John Clark (February 1, 1761 – August 14, 1821) was an American politician from Blackbird Hundred in

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three List of counties in Delaware, counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent County, Delaware, Kent, and Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex). As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, near

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

. He was a member of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as

Governor of Delaware A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Early life and family

Clark was born at "New Bristol" in what is now

Blackbird Hundred Blackbird Hundred is an unincorporated subdivision of New Castle County, Delaware. Hundreds were once used as a basis for representation in the Delaware General Assembly, and while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they no ...

, New Castle County, just north of Smyrna, son of William Clark. In 1784 he married Sarah Cook Corbit, daughter of Governor John Cook, and had a least one child, Mary. They lived at Clearfield Farm in what is now Blackbird Hundred in a house since used as an administrative office for the correctional facility located there. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Political career

Clark was unusual politically in that he was a Federalist and a Presbyterian from New Castle County. The more typical Federalist was an Episcopalian or Methodist and from

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

or Sussex County. The more typical

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

was a Presbyterian from

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

. Nevertheless, in 1816 he defeated the Federalist candidate, Manaen Bull of

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

in Sussex County and served as

from January 21, 1817, until January 18, 1820. As governor he was one of a succession advocating improvements in public education. Carol Hoffecker in ''Democracy in Delaware'' relates how he "argued that Delaware had a special need to educate its people because the state lacked vacant land for an expanding population. Therefore, he said 'much reliance must be placed on the mental talents of our citizens for the support of our power and importance in the Union.'" , p. 76. Quotation from the ''Journal of the House of Representatives'' (1817), p. 181. The General Assembly responded by appropriating a laughable $1,000 to each county for this purpose. Furthermore, Delaware was stagnating. Medieval sounding punishments, like nailing ears to a pillory post, continued to be meted out in the penal system. The soil was increasingly exhausted and, due to the resulting out migration, Delaware's population in 1820 was roughly the same as in 1810. An immediate, and permanent, consequence was that it lost its second seat in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Death and legacy

Clark died at Smyrna and is buried in the Duck Creek Presbyterian Churchyard, now Holy Hill Cemetery, located south of

on Lake Como.

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday in October. Members of the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legi ...

took office in the first Tuesday of January. State representatives had a term of one year. The governor takes office the third Tuesday in January, and had a three-year term.

Notes

References

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External links

Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, John 1761 births 1821 deaths American Presbyterians People from New Castle County, Delaware Delaware Federalists Members of the Delaware House of Representatives Governors of Delaware Federalist Party state governors of the United States People from colonial Delaware 19th-century members of the Delaware General Assembly