Permelia's mother died when she was a young child,she was raised first by her grandmother, then a stepmother Susan Grant Durfee who died within a year of her marriage. Again the grandmother, a very strict women, took over care of Permelia and her siblings, which now included a half sister baby Susie. The family eventually lost their home but under the guidence of her grandmother and father she excelled in school. At age ten she was the champion "speller" for the entire region.At fifteen she carried a certificate of qualification to teach in schools of her town. 1854 she contracted Typhoid, and went to live with her uncle Gideon Dufree (this move was due to overcrowing in her father's home-his 3rd wife and her children). She recovered and attended the State Normal School fall of 1854. She started teaching in St. Clair MI in 1860, which she taught for one year. She married Thomas Stockton Clark on Thanksgiving Day 1863 at the Baptist parsonage in Northville.Had dinner at the Home of Dr. J.M. Swift. They had first met at The State Normal School in 1858, Thomas, one year ahead left that year to teach at St. Clair. Permelia was the mother of four children,three died in infancy and her daughter Grace died while giving birth to what would have been Permelia's only grandchild. Permelia's brother Edgar Oren Durfee, was a Gettysburg survivor and holds the record in Detroit for most terms as Probate judge 12, four year terms.
Permelia's mother died when she was a young child,she was raised first by her grandmother, then a stepmother Susan Grant Durfee who died within a year of her marriage. Again the grandmother, a very strict women, took over care of Permelia and her siblings, which now included a half sister baby Susie. The family eventually lost their home but under the guidence of her grandmother and father she excelled in school. At age ten she was the champion "speller" for the entire region.At fifteen she carried a certificate of qualification to teach in schools of her town. 1854 she contracted Typhoid, and went to live with her uncle Gideon Dufree (this move was due to overcrowing in her father's home-his 3rd wife and her children). She recovered and attended the State Normal School fall of 1854. She started teaching in St. Clair MI in 1860, which she taught for one year. She married Thomas Stockton Clark on Thanksgiving Day 1863 at the Baptist parsonage in Northville.Had dinner at the Home of Dr. J.M. Swift. They had first met at The State Normal School in 1858, Thomas, one year ahead left that year to teach at St. Clair. Permelia was the mother of four children,three died in infancy and her daughter Grace died while giving birth to what would have been Permelia's only grandchild. Permelia's brother Edgar Oren Durfee, was a Gettysburg survivor and holds the record in Detroit for most terms as Probate judge 12, four year terms.
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