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Augustine Clarke

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Augustine Clarke
Vermont State Treasurer
In office
1833–1837
Preceded byBenjamin Swan
Succeeded byAllen Wardner
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Danville
In office
1832
Preceded byGeorge W. Drew
Succeeded byNone (vacant in 1833)
In office
1830
Preceded byWilliam A. Palmer
Succeeded byGeorge W. Drew
In office
1828
Preceded byWilliam A. Griswold
Succeeded byWilliam A. Palmer
In office
1824
Preceded byGeorge W. Drew
Succeeded byWilliam A. Palmer
Assistant Judge of Caledonia County, Vermont
In office
1824–1825
Serving with Samuel A. Willard
Preceded byJoseph Morrill 2nd
Succeeded bySamuel Sias
Treasurer of Caledonia County, Vermont
In office
1822–1824
Preceded byJoseph Morrill 2nd
Succeeded bySamuel B. Mattocks
Personal details
Born1780 (1780)
Richmond, Massachusetts
DiedJune 17, 1841(1841-06-17) (aged 60–61)
Montpelier, Vermont
Resting placeElm Street Cemetery, Montpelier, Vermont[1][2][3]
Political partyNational Republican
Anti-Masonic
Democratic
Spouse(s)Sophia Blanchard[4][5]
(m. 1808-1830, her death)
Julia Jewett Hubbard[6][7][8]
(m. 1840-1841, his death)
ProfessionLawyer

Augustine Clarke (c.1780 – June 17, 1841) was a Vermont attorney, banker and politician who was a leader of the Anti-Masonic Party and served as Vermont State Treasurer.

Early life

[edit]

Details of Clarke's birth are not known for certain. His name is sometimes spelled "Clark" and he appears to have been born in Richmond, Massachusetts in about 1780.[9] He was baptized in Richmond on March 15, 1786.[10][a]

Start of career

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Clarke moved to Vermont and studied law, although the details of his relocation and studies are unknown.[11] In addition, he was active as a merchant and in other business ventures; in 1815, he received a license permitting him to sell liquor and wine.[11]

He was admitted to the bar in Wheelock in 1804.[12] In 1806 he was appointed Wheelock's first Postmaster.[13]

In 1806, Clarke was admitted to the bar in Danville.[14] In 1808 he married Sophia Blanchard in Danville.[15][5] Sophia Blanchard's sister Sarah was the wife of William A. Palmer, who served as Governor and United States Senator.[16] Palmer and Clarke became leaders of Vermont's Anti-Masons.[17]

Clarke practiced law in Danville. An adherent of the National Republican Party, he served in local offices including Justice of the Peace.[18][19] In 1820 he served on the Vermont Council of Censors, the body which met every seven years to review statutes passed by the Vermont General Assembly and ensure their constitutionality.[20]

In the 1820s, Clarke also became active in the American Tract Society.[21] In addition, he was an active member of the American Anti-Slavery Society.[22][23][24]

He served as Caledonia County Treasurer from 1822 to 1824, and Caledonia County Assistant Judge from 1824 to 1825.[25]

In 1826, he was appointed president of the Caledonia National Bank, succeeding Palmer, who had been the bank's first president.[26]

Clarke represented Danville in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1824, 1828, 1830, and 1832.[27]

In 1830, Clarke was appointed one of Caledonia County's three Commissioners of Jail Delivery.[28][b]

Clarke was named to the Committee to Erect the State House in 1832. He took part in planning and overseeing construction of the Second State House, which was in use from 1833 until it was destroyed by fire in 1856.[30]

Clarke was one of the founders of the Anti-Masonic movement. William Wirt carried Vermont as the 1832 presidential candidate of the Anti-Masonic Party. Clarke was one of Vermont's electors, and cast his ballot for Wirt.[31]

Later career

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Benjamin Swan had served as Vermont's Treasurer beginning in 1800 and often ran unopposed or with only token opposition.[32] In 1833, Clarke ran as an Anti-Mason and defeated Swan in the election for Treasurer.[33] William A. Palmer had run successfully for Governor as an Anti-Mason in 1831, and Clarke's victory at the polls was considered additional evidence of the Anti-Masonic Party's viability in Vermont.[34]

In September, 1837, Clarke was named to the Anti-Masonic Party's National Committee.[35]

Clarke served as Treasurer until running unsuccessfully for reelection in October, 1837.[36] That year Clarke had the highest number of votes, but at 47.3% fell short of the majority required by the Vermont Constitution.[36] In cases where no candidate receives a majority, the Vermont General Assembly votes.[36] By then the Anti-Masonic Party's popularity was on the wane and the nation was in the midst of the Panic of 1837, and Clarke did not win the legislative election.[37][38]

By 1839, the Anti-Masonic Party had dissolved and Clarke joined the Democratic Party.[39] In July, 1839, he was appointed United States Pension Agent for the State of Vermont.[40][41]

Later life

[edit]

Clarke's wife died in 1833.[42] He subsequently moved to Montpelier.[43] In 1839, his daughter Sophia married Samuel L. French, a merchant of Randolph, Vermont.[44] In 1840, he married Julia Jewett Hubbard (d. 1881).[6][7][8]

Death and burial

[edit]

