Clark's Business Journal 1833-1834
Jonathan Gilson Clark ran a a general store (possibly a trading post) in Pekin in the early 1830s. He sold many of the basic goods needed for daily living—including staples such as sugar, flour, and coffee. He also was a main supplier of whiskey which he sold in any size desired—from a glass to a gallon or more.
Jonathan's life story: He was born in Connecticut in 1803, married in Perry County, Illinois in 1830, and spent several years in Tazewell County (est. 1831-1836). By 1837, he had returned to Perry County where he died in 1864.
We have the good fortune to have a copy of a journal of Jonathan's business transactions from 1833 through January 1834. Many of his customers were founding settlers of Pekin & Tazewell County—familiar names like Dillon, Tharp, Rynerson, and Woodrow.
Fortunately, we are able to easily read Jonathan's excellent handwriting which allowed us to create this online index.
Unfortunately, Jonathan's spelling was atrocious. Not only did he not spell names correctly, he also did not misspell them with any consistency, resulting in several separate entries for the same person!
For example, he spelled Lewis Prettyman's last name as Preteman, Pretiman, and Prettiman (never once as Prettyman).
First names are not immune to his misspellings and inconsistency. So, you'll find James W. Tharp's first name entered as J.W., James, James W., and Jas. W.
So, be cautious when you search the Journal Index below to insure you find all your ancestor's entries! Here are some tips on how to do searches.
You may access Jonathan's journal at our library for free.
If that's not convenient, photocopies or emailed scans may be ordered for $2.00 for first page plus $1.00 per each additional page ordered at the same time. The extra $1 for the first page covers order handling (copy fees, PayPal fees, postage, etc.). Copies are single-sided black & white only.
You may order online or mail your order & payment to our researcher—include a phone number, e-mail address and/or self-addressed stamped envelope with your request.
Of course, we cannot guarantee a journal entry is the person you’re looking for. Please see our research services if you need further research done.
A copy of Clark's Business Journal was originally sent to us by Clark Davis of Carbondale, Illinois in the early 1980s. A transcription was published in our The Monthly newsletter from August through December, 1982.
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Last Name | First Name | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Adams | O. M. | 1, 3, 14, 21, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 42, 51 |
| 2 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Adams | Thomas | 25 |
| 3 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Alexander | D. C. | 6, 13, 20, 21, 9, 32, 34, 36, 41 |
| 4 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Alexander | James G. | 16 |
| 5 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Anderson | Thos. | 31 |
| 6 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Andrews & B____ | 34 | |
| 7 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Bailey | D. | 35 |
| 8 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Bailey | David | 42, 44 |
| 9 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Baily | D. | 34 |
| 10 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Baity | J. | 38 |
| 11 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Baity | Jonathan | 17 |
| 12 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Barnet | William | 4, 16 |
| 13 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Baskum | Flavell | 40 |
| 14 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Benet | Jacob | 17 |
| 15 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Brawhill | William | 2 (2), 9, 20, 31 |
| 16 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Brown | Isaah | 26 |
| 17 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Brown | Isah | 11 |
| 18 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Burnet | W. | 15 |
| 19 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Burnet | William | 7, 23 |
| 20 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Calam | Francis | 24 |
| 21 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Carmikle | John | 9, 30 |
| 22 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Case | Laman | 17 |
| 23 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Case | Luman | 2, 8, 10, 11, 17, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29, 40 |
| 24 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Case | Lumen | 5 |
| 25 | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Mike | 08 Apr 2024 02:04 PM | Chanaler | Zenas | 23 |
| Last Name | First Name | Pages |
Search Tips:
- The table contains three columns: Last name, First Name, and the matching Pages in the journal.
- The table starts in Last Name, First Name order. The Last Name and First Name columns may be sorted by clicking on the column title. Each click will reverse the order between ascending or descending.
- Info in parentheses means that data was the transcriber's best interpretation but may not be correct.
- Parentheses in the Pages column indicates multiple entries on that page. For example: “23 (2)” means the name was listed twice on page 23.
- As you enter criteria into a search box, the display will automatically change to show only matching rows.
- Use the Search Box the upper right to search the entire table. For example, if you enter "Dillon", the display changes to those rows that contain a Last Name containing "Dillon" or a First Name containing "Dillon" (or even the Page number containing "Dillon", if there was one).
- Use the boxes at the bottom of each column to limit your search only to that column's content. Suggested uses:
- Last Name - limits the rows displayed to just the last names you want. Useful when you are not sure of the spelling. For instance, to search for possible last name of Prettyman, by entering only "Pre" you might find more spelling variations of the name.
- First Name – limits the rows displayed to just those first names you want. Handy when there are several variations of a last name but you are sure of the first name's spelling. Or, if you are sure of the Last Name but not the spelling of the First. For example, you may look for all variation in the name James by just searching First Name with "J" which would match any first name starting with the letter J.
- Pages – if you wanted to know everyone who was listed on the same page as your ancestor, you could filter to just one page number.
- Combination - by placing criteria into multiple boxes you can do more sophisticated searches such as all folks with Last Name "Tharp" whose First Name start with "J".
- Don't forget to use the clear filters button above the upper search box to clear any earlier searches or you may get unexpected results!
