Molohon Family Stories

Franklin Jefferson, born Feb. 13, 1827, in Caldwell county, Ky., married in Sangamon county to Elizabeth Scott. They have six children, Ruth Jane, Gilbert, Amanda E., Perleasy, Emma and Shelton L., and reside in Ball township, near Chatham.

Alexander, born Sept. 16, 1829, in Morgan county, Ill., married in Sangamon county to Mary A. Marshall. They had two children, Charles E. and Henry N., and Mrs. Mary A. Clayton died, and he married Theresa J. Penix. They have four children, Melissa J., Ada M., Mary A. and Jacob B., and live in Ball township, four and a half miles southeast of Chatham.

Minerva J., born in Kentucky, married in Sangamon county to John Ogden, who died, and she married William Smith, and lives near Moberly, Randolph county, Mo.

Marquis D., born March 16, 1834, in Kentucky, married in Sangamon county, August 29, 1860, to Susan A. Matthew. They had eight children, three of whom died young. The other five, Charles A., Sarah E., Franklin L., Thomas E. and Manford E. live with their parents, three miles north of Pawnee.

Elzira, born in Illinois, married William Easley, have six children, and live in Clark county, Mo.

Mary A., born in Illinois, married Simon T. Matthew. See his name.

George M. married Miss J. Patterson, who died, and he married Harriet E. Debow. They have one child, Nettie Florence, and live in Cotton Hill township, three miles north of Pawnee.

Marietta, born in Sangamon county, married George Lamb. See his name.

John L., born in Sangamon county, married in 1873 to Mary Allen, and lives with his mother.

- For almost three score years and ten Marcus D. Clayton has traveled life�s journey and there have been many events which mark, as milestones, his progress in the business world and also indicate the development of a strong character and honorable purpose. He was for many years an active farmer of Christian and Sangamon counties and is now living retired in Divernon. In 1841 he became a resident of this county.

His birth occurred in Caldwell county, Kentucky, March 16, 1834, his parents being John S. and Elizabeth Clayton. The father was born in Caldwell county in 1805, and after his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of John Clayton, he engaged in farming. About 1831 he took his wife and two children to Illinois, locating first in Morgan county, and after living in Sangamon county for a year or two he returned to Kentucky, where he resided until 1835, when he again established his home in Morgan county, where he lived until 1841. In the latter year he came to Ball township, Sangamon county, and made a permanent location. After renting land for a few years, he purchased a partially improved tract of land and continued its further development until his death, in 1861. His wife survived him and reached the advanced age of seventy-two years. In the family were nine children who grew to mature years and five sons and two daughters are yet living.

The life of the farmer lad about the middle of the nineteenth century pictures the boyhood and youth of Marcus D. Clayton, who as soon as old enough to handle the plow began work in the fields, while through the winter months he attended the public schools. He remained with his father until he reached adult age and assisted in carrying on the farm. He then bought land in Ball township and began farming on his own account, and as a companion and helpmate on life�s journey he chose Miss Susan Ann Matthew, a daughter of John Matthew, a pioneer settler of the county. They were married in Ball township, September 29, 1859, and for a few years lived upon a farm in that township, after which Mr. Clayton sold his property there and removed to Christian county, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of raw land near Palmer. Not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made thereon and for six months he continued the work of cultivation, after which he returned to Sangamon County. However, he later became a resident of Christian county, where he bought an improved farm which he operated for three years. On selling that he again came to this county and afterward bought one hundred and sixty acres in Ball township, near Glenarm. There he carried on agricultural pursuits for a number of years, after which he rented the property and took up his abode in the village, residing there from 1894 until 1903, when he bought and took possession of a nice residence property in Divernon.

Mr. and Mrs. Clayton became the parents of eight children, of whom four are living. Charles A., in connection with his father, purchased one hundred and sixty-three acres at Buffalo Hart, where he is now farming. Elizabeth is the wife of William Drennan, a farmer of Ball township. Frank is a resident farmer of Ball township. Manford E. owns and operates the old homestead. Those deceased are Noah R., who died at the age of fifteen months; Ella, at the age of three months; Thomas E., at the age of twenty-four years; and one in infancy.

