Here are some other key notes about the ballplayer:

Sporting News 8/6/87 Ed Clark, with New Orleans earlier, was released on account of sickness.  He is now better and playing for the Baumgartner Shamrocks [of Cincinnati].  He can be reached at 176 Vine Street, Cincinnati.

1888 note that “he works for the county auditor of Cincinnati.”

Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday, March 20, 1887, “Ed. Clark, the well-known pitcher, who played in the Southern League several seasons, was married to Miss Maggie Goodall of Everett Street, last Thursday evening.”

Multiple notes call him Ed. C. Clark and show him in Cincinnati from the early 1880s until early 1890s, when he starts umpiring in the South.

1880 census, 113 Everett

Maggie Goodall 39

Maggie 13

Anna 9

1887/8 Mrs Maggie Goodall dressmaker 113 Everett

1888/89 Margaret Goodall wid James same

1889/90 Maggie Goodall wid James s e c Linn and Findley

1890/91 nothing

1891/2  Margaret widow James Goodall 872 Colerain Ave

1892/3 Margaret Goodall wid James 579 1/2 Brown

Edward C Clark yardman stockyards 587 1/2 Browne

1893/4 Maggie wid James Goodall same with  Mrs Maggie Clark

1894/5 Margaret Goodall wid James 1129 W  McMicken with Mrs Maggie Clark

Here is who I feel almost certain is the ballplayer, for reasons that should become clear:

Censuses

1860, Millcreek, Hamilton Co, Ohio

John Clark 33 Scot

Anna 23 Ire

Joseph 2 Oh

John 8/12 Ohio

1870, Cincinnati

Anna Clark 33 Ire

Joseph N. Clark 12 Oh

John B. 10 Oh

Eddie C. 7 Oh

Thomas F. 2 Oh

1880 Marshall Ave., Cincinnati

Bridget Clark 43 Ire

John 21 Oh Scot Ire bookkeeper

Edward 17 Oh Scot Ire stock clerk

Thomas 13 Oh Scot Ire

Cincinnati city directories

1869/70 Ann widow 18 Goodloe

1871/2 Anna widow h Colerain Pike, Camp Washington

1873 Anna widow 4th Ave, Camp Washington

1876 Annie widow h Marshall Ave, Camp Washington

1880 Anna widow Marshall Ave, Camp Washington with Edward solicitor Daniel Wunder and Co

1881 Anna widow 3rd Ave, Camp Washington with Edmund C

1882/3 Anna widow same with Edmund C bookkeeper Long and West

1883/4 Annie widow h 527 Colerain Ave with Edmund C bookkeeper Long West and Co h nwc Colerain Ave and Hoppee

1884/5 Annie widow h nwc Hoppee and Colerain Ave with Edmund C and Thomas S messenger The Cincinnati Union Stock Yards.

1885/6 Anna widow hws Spring Grove Ave nr Marshall Ave with Edmunds C ck Schott and Glazer and Thomas Telephone operator

1886/7 Annie widow h 527 Colerain Ave, CW with Edmund C buyer and Thomas S messenger

1887/8 Annie widow John 649 Colerain Ave with Edmund C bookkeeper and Thomas S

1889/90 same

1890/91 Annie widow John with Edmund C ck, John B. deputy and Thomas S bookkeeper 527 Colerain

1891/2 same

1892/3 Annie widow John and Thomas S 527 Colerain

Edward C yardmaster Stock Yards h 587 1/2 Browne

1893/4 Thomas S 489 Colerain

There’s confusion as to whether he is Edmund or Edward, but otherwise it has to be the ballplayer: he is tied to the stock yards, the auditor’s office, bookkeeping, and his mother-in-law twice moves near him.

The ballplayer seems to leave for good around 1893 but is clearly not dead.  His wife is listed by herself and in 1900 as:

2835 McMickin, Cincinnati

Margaret Goodall 1/38 Pa, Scot, Scot, seamstress, five children, 2 living

Maggie Clark 12/66 Oh, Eng, Pa, widowed, 3 children all living

Edna 10/87 Ohx3

Chester 3/89 ohx3

Alferd [that's what it said] 12/92

Maggie raises their three kids but Ed never returns:

1910 census

Maggie M. Clark 43 Oh

Edna 22 Oh

Chester J 21 Oh

Alfred B 17 Oh

Margaret Goodall 75 Oh

1920 census, 1018 Straight, Cincinnati

Margaret Goodall, 70, widow, Ohio, unknown, unknown

Margaret Clark, 53, widow, Ohiox3

We traced the kids but it didn’t lead anywhere.

So where was Ed?  Despite the listings of Maggie as a widow, he was very much alive and is mentioned in many notes in the sporting presses of the day.

Multiple notes indicated that he quit umpiring in 1898 to enlist in the Spanish-American War and served in both Cuba and Manila. One stated that he served in the Philippines in the 18th Infantry, Regiment M under Lieutenant Alfred Aloe and was offered the first sergeantry, but declined.  Another claimed that he was wounded seven times during his many combat engagements in both countries.

Then an 1898 article gave this account: "Since leaving Texas in 1898 Umpire Ed Clark has had experiences varied enough to satisfy any man.  He went to New Orleans and umpired one game in the Southern league, when it too, blew up.  His old friends of the Eighteenth United States infantry wars were there and about to move to Manila.  He joined them and went to the antipodes, where he spent nearly a year hiking through the Isle of Panay, getting mixed up in a score of skirmishes with the 'Goo-gooes,' and incidentally having his epidermis punctured by a few Filipino bullets.  The wounds were all slight, however, and he finally transferred to Manila, where he was made chief clerk in the quartermaster's department.  When his term of service was up he returned to 'God’s country,' [Texas] and after spending a few weeks in Galveston and San Antonio, went to New Orleans and shipped as a foreman of a British mule transport, going to South Africa.  Reaching Cape Town he organized a party among his muleteers to get through the British lines and join the Boer army, but one of the crowd got 'cold feet' and gave information to the British authorities, which landed them all in prison.  Through the aid of a Salvation Army captain he was enabled to escape to Durban, where he shipped as a deck hand on a transport going to Baltimore.  Last year he umpired in the Virginia-North Carolina and Southern Leagues and after the season was over made several trips to South Africa as a muleteer foreman before coming here.” In other articles, Clark provided additional details of his three trips to South Africa.

Ed stayed in Texas for several years. Notes stated that he was an expert bookkeeper and accountant, but he apparently preferred umpiring and continued umpiring until 1905. He was listed in the San Antonio city directories for a few years but then leaves.  This is probably him in the 1910 census:

Detroit

Ed C Clark private US Army 41 Oh Scot Ire

But after that he becomes very hard to trace. There’s an Edward C. Clark with much in common with the ballplayer who showed up in Florida in 1914 and lived there until his death on September 19, 1949. The timing is good, yet there are some major discrepancies and I’m inclined to believe that it isn’t the right man.  So the search continues ....