James West Clark

James West Clark (born October 15, 1779 in Bertie County , North Carolina , †  December 20, 1843 in Tarboro , North Carolina) was an American politician . Between 1815 and 1817 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

James Clark attended Princeton College until 1779 . Then he began a political career. In 1802, 1803, and 1811 he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Republican Party . In the presidential election of 1812 he was one of the electors for James Madison . Between 1812 and 1814, Clark was a member of the North Carolina Senate .

In the congressional elections of 1814 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the third constituency of North Carolina , where he succeeded William Kennedy on March 4, 1815 . Until March 3, 1817 he was able to complete a legislative period in Congress . Until 1829 he was not politically active. Then he was from 1829 to 1831 chief clerk under Secretary of the Navy John Branch . He resigned from this office at the same time as Branch in 1831 in connection with the so-called petticoat affair .

In private, Clark was a wealthy planter and large landowner. He owned estates in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama . He used slaves to manage his plantations . He later specialized in the slave trade in Alabama. Among other things, he was also involved in the operation of a canal. James Clark died in Tarboro on December 20, 1843. His son Henry was in the years 1861 and 1862 Governor in Confederate North Carolina.

Web links

• James West Clark in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)