Notes for John Hopkins CLARKE

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Notes for John Hopkins CLARKE

See Clarke Family Collection at Rhode Island Historical Society Library....may be descended from Newport Clarkes, but unlikely.
Definitely spelled name as CLARKE, as did his father.
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Honorable John H. Clarke was a manufacturer and United States Senator of Rhode Island. He moved to Providence with his mother after the decease of Dr. John Clarke. His early studies were pursued under Honorable Tristam Burges, and at Schenectady, New York, where he lived with the family of his aunt, Susanna Hopkins Maxey, and her husband, the Reverend John Maxey, who was president of Union College. He attended Brown University and graduated in the class of 1809. He then studied law in the office of Tristam Burges and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1812. He soon became the Clerk of the Supreme Court for Providence County, but turned his energies to the business of manufacturing. He resided for several years in Cranston, where he was the proprietor of a distillery, but returned to Providence in 1824, where he spent the remainder of his life. In Providence he was agent of the Steam Mill, then belonging to Benjamin and Charles Dyer, a cotton product manufacturing business. He soon after purchased the estate at Arnold's Bridge, in Warwick, later known as Pontiac, where there was a small factory, and probably a grist mill. He was also partners with General Carrington in the Clinton Mill, in Woonsocket. Eventually he became a wealthy man who had the time and economic security to become politically active in the community.
In 1836 he was sent as a representative to the General Assembly, and was chosen to represent the state in the Senate of the United States from 1847-1853 (Whig). "His sound sense, his positive views and force of character commanded the respect of his associates,and made themselves felt in the conduct of business". After his retirement from the National Senate he represented Providence for one year in the State Senate and in 1864 in the lower House of the Assembly.
Mr. Clarke had a large family of 21 children by his two wives. It is said that he was a strict diciplinarian who would send his children to bed if they did not have perfect manners and call things by their proper name. He would also pitch them out in the snow in their nighties in order to harden them!
It is said that in personal appearance Mr. Clarke bore a striking resemblance to his grandfather Esek Hopkins, the Commodore, which he seemed to realize, and amplify by certain peculiarities in dress.
"Mr. Clarke was a man of positive character, and outspoken opinions. He loved his friends and hated his enemies. He never deceived either. His honesty was never questioned, and no man doubted his sincerity; no man doubted that what he said was true, and what he promised he would perform. He was a man of remarkably genial temper, abounded in anecdote and pleasant remembrances, political and personal, and possessed a fund of humor that made him a delightful companion; and at home and in Washington his company was sought by the most agreeable people. His public services, extending through so long a period and of so varied character, will be held in grateful respect by the State which he loved so well, and his privates virtues will endear his memory to his friends". (Obituary, Providence Journal, 24 November 1870)
Upon his death at his residence in Providence, a lengthly obituary was published in the Providence "Evening Bulletin" of 25 November, 1870 detailing his political career, and mistakenly stating that he was a descendant of Dr. John Clarke, an early settler of Newport, Rhode Island.

From http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000466 (14 August 2001]:
CLARKE, John Hopkins, a Senator from Rhode Island; born in Elizabeth, N.J., April 1, 1789; moved to Providence, R.I., where he studied under a private teacher; was graduated from Brown University, Providence, R.I., in 1809; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Providence in 1812; clerk of the supreme court of Providence County in 1813; proprietor of a distillery in Cranston, R.I., until 1824, when he became a cotton manufacturer in Providence, Pontiac, and Woonsocket; member, State house of representatives 1836-1842, 1845-1847; elected as a Whig to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1847, to March 3, 1853; resumed his former manufacturing pursuits; died in Providence, R.I., November 23, 1870; interment in the [Old] North Burial Ground. [Member of the Whig party] - includes image of Clarke.

Old North Burial Ground is a huge cemetery in Providence.
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May have had a daughter "S. C. Clarke" who cared for Samuel D. Hubbard [1799-1855 He married Jane, daughter of Isaac Miles of Milford, CT. Hubbard was Postmaster General of the US]. She is described as Hubbard's niece, and daughter of John Hopkins Clarke, on a website at rootsweb.som, which needs to be checked. She may in fact be the wife of Mr. Clarke - Susan C. Clarke.
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1850 Federal Census, Providence, RI, Ward 3, Roll M432 - 844, p. 221:
864/1283 Clarke, John H. 61 manufacturer RI
Susan C. 49 RI [died 24 April 1869 @70]
James M. 30 lawyer RI
Amy H. 17 RI [died 2 Dec. 1881 @ age 49]
Frank 15 RI [died 2 April 1879 @ age 44]
Jane M. RI 15 RI
Samuel H. RI 11 RI
May L. [or S.?] RI 10 RI
plus 3 servants from Ireland
Owen McConnor 38
Catherine McConnor 32
Ann Kelly 26
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