The Founder of Rotary first visited
Club
#41 on April 12 1927 where he spoke briefly to the
gathering. Afterwards, Harris was pictured outside the
club’s meeting place (The Mason Hotel) with club members.
This was not Harris’ first visit to the
Florida city having worked in Jacksonville during 1892. The
young Paul Harris took up employment with a certain George
Clark who at 27 was not much older than Harris at the time.
Paul had previously worked as a night clerk at the St. James
Hotel.
Clark’s marble and granite business
employed Harris as a travelling salesman throughout the
Sunshine State for a short time. In March of 1893, Harris
left for Washington DC in order to witness the inauguration
of President Grover Cleveland before embarking on a voyage
to Britain.
Harris returned to Jacksonville in
October 1893 to continue working for George Clark where he
would be blessed with travelling to the granite-producing
regions of Scotland and the marble-producing regions of
Ireland, Belgium and Italy. Harris left Jacksonville after 6
months.
George W Clark would become the first
President of Jacksonville Rotary Club which was organized in
February 1912. Clark was re-elected President the following
year and then, like his friend, became President Emeritus
before gaining honorary membership in July 1928.
Paul Harris returned to Jacksonville for
their Silver Jubilee Celebrations in February 1937 where he
addressed the club. His speech reminisced on his months in
Jacksonville in the early ‘90’s. It was appropriate that
Harris also told stories of his travels around both the USA
and the wider world – he enjoyed travel just as much as he
approached 70 years of age as he did 45 years earlier.
This
photograph shows Harris with his old pal George Clark.
(looking on is Club President Kenneth A Merrill)
Source- A History of the
Rotary Club of
Jacksonville by Prim W Fisher.
