McClurken, James

Born: 1787-09-07 South Carolina

Died: 1851-01-17 Sparta, Illinois

While living in Kentucky, McClurken met and married Susan Leaper. Shortly after, they moved to Indiana. In 1816, he moved his family to Randolph County, Illinois. He and his wife had nine children. McClurken was the first settler of Sparta, Illinois, in 1818. He was a prominent business man. In 1833, he constructed the first cotton gin in the county and also built a castor oil press. In 1839, he built a saw mill and a year later, in 1840, he built the first steam flouring mill in Randolph County. Randolph County voters elected McClurken into the Illinois House of Representatives for one term, 1840 to 1842. In 1850, he was a manufacturer of castor oil and owned $1,000 in real estate.

Combined History of Randolph, Monroe, and Perry Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia: J.L. McDonough, 1883), 385; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 209; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Randolph County, IL, 17.