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Clarke was born in Marietta in Washington County in southeastern [[Ohio]], but by the age of five, he was living in [[Beaumont]], [[Texas]], where his father, Charles Kelly "Cal" Clarke (1865-1927), a Marietta native who had begun employment as a [[petroleum]] pipeline worker for [[Standard Oil]], was a wildcatter at Spindletop. Soon, the senior Clarke moved his wife, the former Maude Steele, and son, their only child, to Shreveport. There Cal Clarke became the president of the Standard Oil interests in Louisiana and subsequently relocated to the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]]. The senior Clarke died of a six-day illness at the age of sixty-one, his body found on the floor of his bathroom while his wife was away in [[New Orleans]] and his son in Shreveport.<ref name=calclarke>{{cite news|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|title=LA Standard Oil President Dies: C. K. Clarke Found Dead at Capital|date=March 21, 1927}}</ref> Clem Clarke himself became a petroleum land man, geologist, and investor.​

Clarke was born in Marietta in Washington County in southeastern [[Ohio]], but by the age of five, he was living in [[Beaumont]], [[Texas]], where his father, Charles Kelly "Cal" Clarke (1865-1927), a Marietta native who had begun employment as a [[petroleum]] pipeline worker for [[Standard Oil]], was a wildcatter at Spindletop. Soon, the senior Clarke moved his wife, the former Maude Steele, and son, their only child, to Shreveport. There Cal Clarke became the president of the Standard Oil interests in Louisiana and subsequently relocated to the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]]. The senior Clarke died of a six-day illness at the age of sixty-one, his body found on the floor of his bathroom while his wife was away in [[New Orleans]] and his son in Shreveport.<ref name=calclarke>{{cite news|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|title=LA Standard Oil President Dies: C. K. Clarke Found Dead at Capital|date=March 21, 1927}}</ref> Clem Clarke himself became a petroleum land man, geologist, and investor.​

 

Clarke studied mechanical engineering for two years at [[Cornell University]] in Ithaca, [[New York]]. He entered the [[United States Navy]] in 1919, after the signing of the [[World War I]] [[armistice]].<ref name=interview>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/reminiscences-of-clem-s-clarke-oral-history-1951/oclc/122308295|title=Reminiscences of Clem S. Clarke: Oral history, 1951|author=Historian Allan Nevins and Frank Ernest Hill|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|location=[[New York City]]|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> He attained the rank of ensign.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=OswcAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA579&lpg=PA579&dq=Clem+S.+Clarke#v=onepage&q=Clem%20S.%20Clarke&f=false|title=Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy|page=303|publisher=U. S. Government Printing Office|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|accessdate=February 11, 2015|year=1918}}</ref>​

Clarke studied mechanical engineering for two years at [[Cornell University]] in Ithaca, [[New York]]. He entered the [[United States Navy]] in 1919, after the signing of the [[World War I]] [[armistice]].<ref name=interview>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/reminiscences-of-clem-s-clarke-oral-history-1951/oclc/122308295|title=Reminiscences of Clem S. Clarke: Oral history, 1951|author=Historian Allan Nevins and Frank Ernest Hill|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|location=[[New York City]]|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> He attained the rank of ensign.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=OswcAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA579&lpg=PA579&dq=Clem+S.+Clarke#v=onepage&q=Clem%20S.%20Clarke&f=false|title=Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy|page=303|publisher=U. S. Government Printing Office|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|accessdate=February 11, 2015|year=1918}}</ref>​

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In 1920, Clarke at twenty-three obtained a [[patent]] for a metal casing used in the oil industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/patents/US1462131|title=Patents: Clem S. Clarke|publisher=google.com|accessdate=February 11, 2015}}</ref>​

In 1920, Clarke at twenty-three obtained a [[patent]] for a metal casing used in the oil industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/patents/US1462131|title=Patents: Clem S. Clarke|publisher=google.com|accessdate=February 11, 2015}}</ref>​

 

