OPINION — They say the happiest days are those when babies arrive. Frank and his wife, Maud, felt that way in the spring of 1898. Because this coming child carried special significance.
The father was Maud’s brother, Thomas Clarkson Gage. Clarky, as his family called him, was a classic American success story. After graduating first in his class at Cornell, he struck out for Dakota Territory. There, he started a successful store and helped his family invest in Western real estate.
While Clarky was successful at starting businesses, he and his wife, Sophie, struggled to build the big family they wanted.
