Burke Family: From Clarks Mills Store to Manitowoc Lawyer
Clarks Mills General Store on August 13, 1909
General stores were the center of economic activity in many small communities in the late 1890s and early 1900s. They were place where seed and crops were bartered or sold and everything people were not able to make or raise at home or on the farm could be found. Storekeepers were leading citizens of their communities, and that was very much true for early Clarks Mills General Store proprietors Richard and Elizabeth (Hammond) Burke.
Richard Burke purchased the store lot from Ella Beach in 1884. The store was likely built in the 1870s and provided nearby families with all the materials they needed. Richard and Elizabeth had one daughter, Ada, born in 1886, and one son, Kenneth, born in 1889. While the Burke family operated the store, Richard set his sights on law. In between the hustle and bustle of a growing family and general store, he was able to study law and became an attorney. Around the year 1904, the family sold the Clarks Mills store to Thomas Diener, moved to Manitowoc, and made their home at the corner of Eighth and Huron Streets.
In Manitowoc, Richard formed a partnership with E.S. Schmitz, soon creating the law firm of Schmitz, Burke and Craite. Richard also served as city attorney under the administration of Mayor Henry Stolze from 1905 to 1907.
Tragedy struck the family in November 1898 when 12 year old Ada died at their home. According to her obituary in the Manitowoc Daily Herald on Saturday, November 26, 1898: “She had been a sufferer from heart trouble for a long time, but her death was totally unexpected. She was about the house as usual all day and was apparently in her usual good health and spirits. But the vital spark was extinguished without warning and she passed from life to the shadowy realm as quietly as though dropping into peaceful slumber. The bereaved parents and relatives have the sympathy of the entire community in their affliction.
Tragedy again met the Burke family in 1912 when Richard was killed while visiting Florida. “No details were given in the first telegram to his wife”, wrote the Manitowoc Pilot on Thursday, “but later dispatches stated that he was killed by the train at Zephyr Hills, a station about five miles from Crystal Springs. The news of his sudden death was a shock to his wife and to his many friends in this city. Mr. Burke was here for several weeks this summer and left for Florida about two weeks ago, accompanied by his son Kenneth.”
The story of the Burke family is still shared today inside the Clarks Mills General Store, now a part of the Manitowoc County Historical Society’s Pinecrest Historical Village.
On March 15, 1988 the General Store made its way to the outdoor museum. The front of the building was restored to its original appearance using double front doors and windows salvaged from the 1868 Killen General Store and post office razed in 1994 during the U.S. highway 10 relocation project at Cato. The tin ceiling tiles and shelving are also from the Cato store. The counters are from the Rataichek Hardware Store in Reedsville.