Our branch of the Clark family can be traced back to the early 1800’s settling in Southeast Illinois about 1847. The Clark family history comes from a variety of sources, which includes family records, recorded interviews, public records and, in some cases personal recollection. In most of those cases verification of the information was made and referenced to independent sources.
ELIAS CLARK M.D.
BORN 09/19/1808
DIED 07/13/1889
Elias Clark was born either in Ohio (according to his death certificate) or New York as listed in the 1850 and 1860 United States census of Wabash County, Illinois on September 19, 1808.
Since the Census shows Mary was born in New York, it might stand to reason that Elias was probably born there as well.
Elias and Mary Darrow were married on November 1, 1832. Mary was born on October 17, 1813 and died on April 8, 1862.
Mary Ann’s mother Mary Ann (Polly) Gifford was born April 30, 1790 and married John Peck Chidester. She later married to George Gilbert Darrow after her first husband John Peck Chidester died in 1809. She was a young widow left with two sons John Madison and David Starr Chidester to care for. She lived with his parents until 1811 when she married George G. Darrow, a widower with at least six children from his marriage to Beulah Beers.
Information from Ohio History Connection in early Ohio divided the State into 20 districts to facilitate the organization of district medical societies, designed to formalize both medical licenses and medical education.
Elias completed his medical/physician training May 09, 1832 in the 14th Medical District of Ohio. District 14 was comprised of Richland, Lorain, Huron, Sandusky and Seneca Counties. The societies were composed of groups of practicing Physicians in the district.
A register (index) of physicians and surgeons in the State of Illinois shows Elias Clark was registered in the school of Eclectic Medicine and shows he was then practicing in Wabash County, Illinois and list his certificate issued by the 14th Medical District Society of Ohio in May 1832.
In 1835,”Dr Clarke was the second physician at Midway,(Ohio) locating there in about 1835, where he remained about 2 years when he went to London, the county seat, and boarded with Col. Lewis and practiced there for a short time, and then moved to Michigan” History of Madison County, Ohio. W. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1883. p 448, 742
“Dr Clark was the first physician of the town [Midway]” History of Madison County, Ohio. W. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1883. p 448, 742
The 1840 U.S. Census, Range Township, Madison Co, Ohio listed the following:
Household of Elisha Clark included:
1 free white male aged 30-40 years
1 free white female aged 20-30 years
2 free white females aged under 5 years
Based on the location and the ages of the household it is strongly believed the census taker misspelled or misunderstood the name Elias as head of the household.
Elias was a physician and resided around Wayne County, Illinois for the last 40 years of his life. Although it is confusing as to whether he was born in New York as the 1850 and 1860 census stated or Ohio like the death certificate showed, the census does indicate they lived in Ohio for about 9 years (from about 1836 until about 1845) and in Michigan for about one year. The Clarks moved to Illinois about 1847.
CLICK HERE to see information about Dr. Clark’s medical license.
A classified advertisement was found in the Friday November 25, 1859 Mount Carmel Register Newspaper placed by Doctor Clark. It is printed here:
Medical Card
Dr. Elias Clark having located himself in the town of Mount Carmel, for the purpose of practicing his profession in all the various branches, viz: Obstetrics, Theory, and practice of Medicine, Surgery, &c., he practices mostly upon the new system of practice, (Eclectic) I have studied and practiced both systems, (Allopathy and Eclectic) and am fully convinced, from repeated experience, that most kinds of disease can be cured three times as quick (without the least possible injury to the patient,) by the Eclectic system of practice. It claims to all kinds of fevers in from three to eight days, which I know it will do, have never failed to cure each and every case of fever that I have attended for the last three years, in that length of time, and it cures most all other kinds of disease in a corresponding quickness of ratio over the old system. I suppose everybody knows how long it takes the old system to cure fevers (from three to six weeks). I have been practicing medicine in Wabash County for the last thirteen years, and trust I am sufficiently known to not need further comment.
The marriage produced thirteen children and each child is listed below with their date of birth, what State they were born in and when known, their date of death.
| Children of Elias Clark George born 10-23-1834 died 10-28-1834 Sarah born 6-15-1836 (Ohio) died 11-2-1856 Mary Elizabeth born 3-7-1839 (Ohio) Alfred Hartshorn born 12-1-1840 (Ohio) died 4-10-1923 Harriet Selsor born 4-8-1842 (Ohio) Ophelia born 11-25-1843 Elias Jr. born 7-29-1845 (Michigan) died 5-7-1932 Angeline born 3-7-1847 (Illinois) died 6-2-1865 Olive born 5-20-1849 (Illinois) Amanda born 9-14-1851 (Illinois) died 2-3-1852 William born 1-29-1853 (Illinois) died 1-30-1853 Isabella born 11-6-1854 (Illinois) died 4-18-1855 Andrew Jackson born 10-31-1859 (Illinois) died 1930 | Information about Alfred Clark discovered in his pension records. Born Madison County, Ohio 17 Dec 1840.Three months service as Private, Co. E 12 Reg Il Infantry 18 April 1861 – 24 Jun 1861 (Medical discharge) Occupation at enlistment Clerk 5’10” fair complexion, grey eyes, light hair Co H, 15 Ill Cavalry Enrolled Lancaster Ill on 24 Aug 1861 Discharged Little Rock, Ark on 31 Aug 1864 Occupation at enlistment engineer 5’8″ fair complexion, blue eyes, light hair After discharge, lived in Francisville, Clay County, IL. Relocated in 1886 to Oakland, Alameda Co., CA. Relocated in 1892 to Los Angeles City, CA. Married Eliza J Osborn 7 June 1865. She died 8 Sept 1865 in Little Rock, Ark Married Ladona Wood 15 Apr 1869 Clay County, Illinois. She died 18 Nov 1906 in California Children: Alice Lorena (?Ladona?) Clark b 27 Feb 1870, Not seen in 1880 census Cora Agnas Clark b, 16 Oct 1871-Not seen in 1880 census Charles Clark b 4 April 1873-Not seen in 1880 census Alpha Gertrude Clark b 17 May 1880 (Only living child 5 Jun 1898, March 24, 1915)Alfred was removed from pension rolls due to death April 10, 1923. Two checks sent in May 1923 were recalled. |
The above information on the thirteen offspring was taken from the Clark family Bible. Inside the Bible the following was written: “This Bible the property of Elias Clark born September 19, 1808. Family record of his children on the following pages.”
A notation was found in a record book in the Wabash County, Illinois courthouse. The record book held in the recorder’s office offered a large, varied amount of information from the early days of the county. The notation showed Dr. Elias Clark had a letter waiting for him at the Mt. Carmel post office. This was dated October 1, 1851.
The May 1864 United States tax assessment for the State of Illinois, Division 14 of Collection District Number 13, May 1864 list Elias Clark, Physician, Mt. Carmel, Illinois. It list a class B License tax due of $10.
Elias Clark wrote the following letter dated May 31, 1864 and noted the letter was written or sent from Mt. Carmel, Illinois. The letter that was written to his son, who was in the Union army during the Civil War, is hard to follow due to the script and handwriting. It is translated next:
Dear and Beloved Son:
I received your welcome and much prised [prized] letter of the 30th Inst. and was pleased to hear that you had vol. teared in the defense of our beloved country for I do not suppose you will be exposed to all the hardships of the veteran soldier as it is expected the 100 day men will be stationed in forts and not have to take long and fatiging [fatiguing] marches or be much exposed to inclement weather and other hardships of the vet soldier. You wish me to go as surgeon in your regiment it would not pay me to be to the expense of going to Chicago to be examined by the medica [medical] board for only 100 days service which I should have to do in order to draw Surgeons pay from government (it would cost me 75 $ if you and the officers of your regiment can procure me the birth of Contract Surgeon (which can be got by going to the Medical Director of the Army Corps to which your regiment belongs) that pays from 100 $ to $ 118.83 per month if you and the Col. or some of the officers can procure the position of contract surgeon for your regiment I will sacrifice the ease and quite of the Citizen for that of Soldiers Life My practice Here Amts. to over 100 $ pr month and increasing – but for your sake and my country good I wil (will) again buckle on the armor and go forth and defend my country. I want to say a great deal more but not time at present you must be sure to write to me and keep me posted of your where abouts so that I can write to you often which I want to do please write soon. I have prayed for you and all of my children everyday for the last eighteen or twenty months. Pray for me for I have heard of your conversion and it made me shed tears of Joy – go on the strength of Israel’s God and all will be well fear not you know in whom you have trusted far better it is to trust in God and have the Lord one friend than on the greatest Human power for safety to depend.
Mt. Carmel May 31 th 1864 Elias Clark
PS if your Col. is a dissipated man you need not try to get me birth [berth] of Contract Surgeon in your Regiment for I know that know Surgeon can please such a one.
Copy of the letter can be found in the war records section of this web site.
Since this was found in the Bible in the possession of Bertha Clark (wife of U. D. Clark) one can assume that the letter came from U. D. Clarks father Elias Clark Jr. and that he was the recipient of the above letter. The original letter is still with Elias Clark’s Bible.
From the letter you can determine his monthly income and he makes reference to having served his county at one time in the military. It is known, however, that he did not serve during the Civil War.
The article on the right is from the Wabash Democrat in 1846 and states Doctor Elias Clark secured his medical diploma in 1832.
Based upon a 1902 Mount Carmel Register article Mrs. Elizabeth Clark died at the home of her son, Marshal Bump. She was 88 years old. Mrs. Clark’s maiden name was Ashley and was born in Indiana. She was married twice, her first husband being Martin Bump and her second husband Dr. Elias Clark.
From Indiana Mr. and Mrs. Bump moved to Wabash County, Illinois and later to White County where Mr. Bump died. After Mr. Bumps death Mrs. Bump lived in Graysville for a number of years, and after her marriage to Dr. Clark they lived in Wabash County.
Elias Clark died on July 13, 1889 at 8:00 p.m. He was 81 years old when he died. The County Register of Deaths indicates “fluxs very feeble health with occasional attacks of dysentery”
The following was from Alice Clark in June 2009 on Elias Clark born 1808:
According to Alfed Hartshorn Clark’s civil war record, he was born in Madison County, Ohio. Using this information, I found an Elisha Clark in the 1840 U.S. census for Range Township, Madison County, Ohio. Name isn’t an exact match but age of Elisha matched Elias, ages of wife and 2 daughters also a match for Elias and his family.
“Dr Clarke was the second physician at Midway, locating there in about 1835, where he remained about 2 years, when he went to London, the county seat, and boarded with Col. Lewis and practised there for a short time, then moved to Michigan” p 448 (Col Lewis operated a hotel and boarding house in London. p 537)
“Dr Clark was the first physician of the town” (referring to Midway) p. 742
from History of Madison County, Ohio. W.H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1883.
Clark has an extra “e” in the first quote and there is no first name mentioned on either page, but the rest matches nicely with our information.
First child George was born and died in New York in 1834. Second child Sarah was born in Ohio in 1836, so Elias moved his family to Ohio between 1834 and 1836.
Midway is in Range Township, where I found Elisha/Elias in the 1940 census and where Alfred Hartshorn was born. We know that Elias later moved to Muchigan where Elias Jr was born in 1845.
ELIAS CLARK JR.
BORN 7/29/1845
DIED 5/7/1932
Elias Clark Jr. was the seventh child of Elias and Mary Elizabeth Clark. Elias Jr. was born in Monroe County, Michigan.
On May 14, 1864 Elias enlisted as a 100 day volunteer in the union army. His volunteer enlistment papers show him to be a farmer by occupation. He enlisted in Centralia, Illinois and was assigned to Company H, 136th regiment of Illinois.
The 136th Infantry went into camp in Centralia, Illinois in May 1864 but was not mustered into the regular United States service until June.
The Adjutant General’s Report shows Elias Clark of Albion, a corporal, enlisted on May 31, 1864, date of muster June 1, 1864 and mustered out as a private on October 22, 1864. That same document shows he served with Sergeant William Scott, also of Albion. (See the Scott section for further information).
In the book History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, it shows the muster rolls of the 136th Illinois, Company H. Corporal Elias Clark of Edwards County is listed and shows him mustered out as a private on October 22, 1864.
The photograph of Elias is from the back cover of a bible given to Victor Clark in 1902 from Grandma Ulissa Clark.
CLICK HERE to see Elias Clark’s pension records.
Alfred Clark (brother to Elias) served in the civil war from 1861 – 1864 and a letter to Elias about him serving under General Sherman on his march across Georgia and many of his civil war papers are in the civil war section of this web site.
On September 20, 1869 Elias Clark Jr. married ULISSA JANE LEACH and the marriage produced seven children: Ulla Dio, Alfred, Rolla, Charles, Horace and two children who died young. Ida Mae died at age 11 and Clyda M, at 7 months. It is believed that Elias remained a farmer and his farm is mentioned in The History of Leech Township. The farm is listed as being west of the Bethel Church in Leech Township, Wayne County, Illinois.
Ulissa Jane Leach was born on January 2, 1845 and died on August 13, 1908. Ulissa was the daughter of Daniel B. Leach and Marie (Root) Leach who were married in 1840. Further information can be found in the Leach family section.
In the book, The History of Leech Township, Elias Clark is mentioned a being very active in the Bethel Church and that he served as Superintendent for many years.
After Ulissa Jane died, Elias married Elizabeth Blum about 1915.
Elias died on May 7, 1932 at the home of his son, U. D. Clark, in Perks, Illinois.
ULLA DIO CLARK
BORN 5/16/1876
DIED 9/12/1959
Ulla Dio Clark was born on May 16, 1876 in Ellery (Wayne County), Illinois.
On June 12, 1896 he married Bertha Scott in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Bertha was the daughter of Francis and Elvira Scott. She was born in Scottsville, which is located in Wayne County, Illinois.
In the book, The History of Leech Township, it is reported that
“Scottsville, the stopping place for the stagecoach between Fairfield and Albion, was called Wabash, likely because it was near the Wabash River. The post office there was always called Wabash. When the Scotts settled there, the name was changed to Scottsville.”
The marriage produced five children: Victor, Ida Mae (1899 – 1952), Louise Grace (1907 – 1915), Lois (1902-1903), and Leta (twin of Louise). Bertha outlived her husband and all but one of her children, Leta.
Bertha was a very religious woman who was opposed drinking. According to Bertha’s grandson, John Clark, Bertha and U. D. had reached an agreement that “he could keep beer in the ‘ice box’ and could drink one beer a day”. The different views on drinking lasted for over 60 years of marriage.
When U. D. and Bertha got married, he was working for the Illinois Central Railroad. At that time he was working in the division offices in Mattoon, Illinois. Their son, Victor, was born in Mattoon. Ulla Dio was a very tall, thin man who was not afraid of manual labor, as can be told by the types of jobs he held over the years.
Later he became foreman of Bridges and Buildings and traveled up and down the Illinois Central Line. The family would stay in each town until the project was completed then move on to the next. After leaving the railroad, he went to work for the L. D. Leach Lumber Company and managed a wooden box factory for them in the area of Wolf Lake or Thebes, Illinois.
Ulla Dio and Bertha moved to Carrollton, Illinois in about 1912 and stayed until 1916 or 1917. He continued to work for the L. D. Leach Lumber Company. Company.
During this time he was in charge of clearing lumber out of the Illinois River bottoms. L. D. Leach Lumber made a deal with the land owner that they could have the lumber but had to build a spur railroad for the farms use on the cleared land. The rail line ran from Eldred, Illinois to the Macoupin Creek. The spur then connected into the L. C. & W. Railroad in Eldred and the landowner (Fairbanks) could then ship his goods to market via the railroad.
While clearing the timber and building the spur line, portable barracks, construction buildings and kitchen facilities were built on skids so they could be moved as work progressed towards the creek. When they got within a mile or two of the creek, the buildings were left. This was at a crossroads and the buildings were sold as homes when the job was done. This then was referred to as Clark Station. It was located in Southwest Greene County, Illinois, in the Illinois River bottoms near the Macoupin Creek.
Around 1917 U. D. and Bertha moved to Perks, Illinois, where Ulla Dio took up farming. U. D. was also an active Mason and belonged to the York rite.
In 1945 or 1946 the Clarks moved back to Carrollton, Illinois. At this time U. D. was retired.
Once a year, U. D. would suffer what he referred to as a terrible malaria attack. Poor Ulla, the only thing that would help him was lots of whiskey and quinine (a drop) mixed together by Bertha. Family members referred to it as Ulla’s yearly toot.
The above information on U. D. Clark’s employment history came from a recorded interview of his grandson in 1994.
A small collection of his wood working tools are now in the possession of his great, great granddaughter Lisa Clark Fleishman.
Bertha and U. D. left Carrollton, Illinois and went into the Masonic Home in Sullivan, Illinois, where both later died and were buried.
Ulla Dio died on September 12, 1959 and Bertha died on November 25, 1966.
VICTOR O. CLARK
BORN 09/14/1897
DIED 08/10/1965
Victor was the eldest of five children born to Ulla Dio and Bertha Clark. He was born on September 14, 1897 and saw a great deal of the Midwest and South while growing up. His dad traveled for the Illinois Central Railroad and the family relocated often, living as far north as Mattoon, Illinois and as far south as New Orleans.
By 1912 the Clarks had moved to Carrollton, Illinois and there he attended Carrollton High School. Victor was active in sports and played football for the high school team. He also was on the track team and medaled in several events.
It was while attending school in Carrollton he met and fell in love with Violet Vivell. Violet graduated a year ahead of Victor even though they were the same age. Victor had fallen behind due to all the family moves over the years. Shortly after Vic graduated, he and Violet eloped and were married on July 2, 1917. They were married in either East St. Louis or Belleville, Illinois.
Victor went to work for the L. D. Leach Lumber Company as a lumber buyer and moved to Wolfe Lake, Illinois. It is believed that while in Wolfe Lake he was drafted into the army at the close of World War I. He was sent to Camp Grant, Illinois and Camp Custer, Michigan.
While in Camp Grant he was hospitalized with the flu during a time when 1200 deaths occurred from influenza and pneumonia. After recovering he was assigned to the hospital to assist others who were sick. A letter Victor sent to The Carrollton Patriot was published on November 21, 1918 and it accounts his experience working in the hospital. He was in the 7th Co., Inf. Replacement Camp. Vic was not in the service long and thereafter he returned to Wolfe Lake.
Later he went to Arkansas and continued to work for the L. D. Leach Lumber Company. While in Arkansas he played semi-pro baseball in the industrial league. He received a broken nose during one game.
From Arkansas he and Violet moved to Perks, Illinois. While in Perks, Victor ran a general store and was Postmaster.
In October 1929 the stock market crash occurred and Vic lost the business. The Clarks then moved to Lockport, Illinois and Victor went to work in the Statesville Prison as the storekeeper.
He appeared to be well respected and while working at the prison he received an invitation from Jewish Prisoners Committee, inviting him to attend a supper on September 19, 1934.
He held this position for about four years then went to work in Frankfort, Illinois for the Standard Oil Company selling oil products to farmers. He later changed to Shell Oil Company doing the same job. A couple of years later he bought a Shell service station in Joliet. They moved there about 1936.
CLICK HERE to read about the fire that damaged Victor and Violet’s house. (PDF file, 708 kb)
Upon the death of O. H. Vivell, Victor and Violet moved back to Carrollton and took over the O. H. Vivell Insurance Company. He remained in Carrollton, Illinois the rest of his life. Victor not only was in the insurance business, he also managed real estate for absent owners. In 1963 Victor retired, selling the O. H. Vivell Company to Bill Vogt. The company is still in existence today (2014) although Mr. Vogt no longer owns the agency. It is located on the South side of the Carrollton square.
After returning to Carrollton to take over the insurance business, Violet studied for and passed the examination to be a licensed insurance agent. Although she never used the license, she kept it current until the business was sold. For most of her life Violet was a homemaker, although she did do the bookkeeping for the Shell Service Station in Joliet, Illinois. She did the books in her home along with her other duties of raising a family.
According to Mary Wolfley Clark, Daughter-in-law to Victor and Violet, a nightly event was Victor going to the Illini Club on the square in Carrollton. He would stay until about 9:00 p.m. when he would return home, pick up Violet and they would go together for coffee uptown. At that time Victor and Violet did not have a television set and Vic would go up to the Illini Club to watch television there.
Mary described Victor as having a sense of humor and remembers him sitting in a chair in the living room, listening to the radio (usually a ball game) while wearing a sleeveless tee-shirt. He would go to sleep listening to the game, but wake up as soon as anyone would turn off the set or change stations.
John described his Father enjoying the company of his Grandchildren and he liked doing different things for and with them.
As mentioned earlier, he loved sports and attended the first Baseball All Star game held in Chicago, Illinois. He also attended St. Louis Cardinal games after returning to Carrollton, including World Series Games. For the most part, however, he was an American League fan more than the National League.
When ask to describe his Father, John Clark advised, “So much like me, we did not get along too good.”
He also said his father was very opinionated and nobody was going to change his mind. He said his Dad had a sense of humor but was not a practical joker like his father-in-law, O. H. Vivell.
His Mother, on the other hand, he described as a worrier, someone who if she had nothing to worry about would worry she must have forgotten something.
Mary described her mother-in-law as a lovely person with whom she could sit down and talk to about any subject.
Victor died at the age of 67 after a one week stay in the hospital in Alton, Illinois. He died of cancer.
After his death on August 9, 1965, Violet continued to reside in Carrollton, Illinois. Vi was very good to her grandchildren and would spend great amounts of time with them when they were around. Card games and cooking were her favorite pastimes with them.
Baseball and wiffle ball games were commonplace in the side yard (East side of the house) during the three summers after Victor’s death. It was not unusual for Vi to be in the thick of the game. As fall would approach football in the yard and basketball at the grade school just a few blocks away passed the time quickly.
Baseball games on television were a staple on the weekends during the summer. Visiting youths the grandchildren’s ages were always welcome and many times had to stay for dinner.
Something all grandchildren and their friends quickly learned at Vi’s house was not to sneeze or cough. At the first sign of any illness (real or imaginary) she would bring out the biggest jar ever made of Vicks Vapo-rub. She believed if you used enough, it would kill every germ known to man.
Just before bedtime (which was usually liberal) she would coat your chest and back. Then generous amounts up the nose and under the eyes to promote sleep, You had to close your eyes to keep the fumes from burning your eyes. For further on why Vicks Vapo-rub check out the 1919 Spanish Flu article by Alice Clark posted on the home page of this web site.
Vi said several times she would have liked to have visited the Astro Dome in Houston, Texas to watch a baseball game in an indoor stadium. It is regretful that she never got the chance to make that trip.
Violet was the only child of O. H. and Belle Vivell of Carrollton, Illinois. She was born September 28, 1897 and was 77 years old at the time of her death.
Violet died on January 20, 1975 at Boyd Memorial Hospital in Carrollton and is buried in the Carrollton City Cemetery.
JOHN ROSS CLARK
BORN 09/26/1929
DIED 10/17/1997
John was the youngest of three children of Victor and Violet Clark. He was born in Anna, Illinois.
The Clarks moved back to Carrollton in 1944 so Victor and Violet could care for Belle Vivell and take over the operation of the O. H. Vivell Insurance Company. John was a freshman in high school at that time.
During high school, John worked at the Carrollton Movie Theater and also met Mary Wolfley, whom he married on September 1, 1950. After high school John attended Bradley University in Peoria, IL. for two years.
Mary was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, the eldest of three children born to Milford Truman Wolfley and Thelma Alta Jordan.
She was raised North of Eldred, Illinois until 1941 when they moved to Richwoods area, the original Wolfley Farmstead. She resided on the farm until she married, except for the time away during college.
