Robert Clark (politician, 1777)

Robert Clark (born June 12, 1777 in Washington County , New York , † October 1, 1837 in Monroe , Michigan ) was an American doctor and politician . Between 1819 and 1821 he represented New York State in the US House of Representatives .

Life

Robert Clark was born in Washington County during the Revolutionary War , six months after his family immigrated to the United States from Central Lowlands . When he was 13 years old, his father passed away. He was taught by private tutors. He then studied in his brother's practice, Dr. Thomas Clark, medicine . In 1799 he began to practice in Galway, New York. At the age of 22, he married Catherine Reid, who was only 15 at the time. Although his mother to help him offered in Lachine ( Quebec ) - the former hometown of his wife - to set up, Clark declined in dominions of the British Crown to settle.

Clark stayed in Galway and built a house where his first two children were born. After the house burned down, Clark lived with his family in an emergency shelter provided by their neighbors. His third child was born there. Soon after, she moved to Stamford and from there to near Delhi , where he continued to practice.

Between 1812 and 1815 he was a member of the New York State Assembly . As an opponent of an overly strong central government, he joined the Democratic-Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson at that time . In the congressional elections of 1818 for the 16th Congress , Clark was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the eighth constituency of New York , where he succeeded Dorrance Kirtland on March 4, 1819 . He retired from the after March 3, 1821 Congress of. In 1821 he took part as a delegate to the New York Constituent Assembly .

He retired in 1823 in the Monroe County ( Michigan ) and settled in the small village ( village ) Monroe down. On 26 May 1823 he was appointed register in the Land Registry of the second country district in the Michigan Territory appointed - a position which he held until March 25, 1831st His wife followed him from New York with their now eight children - the youngest only 22 months old. The family initially lived in a small house in the village. However, Clark soon acquired a farm on the outskirts of the village, which was part of a French estate. When the land registry was moved to White Pigeon , Clark returned to his job as a doctor. Clark pursued the systematic cultivation of fruits and grasses. In addition, he showed an interest in drainage technology.

Regarding his political affiliation, Clark said the following: "that he had never changed his principles, but found himself a member of the Whig Party without needing to change." In New York he was a Freemason but was not in accord or fellowship with the Lodge of Monroe. He was a Presbyterian . When he lived in New York, he was a member and elder in the Scottish Church. After a long and painful illness, Clark died in Monroe on October 1, 1837. His wife survived him by 22 years and was the mother of 13 children, ten of whom reached sexual maturity .

literature

• Talcott Enoch Wing, "Robert Clark , " "History of Monroe County, Michigan," 2005, pp. 144–148

Web links

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