Biography of John Clark

John Clark. It is a grateful distinction to have spent half a century in one community, and when those years were filled with worthy accomplishment and with that old-fashioned spirit of loving kindness, such a career becomes one deserving of admiration and worthy of perpetuation in any history of a county in which it has been spent. The venerable John Clark, who died August 21, 1917, was a resident of Gifford. He came to Champaign County in 1868. He lived far beyond the fourscore mark, and his activities and those of the family have been a notable contribution to the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Preston

He came to the Battle Creek, Iowa, Ida County, in 1872 to farm. He was born in Forfarshire, Scotland, June 27, 1857, son of John and Matilda (Hill) Preston. His parents are from Scotland and they reared a family of eight children with John being the 7th born. He received a good education in his native land, and clerked in a drug store for a short time at Dundee, Scotland. In 1872, when he was 15, he came to America to Ida County where he had two brothers, Andrew and James C. Here he went to school in the winter. … Read more