Clarke died in Montpelier on June 17, 1841, and was buried at Montpelier's Elm Street Cemetery.[1][2][3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Clarke's death notice in The New England Puritan reads: "In Montpelier, VT, 17th inst., Hon. Augustine CLARKE, 62, late Tr. of the State. For many yrs. Judge CLARKE resided in Danville and filled various offices in that town, and in the Co. of Caledonia." His age of 62 would mean he was born in 1778 or 1779. In the notice of his death contained in the "Vermont Historical Gazetteer" his age is given as 59. If so, he would have been born in 1781 or 1782. The Vermont Death Record for Augustine Clarke gives his age as 60. If so, he would have been born in 1780 or 1781.
  2. ^ The Commissioners of Jail Delivery were responsible for receiving prisoners who arrived to begin serving their sentences, and for tracking time in jail and releasing prisoners whose sentences were complete. They also monitored parolees to ensure compliance with conditions of release. In addition, Commissioners of Jail Delivery determined whether those arrested for debt were eligible for and complying with the conditions of the "freedom of the prison." Freedom of the prison entitled debtors to leave the prison grounds to earn money for the payment of their debts and support of their families.[29]

References

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  1. ^ a b Abby Maria Hemenway, The Vermont Historical Gazetteer: Washington County, 1882, page 527.
  2. ^ a b Northeast Kingdom Genealogy, List of Burials, Elm Street Cemetery, Montpelier, Vermont, 2001
  3. ^ a b Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, death record for Augustine Clarke, retrieved January 5, 2014
  4. ^ Nathaniel Bouton, The History of Concord, 1856, page 697
  5. ^ a b Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, marriage record for Augustine Clarke and Sophia Blanchard, retrieved January 5, 2014
  6. ^ a b Research Publication Company, Vermont Marriages, Volume I, 1903, page 29
  7. ^ a b Abby Maria Hemenway, The History of the Town of Montpelier, Including that of the Town of East Montpelier, 1888, page 383
  8. ^ a b Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, marriage record for Augustine Clarke and Julia Hubbard, retrieved January 5, 2014
  9. ^ Margaret Philips, Genealogical Records Abstracted from the New England Puritan, 1840-1841, New England Puritan newspaper, Death notice, Augustine Clarke, June 24, 1841, 1989, page 130.
  10. ^ New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Richmond, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, 1913, page 17
  11. ^ a b Hutchinson, Eleanor Jones (1961). Town of Wheelock: Vermont's Gift to Dartmouth College. Rochester, VT: Emerson Publishing Company. p. 125 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ^ Eleanor Jones Hutchinson, Town of Wheelock, Vermont's gift to Dartmouth College, 1961, pages 97, 125
  13. ^ Town of Wheelock, Vermont, Town Plan, 2001, page 2
  14. ^ Hamilton Child, Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887, 1887, page 39
  15. ^ Nathaniel Bouton, The History of Concord, 1856, page 697
  16. ^ Abiel Abbot, Ephraim Abbot, A Genealogical Register of the Descendants of George Abbot, etc., 1847, page 146
  17. ^ Horace Greeley, Park Benjamin, editors, The New Yorker, Volume 1, September 17, 1836, page 410
  18. ^ Vermont General Assembly, Journal of the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, 1828, page 82
  19. ^ Vermont. Supreme Court, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Vermont, Volume 6, 1835, page 561
  20. ^ Zadock Thompson, History of Vermont, Natural, Civil, and Statistical, 1842, page 127
  21. ^ American Tract Society, Proceedings of the first ten years of the American Tract Society, 1824, page 93
  22. ^ The Abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833, page 177
  23. ^ American Anti-Slavery Society, Annual report, Volume 1, 1834, page 35
  24. ^ Owen W. Muelder, Theodore Dwight Weld and the American Anti-Slavery Society, 2011, page 190
  25. ^ Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt., pages 36, 38
  26. ^ Hewitt Bros., The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, Volume 30, 1964, page 2082
  27. ^ Leonard Deming, Catalogue of the Principal Officers of Vermont, 1851, pages 28-30
  28. ^ Vermont General Assembly, Journal General Assembly of the State of Vermont, 1830, page 133
  29. ^ Vermont General Assembly, The Laws of Vermont, 1825, pages 239-242
  30. ^ E. P. Walton, Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, Volume V, 1877, pages 434-435
  31. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1888, page 77
  32. ^ Joshua L. (November 26, 2004). "Swan, Benjamin". Our Campaigns. Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  33. ^ "Statement of Votes: For Treasurer". Lancaster, Examiner. Lancaster, PA. October 24, 1833. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ E. P. Walton, Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, Volume VIII, 1880, page 106
  35. ^ Niles’ National Register, National Antimasonic Convention, September 30, 1837
  36. ^ a b c "Vermont Legislature: For Treasurer". North Star. Danville, VT. October 21, 1837. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ Vermont. General Assembly, Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont, 1837, page 111
  38. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Election results: Vermont State Treasurer, 1837, 2006, page 1
  39. ^ "Pension Agency". The Enterprise and Vermonter. Vergennes, VT. July 24, 1839. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ Horace Greeley, Park Benjamin, editors, The New-Yorker, Volume 7, July 20, 1839, page 282
  41. ^ U.S. Government Printing Office, An Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of the United States, 1839, page 123
  42. ^ Janice Boyko and Louise Lessard, US Gen Web, Danville Cemetery Listing - Surnames A – C, retrieved January 5, 2014
  43. ^ "Second Annual Meeting of the Vermont Anti-Slavery Society". Vermont Telegraph. Brandon, VT. February 25, 1836. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. ^ "Marriages: Samuel L. French and Sophia Clarke". The Caledonian. St. Johnsbury, VT. October 8, 1839. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
[edit]
Party political offices
First Anti-Masonic nominee for Vermont State Treasurer
1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837 		Succeeded by
None
Political offices
Preceded by Vermont State Treasurer
1833–1837 		Succeeded by
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