Polk County, Missouri Biographies - James CLARK History Of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade And Barton Counties, Missouri 1889, published by Goodspeed, pgs. 632, 633 Polk County Biography Section James Clark, one of the old and prominent citizens of Polk County, Mo., was born in Benton County, Ohio (then Ross County), December 2, 1824, being the second of eleven children born to William and Rachel (Starkey) Clark, who were born in Ross County, Ohio, and Virginia, in 1804 and 1800, and died in Kansas, and Polk County, Mo., in 1865 and 1856, respectively. They were married, and resided in the "Buckeye State" for some time; then came to Missouri, and located in Polk County, where they were residing at the time of the mother's death. The father afterward married Polly Hunter, who also died in Kansas. He was a farmer all his life, and was also deeply interested in church matters, the first Methodist Episcopal Church in the county being organized in his house after his arrival in Polk County, Mo. His children who are living are: George, a resident of Peru, Neb.; James; Enoch, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Miranda, a resident of Iowa; and Zara C., a farmer of Kansas. James Clark was educated in Ohio, and worked on his father's farm until twenty-five years of age, and then worked as a farm hand for three years. He then engaged in farming and stock raising on his own account, and has continued up to the present time, being counted one of the successful farmers of the county. In 1852 he was married to Miss Martha Jane Ragsdale, a daughter of Joel and Jane (Alread) Clark, [sic] who came from their native State of Kentucky to Cole County, Mo., at a very early period. Mrs. Clark was born in Logan County, Ky., May 13, 1834, and she and Mr. Clark became the parents of thirteen children: Rachel Jane wife of John Vandeford, a farmer of the county; Mary Miranda, wife of Isaiah Rimbey, also a farmer; Thomas J., Sarah Ellen, William Joel, John W.; Hannah R., wife of Daniel Davidson; Susan V., Annie, Martha M., Esther M., Rosa L. and Margaret A. All the sons and sons-in-law are engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years, and have always been deeply interested in church affairs. He is a stanch Republican in politics. Their son, John W. Clark, was born in 1862, and received his education in the common schools, and supplemented this by an attendance in the Marionville Institute and the Southwest Baptist College at Bolivar, Mo., graduating in the course of letters. He has since been engaged in teaching school in Polk County. He is a Republican in politics, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church for about one year. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Kay Griffin Snow ====================================================================