| Full name | Joseph Sill Clark |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  United States |
| Born | (1861-11-30)November 30, 1861 |
| Died | April 14, 1956(1956-04-14) (aged 94) Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia |
| Turned pro | 1882 (amateur tour) |
| Retired | 1893 |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1955(member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 55/23 (70.5%)[1] |
| Career titles | 6[1] |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| US Open | SF (1885,1886,1887) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| US Open | W (1885) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| US Open | W (1887, 1888) not official |
Joseph Sill Clark Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Parent | Edward White Clark |
| Relatives | Clarence Munroe Clark, brother Enoch White Clark, grandfather |
Joseph Sill Clark Sr. (November 30, 1861 – April 14, 1956) was an Americantennis player. Clark won the1885 U.S. National Championship in doubles with partnerDick Sears. He and his brotherClarence Clark were the first Americans to playCentre Court atWimbledon. 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.[2]
Clark was born inGermantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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.[3] He was a member of theYoung America Cricket Club with his brother Clarence andFrederick Winslow Taylor where they all became interested in tennis. In 1878, the Clark brothers built a tennis court on their father's property and Frederick Winslow Taylor built a court on his family's property where they all played tennis together frequently.[4]
As a student atHarvard University, 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 playerDick Sears.[5]
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.[6]
In 1883, Joseph and his brother Clark competed in doubles at Wimbledon againstErnest Renshaw andWilliam Renshaw. The Clark brothers were the first Americans to play at Centre Court.[7]
In 1885, he took the U.S. National lawn tennis doubles title, and also became champion ofCanada, the first American to be so. Clark was also a semi-finalist at the U.S. National Championships lawn tennis singles in1885,1886, the same year he also won men's Mosseley Challenge Cup at theBar Harbor Open, and1887. In 1886 he won theWentworth Invitation.In 1887 he the singles title at theLenox Invitation in New York. He captured the unofficial 1887 and 1887 U.S. National mixed doubles championships with L. Stokes andMarian Wright (fr), respectively
He served as president of theUnited States National Lawn Tennis Association from 1889 until 1891.[5]
On November 26, 1896, Clark married Kate Richardson Avery (1868-1951), whose family ownedAvery Island inLouisiana.[8] She was the daughter of Dudley Avery (1810-1879), who was the brother-in-law ofTabasco sauce inventorEdmund McIlhenny (1815-1890).[9]
Their children included two sons: future Philadelphia mayor and U.S. SenatorJoseph Sill Clark Jr.[10] 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.[11]
In 1955, Clark was inaugurated into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame.[5]
Clark died April 14, 1956, inChestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2]
Citations
Joseph Sill Clark Sr., father of former Philadelphia Mayor Joseph Sill Clark Jr. and the city's oldest practicing attorney, died yesterday at his home in Chestnut Hill here. He was 94 years old.
In the spring of 1883, Joseph Clark represented Harvard with vigor, earning singles and doubles titles at the first U.S. Intercollegiate Championships. Two years later, the Philadelphian won the U.S. Doubles Championships with Dick Sears. Thereafter, Clark turned his attention to administrative endeavors. He worked his way assiduously up the USNLTA ladder from Secretary to Vice President on up to the Presidency, demonstrating in the process that his off-court skills were also admirably sharp.
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