James Clark, Sr., the father of our subject, was born in England, coming of a good family, and he received a fine education. As a young man he was a clerk in a bank, and afterward gave his attention to tilling the soil, and had under his management a farm of fifteen hundred acres. To a man of such a mind and energetic characteristics, life in a new country had particular attractions, and in 1837 he left his native land and came to the United States, and took up his residence in this county. He shrewdly saw the great fertility of the land on the open prairie and made his settlement on a quarter-section, while he rented a home in the neighborhood, where he lived until he could improve his place. His family lived on that place two or three years, and there his death occurred in 1840, and a valuable pioneer was removed from the scene of his usefulness. When he first located on his land he had to have a plow to break the prairie sod, and he ingeniously contrived one that was a great improvement on any that were then in use. He went to a blacksmith in Peoria and had a share and an upright piece made, which he attached to the beam, and to this he added a frame mold, and then fastened them with iron rods on the back of the share, and with this implement he could throw the sod in any direction he wished. Toby & Anderson, who afterward became famous for their plows, when they began their business invited Mr. Clark to Peoria to give them his idea of the way the plow should be made, and they followed his directions in every respect in manufacturing breaking plows. The first Scotch harrow used in this county was made by them on the original Scotch harrow plan, they having brought the teeth with them from England. In 1839, or 1840, Mr. Clark imported the first grain drill from England that was ever used in Peoria County, and this machine is still on the place and is better than any now in use. At that time it cost him $50 for importing it.

The first year after his father’s death our subject erected a substantial house on the place, and in 1842 the family moved into it. In the spring of the following year the mother, whose maiden name was Isabella Walker, and the oldest sister died, and Mr. Clark soon brought Miss Susan Benson to preside over his home. She has been to him a most excellent wife, and her able management of household affairs greatly contributes to the comfort and happiness of her household. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have five children living, as follows: Susan Harriett, at home; Ella G., James Benson, J. W. W. and Cyril B. The three sons are married and well settled in life. The daughters are young ladies of unusual ability and force of character, and are both teachers and writers for Sunday-school papers. James, who is engaged in the lumber business at Oak Park, Chicago, had three children—Ella, Ruth and a baby: William, whose business is putting up elevators, is a resident of Riverside, near Chicago, and has a family of three children—Douglas, Lucia and Margaret; Cyril is now a student of Champaign College, where he expects to graduate from the engineering department; he is married, and has two children—Grace and an infant.

Mr. Clark is among our most highly esteemed citizen, and no one known him but to respect the genuine integrity of his character. He has always been identified with the Republican party, and the family have adhered to the Church of England and are faithful members of the Episcopal Church.

Mr. Clark’s wife was reared in the neighborhood where his father settled. She is a daughter of John Benson and a sister of the Rev. John Benson, and it gives us pleasure to incorporate in this sketch a notice of the life and work of the latter. He is the beloved rector of St. James Episcopal Church, and makes his home with our subject. He was born in Yorkshire, England, June 8, 1815, and was there reared and received some education. He came to this country in 1833, with his parents, John and Harriett Benson, and the same year accompanied them to Illinois and settled with them in Edwards County, where they remained until the spring of 1834. They family then came to Peoria County, the Rev. John being a youth of nineteen years, and here he studied law. His father was a lawyer, as was also his grandfather, John Benson, who was a member of the English bar, and their ancestry were of the lords of England, being all land-holders and members of the Church of England. Mr. Benson, Sr., bought the claim to several pieces of land and settled on one tract that was in Kickapoo and Limestone Townships, comprising three-quarters of a section. He was intending to purchase the place at the land sale in 1835, but his death by the accidental discharge of his rifle put an end to his plans. He left a widow and a family of six children, John being the eldest boy. This placed the responsibility of the care of the family mainly upon his shoulders, and he took charge of affairs until the death of his mother, which occurred in September, 1835.

In May 1835, our subject went to Quincy and bought the land on which the family had the claim in the name of his mother, and he lived on the same place until 1866, when he sold it. Services were held at his house by Bishop Chase, of Jubilee, as early as 1836, and were continued there for some years. Finally, a parish was organized, and in 1845 a fine stone church was erected within half a mile of Mr. Benson’s home in Limestone. In 1843 our subject took a trip South for the health of his wife, and going to Baton Rouge, La., spent the ensuing five years there, and was there ordained to the ministry, he having previously studied with that end in view, Bishop Polk, of that State, presiding at his ordination. Coming home, he was put in charge of the stone church in 1852, and occupied its pulpit very acceptably until 1857, when he was called to Farmington to take charge of the church there. For twelve years he was engaged in that place. He then removed to this parish, and has been pastor of this church most of the time since.

The Rev. Mr. Benson was married to Euphemia Clark, daughter of James Clark, of Limestone, in 1838. She was born in Huntington, England, and came from London to this country with her parents. By her death, in 1875, he was bereft of a devoted wife and congenial companion.

In 1865, as he was broken down in health and his wife was far from well, Mr. and Mrs. Benson crossed the Atlantic to England to recuperate amid the scenes of his youth, and ten months were passed very pleasantly among his old friends. In 1866 they returned to Peoria, and he organized the St. John’s Mission, and had charge of it the ensuing five years. At the expiration of that time he had a call to Lewistown, the county seat of Fulton County, and became rector of St. James Church, which he had organized some years before. After resigning his pastorate, which had been very successful, in that city, he returned to Limestone, and resumed his old position as rector of the Episcopal Church in this place as before mentioned.

The condition of the country at the time when the Benson family settled here, and the wonderful change that has since taken place, is well illustrated by the following account of their journey hither and subsequent events. In the fall of 1833 Mr. John Benson, the father of our subject, rode on horseback over a good share of Canada, Michigan and Illinois, and while passing through Chicago he prophetically remarked that that little trading-post was destined to be the great commercial center of the West. As he passed through Ft. Clark, he was enchanted with its site and surrounding scenery, and decided to locate in this vicinity. He returned for his family, whom he met in Cincinnati, and they proceeded down the river to Southern Illinois on the return journey, and he there fitted out his wagon with horses and two teams of oxen. Leaving the ox-teams at Vandalia afterward with the household goods, he traveled over the greater part of this State with his wife and children, driving from Canton to Lewistown, and from there to Merchant’s settlement, which was the starting-point of Farmington. From there they drove straight east without any track of any kind over the wild prairies to answer as a guide.

A man by the name of Handayside was building a log house near the dividing line between Lewistown and Logan Townships, and from there the Bensons could by close observation see a track, which led to a spring on a place where Jones had started a farm about six and one-half miles from the city, and this became a famous watering-place for travelers along the road between Peoria and Farmington, in the days when they carried produce to market.

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