Where national issues are involved Mr. Clayton is a Democrat but at local elections votes independently. He served for six years as highway commissioner in Ball township and for a number of years was a member of the school board, the cause of education finding in him a warm friend. In citizenship he has always been public spirited. He has lived a life of activity, integrity and worth, accomplishing much through honorable purpose and indefatigable energy, and at the same time laboring for the public good through active cooperation in many measures for the general welfare.

- Henry N. Clayton, living on section 28, Ball township, follows general farming and is a highly respected citizen of his community. He deserves mention especially in this volume because he is a native son of his township, having been born there August 22, 1857. His father, Alexander Clayton, was born in September, 1829, and the grandfather, John S. Clayton, was born in Kentucky in 1804. The great-grandfather of our subject was of Scotch ancestry and was one of the early settlers of Kentucky. His son, John S., was reared and educated there and in that state married Elizabeth Clayton, daughter of John Clayton. The grandfather became a farmer of Bourbon county, Kentucky, and in 1829 he removed to Illinois, locating in Morgan county. Soon after the birth of his son Alexander, however, he returned to Kentucky and there resided until the following year, when he once more established his home in Morgan county, Illinois. About 1838 he removed to Sangamon county, locating in Ball township, where he spent his last days, his death occurring in 1860, when he was fifty-five years of age. His wife survived him for a number of years and died at the age of seventy-three.

Alexander Clayton was a lad of five summers when he became a resident of Sangamon county and was reared upon the old home farm, plowing his first furrows in Ball township. He remained with his father until twenty-three years of age and was then married on the 3d of February, 1852, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary Marshall, who was born in the city of Newark, New Jersey. In her childhood days she accompanied her father to Illinois and her death occurred in Sangamon county in July, 1861. After his marriage, Alexander Clayton located where he now resides and became the owner of a well improved farm, placing his land under a high state of cultivation. He had two sons by his first marriage, Charles E. Clayton, now a resident of Pawnee, Illinois, and Henry N., of this review. For his second wife he chose Sadie Jane Penich, who was born in Ball township, Sangamon county, and who died in 1893. There is a son and three daughters by this marriage.

Henry N. Clayton was reared in the county of his nativity and educated in the district school near his home. His school privileges, however, were limited, for his services were largely needed upon the home farm, and it was only through the winter months that he was enabled to give his attention to the duties of the school room. He remained with his father until twenty-eight years of age and he and his brother took charge and operated the old homestead. In Ball township, in August, 1887, he was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Lord, who was also born, reared and educated in Ball township, her parents being Josiah and Nellie Lord, who were likewise natives of Sangamon county.

After his marriage Henry N. Clayton located on a farm east of Glenarm, comprising one hundred and ninety acres, which had been inherited by his wife. This he began to cultivate and improve and they lived there six or seven years, on the expiration of which period he purchased seventy-five acres of land, on which he now resides. This was then improved. Still later he bought sixty acres of his father�s old home place and he now owns altogether three hundred and forty acres of valuable land in two farms, improved with two sets of buildings. He is engaged in the raising of grain and also in raising and feeding stock, and he fattens on an average of six or ten carloads of cattle and hogs annually. He is one of the extensive feeders and shippers of his township and his business has reached very profitable proportions.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clayton have been born four sons: Floyd Alexander, Harry J., Fred and Ralph Porter. Politically, Mr. Clayton is a stanch Democrat, voting with the party since he cast his first ballot for Grover Cleveland. He has served as assessor and school director for a number of years, but has not been an active politician in the sense of office seeking. In fact, he has declined to fill a number of public offices, to which his fellow townsmen would have called him, preferring to give his aid to the county as a private citizen. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and both are widely and favorably known in Sangamon county.