Lewis Whitehouse Clark (August 19, 1828 – May 28, 1900) was a justice of the

New Hampshire Supreme Court The New Hampshire Supreme Court is the supreme court of the U. S. state of New Hampshire and sole appellate court of the state. The Supreme Court is seated in the state capital, Concord. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate ...

from 1877 to 1898, serving as chief justice in 1898. Born at Barnstead, New Hampshire, Clark was the son of Jeremiah and Hannah (Whitehouse) Clark, his father being a prominent farmer of that town, who held several town offices and served as representative to the General Court.''Proceedings of the Bar Association of the State of New Hampshire'', Vol. 1 (1903), p. 480-481. Clark attended the common schools of Barnstead and studied at

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

and Atkinson academies. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1850. He was principal of the Pittsfield academy from August 1850 to December 1852, meanwhile studying law with Moses Norris and A. F. L. Norris, both of Pittsfield, and was admitted to the bar of New Hampshire at

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

on September 3, 1852. In January 1853 he began practice at Pittsfield as a partner of A. F. L. Norris, but a year later he formed a partnership with a former classmate, Richard Hayes, which lasted about two years. From 1856 to 1860 he practiced alone in Pittsfield. He was a member of the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

from Pittsfield in 1856 and 1857, and was subsequently the Democratic candidate for

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. In April 1860 he moved to Manchester, New Hampshire. He entered into a partnership with George W. Morrison and Clinton W. Stanley, and the firm of Morrison, Stanley & Clark continued about six years and did a very large and successful business. Afterwards Clark was a partner of Henry H. Huse until May 24, 1872, when Governor James A. Weston appointed Clark to be New Hampshire Attorney General. He served in that office until August 1876, when he resumed general practice. On August 13, 1877, Governor Benjamin F. Prescott appointed Clark to a seat on the state Supreme Court, and in May 1898 Governor

George A. Ramsdell George Allen Ramsdell (March 11, 1834 – November 16, 1900) was an American lawyer, businessman, and Republican politician from Nashua, New Hampshire. He served as the 46th governor of New Hampshire from 1897 to 1899. Biography George A. Ramsd ...

elevated Clark to the position of chief justice, following the death of Chief Justice Carpenter. Clark's elevation was considered "a due recognition of his ability and of his long and efficient service as a member of the court.""Judge Lewis W. Clark Promoted to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court", ''The Portsmouth Herald'' (May 25, 1898), p. 4. Clark held this office until August 19, 1898, when he reached the mandatory retirement age. He then resumed private practice in Manchester, and was referee in bankruptcy under the law of 1898, until his death. Clark married Helen M. Knowlton of Pittsfield in December 1852. He died at Manchester, New Hampshire, and was survived by his wife, one daughter, Mary Helen Clark, and one son, Reverend John Lew Clark.

References

1828 births 1900 deaths People from Barnstead, New Hampshire Dartmouth College alumni U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives New Hampshire Attorneys General Justices of the New Hampshire Supreme Court 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American judges {{US-state-judge-stub