When Virginia Anderson was a little girl she was present at the famous Lincoln-Douglas debate held in 1858 at Quincy, Illinois.
The following was copied from: "A History Of Brown County, Illinois 1880-1970" Published by The Brown County Historical Society, 1972, Page 207
Virginia Anderson, daughter of John S. and Melvina Young Anderson, was born in Huntsville, Illinois on March 14, 1853. She was united in marriage to Thomas J. Clark on September 17, 1874. Shortly after their marriage they moved to the northwest part of Kansas, where they filed on a homestead. Here they constructed a sod house and a god stable for a team of oxen, which was used to break some of the virgin soil. It was on this homestead that their two older children, Helen (Mrs. William H. McCaskill) and Arthur R. were born. They left the homestead and lived at Hutchinson, Kansas where Mr. Clark worked in a general store. They returned to Illinois in 1880, locating ten miles north of Mt. Sterling. It was here that Leon, Harrison, Paul, Alma (Mrs. Matthew Dickman) and Stanley were born. The Clarks made a home for their granddaughter, Virginia McCaskill, following the death of their daughter, Mrs. McCaskill. Stanley is the only survivor at the present. After moving to the farm in Brown County, Mr. Clark became active in politics and in 1896 was appointed Revenue Collector in the Quincy Post Office. The family left the farm and moved to Quincy. While living in Quincy, their home was also home to many Brown countains who were attending school there In 1900, Governor Richard Yates, appointed Mr. Clark Commissioner of Southern Illinois Penitentiary. He served in that capacity from 1900-1912. Following that Mr. and Mrs. Clark lived in Harrisburg for five years where he and his sons Harry and Arthur conducted a wholesale grocery. They then returned to Quincy where Mr. Clark died in 1920 at the age of 67 years. Mrs. Clark, affectionately known to her many friends and relatives as "Aunt Jennie," was active and interested in her fancily, her church and current affairs until the last. She was a devout Christian and a member of the Presbyterian Church. She passed away May 13, 1953, two months after 100th birthday, at her home at 203 West Greenwood in Jacksonville, Illinois where her daughter, Mary Alma, had tenderly cared for her during her last illness. She was buried in the Mt. Sterling City Cemetery beside her husband, Thomas J. Clark. -----------------------------------------------
More About Virginia Anderson: Burial: Unknown, Mount Sterling City Cemetery, Brown County, Illinois.
More About Virginia Anderson and Thomas Jefferson Clark: Marriage: 17 September 1874, Schuyler County, Illonois.
Children of Virginia Anderson and Thomas Jefferson Clark are:
+Helen Clark, b. 21 January 1876, McPherson, Kansas, d. 21 January 1908, Colorado.
+Arthur Rosco Clark, b. 28 November 1877, McPherson, Kansas, d. 13 December 1954, Carbondale, Illinois.
+Chester Leon Clark, b. 30 April 1880, Mount Stirling, Illinois, d. 17 August 1946, Clay City, Illinois.
+John Harrison Clark, b. 16 February 1884, Brown County Illinois, d. 18 January 1966, Vandalia, Illinois.
+Paul Clark, b. 14 February 1886, Mount Stirling, Illinois, d. 12 November 1967, Kansas City, Missouri.
+Mary Alma Clark, b. 21 June 1889, Mount Stirling, Illinois, d. 4 July 1957, Jacksonville, Illinois.
+Stanley Clark, b. 11 September 1891, Mount Stirling, Illinois, d. 13 February 1973, Quincy, Illinois.
Virginia Anderson (b. 14 March 1853, d. 13 May 1953)
Notes for Virginia Anderson: