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 co ...

. Clark won the

1885 U.S. National Championship List of champions of the 1885 U.S. National Championships (now known as the US Open). The tournament was held from 18 August to 22 August on the outdoor grass courts at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. It was the 5th U.S. National Cham ...

in doubles with partner

Dick Sears Richard Dudley Sears (October 26, 1861 – April 8, 1943) was an American tennis player, who won the US National Championships singles in its first seven years, from 1881 to 1887, and the doubles for six years from 1882 to 1887, after which he ...

. 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

. 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 A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

, 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 tota ...

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

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 &ndash ...

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 Har ...

. 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 The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. 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 ag ...

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. Joseph Sill Clark Jr. (October 21, 1901January 12, 1990) was an American writer, lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 90th Mayor of Philadelphia from 1952 to 1956 and as a United States Senator from Pennsylv ...

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 ind ...

. 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

*
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