Barzilla W. Clark

Barzilla Worth Clark (December 22, 1880, in Hendricks County, Indiana – September 21, 1943, in Idaho Falls, Idaho) was a politician from Idaho. He served as the 16th Governor of Idaho from 1937 to 1939, and was a member of the Idaho Democratic Party.^[1]

Biography

Born in Hadley, Indiana, in 1881, Clark made the journey by narrow-gauge railroad in 1885 with his family to Eagle Rock (now called Idaho Falls). He attended Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana, but cut short his education due to a lung injury during track.^[2] He returned to Idaho and engaged in farming, mining, and cattle raising. On October 26, 1905, he married Ethel Salome Peck^[3] and they had four children.

Career

Clark became a licensed engineer in 1905 and worked as a civil engineer. His reservoir on the Blackfoot River was purchased by the government and his plan for impounding Lost River was merged into Mackay Dam ^[4] After two terms as councilman he served as mayor of Idaho Falls from 1913 to 1915 and again from 1926 to 1936. During this term, the city built the Municipal Hydroelectric Plant No. 1.^[5]

Clark's interest turned to Idaho mines until he was again elected mayor of Idaho Falls in 1927 and served in that office until his inauguration as governor on January 4, 1937. During his tenure, a state tuberculosis hospital was authorized, a judicious pardon and parole system was installed, and junior college districts were installed. He left office January 2, 1939, and returned to Idaho Falls and his private interests.Clark's younger brother, Chase Clark, also served as governor of Idaho, and was the father-in-law of Frank Church, a four-term U.S. Senator and presidential candidate in 1976.

Death

Clark died of lung cancer at age 62 in Idaho Falls on September 21, 1943; he is interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Idaho Falls.^[6]

References

External links

• University of Idaho Library – Barzilla Clark (1885–1943), papers 1937–1938
• National Governors Association
• Barzilla W. Clark at Find a Grave

v t e Governors of Idaho Territorial (1863–1890) Wallace Lyon Ballard Bowen Bennett Thompson Brayman Neil Irwin Bunn Stevenson Shoup State (since 1890) Shoup Willey McConnell Steunenberg Hunt Morrison Gooding Brady Hawley Haines Alexander Davis Moore Baldridge Ross B. Clark Bottolfsen C. Clark Bottolfsen Gossett Williams Robins Jordan Smylie Samuelson Andrus Evans Andrus Batt Kempthorne Risch Otter