Clark, Abraham

views updated

Clark, Abraham

CLARK, ABRAHAM. (1726–1794). Signer. New Jersey. After a general education he became a surveyor, a lawyer, and—informally—a settler of land disputes. He was known variously as "Congress Abraham" and "The Poor Man's Lawyer." He was high sheriff of Essex County and clerk of the colonial assembly under the crown. In December 1774 he was a member of the Committee of Safety and sat in the New Jersey Provincial Congress in May 1775 before going to the Continental Congress on 22 June 1776. He signed the Declaration of Independence and served in the Congress continuously until 1789, except for the single year in between the three-year term limits. In 1786 he attended the Annapolis Convention and in 1782–1787 sat in the New Jersey legislature. He was chosen a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but poor health prevented his attendance. He opposed the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was added and favored legislation on behalf of the poor, including support for paper money and debtor relief. He became a Jeffersonian Republican. He was a member of the 1789 commission to settle the states' accounts with the United States and sat in Congress from 1791 until his death in 1794 from sunstroke.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bogin, Ruth. Abraham Clark and the Quest for Equality in the Revolutionary Era, 1774–1794. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982.

Hart, Ann C. Abraham Clark: Signer of the Declaration of Independence. San Francisco: Pioneer Press, 1923.

                              revised by Harry M. Ward

About this article

Clark, Abraham

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article