Clark D. Dilley, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Clark D. Dilley
CLARK D. DILLEY
Commercial activity in New Mexico has felt the stimulus of the efforts of Clark D. Dilley, a wholesale and retail furniture dealer of Roswell whose business affairs are conducted along modern commercial lines. Guided at all times by a spirit of progress, his work has been of a character which has contributed to public prosperity as well as to individual success. Mr. Dilley was born in Hebron, Indiana, October 8, 1876, a son of James and Mary (Tannehill) Dilley, who had two sons, C. D. being the eldest. The parents are still living and the father has devoted his entire life to the occupation of farming.
Clark D. Dilley was educated in the public schools of Porter county, Indiana, and in the high school at Hebron, from which he was graduated with the class of 1894. He displayed special aptitude in his studies and the same spirit of progress has characterized his business career, which began when he was but fifteen years of age. He was engaged in the furniture and undertaking business in his native town for twelve years, beginning in 1891, and in 1903 he came to New Mexico, settling at Roswell, where he established a wholesale and retail furniture house in the fall of that year. The business has steadily developed along substantial lines until he has today the largest wholesale furniture establishment in the State, carrying an attractive line of goods, for which he finds a ready sale. He is the sole owner of the business and occupies a building fifty by one hundred and ninety-eight feet on North Main street together with a two story brick building on West Third street, devoted to his undertaking business. He has all of the modern equipment for funerals, including a well appointed chapel in which services may be held. In the conduct of his business he employs ten men. There is a cabinet shop, in which they do their own work and all special orders are turned out here. There is nothing too difficult to be undertaken in the shop, for Mr. Dilley employs the most skilled workmen and his own good taste in fine furniture indicates at once what is the correct and desirable thing. This, however, is but one phase of his business activity, for along other lines he has also proved his worth and enterprise. He is now a stockholder and one of the directors of the Citizens' National Bank and vice president of the Equitable Building & Loan Association.
On the 28th of December, 1898, Mr. Dilley was married to Miss Nanna M. Knight, a daughter of James Knight, of Indiana, and they now have two sons, and a daughter: Clark, Jr., born September 19, 1906; James, born March 23, 1912; and Ruth. The parents are members of the Methodist church and Mr. Dilley is recognized as one of the republican leaders of this section of New Mexico and at the last state convention served as one of the delegates. He is president of the New Mexico board of embalmers, having been appointed to the position by Governor Curry. He established the first board of the state and he continued in the office from 1908 until 1911. He received reappointment from Governor McDonald as president of the board, being the only one of the old board and the only republican appointed. He served on the board for a year under appointment and was then commissioned for another term of five years. Mr. Dilley is well known in Masonic circles. He has taken the degrees of the lodge, chapter and commandery, has passed to the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, being identified with the Santa Fe Consistory, and he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to the Elks lodge and to the Roswell Country Club. His deep interest in community affairs is shown in the fact that he is serving as one of the directors and the vice president of the Roswell Commercial Club. Any measure or movement for the good of the community receives his indorsement and his efforts have been a tangible element in behalf of public improvement. As a business man, too, his record is noteworthy, for he arrived in Roswell with a capital of but eight hundred dollars and upon that foundation has built the superstructure of his success, which now establishes him as one of the substantial merchants of the city.
Source: Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. 1917. The Leading Facts of New Mexican History. Volume III. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Torch Press. 571 p.
Page(s) in Source: 166-167
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook