Richard Henry Clarke facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard Henry Clarke
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 1st district |
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| In office March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1897 |
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| Preceded by | James T. Jones |
| Succeeded by | George W. Taylor |
| Member of the Alabama House of Representatives | |
| In office 1900-1901 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Taylor Jones
February 9, 1843 Dayton, Alabama |
| Died | September 26, 1906 (aged 63) St. Louis, Missouri |
| Political party | Democratic |
Richard Henry Clarke (February 9, 1843 – September 26, 1906) was a politician and U.S. Representative from Alabama.
Biography
Born in Dayton, Alabama, Clarke attended Green Springs Academy. He graduated from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in July 1861. He soon enlisted in the Confederate Army. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate States Army as a lieutenant in the First Battalion of Alabama Artillery.
After the war, Clarke studied law with an established firm (read the law). He passed the bar in 1867 and commenced practice in Dayton, Alabama.
He moved to Demopolis, Alabama, and continued the practice of law. There he was elected as State Solicitor for Marengo County, serving 1872-1876. He served as prosecuting attorney of the seventh judicial circuit in 1876 and 1877.
He moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he resumed a law practice.
Marriage and family
In 1877 he married Helen Gaines Foot, a native of Mobile. Her father, C. K. Foot, was a native of Vermont, and a descendant of Nathaniel Foot, one of the early settlers of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Her mother was Sarah Lyons, of Mobile, of the distinguished Pendleton and Gaines families. His wife spent her early years in Mobile, but she later attended school in New York City.
Their daughters, Helen Gaines and Mary Morris Clarke, resembled their mother in face and manner.
Later political career
Clarke was elected as a Democrat from Alabama's 1st congressional district to the Fifty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1897). He was not a candidate for renomination, as he ran in 1896 for governor. He was not successful.
Clarke resumed the practice of law in Mobile. He was elected to the State House of representatives in 1900 and 1901.
He died in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 26, 1906. His body was returned to Mobile, where he was buried in Magnolia Cemetery.
