Samuel Mercer Clark (October 11, 1842 – August 11, 1900) was a two-term Republican

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Iowa's 1st congressional district Iowa's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its northeastern part, bordering the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and the Mississippi River. The district includes the cities o ...

at the end of the 19th century. He was the first Iowa-born member of Congress.

Early years

Born near Keosauqua in the portion of Iowa Territory that would later become the State of Iowa, Clark attended the public schools and the Des Moines Valley College, in

West Point, Iowa West Point is a city in Lee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 921 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Fort Madison– Keokuk, IA- MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. History West Point was incorporated on March 25, ...

. He went on to study law in the office of Judge (and future U.S. Senator)

George G. Wright George Grover Wright (March 24, 1820January 11, 1896) was a pioneer lawyer, Iowa Supreme Court justice, law professor, and Republican United States Senator from Iowa. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, he attended private schools and graduated from In ...

Gue, Benjamin, "History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 ( biography of Samuel M. Clark). and was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1864. However, he did not practice extensively.

Career

He was editor of the ''Keokuk Daily Gate City'' in

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

, for 31 years. He served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1872, 1876, and 1880. He was appointed commissioner of education to the Paris Exposition in 1889. He served as Keokuk's Postmaster from 1879 to 1885. He was a member of the Keokuk Board of Education from 1879 to 1894, and served as the Board's president from 1882 until 1894. In 1894, Clark was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 1st congressional district (in southeastern Iowa) in the Fifty-fourth Congress. He replaced

John H. Gear John Henry Gear (April 7, 1825 – July 14, 1900) served as the 11th Governor of Iowa, a United States representative and a member of the United States Senate. Biography Born in Ithaca, New York, he attended the common schools and moved to Gal ...

, whom the Iowa General Assembly had chosen to serve as a U.S. Senator. Two years later Clark won re-election, and served in the Fifty-fifth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1898. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1899. After returning to Iowa, he resumed his editorial duties in Keokuk.

Death

He died in Keokuk on August 11, 1900, aged 57. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Samuel M. 1842 births 1900 deaths People from Keokuk, Iowa People from Van Buren County, Iowa Iowa postmasters Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 19th-century American politicians