Representative John Chamberlain Clark

John Chamberlain Clark (January 14, 1793 – October 25, 1852) was an American lawyer and politician who served four terms as a United States representative from New York, holding office from 1827 to 1829 and from 1837 to 1843. Over the course of his public career he was successively aligned with the Democratic-Republican, Jacksonian, Democratic, and Whig parties, and he participated in national debates during a formative period in the development of the American party system and federal financial policy.

Clark was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on January 14, 1793. He pursued a classical education and attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1811. After completing his collegiate studies, he read law, was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law in Hamilton, Madison County, New York, establishing himself as a young attorney in the years following the War of 1812.

In 1818, Clark moved from Hamilton to Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, where he continued his legal practice and entered public life. Initially a Democratic-Republican and later a Jacksonian and then a Democrat, he became a prominent local figure in Chenango County. He served as district attorney of Chenango County from 1823 to 1827, a role in which he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the state and which helped to elevate his standing in regional politics.

Clark was elected in 1826 as a Democratic-Republican to represent New York’s 21st Congressional District in the Twentieth Congress and served from March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1829. After this first term in the United States House of Representatives, he returned to Bainbridge and resumed the practice of law. During this early phase of his congressional service he participated in the legislative process at a time when the nation was grappling with issues of internal improvements, tariffs, and the evolving balance between federal and state authority.

In 1836, Clark was again elected to the House of Representatives from New York’s 21st District, this time as a Democrat, and he returned to Congress for the Twenty-fifth Congress, beginning his second period of service on March 4, 1837. Shortly after the start of this term, he broke with the Democratic Party over national financial policy. Favoring the continuation of the Second Bank of the United States and opposing President Martin Van Buren’s proposal for an independent Treasury system, he aligned himself with the Whig Party in 1837. As a member of the Whig Party representing New York, Clark contributed to the legislative process during four terms in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history. He was re-elected as a Whig in 1838 and 1840, serving in the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seventh Congresses from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843. His service thus spanned the economic dislocations following the Panic of 1837 and the intensifying national debates over banking and federal economic policy.

Clark did not run for re-election in 1842 and left Congress at the close of the Twenty-seventh Congress in 1843. He returned to his legal practice and later moved to Chemung County, New York, where he became active in the lumber business, reflecting the economic opportunities of the developing Southern Tier region of the state. His combination of legal, business, and political experience positioned him for further federal service when his party gained national power.

Following the Whig victory in the 1848 presidential election, Clark was appointed to a senior post in the federal Treasury Department. He served as First Auditor of the Treasury from August 2, 1849, to October 31, 1849, overseeing the examination and settlement of certain classes of government accounts. On October 31, 1849, he was appointed Solicitor of the United States Treasury, the department’s chief legal officer, and he held that position from 1849 until his death. In this capacity he was responsible for supervising the legal interests of the Treasury, including litigation involving federal revenues and financial obligations.

John Chamberlain Clark died in Elmira, Chemung County, New York, on October 25, 1852, while still serving as Solicitor of the Treasury. He was interred in St. Peter’s Churchyard in Bainbridge, Chenango County, returning in death to the community where he had first established his legal and political career.