Charles Clark (May 24, 1811December 18, 1877) was the 24th

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

from 1863 to 1865.

Early life and education

Clark was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, on May 24, 1811, and subsequently moved to Mississippi. He is the great-grandfather of Judge Charles Clark who served on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

from 1969 to 1992 and was the chairman of the United States Judicial Conference. In the late 1830s and early 1840s, Clark, a lawyer, represented a settler in a dispute with some Choctaw Native Americans over land in the Mississippi Delta. The dispute led to a series of lawsuits before the

Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and App ...

. The settler ultimately prevailed, and gave Clark a large tract of land between

Beulah, Mississippi Beulah is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 242. Beulah is served by Mississippi Highway 1. Lake Beulah, an oxbow lake formerly connected to the Mississippi River, is west of the town ...

and the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

as his legal fee. In the late 1840s, Clark formed a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

on the land, naming it Doe-Roe, pseudonyms commonly used in the legal profession to represent unnamed or unknown litigants (e.g.,

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often ...

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

). The state of literacy being what it was at the time, however, the plantation came to be known by its phonic representation, Doro. According to archives at

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricult ...

, "The plantation grew to over and became the most prosperous in the region, operating until 1913. It was prominent in the social, political and economic affairs of Bolivar County." He was also active in state politics, being elected as member of the Mississippi House of Representatives several times.

Military service

During the Mexican-American War he served as Colonel of the 2nd Mississippi Regiment of Volunteers. Following the

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

of Mississippi in early 1861, Clark was appointed as a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the First Division, First Corps, a Mississippi Militia unit that later entered the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. He commanded the brigade at engagements in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

and then a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

under

Leonidas Polk Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, which separated from the Episcopal Ch ...

at the Battle of Shiloh, where he was slightly wounded. Clark led a division at the Battle of Baton Rouge, where he was severely wounded and captured. He spent time as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

before being released. He was promoted to the rank of major general of Mississippi State Troops in 1863.

Governor of Mississippi

On November 16, 1863, Clark was inaugurated as

under

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

auspices. He served in this capacity until June 13, 1865, when he was forcibly removed from office by occupation forces of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and replaced by

William L. Sharkey William Lewis Sharkey (July 12, 1798 – March 30, 1873) was an American judge and politician from Mississippi. A staunch Unionists (American), Unionist during the American Civil War, Civil War, he opposed the 1861 secession of Mississippi. Afte ...

, a respected judge and staunch Unionist who had been in total opposition to

. Clark was briefly imprisoned at

Fort Pulaski A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

near

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. Clarke was ex officio President of the University of Mississippi Board of Trustees during his tenure as Governor of Mississippi. Despite losing the governorship, he remained on the Board for almost ten years after his term ended. In 1871, he purchased Routhland, an Antebellum mansion in Natchez, Mississippi.Steven Brooke, ''The Majesty of Natchez'', Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, pp. 52-5

/ref>

Death

Clark died in

Bolivar County, Mississippi Bolivar County ( ) is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,985. Its county seats are Rosedale and Cleveland. The county is named in honor of Simón Bolívar, earl ...

, on December 18, 1877, and was buried at the family graveyard in that county.

References

External links

*
Charles Clark
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Charles 1811 births 1877 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians Methodists from Mississippi American military personnel of the Mexican–American War American politicians with disabilities Confederate States Army brigadier generals Confederate States of America state governors Confederate militia generals Democratic Party governors of Mississippi Heads of government who were later imprisoned Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Military personnel from Mississippi Mississippi lawyers Northern-born Confederates People from Bolivar County, Mississippi People from Cincinnati People of Mississippi in the American Civil War Politicians from Natchez, Mississippi Prisoners of war held by the United States Recipients of American presidential pardons Augusta College (Kentucky) alumni