My Pollard Family

Bentley C. Pollard

Bentley Clark                                  Where did that name come from ?   Bentley Clark Pollard born July 1873 ,  and died  June 16, 1931  Bentley was the son of a reluctant riverboat captain Norval Pollard , I say reluctant as the river was not the life he chose but that thrust upon him upon the death of his father Daniel Pollard in 1869 . Daniel had spent his life on the rivers and had left his mark . His youngest daughter  had married a young man who's family had also spent the past half a century on the rivers and in the coal business , one W. W. O'Neil Jr. . Daniel's oldest daughter had also married a river man Richard  Wilson . But this was just the way it was in McKeesport PA in the latter part of the 19th century . Most of McKeesport's residences lives were tied in one way or another to the rivers & to the coal that was mined beneath this area of Pennsylvania . As a young man Norval Pollard , Bentley's father no doubt spent time on the families steamer the V. F. Wilson ( built 1860 , destroyed by ice, Feb.,1873  ) and other boats owned or mastered by his father Daniel . It is here that we believe Norval met the young river man Bentley Clark .  Bentley Clark was born at Wheeling Island  about 1845 , in the same year as Norval's birth .While it is possible that Bentley Clark served abroad one of Daniel's boats as a young man or had another connection to the young Norval Pollard it is but speculation at this point  at best  . It is however fair to say that they were both on the river at the same time . As did Norval , Bentley Clark  learned to be a Pilot on the river . Bentley went to work eventually for William Woods O'Neil of the O,Neil Coal Co. . He served as pilot for the steamers DICK FULTON( 1878-1903 years of boats operation , not Bentley's service abroad ) the Fred Wilson No. 2 and later the Tom Rees No. 2 . All of these boats were owned by the O'Neil Coal co. that was owned by the father of Norval's brother in-law W.W. O'Neil Jr.  ( The Tom Rees No. 2  , later went to the Combine ) Bentley Clark Married a girl from Bridgeport Ohio and moved with her to Freedom PA. where he resided  until the death of his wife in 1920 . He then moved to the home of his son , Harry O. Clark at Beaver Falls PA. , where he lived until his death in 1927 . I wonder if perhaps the O. in his sons name didn't stand for O'Neil after the man  & firm he had spent half his working life employed with . So in conclusion my best guess is that the two were friends or simply a man that Norval admired and hence the name Bentley Clark Pollard was born & has now been passed down for 3 generations . Wheeling Island: Located on the Ohio River directly across from Wheeling W. VA. Sources : :Way's Towboat Directory :Historic Pittsburgh: History Of Beaver Co.  :Pollard Family Records