Born February 25, 1834 in Bridgewater, NH and came to MN May 23, 1857. Edwin Clark has a long and storied history. Shortly after his arrival in Minnesota, he began publication of the Falls Evening News, Minneapolis’ first daily newspaper. In 1863, he became a clerk in the US House of Representatives under former Lt. Governor Ignatius Donnelly and served until April 1865 when he was commissioned by President Lincoln to become a US agent to the Winnebago and Ojibwe Indian tribes in Minnesota and Dakota. Clark and his family relocated to an area at Leech Lake and set up the agency headquarters. Two years later he was removed from his appointment by President Johnson after refusing to donate to his re-election campaign. After his decommissioning he moved south with his cousin William and helped to establish the city of Melrose
in Stearns County. Finally in 1893, after an economic depression and the death of his cousin, he returned to Minneapolis and moved in next to the Ard Godfrey family on Harriet Ave.
Clark was a man of incredible foresight and recognized the importance of preserving history early on.
Edwin E. Clark began a campaign to save the first house built in Minneapolis. The first home was built by millwright Ard Godfrey in 1849 in a Greek Revival style. The house was originally constructed near Main Street Southeast (near today's merchants at St. Anthony Main). The Godfrey family remained in this house until 1853 when they moved to a house near Minnehaha Park in south Minneapolis.
Clark was strongly politicking for any local organization to rescue this 1849 structure. His primary motive for taking on the task of preserving the Ard Godfrey house wasn't only because that is where Clark hung his personal 'Home Sweet Home' sign, but primarily because he knew of this structure's significance in the city's history.
In 1905, Clark's effort started to produce positive results. The Territorial Pioneers Associations of Minnesota and Hennepin County was officially created and the organization purchased the Ard Godfrey House.
In 1914 the Pioneers Association established the Ard Godfrey House as a museum. Clark and his son Walter became the live-in curators of the museum and its collection of pioneer relics. The Minneapolis Park Board and Pioneer Association cut funding for the museum in 1943 and the house was boarded up and the structure deteriorated with each passing year.
After thirty-two years of being ignored and in a dilapidated state, the Women's Club of Minneapolis purchased the house in 1975 and gifted it back to the city. With the support of the city and the Women's Club, the oldest house in Minneapolis was restored & opened to the public in 1979. Today the Women's Club continues to offer free tours of the Ard Godfrey House.
The free tours of the Godfrey House and the online listing of Historical Structures in Minneapolis, MN would not be possible today if not for the effort of the first historical preservation supporter - Edwin E. Clark.
Edwin Clark continued to live in the Ard Godfrey House in Minneapolis until his death on April 27, 1922 at the Godfrey House. He died without monetary wealth and was buried in an unmarked grave in the pauper section of Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.
It was only in the early 1990s, through efforts made by their descendants and the leaders of the Melrose Historical Society, that grave markers were purchased & placed on Edwin & Ellen Clarks final resting place in Lakewood Cemetery.