Later also known by her pen name of Jane Comstock, Birdie Baxter Clarke was born in Iowa on March 2, 1874. She married Adna Girard Clarke, a native of Kansas City, Missouri. They lived in Lawrence (Douglas County), Kansas in the 1890s while her husband attended the University of Kansas, from which he received degrees in 1897 and 1900. The first of their three children was born in February 1898. Adna Clarke's military service with the 20th Kansas Volunteer regiment took him to the Philippines in 1898, and the Clarkes afterward resided throughout their lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Mrs. Clarke served as territorial vice president of Hawaii, was a poet whose collected works were published in many books, and was president of the Honolulu branch of the National League of American Pen Women. Her many poems relating to Hawaii included published verse in Hawaiian with English translation. Her husband was an administrator and faculty member at the University of Hawaii for many years, served in the Hawaiian legislature, received KU's distinguished service citation in 1947, and was responsible for creation of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, where the Clarkes are buried. He died on September 21, 1953. Jane Comstock Clarke died on January 27, 1958.
From the guide to the Jane Comstock (Mrs. Adna G.) Clarke Collection, 1938-1946, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
