Will, Clark M. (Clark Moore), 1893-1982

Foreman for Salem Water Dept., Salem, Or.; historian, and artist.

Clark Moor Wier Will was born on May 9, 1893 in Corvallis, Or. He was a foreman for the Salem (Oregon) Water Department, historian, and artist. His enduring avocation was to probe the history and depict the architecture of the Aurora Colony. Will died in Salem, Or. on June 30, 1982.

Clark ("Willie") Moore Wier Will's life-long hobby, and labor of love, was to probe the history of Dr. William Keil's Aurora Colony, a communal and non-denominational Christian settlement that flourished in Marion County, Oregon, form 1856 to 1883. Mr. Will's father, John William Will, was a member of the Aurora Colony.

Clark Will was born on May 9, 1893, in Corvallis, Oregon. He was orphaned before he was a year old and was raised by his father's sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. George Wolfer, of nearby Hubbard, Oregon. A veteran of World War I, Will served in Scotland and France as a member of a highly acclaimed military band that was attached to the Headquarters of the 326th Field Artillery 84th Lincoln Division.

Clark Will supported himself and his family with various jobs as a printer-pressman, plumber-electrician, and, finally, maintenance-installation foreman for the Salem Water Department; yet the enduring avocation of this self-taught artist and historian was to depict the architecture and past of the Aurora Colony.

Mr. Will was an ardent musician and possessed a gregarious personality. He played with several local bands and the Salem Symphony Orchestra, in addition to being a member of the Marion County Historical Society, the Aurora Colony Historical Society, and numerous other organizations such as the Knights of Pythias, the Masonic Lodge, and the Salem Men's Garden Club.

Always keen to propagate information about his beloved Aurora, Mr. Will gave frequent lectures about the Colony's history, and provided numerous articles and illustrations for several Northwest historical publications.

Clark Moore Will died in Salem, Oregon on June 30, 1982. He was 89 years old.