Clark and Hyde Mercantile, 1872-1874 Clark and Hyde Mercantile was a general store operated by William Clark and William F. Hyde. They opened the business on October 24th, 1872 in Nacogdoches County, Texas, and agreed to share equal custody and rights to business. The business operated like a general store, selling coffee, tools, and many other items to the citizens of East Texas. The store remained open until January 6th, 1874 when they went out of business. The two men also had a law practice in addition to the mercantile store. Sources: Daybook 1, Page 1, Clark & Hyde Mercantile Collection (B-97), East Texas Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas. Daybook 2 Page 226, Clark & Hyde Mercantile Collection (B-97), East Texas Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas. Ulman, H. Charles. 1875. Trow’s Legal Directory and Lawyer’s Record of the United States. New York: John F. Trow, p.601. Republished by GoogleBooks. Online at http://books.google.com/books?id=T0xNAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed 28 February 2012). William Clarke Jr. “William Clark Jr. (1828-1884) was a legislator and soldier, the son of Martha B. (Wall) and William Clark, was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, on November 8, 1828. The family moved to Texas in 1835 and settled in Sabine County, where the junior Clark grew into adulthood. He served four months in Company K, Second Texas Mounted Volunteers, during the Mexican War and participated in the battle of Monterrey. He was admitted to the bar in Shelby County in 1852 and practiced in San Augustine County. He settled permanently at Nacogdoches in September 1854. In the House of the Eighth Legislature (1859–61) Clark represented Nacogdoches County. When Governor Sam Houston called the legislature into special session, Clark voted against calling the Secession Convention. However, he was elected to that convention and there voted for separation from the Union. He raised an infantry company at Nacogdoches. On January 13, 1862, his unit entered the Confederate Army as Company G, Twelfth Texas Infantry. He was elected the company captain and was eventually promoted to lieutenant colonel of the regiment. After returning home he resumed his law practice and served as attorney for Nacogdoches County and for the Houston, East and West Texas Railway Company. On July 11, 1867, Clark married Amelia Taylor, daughter of Charles S. Taylor, in Nacogdoches; they had ten children. Clark died on January 6, 1884, and was buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Nacogdoches.” Sources: (Copied Verbatim) Bryan, J.L. "CLARK, WILLIAM, JR. [1828-1884]." Handbook of Texas Online. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Online at http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcldc (Accessed 28 February 2012). William French Hyde William French Hyde (2/6/1824- 2/16/1885) was born in Tennessee and the eighth of his father John Hansford Hyde Sr. and mother Pollie Strother Gray’s ten children. Board of Land Commissioner records show that Hyde emigrated to Texas in February 1841, acquiring 320 acres in Nacogdoches. By that time his father was already well established, having acquired 1280 acres in Nacogdoches in early 1836. Little is known about William F. Hyde’s life after he came to Texas. The 1850 Federal Census shows him to be a farmer. In 1860, the Census lists Hyde as a lawyer living in a Nacogdoches hotel. During the Civil War, he served in Company B of the Texas State Troops. After the war, the 1870 and 1880 Censuses demonstrate that Hyde had returned to the practice of law. At an undetermined time, Hyde was also married to a woman name Louisian R. Sources: Ancestry.com. 2009. 1850 United States Federal Census, Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches, Texas;  Roll: M432_913; Page: 52A; Image: 108 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. _______. 2009. 1860 United States Federal Census Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches, Texas; Roll:  M653_1301; Page: 119; Image: 243 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. _______. 2009. 1870 United States Federal Census, District 1, Nacogdoches, Texas; Roll:  M593_1599; Page: 429A; Image: 208 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. _______. 2010. 1880 United States Federal Census, Precinct 1, Nacogdoches, Texas; Roll:  1320; Family History Film: 1255320; Page: 166C; Enumeration District: 047 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc. Ericson, Carolyn Reeves. 1977. Nacogdoches Headrights: A Record of the Disposition of Land in East Texas and in other parts of that state, 1838-1848. New Orleans: Polyanthos, pgs. 32, 62. _______. 1980. The People of Nacogdoches County in the Civil War. _______. 1987. Nacogdoches—Gateway to Texas, Volume II: A Biographical Directory, 1850-1880. Nacogdoches: Ericson Books, p.185.