Lot Clark (May 23, 1788 in Hillsdale,

Columbia County, New York Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,570. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the ...

– December 18, 1862 in Buffalo,

Erie County, New York Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York State. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. Both the county and Lake Erie w ...

) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

Clark removed with his parents to Otsego County in 1796. He pursued academic studies and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1816, and practiced in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. He married Lavinia Crosby, and their children were Hiram Carter Clark (1816–1891) and Lot Curran Clark (1819–1880). He was District Attorney of

Chenango County Chenango County is a county located in the south-central section U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,220. Its county seat is Norwich. The county's name originates from an Oneida word meaning 'large bull-thistle ...

in 1822 and 1823. Clark was elected as a Crawford

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

18th United States Congress The 18th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1823, ...

, holding office from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1825. He was appointed postmaster of Norwich on April 29, 1825, and served until April 12, 1828. He was again D.A. of Chenango County from 1828 to 1829. In 1829, he removed to Lockport, and continued the practice of law there. He was President of the Lockport Bank, and the local agent for the Albany Land Company, a group of investors who had bought large tracts of lands in

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

and Orleans counties and in the northern parts of

Genesee Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to: Geographic features Canada *Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States *Genesee, California *Genesee, Colorado *Genesee County, Michigan *Genesee Co ...

and Erie counties. In 1835, he removed to Buffalo. He was a member from Niagara County of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

in 1846. Later he was President of the Niagara Falls International Bridge Company, the American company which built the first suspension bridge over the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...

together with the Canadian

Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge The Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge stood from 1855 to 1897 across the Niagara River and was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It spanned and stood downstream of Niagara Falls, where it connected Niagara Falls, Ontario to N ...

Company headed by

William Hamilton Merritt William Hamilton Merritt (July 3, 1793July 5, 1862) was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settled ...

. Clark was buried at the

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His son Lot C. Clark was District Attorney of

Richmond County, New York Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

from 1841 to 1849.

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 71, 232, 265 and 371; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''Lockport: Historic Jewel of the Erie Canal''
by Kathleen L. Riley (page 123)
''Niagara: A History of the Falls''
by Pierre Berton (page 82)
''LOT C. CLARK''
his son's obit in NYT on February 12, 1880 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Lot 1788 births 1862 deaths People from Hillsdale, New York Members of the New York State Assembly New York (state) postmasters Politicians from Buffalo, New York People from Chenango County, New York Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Politicians from Lockport, New York Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians Lawyers from Buffalo, New York 19th-century American lawyers