Background on Clark H. Obear
A life-long resident of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, a small town perched on the border with Massachusetts, Clark Hopkins Obear was born on Feb, 25, 1811, the youngest child of the shoemaker Josiah Obear (1747-1820) and his much younger second wife Abigail. Josiah had emigrated to New Ipswich from Wenham, Mass., in the 1780s, eventually purchasing the Daniel Foster house on Main Street in the central village, just north of the graveyard. According to local historian Charles Henry Chandler, Josiah, like his son, was known for keeping "a daily journal with a record of public events, especially deaths."
Clark Obear was raised in New Ipswich, educated at the New Ipswich Appleton Academy, and apparently never strayed far from his family home. He made his living from a diverse range of occupations. For many years, he was a public school teacher in Hillsborough County, but at various points he was a farmer, insurance agent, fence viewer and pound keeper, deputy sheriff, and superintendent of schools. On June 8, 1848, Obear married Lydia Ann Swasey (born 1820), a public school teacher, writer, and historian. The couple raised two children, Annabel Clark Obear (born 1852 and later wife of the civil engineer George F. Conant) and Francis A. Obear (a letter carrier, born 1857, who married Sarah Jenkins).
Reformist in spirit, Obear and his wife were supporters of the temperance and antislavery movements, and were deeply involved in the affairs of his church and community. As a member of the militia, Clark rose to rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and although he was too old to serve in the Civil War, he supported the cause by raising funds for the Freedmen's Aid Society and serving as Secretary of the town's Freedman's Education Society. Clark Obear died in New Ipswich on April 11, 1888, aged 77.
