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The 1860 census listed Bartlett Yancy Clark as a twenty-seven-year-old mechanic living in Guilford County with his wife, Emily Stephenson Clark. The couple, who married on April 19, 1853, had two young sons, Greenville S. and Jonathan A. Clark. The Clarks were members of the Society of Friends, a religious group that believed in pacifism and opposed slavery. Presumably Clark, as a Quaker, did not support the war, which might explain why he did not volunteer for military service. However, service records indicate that his brothers Christopher (or Cristerfer) and John may have enlisted in the Confederate army as early as May 23, 1861.
The Confederate army conscripted Bartlett Yancy Clark into service in Company H (Stanly Marksmen), Fourteenth Regiment North Carolina Troops on October 1, 1863. As a Quaker, Clark opposed the war and deserted after only a few days. He was reported absent without leave on October 20, 1863, and had been arrested by October 30. Clark was court-martialed on or about January 8, 1864, and subsequently confined at Salisbury Prison. According to family tradition, he served out his sentence as an orderly in the prison hospital, where he became known as a man who showed great compassion to his guards and all prisoners, Confederates and Federals alike.
After the war, Bartlett Yancy Clark returned to his native Guilford County and settled near his parents and his brother Christopher (Cristerfer) in Deep River Township, where he became a farmer. The value of his personal properly doubled between 1860 and 1870, and his family grew in number as well. By 1870, he and his wife, Emily, had five children-two boys, Jonathan and Emory, and three girls, Hannah, Aseneth, and Elizabeth, who ranged in age from twelve years to five months. The 1880 census listed Clark as a wagon maker, though his family still owned their farm. In 1900 he was listed as a mechanic living with his wife; his eldest daughter, Hannah; and a nine-year-old grandson, Emory. Bartlett Yancy died in 1913, and his wife died in 1915.
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