John Clark - Father of Arizona (Clark) Barker

John Clark, father of Arizona (Clark) Barker, appears on the 1860 Census of Boone Twp., Greene Co., MO, p. 289.



Dwelling #796, Family #796
John Turner, 51, farmer, $4,200 Real Est., $2,700 Pers. Prop., TN
Nancy B. Turner, 51, KY
Caleb Tyler, 28, farmer, $35 Pers. Prop., MO
Sarah Tyler, 20, KY
Mary A. Tyler, 3, MO
John M. Tyler, 1, MO
Dwelling #800, Family #796 (Dwellings 797-799 Unoccupied)
John Clark, 28, farmer, $850 Real Est., $200 Pers. Prop., IL


All individuals above are listed as a part of family #796. Since Caleb Tyler married Sarah Clark in Greene Co., MO, on 3 Aug. 1856, it is reasonable to assume that Sarah Clark and John Clark were brother and sister.


John Turner married Nancy B. Seward on 7 Dec. 1856 in Lawrence Co., MO. She was his second wife. He first married Miss Nancy Jane Price of Robinson Co., TN, on 6 Nov. 1828. They had three children. Mary Jane, who married Samuel A. Doss; Nancy Fisher, who married J.C. Howard, and James William. John Turner, his daughters and sons-in-law moved to MO in March of 1856 and settled in Greene Co. It is not known if or how John Turner or Nancy Seward might be related to the Clark family. The information on John Turner comes from a biography in an 1883 "History of Greene County."


According to John Turner's biography, "He bought a farm three miles east of Ash Grove (Boone Twp.) from Silas Grantham in 1857." He still owned it in 1883. Granthan had purchased four parcels of 40 acres each from the U.S. Gov't between the years 1850-1857. They were all in Sec. 23 of Twp. 30 in Range 24N. Section 23 is about three miles east of Ash Grove. John Turner bought an addditional 40 acres in Sec. 23 on 1 Jun. 1859.


John Clark made two purchases of land from the U.S. Gov't in 1859. On 1 Jun. 1859 he bought 39.4 acres in Sec. 6, being the west half of lot no. 2, of the north east fractional quarter. On

1 Nov. 1859 he bought 80 acres in Sec. 5, being the east half of the south west quarter. Sections 5 and 6 were also in the same twp. and range as the purchases made by John Turner, but they were about 3.5 miles to the NNW of Ash Grove.


From the above transactions we know that the 1860 census shows the Turner, Tyler and Clark families in Section 23 about 3 miles east of Ash Grove in Boone Twp. John Clark had purchased his two parcels in 1859 and as yet was unmarried and probably had no house on his property. He was probably renting from John Turner. The Tylers had very little money in 1860 and Caleb Tyler was probably working and renting from John Turner.


Identifying John Clark's Ancestry
We know very little about John Clark. We know from two census records that he was born 1831-34, probably in Il. He died about 1878 at roughly age 46. His parents do not appear to have lived in Greene Co., MO. Several Clarks who lived in Greene County and were old enough to be his parents can be eliminated as possibilities. It is very significant that he appears to have a sister, Sarah Clark, who was born in KY. Because the name "John Clark" is so common a name, it may be the information about his sister that enables us to locate him on the 1850 census. I will tackle that subject next.