Matthew Clarkson (April 1733 – October 5, 1800) was the
mayor of Philadelphia
The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney.
History
The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...
from 1792 to 1796. He was elected to the
Confederation Congress
The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Marc ...
in 1785, but did not attend.
Biography
Clarkson was born in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in April 1733. He moved to Philadelphia, where he was a justice of the court of common pleas, quarter sessions of the peace, and of the Philadelphia Orphans' court in 1771 and 1772. From 1779-1781 he served as treasurer of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, which he was elected to in 1768. He was elected to the
Confederation Congress
The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Marc ...
in 1785, but did not serve. He was a member of the board of aldermen in 1789, then served as mayor of Philadelphia 1792–1796.
Clarkson was involved in numerous businesses, notably a dry-goods store on Second Street. He was also part owner of two schooners registered in 1757 and 1758. In 1765 he became involved inland settlement in the British colony of Nova Scotia, where a 100,000-acre township called
Monckton was granted by the government in Halifax to Clarkson and several land partners including
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...
,
John Hughes and
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
.
[Leonard W. Labaree, ''The Papers of Benjamin Franklin'', American Philosophical Society, 1968, Vol. 12, pp. 348-9]
He died in 1800 in Philadelphia, where he was interred in
Christ Church Burial Ground
Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. Four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, Benjamin Rush, ...
.
See also
* Philadelphia
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
and
timeline
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale representi ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Matthew
1733 births
1800 deaths
Mayors of Philadelphia
Politicians from New York City
Burials at Christ Church, Philadelphia
People of colonial Pennsylvania