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: five Clarke brothers raised by a Dallas locksmith and his Kansas wife, a McFarland of Elk City, and the Greer County Averys and Johnsons who went west to California — traced ancestor by ancestor, with the confidence of each thread shown honestly. Touch a star to meet them.

24 people · 4 generations back · 34 sources

Clarke
Pence
McFarland
Avery
Johnson

The direct line

The people Rachel descends from directly — the spine of the constellation.

Parents

Grandparents

Great-grandparents

Proposed, not yet confirmed

Parents suggested by other researchers’ trees and consistent with the dates and places around them. Each still needs a record that names the child before it joins the line.

The branches

Each arm of the constellation is a people and a place.

Clarke

Louisiana → Dallas, Texas → Oklahoma → Oregon & California

1891–1940 · Louisiana → Texas → Oklahoma

Louis Clarke was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1891, started his family in Dallas — where the 1920 census finds the household — and in 1921 moved them to Oklahoma City. Three states in one lifetime, and the spine of the Clarke arm.

1915–1983 · The Clarke locksmiths

Louis gave up the stage as an escape artist about 1915 and made locks his living, founding the L. F. Clarke Safe and Lock Co. in Oklahoma City around 1926. He died in 1940 on the way to open a safe. His eldest son Nick kept the trade going from a downtown lock and key shop until 1983.

Pence

Macksville, Stafford County, Kansas

McFarland

Elk City, Beckham County, Oklahoma

Avery

Jester & Mangum, Greer County, Oklahoma

1941–1953 · West for the war years

By 1941 Alton and Elda Avery had left Greer County for Los Angeles County, part of the great wartime move of Oklahomans to the California defense towns. Bert was born there that September, and Pamela in 1953; the 1950 census finds Alton selling water softeners in Inglewood. Alton’s brothers went back and forth too, and in the end the family came home to Mangum.

Johnson

Oklahoma

1901–1977 · Greer County

Both of Rachel’s maternal grandparents were Greer County children, born within three years of each other. James and Bertie Johnson, married in 1901, raised eight children and are buried side by side at Willow; Audry and Emma Avery lie at Riverside in Mangum.

The road to Chico

Five arms, one direction. Every line of Rachel’s family was in Oklahoma by the 1920s: the Clarkes up from Louisiana by way of Dallas to Oklahoma City, the Pences out of Kansas, and the McFarlands, Averys and Johnsons in the western counties around Elk City and Mangum. Then west — the Averys to Los Angeles County around 1941, where Pamela was born, and in time the family to Chico, California.

1864–1940 · Clarke · Louisiana to Oklahoma City
The best-documented arm. Louis Clarke was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1891, started his family in Dallas, and in 1921 moved them to Oklahoma City, where he made his living as a locksmith.
1837–1921 · Pence · Kentucky to Kansas
Susie Pence was born on the Kansas prairie at Macksville in 1895 and became the mother of the five Clarke brothers.
1878–1947 · McFarland · Ohio & Missouri to Elk City
Roma McFarland was born at Elk City in western Oklahoma in 1921. The parents another researcher’s tree suggests came from Ohio and Missouri; that link is still unconfirmed.
1891–1995 · Avery · Greer County
Alton Avery was born at Jester in Greer County in 1917, one of eight children of Audry and Emma Avery. He took his young family to Los Angeles County around 1941 and came home to Mangum.
1881–1977 · Johnson · North Texas to Greer County
Elda Loy Johnson was born in Greer County in 1919, one of eight children of James and Bertie Johnson — Texans from Corsicana and Montague who are buried together at Willow.

The faded, dashed origins rest on suggested ancestors or on birthplaces only another researcher’s tree gives: consistent with the places and dates around them, but not yet confirmed by a record. They show where a line most likely came from, not where it is proven to have.

The places

The towns that carried the family west — Louisiana to Texas to Oklahoma, Kansas, and on to California.

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.

Dallas, Texas

Dallas County, Texas · 1911–1921

The household of Louis & Susie Clarke. The 1920 census finds them in Dallas Precinct 24 with four Texas-born sons; Bob followed that September. Susie came back to Dallas in widowhood, and is buried there.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma County, Oklahoma · 1921–1983

Where Louis moved the family in 1921 and opened the L. F. Clarke Safe and Lock Co. His eldest son Nick kept a lock and key shop downtown until 1983. Both are buried at Rose Hill.

Norman, Oklahoma

Cleveland County, Oklahoma · 1940–1991

Horatio was living in Norman by 1940. Roma died there in 1991 and is buried in its IOOF Cemetery.

Elk City, Oklahoma

Beckham County, Oklahoma · 1921

Birthplace of Roma Evelyn McFarland in 1921 — western Oklahoma, the McFarland arm. The parents a member tree suggests for her both died in Beckham County.

Mangum & Greer County, Oklahoma

Greer County, Oklahoma · 1917–2011

The home ground of Rachel’s mother’s family. Alton Avery was born at Jester and Elda Johnson in the county; their parents are buried at Riverside in Mangum and at Willow, and Alton and Elda came back to lie at Riverside too.

Inglewood, California

Los Angeles County, California · 1941–1953

Where the Averys went west around the start of the Second World War. The 1950 census finds Alton selling water softeners here; Pamela was born in Los Angeles County in 1953.

Portland, Oregon

Multnomah County, Oregon · 2007

Where Horatio “Dick” Clarke died in 2007, at 93.

Chico, California

Butte County, California · 1980s–2021

Where the Clarke–Avery story settled in California. Elda (2011), Mark (2019) and Pamela (2021) each came to rest here.

The record & the open threads

The Clarke arm is well documented — the 1920 census puts the Dallas household on paper, and Louis Clarke’s 1940 obituary names all five sons. The Avery and Johnson arms now reach the great-grandparents through the 1950 census, two family obituaries and the cemeteries of Greer County. Roma McFarland’s parents are still open, and the 2nd-great-grandparents are proposed rather than proven. Where a thread is still open, the page says so — honesty is the whole point.

Census & vital records

Documented:1920 U.S. Census — Dallas Precinct 24, Dallas County, Texas
Documented:1950 U.S. Census — Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California (ED 19-1157) (opens in a new tab)
Documented:California Birth Index — Pamela Jill Avery, 1953, Los Angeles County (opens in a new tab)
Documented:California Birth Index — Bert Mills Avery, 1941, Los Angeles County (opens in a new tab)
Documented:Oregon Death Index, 1898–2008 — Horatio Dick Clarke
Documented:WWII Draft Registration Card (Young Men, 1940–1947) — H. Dick Clarke
Documented:Oklahoma vital records — Roma Evelyn McFarland (Elk City → Norman)
Documented:Marriage certificate — Mark H. Clarke & Pamela J. Avery
Documented:Death certificate — Mark Harrison Clarke, 2019, Chico, California
Documented:Death certificate — Pamela Jill Avery, 2021, Chico, California

Obituaries & newspapers

Cemetery memorials

Family trees & papers

Strong:Ancestry tree #211324693 — the family system of record (wife’s side)
Open thread:Ancestry tree #211324693 — suggested parents from other members’ trees, not yet accepted
Strong:“Bidwell Clarke Buchanan Adams Moore Miller” member tree (Ancestry #1251688)
Strong:Davis Family Tree hint — accepted onto the live tree for Louis F. Clarke

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.