==Oil interests==​

==Oil interests==​

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Benedum was originally a lease man for Standard Oil. He entered a long-term partnership with Joe Trees to pursue drilling and build a refinery in Caddo Parish. Benedum and Trees were called the greatest wildcatters ever. Benedum sold out his Caddo lease for $7 million in 1910 to Standard Oil. In eastern Rusk County, Benedum and Trees drilled too far east of what became the giant East Texas Oil Field, launched in 1930 west of Henderson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01841.html|title=Benedum, Michael L.|publisher=American National Biography|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> by [Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner, a native of [[Alabama]] and a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives who subsequently settled in [[Dallas]]. Joiner wound up with the first claims in western Rusk County to the lucrative East Texas field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fjo40|title=Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> Working together, Benedum and Clarke found some oil in Blossom in Lamar County in northeast Texas, at 2,700 feet, but the strike was not commercially feasible. Clarke obtained other leases and retained Benedum to drill for oil.  After hitting a dry hole, Clarke moved temporarily to [[California]].<ref name=interview/>​

Benedum was originally a lease man for Standard Oil. He entered a long-term partnership with Joe Trees to pursue drilling and build a refinery in Caddo Parish. Benedum and Trees were called the greatest wildcatters ever. Benedum sold out his Caddo lease for $7 million in 1910 to Standard Oil. In eastern Rusk County, Benedum and Trees drilled too far east of what became the giant East Texas Oil Field, launched in 1930 west of Henderson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01841.html|title=Benedum, Michael L.|publisher=American National Biography|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> by [Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner, a native of [[Alabama]] and a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives who subsequently settled in [[Dallas]]. Joiner wound up with the first claims in western Rusk County to the lucrative East Texas field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fjo40|title=Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> Working together, Benedum and Clarke found some oil in Blossom in Lamar County in northeast Texas, at 2,700 feet, but the strike was not commercially feasible. Clarke obtained other leases and retained Benedum to drill for oil.  After hitting a dry hole, Clarke moved temporarily to [[California]].<ref name=interview/>​

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Benedum subsequently asked Clarke to develop a geological report on the  state of [[Florida]]. Clark, Benedum, and Trees leased a million acres, mostly in Collier County in the [[Everglades]]. They hired Gulf Oil Company to perform vital geophysical work. On September 26, 1943, the Humble Oil Company, which had bought out Gulf for $1 million in investment, drilled a well at a depth of 11,726 feet. This was the first oil discovery in Florida in the Collier County field developed by Benedum, Trees, and Clarke. Trees had died a few months before the Florida discovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aoghs.org/states/first-florida-oil-well/|title=First Florida Oil Well|publisher=aoghs.org|accessdate=February 9, 2015}}</ref> Then Clarke with the permission of Generalissimo [[Rafael Trujillo]] took a concession with mineral rights in the Azua Basin of the [[Dominican Republic]]. Clarke leased alone another million acres in Florida through Sun Oil Company.<ref name=interview/>​

Benedum subsequently asked Clarke to develop a geological report on the  state of [[Florida]]. Clark, Benedum, and Trees leased a million acres, mostly in Collier County in the Everglades. They hired Gulf Oil Company to perform vital geophysical work. On September 26, 1943, the Humble Oil Company, which had bought out Gulf for $1 million in investment, drilled a well at a depth of 11,726 feet. This was the first oil discovery in Florida in the Collier County field developed by Benedum, Trees, and Clarke. Trees had died a few months before the Florida discovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aoghs.org/states/first-florida-oil-well/|title=First Florida Oil Well|publisher=aoghs.org|accessdate=February 9, 2015}}</ref> Then Clarke with the permission of Generalissimo [[Rafael Trujillo]] took a concession with mineral rights in the Azua Basin of the [[Dominican Republic]]. Clarke leased alone another million acres in Florida through Sun Oil Company.<ref name=interview/>​

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Clarke recalled that unlike [[John D. Rockefeller]], Benedum encouraged independent oil drillers. Clarke went to Pittsburgh for the occasion of Benedum's 80th birthday dinner held on July 16, 1949. He recalled:​

Clarke recalled that unlike [[John D. Rockefeller]], Benedum encouraged independent oil drillers. Clarke went to Pittsburgh for the occasion of Benedum's 80th birthday dinner held on July 16, 1949. He recalled:​