Person:Beatrice Lowther (1)

Beatrice Lowther was the oldest child of Stillman F. and Sarah Victoria (Davis) Lowther of Salem, Harrison Co., West Virginia. She and Dwight Clarke met at the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference in Salem in 1903. She, her three sisters and a brother were all musicians, probably influenced by their father who played the violin. After graduating from Salem College, Beatrice spent a year at Alfred University, NY, before being appointed head of the music department at Salem College. After her marriage and move to Wisconsin, life on a dairy farm must have been quite a shock, but she handled it very well. Following the move from the farm into town, she gained an enviable reputation for her cooking and was very active with church dinners, summer camps, etc. She was an excellent seamstress and very active in several women's organizations. She suffered a fatal fall alone in her home the Sunday after Thanksgiving 1954. A neighbor found her unconscious and she was rushed to the hospital but never regained consciousness.

Census: 1880 Grant, Doddridge Co., West Virginia: age 3 GRAD: ABT 1798 Salem, Harrison Co., West Virginia: Salem College Residence: Milton Junction, Rock Co., Wisconsin: Madison Ave Cause of death: Skull fracture, fell in kitchen at home

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} The Milton and Milton Junction Courier
   p. 3, December 2, 1954.

   Mrs. J. Dwight Clarke, 77, Milton, died at 1 p. m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, in Edgerton Memorial hospital where she had been a patient since Sunday night. She had suffered head injuries in a fall in her home at suppertime Sunday and was found lying on the kitchen floor about 8 o'clock by Mrs. Vincent Raukuce who had gone in to make a neighborly call. She never regained consciousness.
   Funeral services will be held at 2 p. m. Friday in the Milton Seventh Day Baptist church, the Rev. Elmo F. Randolph officiating. Burial will be in Milton cemetery. Friends may call at the Fray funeral home Thursday evening.
   Beatrice, eldest child of Stillman F. and Sarah Davis Lowther, was born Feb. 14, 1877, at Salem, W. Va. After graduating from Salem College and Alfred (N. Y.) University, she taught music and at the time of her marriage Oct. 12, 1904, to J. Dwight Clarke, Milton, she was head of Salem College music department. They lived on a farm near Milton until 1919 when they moved to the village. Mr. Clarke died June 20, 1953.
   Mrs. Clarke was a member of Milton Seventh Day Baptist church, circle 3 of the church, the W. V. I. club of which she was past president, Milton Historical society, the D. A. R., and a long time member of the Milton Choral Union. She was a former member of the Milton school board. She served as census taker in 1930 and 1940. For several years she was manager of Milton College cafeteria.
   Mrs. Clarke is survived by a son, Prof. Walton D. Clarke, Kent, Ohio; two granddaughters, Barbara and Martha Clarke; and three sisters, Mrs. Mabel Bond, Kent, O., Mrs. Clelie Sutton, Winchester, Va., and Miss Mildred Lowther, Salem, W. Va. The late S. Norton Lowther, Milton, was a brother.