Emma Gertrude Hewitt was born in the state of New York on March 6, 1852, the fourth child of eleven born to John Weaver Hewitt and Sarah Gates.

When a little girl, her parents moved to Iowa, being among the early settlers, driving through with ox teams and covered wagon. She has experienced all the hardships of the early pioneers, had very little education, was only one pair of shoes to be shared with an older brother, and when one went to school in the winter, the other had to stay at home, barefooted. The lunch pail contained corn bread with molasses on it.

She was married August 8, 1869 to Ernest Eugene Clark of Livermore, Iowa where they continued to live until they retired from the farm and went to Big Stone City, South Dakota, and lived beside their daughter Mrs. Flora Lauster for several years, where Mr. Clark enjoyed many happy days fishing on Big Stone Lake.

A few years later they moved to Carlton, Oregon, where Mr. Clark had relief from hay-fever. After his death in 1929, she returned to Big Stone City and lived in her little home until failing health made it necessary for her to make her home with her daughter.

She was the mother of 9 children and never had the services of a doctor. Her heart failed her early in January and the Lord took her home on January 22, 1937 at 6 o'clock. Her remains were transported to Livermore for funeral services in the Livermore, Iowa Presbyterian church with burial beside her husband in Union cemetery.