Hoxie, Clark

Born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, Clark Hoxie migrated to California via the Isthmus of Panama in 1852, settling in Tuttletown, Tuolumne County, where he constructed the area’s first quartz mill. He moved to Fresno County in 1856 to teach carpentry on an Indian reservation before establishing a blacksmith and wagon shop in Millerton in 1858. A central figure in local administration, Hoxie served as a justice of the peace—often holding colorful court proceedings right inside his shop—and as chairman of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in 1857.

Hoxie returned to his ancestral home in Massachusetts in 1866, where he passed away later that year. He left behind a prominent family legacy in California through his children, including pioneer stockman and miner John C. Hoxie, long-time Fresno County Surveyor and City Engineer George L. Hoxie, Sewell H. Hoxie, Elizabeth J. Hoxie-Barth, and Carrie E. Hoxie-McKenzie. Recognized for his rugged integrity and public service, Clark Hoxie remains remembered as an quintessential pioneer administrator of early Fresno County.