William Smith Clark
American chemist, soldier, botanist and university teacher (1826 - 1886) · United States · On the map · Scientists · Died at 59
William Smith Clark was an American professor of chemistry, botany, and zoology; a colonel during the American Civil War; and a leader in agricultural education. Raised and schooled in Easthampton, Massachusetts, Clark spent most of his adult life in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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Photos 8
Amherst College chapel and original dormitories c. 1914
Clark with his wife, 1850s
A brass cannon captured by the 21st Massachusetts Infantry, led by Clark during the Battle of New Bern. It is here shown in Morgan Hall at Amherst College.
Clark's Amherst estate in 1875 adjacent to the campus of MAC. The house is now gone and a memorial to Clark was built on its site in 1991.
Stereograph view of the campus of MAC c. 1875
The Sapporo Clock Tower, of Western architectural design, was formerly the drill hall of the Sapporo Agricultural College. Built in 1878 and now a museum, it is one of the city's best known historic landmarks.
Campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the W.E.B. DuBois Library at centerAwards
About this person
He graduated from Amherst College in 1848 and obtained a doctorate in chemistry from Georgia Augusta University in Göttingen in 1852. He then served as professor of chemistry at Amherst College from 1852 to 1867. During the Civil War, he was granted leave from Amherst to serve with the 21st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, eventually achieving the rank of colonel and the command of that unit.
