Friends and Acquaintances of Emily Sibley Watson:
Freeman Clarke was a prominent Rochester banker, early telegraph investor and one of the early directors of Western Union. He was elected as a representative of New York to the 38th Congress, and subsequently was appointed comptroller of currency under Abraham Lincoln. In the 1870's he served as a representative to the 42nd & 43rd Congresses. He was also a trustee of the University of Rochester.
After the deaths of Freeman Clarke and his wife Henrietta Jacquelene Ward Clarke, their Alexander Street mansion was purchased by the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital.