Dr. F. P. Clark, who has charge of the Clark’s Sanitarium at Stockton, one of the oldest and best known institutions of the state, is one of the progressive and able physicians of Stockton, and has been connected with the sanitarium almost since he entered the ranks of the medical profession.
Clark’s Sanitarium was established in 1871, Dr. Asa Clark, the father of Dr. F. P. Clark, being the leading spirit in the enterprise. It was originally intended for the care of patients from Nevada territory, and Dr. Clark made a contract with Dr. Samuel Langdon to this end. The name of the institution was then Pacific Hospital. The contract with Nevada ran for ten years, at the end of which time that state established its own hospital. For seventeen years Arizona also sent its insane to this institution for special treatment, and then that territory likewise founded a hospital. The Clark Sanitarium is under the supervision of the state commission of lunacy, whose members give it periodical inspections. There are forty-two acres in the grounds, and the buildings are of brick. It has had a wide sphere of usefulness, and has for many years been recognized as one of the state’s leading institutions for treatment of special diseases.
Dr. F. P. Clark was born at Stockton, California, August 25, 1865, and after attendance at high school entered Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, where he was graduated in 1887. For the following two years he was engaged in practice in Angels Camp, Calaveras county, and then came to Stockton, where he has remained ever since. He has been in charge of the sanitarium for the past twelve years. He also held the elective office of coroner of San Joaquin county for twelve years.
Dr. Clark was married in 1889 to Miss Edith Cross, a daughter of Dr. L. E. Cross, of Stockton, and they have two children, Asa and Lester. Dr. Clark affiliates with the Masonic order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Native Sons of the Golden West and the Knights of Pythias, and in politics is a staunch Republican.
Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.