Clara Peak Walden

Clara Peak Walden, early pioneer of Fort Worth education, was the first born child of Dr. Carroll Peak and Mrs. Florence Peak on January 4, 1854 in Fort Worth. She was born in one of the abandoned military post buildings. Growing up, Clara had access to the impressive personal library of her father and this helped fuel her early desire to become an educator. Prominent resident, R.L. Paschal reflected on Clara’s unique childhood by stating “Colonel John Peter Smith, who lived eight years in the Peak home, was a constant help and inspiration in her study of Latin, Greek, and higher mathematics. At this time she began the study of Hebrew and later read the Old Testament in that language.” 

During her early years, schools in Fort Worth were all private institutions. Clara and her brother Howard attended the “Fort Worth High School,” which was located inside the Masonic Lodge at the corner of Jones and Belknap. Clara would start her teaching career at this location until its closure in 1869. She was only 15 years old at the time of the closure and shows her advanced educational aptitude. 

At the age of 16, in 1870, Clara married LeGrande Walden who was a farmer but became a school teacher. The couple taught for a couple of years in country and rural schools. In 1871, Clara gave birth to their first child named Florence. A second child was born in 1873 named Lucile. Sadly, just 16 days apart, both of her children would pass away in August of 1873. The couple would have no additional children. The decade would close with the death of her husband, leaving her a young widow.
 

Around 1872, Clara joined the faculty at The Fort Worth School, which was established by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark. This school would later become the modern day Texas Christian University (TCU). She would only stay there until late 1873 due to the school relocating outside of the Fort Worth area. 

Clara continued to work in local schools and The Fort Worth Standard in 1876 called Mrs. Walden “a lady of superior intellectual endowments, first rate literary qualifications, and large experience as a teacher.” By age 21, Clara and Miss E. R. Arnold established the Arnold-Walden Institute, originally located in the First Christian Church building and later to its own building. The Arnold-Walden Institute was later merged with the Fort Worth public school system and became a ward school. It stood until 1939.¹

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By 1894, Clara retired from teaching. On October 13, 1914, after being released from the hospital that day, Clara was struck and killed by an automobile outside of the home where she lived with her mother. She was 60 years old.² Clara is buried in the Peak Family plot with her parents, siblings and children.