Joseph Sill Clark Sr. (November 30, 1861 – April 14, 1956) was an American

tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

. Clark won the 1885 U.S. National Championship in doubles with partner Dick Sears. He was also the inaugural singles and doubles national collegiate champion, in 1883. When he died in 1956, he was Philadelphia's oldest practicing attorney.

Biography

Clark was born in

Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Germantown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is about ...

, on November 30, 1861, to a family of bankers and financiers. His father, Edward White Clark, was a partner in the family firm, E. W. Clark & Co. Clark's brother, Clarence Munroe Clark, would also become a tennis player of note. As a student at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, Joseph Clark won the U.S. intercollegiate singles and doubles titles in its inaugural staging, in the spring of 1883. In the singles, he defeated fellow Crimson player Dick Sears. Clark graduated Harvard in 1883 and later earned a law degree. He and his brother, Percy Hamilton Clark, opened a law practice at 321 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. The practice centered on the " street railway, electric light, and power businesses" operated by E. W. Clark & Co. In 1885, he took the U.S. National lawn tennis doubles title, and also became champion of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the first American to be so. Clark was also a semi-finalist at the U.S. National Championships lawn tennis singles in 1885,

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

, and

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl ...

. In 1886 he won the Wentworth Invitation. He captured the unofficial 1887 and 1887 U.S. National mixed doubles championships with L. Stokes and Marian Wright ( fr), respectively He served as president of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association from 1889 until 1891. On November 26, 1896, Clark married Kate Richardson Avery (1868-1951), whose family owned

Avery Island Avery Island (historically french: Île Petite Anse) is a salt dome best known as the source of Tabasco sauce. Located in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, it is approximately inland from Vermilion Bay, which in turn opens onto the Gulf ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. She was the daughter of Dudley Avery (1810-1879), who was the brother-in-law of

Tabasco sauce Tabasco is an American brand of hot sauce made from vinegar, tabasco peppers ('' Capsicum frutescens'' var. ''tabasco''), and salt. It is produced by McIlhenny Company of Avery Island in south Louisiana, having been created over 150 years ago ...

inventor

Edmund McIlhenny Edmund McIlhenny (; 1815 – 25 November 1890) was an American businessman and manufacturer who founded McIlhenny Company, which was the first to mass produce Tabasco sauce. While company legend attributes the invention of the sauce to McIlhenny, ...

(1815-1890). Their children included two sons: future Philadelphia mayor and U.S. Senator Joseph Sill Clark Jr. and Avery B. Clark. They had at least three grandchildren: Joseph Jr.'s children Joseph S. Clark III and Noel (née Clark) Miller, and Avery's daughter Kate Avery Clark. In 1955, Clark was inaugurated into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

. Clark died April 14, 1956, in

Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Chestnut Hill is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is known for the high incomes of its residents and high real estate values, as well as its private schools. Geography Boundaries Chestnut H ...

References

External links

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Photo
of "Kate's Hall" at 8440 St. Martins Lane in Chestnut Hill, designed in 1902-1903 by

Clarence C. Zantzinger Clarence Clark Zantzinger (1872-1954) was an architect and public servant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Life Clarence was born in Philadelphia, the son of Alfred Zantzinger (1839-1873) and Sarah Crawford Clark. Alfred was a medical doctor who was ...

for Joseph Sill Clark Sr. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Joseph Sill, Sr. 1861 births 1956 deaths 19th-century American people 19th-century male tennis players American male tennis players Harvard Crimson men's tennis players Tennis players from Philadelphia Clark banking family International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees United States National champions (tennis) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles