CLARK, PHILIP
, was born March 25, 1787, at Rye, England. He was married there to Elizabeth Gravett. They had five children, and Mrs. Clark died. Mr. Clark left his children there, and came to America in 1817, landing at Boston, Mass., and traveled by land and water to New Orleans, returned to England, and in company with his brother Edward, embarked at London in August, 1818, and landed at Baltimore in October following. They traveled on foot from Baltimore to Pittsburgh, and from there to New Orleans by water. They returned the same way to the vicinity of Harmony, Ind., to visit the family of a relative by the name of Morris Burkbeck, who had emigrated from England a year or two before. He afterward came to Illinois, and was Secretary of State under Gov. Coles. The Clark brothers went up the river to Shawneetown, and from there across the country to St. Louis. They recrossed the river into the American bottom and stopped with an Indian ranger, who told them about the Sangamo country. They started for it, and arrived in November, 1819, on the Sangamon river, two miles north of Rochester. Philip Clark was married in 1823, in Indiana, to Martha Jessup, an English lady, who died without children, in Sangamon county. He married in Sangamon county to Polly Whitford in1835. Philip Clark had his five children sent from England. They embarked at London, Mary 1, 1824, and were received in New York by an aunt on the 18th of June. The three daughters and one son arrived in Sangamon county in February, 1825. Of those five children -MARY E., born in 1810, at Rye, Eng., arrived in Sangamon county February, 1824, married in 1832 to Samuel Hines. They had three children in Sangamon county and moved to Iowa, where they had three children. They reside near Cox Creek Post Office, Clayton county, Iowa.
PHILIP, Jun., born Feb. 20, 1812, at Rye, Eng., embarked at London May 1, 1824, landed at New York city June 18th, was bound - by an aunt who came before them - apprentice in New York to a tailor - who treated him cruelly, and he ran away, went to Boston, obtained employment in a glass factory, saved some money, went by water to Philadelphia, walked from there to Wheeling Va.; worked his way down the Ohio river, and up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, on a keel boat. At St. Louis he fell in with Elijah Iles and Richard Smith, both of whom knew his father and he came with them to Springfield, arriving Oct. 15, 1824, to the surprise of his father. He was married May 19, 1836, to Christiana Campbell, on Richland creek. They had four children near Rochester, Sangamon county. H went to California in 1849 and returned in March 1850, moved to Clinton in November of the same year, where three children were born. Of their seven children, MARY, born Dec. 18, 1839, married in Clinton Jan. 19, 1857, to Robert Millard, have five children, and live in Clinton. JOHN G., born August 28, 1842, died in his tent-second year. PHEBE, born March 1, 1847, married John Armstrong, and died July 5, 1868, in Clinton. SARAH F., lives with her parents. LOUIS P. died, aged four years. CHRISTIANA and MATTIE F. live with their parents, in Clinton, Ill.
MARGARET, born March 28, 1814, at Rye, England, married in Sangamon county, about 1834, to Daniel McClees. They had seven children in Sangamon county; four died in the same county, all grown, or nearly so. JOHN and HENRY were both Union soldiers. MARY J. married John Spence, who died of disease contracted in the army. She lives in Springfield. CHRISTIANA married Mr. Petty, and resides in Round Prairie, Sangamon county. CHARLES resides with his parents. Mr. McClees went to California in 1849, came home in 1853, returned, and his wife did not hear from him for fifteen years. They now reside at Port Angelos, Washington Territory.
SELINA, born July, 1816, in Rye, England, married in 1838, in Sangamon county to John H. McMinany. She died in Fannin county Texas.
HENRY R., born April, 1818, at Rye, England, married in Sangamon county, in 1842, to Jane Trotter. They had two children; both live in Sangamon county. Henry R. Clark resides near Bolivar, Mo.
Philip Clark died in February, 1853, in Sangamon county. His widow married again, and resides in Missouri.
The object of the Clark brothers in coming to the country was to engage in the milling business. The site they selected was a favorable one, on the main Sangamon river, about two miles north of the present town of Rochester. The Legislature passed an act declaring that river navigable, and they abandoned the mill site. They went to a point ion the south Fork, near where Edward Clark lived, and died, and put a saw mill in operation in 1824, and a flouring mill in 1825. That was the first mill that did good work in this part of the country. Soon after they came to the country, Philip went to Lisle's band mill and remained three days and two night to get two bushels of corn ground. They then bought a hand mill in St. Louis for their own use, but it kept about thirty families in bread for two years, until their own mill on South Fork was completed.