Born: January 28, 1888, Cardiff, Wales (he adopted the middle name Dudley later in life).
Died: October 14, 1957, Lexington, Kentucky.
Buried: Sioux City, Iowa.
Orphaned at an early age, Clarke ran away from the orphanage and worked at sea for almost 10 years. He eventually moved to London, then to America.
He attended the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois, then went into composing, music publishing, and evangelism. He served as song leader for Harry vom Bruch and Billy Sunday, being so impressed by Sunday that he established the Billy Sunday Memorial Chapel in Sioux City, Iowa (where he served as pastor until 1945).
Clarke also worked in the evangelism field in Garards Fort, Pennsylvania, and South Milford, Indiana.