Charles W. Clark (businessman)


For the singer, see Charles W. Clark.
Charles Walker Clark, also known as "C. W. Clark" or "Charlie Clark", was an American businessman and the eldest son of William Andrews Clark Sr., one of the Copper Kings.

Early life

Clark was born on November 3, 1871 in Deer Lodge, Montana. His father, William A. Clark, was a Montana copper magnate and later a United States Senator for Montana. His mother, Katherine Louise Stauffer, was a socialite.

Career

He served as the manager and later as chairman of the United Verde Copper Company in Jerome, Arizona. Together with his father and his brother, he was also a partner in a bank in Butte, Montana.

Personal life

In 1896, Charles Clark married Katherine Quinn Roberts, who died in New York City in January 1904. Later that year, he married Celia Tobin, a member of San Francisco high society who had been trained as a pianist and in equestrianism. They divorced and she later moved into a home in Hillsborough, California, which became known as the Tobin Clark Estate.
A fan and participant in equestrian sports, Clark resided at his "El Palomar" estate in San Mateo, California, a property he purchased in 1902 which had its own polo field and race track. The owner of Thoroughbred racehorses, among his successful runners was United Verde, a horse named for his mining company. United Verde won several stakes races including the 1920 Bashford Manor Stakes and the 1922 Ben Ali Handicap.
According to Pulitzer winner Bill Dedman, Clark had "the longest private railcar ever built, which he sold to Howard Hughes." He was prone to heavy drinking and gambling.
He collected rare books. In 1917, the Book Club of California presented an exhibition of 66 incunabula from his collection at the Hill Tolerton Gallery, San Francisco.

Death

Charles Clark died of pneumonia on April 3, 1933 in New York City. He was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.