Books and Manuscripts

Clark, William
Autograph Letter, signed
St. Louis, September 11, 1826. One sheet folded to make four pages, 9 3/4 x 8 in. (248 x 203 mm). A warm two-page autograph letter, signed by American explorer William Clark to the Reverend Dr. John C. Rudd, thanking him for the care of his son, William Preston Clark; with integral address leaf by Clark, docketed on same by Rudd, and with partial red wax seal. Creasing from contemporary folds; largely separated along center fold; loss in foredge of address leaf from when opened; mounted along left edge to larger sheet.

A warm letter penned by American explorer William Clark (1770-1838) regarding the well-being of his troubled son, William Preston Clark (1811-40). Written to the Reverend John C. Rudd (1779-1848), Episcopal clergyman and headmaster of the Auburn Academy in New York, where the young Clark was a newly enrolled student. 

William Preston Clark, second son from the elder Clark’s first marriage, suffered from poor physical and mental health throughout most of his short life, now attributed to the effects of malaria caught at a young age, and later compounded by his alcoholism. The elder Clark, then serving as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, cared deeply for his children, and used his power and connections to secure the best education for his sons. From early on, the younger Clark showed little interest in schooling, and exhibited an idleness that alarmed his father. In the hopes of spurring his son's prospects, in the spring of 1826 his father sent him to Auburn, New York to study at the Auburn Academy, where Dr. Rudd was headmaster. In this letter, penned shortly after his son began his studies, Clark thanks Rudd for caring after his boy’s education, and writes that he is “pleased to learn…that his health is good” and “that he has become more settled in his mind & regular in his attentions to Study.” In gratitude and with the hope of his son's continued improvement, Clark continues, “Your attentions to Williams well fare I feel very much indebted to you for, and hope that you will Keep him under your friendly care & instruction, as William becomes more reconciled & happy in his situation, a greater progress may be expected of him, which will be gratifying to his friends & honourable to him-self.”

Unfortunately, the younger Clark's time at Auburn was largely unhappy, and he was beset by constant fever and discontent. “William reported that he was suffering from ague, as malaria often was called, unhappy in his studies and desired to return home. His exasperated father attributed his illness, anguish and lethargy to a dislike of close application, but they were more likely a product of his malarial fevers. Uncertain about how to respond to his son's stresses, the senior Clark pondered sending him to Bardstown in Kentucky where the schools had a good reputation and his Kentucky relatives would be closer at hand…Despite his sickness and discontent, young William managed to stick it out in New York until the school term ended in the spring of 1827.” (Foley, “A Family's Ordeal”, pp. 11-12, in We Proceed On: Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation, 2008)

William Preston Clark went on to study law at the University of Virginia and Harvard University. Following graduation he pursued various careers, including law, politics, and working in the Indian Bureau, all without success. Over the next several years his ill-health and alcoholism deepened, and in 1839, a year after his father's death, a court appointed his older brother Meriwether Lewis Clark his guardian. For the next year his family had him admitted to the Lunatic Asylum in Lexington, Kentucky. He was released for improved health in April, 1840, and returned to St. Louis, but died at the age of 29, only six weeks later.

A fine letter from this famed explorer providing a window into his little-seen family life.