Mary graduated from Carrollton High School in 1949. She then attended Illinois State College, Normal, Illinois for one year, residing in Fell Hall. She returned to Carrollton in the spring of 1950 and went to work for Mary Bolin bookkeeping. She continued to work there until after getting married. Mary then went to work for the Carrollton School District and stayed there until Christmas 1951 then moved to Fort Hood (Killeen), Texas
In 1949 John entered in the insurance business with his father. This was interrupted from 1951 to 1953 while John was in the Army Signal Corps. He served at Fort Custer for a short time, like his father had many years earlier. He also served at Camp Gordon, Georgia and the bulk of his time at Fort Hood, Texas. This was where their oldest of three children was born. Alan was born in Belle County, Texas with Alice and Andy being born in Carrollton, Illinois.
When he returned from the service he reentered the insurance business. In 1955 he bought what had been the James M. Davis house on Fourth Street in Carrollton. He owned the house until 1963.
In 1956, a scandal hit in the Greene County Circuit Clerks office, John was appointed by the Circuit Judges to fill out the remaining term. He was the first Republican to ever hold that office up until that time. He served for eleven months then ran for election.
This was not his first attempt at political office. John had run for County Clerk two years earlier and had been unsuccessful. John ran against Finus Doyle and lost his bid for election by 800 votes.
After serving as Circuit Clerk he again reentered the insurance business until 1963 when he went to work for Missouri Title Guaranty Company in Clayton, Missouri.
While in Carrollton John served on the Carrollton Auxiliary Police. He later served on the Alton Auxiliary Police. Still later both of his sons served as full time law enforcement officers in Illinois and Indiana.
John and Mary then moved to Godfrey, Illinois where they remained until 1975.
In 1975, John and Mary moved to Florida. John went to work for Record Title Company and retired in 1991.
In about 1983 Record Title merged with Attorney’s Title Services of Orlando. John was then Assistant Branch Manager until his retirement.
In July 1980 John joined the Masonic Lodge and in 1986 he served as Worshipful Master of the Builders Lodge 376 in Florida. In 1992, 1993 and 1994 he served on District and State committees and in 1995 became District Deputy Grand Master for the 27th Masonic District.
John also served as Monarch of the Samoor Grotto, Florida in 1983 and became a life member that same year. He also served as Zone Director for Grottoes of North America in 1985 and 1986.
By the time John and Mary moved to Florida, Alan was a law enforcement officer in Wood River, Illinois, Alice was attending college at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois and Andy was serving in the Marine Corp.
John in 1994 described himself in a recorded interview as having an offbeat sense of humor. He believed he was too serious sometimes and he worries too much. This must have been inherited from his mother. He believed he was detail oriented and regretted that he never learned to fly an airplane. His youngest son did learn to fly and has become a pilot for the Indiana State Police. John flew with his youngest son several times.
John stated his biggest accomplishments were raising three good kids, 43 years of successful marriage (as of 1994) and having had a satisfying business career.
Mary spent most of her early years in the marriage raising the three children. After moving to Godfrey she held several jobs including the Olin Print shop (from 1968 to 1970) and Bindler’s Department Store, Alton, Illinois (1970 to early 1972) where she work for several years with her oldest son Alan.
After moving to Florida she began making craft items and has been very successful in the sale of her hand made items. She was also a caregiver and retired in December 1993 after four and a half years.
She and John were active with Bingo connected with the Grotto Lodge. Both enjoy the beach and attending minor league baseball games.
In their earlier days in Carrollton, Illinois both were active in little league baseball with Mary just as active in coaching as John.
During the middle and late 1960’s John and Mary did a lot of camping and for several years the family vacation was a one or two week camping trip throughout Illinois and Missouri. Tent camping was quite the craze during those years and it was an inexpensive way for the family to see a great deal of the Midwest.
John died October 17, 1997 from kidney and prostrate cancer. Mary died in Sarasota, Florida May 1, 2018 from heart failure.
The Clark family is now scattered about Indiana, Texas and Iowa.
