James West Clark, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJames West Clark
American politician
Date of Birth: 15-Oct-1779
Place of Birth: Bertie County, North Carolina, United States
Date of Death: 20-Dec-1843
Profession: politician
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Libra 
About James West Clark
- James West Clark (October 15, 1779 – December 20, 1843) was a United States Representative from North Carolina.
- Born in Bertie County to Hannah and Christopher Clark, a successful sea captain and import/export merchant.
- James Clark graduated from Princeton College in 1797, was a member of the State House of Commons in 1802, 1803 and 1811, and was a presidential elector on the Madison ticket in 1812.
- He was a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1812 to 1814 and was elected as a Republican to the Fourteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817.
- Clark was appointed chief clerk of the Navy Department by Secretary John Branch and served from 1829 to 1831.
- He resigned his appointment in protest (as did John Branch) as a result of the Petticoat affair (or Peggy Eaton affair), which rocked Washington society and the Jackson administration. In private life, Clark was a planter, businessman and slave owner.
- He owned several hundred acres of lands in North Carolina and at least 5,000 acres (20 km2) in Dyer County, Tennessee.
- In 1835 he moved the bulk of his male slaves to Livingston, Alabama, where he made a substantial profit in the slave hire business.
- Clark's son, Henry Toole Clark, helped his father manage the family plantations and their local business interests, which included a grist mill and operating a canal.
- His son would later become governor of North Carolina during the Civil War from 1861 to 1862. He died at home in Tarboro, North Carolina, at the age of 64.
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