The subject of the following sketch is a native of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. He was born August 7, 1823. His grandfather, Wm. MARKS, was a New England German. He emigrated to western Pennsylvania before the war of 1812, and was a soldier in that war. He married a lady by the name of MCMICHAEL, who was of Welsh parentage. He was the father of seven sons. William, one the sons, rose to distinction, and represented his state one term in the U. S. Senate, from 1825 to 1831. Isaac, another son, and father of Dr. Marks, was born in Allegheny county, Pa., and died there in July, 1848. He married Sarah RICHEY, a native of Washington county, Pa. She died in January, 1860. There were six children by that marriage, three of who still survive the parents.

Dr. Marks is the youngest of the family. He was educated in the common schools and in the academy in his native county. He was apprenticed to the druggist trade in the town of Butler, in Butler county, Pa., and after his apprenticeship expired, he enter the office of Dr. Randolph, and commenced the study of medicine. In the fall and winter of 1852, he attended lectures in the medical department of the Western Reserve College at Cleveland, Ohio and took one full course. He then commenced to practice in New Bedford, Lawrence county, Pa., and remained there four years, then removed to Butler county, and in 1860 to New Matamoras, in Washington, Ohio, and continued there until January 1st, 1862, at which time he enlisted in company C of the 77th regiment, Ohio volunteers. He was transferred to the medical department of the army, and was made hospital steward. He remained in that position for fifteen months. He was then discharged, and soon after was appointed to the position of surgeon, and ordered to the Alton prison, at Alton, Ill. He remained in charge two and a half years, or until the end of the war. In 1866 he came to Clement, Clinton county, and there he has continued the practice of his profession to the present.

In 1863 he entered the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, and graduated from that institution in the spring of 1864, with the degree of M. D. On the 1st of January, 1880, he opened a drug store in connection with his practice. He is a member of the Clinton County Medical Society. He is a republican in politics.

He has been married three times. His first wife was Elizabeth KENNEDY, who died in 1858, leaving a son and daughter, named James Hervey and Mary Emily. In 1860 he married Elizabeth MCGORON. She died in 1865, leaving one child, named Sally Richey Marks. On the 1st of January, 1867, he married Lavantia BARTLE, a native of Hancock county, Ohio. One child by this marriage, named Frank Lorin Marks.

Dr. Marks enjoys a large and lucrative practice, and has been very successful in his profession.

Source: History of Marion and Clinton Counties, Illinois, 1881, Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia

Submitted by: Tom Webster

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