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This burial ground served members of the Clark family, many of whom lived in the no longer extant Chocolate Community. Named for the Chocolate Creek, which runs nearby, the settlement began when Sylvanus Hatch purchased property near the creek. In 1846, Sylvanus, his brother Joseph, and their families settled in the area. Residents raised cattle and horses, and farmed the land. Many of the settlers worshipped at St. Paul’s-on-the-Prairie, an Episcopal church; the community school was also housed in the congregation’s building for a time. Chocolate later declined and by 1936, the school and church closed. In the mid-1850s, John Clark and his extended family settled here. Clark donated property and built stock pens, which became known as Clark’s Station, along the Indianola Railroad to afford area residents the ability to ship their crops and stock to market. In 1899, he deeded this property for use as a burial ground. The earliest known burial here is of William Clark (d. 1875), a son of Daniel Clark, one of John’s brothers. Also among those interred is Thomas Clark, another of John’s brothers, who served the Confederacy during the Civil War. Cemetery features include curbing, masonic gravestones, vertical stones and obelisks; additional property was donated in 1941. Over the years, descendants of the interred have cared for the burial ground. Today, Clark Cemetery continues to serve as a record of a pioneering area family and is the last remaining vestige of the Chocolate Community. |
