John Clark (governor) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

John Clark was an American farmer and politician from Blackbird Hundred in New Castle County, Delaware, near Smyrna. He was a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.

Early life and family

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

Blackbird Hundred

Blackbird Hundred is the name of 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 presently have no meaningful use or...

, New Castle County, just north of Smyrna

Smyrna, Delaware

Smyrna is a town in Kent and New Castle counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Delaware, son of William Clark. In 1784 he married Sarah Cook Corbit, daughter of Governor John Cook

John Cook (governor)

John Cook was an American planter and politician from Smyrna, in Kent County, Delaware. He served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.-Early life and family:...

, 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 or Sussex County. The more typical Democratic-Republican was a Presbyterian from New Castle County. Nevertheless, in 1816 he defeated the Federalist candidate, Manaen Bull of Laurel

Laurel, Delaware

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,668 people, 1,389 households, and 957 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,215.9 people per square mile . There were 1,561 housing units at an average density of 943.0 per square mile...

in Sussex County and served as Governor of Delaware from January 21, 1817 until January 15, 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.'" The General Assembly

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...

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.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly
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...

(sessions while Governor)
|-
!Year
!Assembly
!
!Senate Majority
!Speaker
!
!House Majority
!Speaker
|-
|1817
|41st

Delaware General Assembly

|
| |Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...

| |Henry Molleston

Henry Molleston

Dr. Henry Molleston, III was an American physician and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, and was elected Governor of Delaware, but died before taking office.-Early life and family:Molleston was born in...

|
| |Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

| |Nathan Vickers
|-
|1818
|42nd

Delaware General Assembly

|
| |Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

| |Henry Molleston

Henry Molleston

|
| |Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

| |Nathan Vickers
|-
|1819
|43rd

Delaware General Assembly

|
| |Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

| |Henry Molleston

Henry Molleston

|
| |Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

| |Nathan Vickers
|-

Death and legacy

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

There is no known portrait of John Clark.

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday in October. Members of the Delaware General Assembly 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.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Public Offices
|-
! Office
! Type
! Location
! Began office
! Ended office
! notes
|-
|Sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

|Judiciary

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

|New Castle

New Castle, Delaware

New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, six miles south of Wilmington, situated on the Delaware River. In 1900, 3,380 people lived here; in 1910, 3,351...

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|New Castle County

New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 its population was 538,479, an increase of 7.6% over the previous decade. The county seat is Wilmington. The center of population of Delaware is located in New Castle County, in the town of...

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|State Treasurer

Treasurer

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...

|Executive

Executive (government)

Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

|1794
|1799
|
|-
|State Representative

Delaware House of Representatives

The Delaware House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly; the state legislature of the U.S. State of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal amount of constituencies, each of whom is elected to a two year term. The Delaware General Assembly...

|Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

Executive (government)

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

|January 21, 1817
|January 18, 1820
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{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly service
|-
! Dates
! Assembly
! Chamber
! Majority
! Governor
! Committees
! District
|-
|1799
|23rd

Delaware General Assembly

|State Senate

Delaware Senate

The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at which time Senators may be elected to a two-year term....

|Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

|Richard Bassett

Richard Bassett

Richard Bassett was an American lawyer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the American Revolution, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Governor of Delaware,...

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|New Castle at-large

New Castle County, Delaware

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
|-
!Year
!Office
!
!Subject
!Party
!Votes
!%
!
!Opponent
!Party
!Votes
!%
|-
|1816
|Governor
|
| |John Clark
| |Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

| |4,008
| |53%
|
| |Manaen Bull
| |Democratic-Republican

Democratic-Republican Party (United States)

The Democratic-Republican Party or Republican Party was an American political party founded in the early 1790s by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Political scientists use the former name, while historians prefer the latter one; contemporaries generally called the party the "Republicans", along...

| |3,517
| |47%

External links

Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society
Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a state-wide historical institution with several venues and a major museum in Wilmington and the historic Read House & Gardens in New Castle.The society...

; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.