Thomas Jefferson Clark (1869–1907), originally from

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, United States, was a lifelong friend and partner of John K. Stewart as they built the companies that would one day be the foundation of the Stewart-Warner Corporation of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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. Clark is probably only known today for his Clark Foot Warmers. These small

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

heaters contained

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. The coal embers would emit heat providing some relief in a time when automobiles did not have such options. The production of the coal needed for these heaters violated city smoke regulations and forced Stewart and Clark to build a new plant in

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, Illinois, about 25 miles west of Chicago. Clark was an active partner and advisor to John Stewart up until Clark's death during the 1907

Glidden Tour The Glidden Tours, also known as the National Reliability Runs, were promotional events held during the automotive Brass Era by the American Automobile Association (AAA) and organized by the group's chairman, Augustus Post. The AAA, a proponent ...

.1907 Glidden Tour, Veteran Motor Car Club Of America
Clark was demonstrating the Stewart Speedometer during this

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style event when the Packard he was driving slid off the muddy road and into a ditch.

References

External links

* Address in Chicago to The Newcomen Society, given by Bennett Archambault, CEO Stewart-Warner Corporation (Oct 24, 1963)
Charles Jasper Glidden and Glidden Tour
Retrieved Mar. 19, 2009.

Retrieved Mar. 19, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Thomas J. 1869 births 1907 deaths 19th-century American inventors