Frances Eleanor Clark was the youngest sister of General George Rogers Clark, and all the traditions unite in declaring her to have been beautiful and accomplished. An interesting romance in relation to her marriages and life is told as part of these traditions, but will not be related here as it does not fall within the line of this work. She was born in Caroline county, Virginia, January 20, 1773, was married three times, and had two children by each marriage. Her first husband was Doctor James O'Fallon, a finely educated Irishman, who came to America shortly before the Revolutionary War and soon became an active participant on the side of the colonies. He was an officer during the war, at one time in command of a company, but was employed most of the time as one of the directors of the hospital department.
The two children of Frances Eleanor Clark and Doctor O'Fallon were sons named John and Benjamin. Before John was twenty years old he was in military service under General William Henry Harrison and was wounded in the Tippecanoe battle. He also served with distinction in the war of 1812.
The second husband of Frances Eleanor Clark was Charles Mynn Thruston, of the distinguished family of that name mentioned in a previous chapter. From this marriage resulted two children, Charles William, and Ann Clark, and from these have sprung a long line of descendants, many of them of prominence. Upon the death of Charles Mynn Thruston the widow married her cousin Dennis Fitzhugh, of the well known Virginia family of that name, and from this marriage there was a son and daughter named Clark and Lucy. Surviving all her husbands, this youngest sister of George Rogers Clark died in St. Louis, in June, 1825, at the house of her son, Colonel John O'Fallon.
A remarkable number of persons, bearing the names of prominent families, can be mentioned among the descendants of this estimable lady, such as the O'Fallons, Thrustons, Fitzhughs, Churchills, Ballards, Farrars, Popes, Kennetts, Polks, Hargraves, Burns, Potters, Belchers, Housers, Keeses and Peppers, as will be seen by reference to the genealogical list in the appendix.
