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A National Historic Landmark
The Champ Clark House
207 East Champ Clark Drive
P. O. Box 162; Bowling Green, MO 63334
champclarkhouse@att.net
The Champ Clark House in Bowling Green is a stop for vacationers and day-trippers with a curiosity for local history,… and national politics! Named for the seedpods of the locust trees, Honeyshuck was the Missouri home of The Honorable Champ Clark, Speaker of the House. Built of locally milled timbers in 1888, Honeyshuck belonged to Genevieve and Champ from 1898 to 1937. Giving way to age and time, the house was recovered in 1973, restored by community volunteers, and opened as an historic house museum. With many of the Clark’s own furnishings, and with its exhibits of political collectibles, The Champ Clark House is a National Historic Landmark, remembering this family’s contributions to the history and heritage of the United States.
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Champ Clark came to Pike County in 1876, making a name for himself as a teacher, a lawyer and newspaper editor. Clark set his sights early on a career of leadership in public service and never took his eye off the prize. Building a base in county politics, he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1892. Always in touch with his base, he was returned to congress for twelve more terms by the voters of his beloved 9th District, who knew they were always welcome to stop by and visit with Champ and Genevieve at Honeyshuck.
In 1909 and 1910, as House Minority Leader, Clark led a fragile coalition of Democrats and renegade Republicans in undoing the iron-fisted power of Speaker Joe Cannon. Elected to the Speaker’s Chair himself in 1910, Clark redefined that office in the aftermath of the fight against the abuses of power. From 1911 to 1919, he led four congresses through a decade of transition from Hemispheric Neighbor to World Power. Though his popular campaign for the presidency in 1912 ended in confusion and betrayal, he remained a fair-handed parliamentarian, an honorable adversary,… and a Missouri Democrat to the end.
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Bennett Clark was born in Bowling Green and raised at Honeyshuck. His father’s son, he grew up in the cloak rooms of congress. At 23, he was elected House Parliamentarian, the youngest ever to hold that position. With hostilities in Europe warning of a World War, he left the House, enlisted in the army, attended Officer School, fought in France (with Harry Truman!), reaching the rank of Lt. Colonel With the Armistice – with Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. and five others – this Bowling Green boy became a co-founder of the American Legion, chairing the Paris Caucus in 1919. Returning to Washington, Bennett served Missouri for two terms in the United States Senate, leading the way in providing veterans benefits for service men and women.
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The Clarks made Honeyshuck their Missouri home for nearly forty years, replacing oil lamps with electric lights, adding a telephone, happy to leave the outhouse for indoor plumbing! It was the scene of small-town hospitalities,… and big-time politics.
Now as visitors again stop to visit The Champ Clark House, they’ll find many of the rooms as the Clarks kept them. The Congressman’s books are spread across his desk. Their good china sets the dining room table for guests. Correspondence and manuscripts wait in the library. Genevieve’s chocolate service is ready for her Democratic Club in the parlor,… and, if the walls could talk, they would tell the story of the day all Missouri came to the wedding.
For more about The Champ Clark House, to ask about the museum’s collections, to arrange a group tour, and to be sure Honeyshuck will be open when you get there, call the museum at (573) 324 – 6707, or address your e-mails to champclarkhouse@att.net.
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