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Emma S. Clark
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Some brief biographical information.
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Born :
October 3, 1836, England
Died : August 2, 1889, Setauket, New York
Brief
Biography : Little is known of Emma Clark’s
earliest years, except for the fact that she and her sister,
Annie, were orphaned at an early age and came to live in the
United States with their uncle, Thomas Hodgkins, who saw to the girls’ upbringing and
education. In the 1870s Hodgkins took his nieces on a trip to
Paris where Annie met and eventually married a Swiss man named
Bills. Emma never married and remained at Hodgkins’
Brambletye Farm in Setauket as long as she lived, caring for her
uncle as well as for her sister Annie and niece Emma Clark Bills,
both of whom had returned to live at Brambletye Farm following
Annie’s divorce. Emma Clark died in 1889 at the age of 52
and is buried in the churchyard of the Caroline Church in
Setauket, across the street from the library that bears her name.
A portrait of Emma can be found hanging in the Main Lobby as you
enter the library.
Quote : “Our
neighbor and friend, Mr. Thomas G. Hodgkins, has erected this
building and dedicated it to the purpose of a library, as a
memorial to his lamented niece, the late Miss Emma S. Clark. In
doing this it has been his purpose to perpetuate the memory of a
good woman, among the people with whom she dealt in kindly and
helpful relations for nearly a quarter of a century, by an
institution of a useful, benevolent and elevating character,
which shall be a means of pleasure and culture for all time to
come.” -
John Elderkin, editor, publisher, and member of the Library Board
of Trustees, at the dedication of the Emma S. Clark Memorial
Library, October 3, 1892.
Library History
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