Loran Clark, Sr., member of the firm of Loran Clark & Co., was born in Franklin County, Vt., in 1830, living there until ten years old, when his parents moved to Waukesha County, Wis.; he remained in Wisconsin engaged in farming with his father until he attained his majority; in 1859, he went to Colorado, engaged in mining which he followed until 1862, when he went to Nevada, engaging in the same business until 1868, when he returned to Colorado; he there engaged in stock raising until the fall of 1871; he then went to Nebraska, locating in Boone County, where Albion, county seat of that county, is now situated; for several years he lived on his homestead, on a portion of which the town of Albion now stands, it being laid out by him in 1872; in the fall of the next year, he engaged in merchandising, opening the first store in Albion, and for four years his was the only store in the town; then for one year he was associated with Ed. S. Connelly in the practice of law; in 1874, he was elected Representative of the then Thirteenth District to the State Legislature, and was re-elected in 1876; he has been a member of the Republican party since its organization, and is one of the most prominent representatives of that party in Nebraska; in the spring of 1879, he was appointed to the Revenue Service, and was assigned to the cities of New York and Philadelphia for one year, he was then transferred to the West, having charge of all the Territories west of the Missouri River to the eastern line of Oregon and Washington Territory, and north of Utah and Nevada, and including Kansas and Colorado. He was married at Columbus, Neb., in 1872, to Mrs. Elizabeth B. Rice, who is a native of Ohio. He is a prominent Mason and member of Mt. Calvary Commandery No. 1, Omaha, Neb. Mr. Clark has done much for the development and advancement of Boone County, expending his time and money to that end, and with a liberal hand. Albion owes much of her prosperity and rapid growth to him.
Loran Clark & Co., dealers in lumber, Albion; firm is composed of Loran Clark, Luther Clark and W. A. Mears; has been in existence about two years; they carry a stock of lumber averaging $12,000; the firm were formerly engaged in hardware and grain business, carrying a hardware stock of $6,000, and handling 150 to to 175 car-loads of grain per year; at the present time, they deal in lumber only, doing a large business at Albion and St. Edward.
