NATIONAL JEWELER          23
T
he story of BC Clark Jewelers continues 
today in the same way it began over 
130 years ago, with a focus on 
customer service and a devo-
tion to family.
The history of Oklahoma’s oldest 
jeweler begins in 1869 with the birth 
of Benton Clyde Clark in Kosciusko, 
Mississippi.
One of 10 children, he worked on 
the family farm. Like many small-town 
dwellers, he felt there was more to life 
out there for him.
When his older brother J.F. Clark 
bought a jewelry store in Abilene, Texas, 
18-year-old Benton Clyde, better known as 
B.C., decided he would also make the move.
He expanded his jewelry knowledge and honed his 
watch repair skills in his brother’s store.
When people in Abilene started talking about the 
vast fortunes being amassed up north, B.C. decided to 
take another chance. 
At 23 years old, he boarded a train headed north to 
an area known then as “Chickasha, Indian Territory” 
with his life savings of $50, his watchmaker’s bench, and 
a few personal effects.
But as fate often has it, his destination changed, forev-
er altering the Clark family’s path.
He had to make a transfer in the town of Purcell in 
Indian Territory (Oklahoma would not become a state 
until 1907) to the next train, but his wallet was gone, and 
so went his big plans, for now.
With not a penny to his name, he wandered around 
the town for a while when a pinch of luck and a bit of 
kindness sealed his fate.
B.C. ran into a man he’d known in Abilene who 
was running a five-and-dime store in town. The man 
allowed him to set up his watchmaker’s bench and a 
small display case in a corner of the store.
And so, the first BC Clark store opened in 1892 
with a shingle that read, “B.C. Clark, The Big 
Watch Jeweler.”
His great-grandchildren, Coleman and 
Mitchell Clark, are the current stewards 
of the family business, inheriting B.C.’s 
perseverance and drive, which appar-
ently is a generational trait. 
Coleman and Mitchell are the 
second and third members of the 
Clark family to be inducted into the 
National Jeweler Retailer Hall of Fame, 
following in the footsteps of their father 
Jim Clark, who was inducted in 1996. 
“He created something special,” Mitchell 
says of B.C. “A lot of it is how he treated people 
and the kind of people he hired. That helped his 
business flourish.” 
“He set that example 
going forward and it’s 
passed down generation 
to generation through 
our family, and we’ve 
tried to live up to those 
original values that he set 
in place.”
CHALLENGING 
START
As anyone with a 
dream will tell you, it 
takes hard work, grit, 
and a lot of love.
B.C.’s love story began 
in an unlikely spot. Flora 
Edwards, who ran Purcell’s 
post office, kindly lent 
him a dollar and a stamp 
one day. The pair became 
good friends, and two 
years later in 1894, they 
were married.
An in-house engagement 
ring collection, “BC + Flora,” 
was created in late 2024 to 
honor their love story.
As the business grew, B.C. 
moved into his own store and 
found success repairing and 
inspecting watches for railroad 
employees. Purcell was an important junction for the Santa Fe Rail-
road and proper timekeeping was necessary.
His family grew as well, as he and Flora raised six children. 
The late 19th century was a challenging time in the United 
States, as the Gilded Age brought several banking panics spurred by 
2026
Retailer
HALL OF FAME
Benton Clyde Clark (pictured above) got his start in the jewelry business at the back of a five-
and-dime store. He would later open his first store in Oklahoma City in 1929.
Coleman, left, and 
Mitchell Clark

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