From the start, I enjoyed researching this grandmother with the lovely name.  Often I wondered about her life. What was it like to live in her era? How did she manage her large brood while her husband fought in the Civil War? Clarissa Amelia what stories did you harbor?

My third great grandmother, Clarissa Amelia Frink was born on Dec 21, 1830, in Cambria, New York. Her parents were Elias Walter Frink from Voluntown, Connecticut, and her mother was Hannah Carney from Upper Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania. Grandmother Clarissa was their sixth child; her parents had eight children: Anne (1820), Marinda (1822), Samuel (1825), Elias (1826), Walter (1826), Clarissa Amelia (1830), Ellen (1836), and Herman (birth year unknown). By the time my grandmother Clarissa was nine, she was living in Warren Michigan, and her father was farming.

For many years, Clarissa lived in Macomb County, Michigan. In May 1850, she married my grandfather, Joseph La Duke in Warren, Michigan. They lived in Sterling Michigan that year. The couple had eight children: Almira (1851), Herman (1852), William (1855), Hannah (Anna 1857), David Douglas (1859), Ellsa (1862), Ella and Ellen (1865).

According to the US Federal Census, in 1860 and 1870, they were living with Clarissa’s brother Walter in Macomb, Michigan on his farm, and her husband, Joseph, was a farmer too. Clarissa’s mother, Hannah Carney Frink, was living in the home as well.

During the Civil War, her husband served as a Union private in the 18^th Regiment, Michigan Infantry. This division organized on August 26, 1862, and the muster date was June 26, 1865.

By 1880, the family had moved to West Cherry, Kansas. In March of 1885, their youngest daughter Ellen was 20 years old and still living at home. Clarissa’s brother, Walter, and sister, Ellen, were also living with her family. Joseph and Clarissa also had their two-year-old granddaughter, Mabel, living with them too.

In November 1892, Clarissa Amelia Frink La Duke died. She was buried at the Choteau Cemetery in Montgomery County Kansas, not far from her home.

Family Tree

Sources

• 1840 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8057.
• 1850 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8054.
• 1860 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7667.
• 1870 United States Federal Census” Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7163.
• 1880 United States Federal Census. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index Provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6742.
• Duncan, L. Wallace. History of Montgomery County, Kansas. Press of Iola Register, 1903.
• Floyd, Mary D. La Duke Family Tree. 1970. (Typed).
• Historical Data Systems, comp. American Civil War | Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999, search.ancestry.com/search/DB.aspx?dbid=3866.
• Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925, Online Publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009., search.ancestry.com/search/DB.aspx?did1088
• National Park Service. Civil War Soldier Records, U.S. | Ancestry, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1555.U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012, search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60525.