JAMES M. CLARK was born March 25, 1828, in Union, now Webster County, Ky., and is a son of James and Rebecca (McGill) Clark. The father was born in Christian County, and died of cholera in 1832. The mother died in April, 1845. Our subject was reared in Illinois, and at the age of nineteen, he commenced to learn the blacksmith trade, also the wagon-making trade, both of which he followed for twenty-five years. For fourteen years of this time, he carried on the business in Dixon. December 20, 1873, he came to his present farm, consisting of 258 1/2 acres. He has recently disposed of a farm of sixty-four acres. He was married November 29, 1855, to Lovis Womack, of Union County, who died in the spring of 1872, leaving eight children—four sons and four daughters. His second marriage was December 10, 1872, to Margaret J. Herrin, of Webster County. This union has been blessed with three sons and one daughter. Mr. Clark is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and of the Masonic fraternity.
Source: J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin, & G. C. Kniffin. Kentucky. A History of the State. Louisville, KY, Chicago, IL: Battey, 1885. Page 1028.