McDonough ILGenWeb ILGenWeb

11907 HISTORY
William Clark

 CLARK, William Harvey.--Among the well-known farmers of McDonough County, Ill., whose birthplaces were the farms which they now severally cultivate, is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Scotland Township, McDonough County, October 10, 1866, a son of James and Margaret Ann (Watson) Clark, natives of the State of Virginia. His grandfathers, John Clark and James Watson, were of Scotch nativity. James Clark came to Illinois in 1834 with his parents, who located In Cass County. A year later he entered land in McDonough County, when he moved to Scotland Township. The father bought eighty acres of land in Section 28, and added to this until, at the time of his death in 1903, he owned 230 acres of farming land in one tract, and seventy acres of timber land.

William H. Clark is one of a family of three children born to his parents, the others being girls. In boyhood he received a district school education in the vicinity of his home and assisted in the work of the farm. On this farm he grew to manhood and has remained ever since. His portion of the estate, after his father's death, was 100 acres, and this he devotes to general farming, and the raising of horses, hogs and cattle. Mr. Clark was united in marriage, March 15, 1894, with Elizabeth McMillan, who was born in Scotland Township, where she attended the public school. One child, May Ellen, has resulted from this union, born May 20, 1895. In religious belief, Mr. Clark is a Presbyterian, politically, he casts his lot with the Republican party, and in his fraternal relations, belongs to the Mystic Workers.


Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County, compiled by Dr. Newton Bateman, and Paul Shelby, 1907.


McDonough County ILGenWeb Copyright