry tree #211324693 — the family system of record (wife’s side)
- 1920 U.S. Census — Dallas Precinct 24, Dallas County, Texas
- “Bidwell Clarke Buchanan Adams Moore Miller” member tree (Ancestry #1251688)
- Oregon Death Index, 1898–2008 — Horatio Dick Clarke
- WWII Draft Registration Card (Young Men, 1940–1947) — H. Dick Clarke
- Davis Family Tree hint — accepted onto the live tree for Louis F. Clarke
- Oklahoma vital records — Roma Evelyn McFarland (Elk City → Norman)
- Marriage certificate — Mark H. Clarke & Pamela J. Avery
- Death certificate — Mark Harrison Clarke, 2019, Chico, California
- Death certificate — Pamela Jill Avery, 2021, Chico, California
This is your history too
If you’re family — or you knew any of these people — your memories, corrections, and photos are wanted. Everything goes to the family for review before it could ever appear here.