 Alexander G. Clark "Colored Orator of the West" |
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Biographical Notations Concerning Alexander G. Clark
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The following biographical notations are taken from various "fact sheets" prepared from the research of Mrs. Robert (Elizabeth "Bette") Field Veerhusen in 1974-78 for the then Alexander G. Clark Historical Society. The Muscatine Historic Preservation Commission honored Ms. Veerhusen in 2003. The citation credited her work for the listing of Clark's house on the National Register of Historic Places. The original intent of the Alexander G. Clark Historical Society was to create a center for Black American history. Unsuccessful in its efforts, the society ceased existence in 1979 when Clark's house was transferred to a private owner to ensure the continued restoration and preservation of the structure. The house exists today at 205/207 West Third Street, Muscatine, Iowa, perhaps the only physical evidence of a once prominent American civil rights leader. In May 2005, after the death of Bette Veerhusen (see obituary), her family donated her files to the Alexander G. Clark House collection. These extensive files consist of hundreds of pages of personal research, correspondence, articles, and other documentation related to Clark, his family and a few of the people who knew the Clark family. These pages were not organized for the purpose of publication, and yet each page contains additional information or interpretation. The format below is intended to provide a framework within which each additional piece of information can be added over time - perhaps for the next several years. In order to document the location of information within the files, each page or group of pages is identified with a "doc" number consistent with the acquisition policies of the Muscatine Art Center, the ultimate holder of this research, for future public research. Editorial additions are in brackets, indicating information from other documents within Bette's files or found in other sources. Occasional links to current online resources have been inserted, too. The original intent of the Alexander G. Clark Historical Society is now encapsulated with the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa located in Cedar Rapids. However, Muscatine was the center of Iowa's Black community during the middle half of the 19th century; and residents of Muscatine, it appears, were at the forefront of early abolition activities and advocacy for equal rights legislation. In respect for the history and accomplishments of Alexander G. Clark and the many men and women who pursued a "higher goal," renewed effort is under way toward creation of the Alexander G. Clark Foundation. It is hoped that the foundation will become the caretaker of the Alexander G. Clark House but also will become a granting institution for research and educational programs concerning Black American history and early settlement history emphasizing the need to document the diversity of the unique civilization that we call the United States of America. Bette Veerhusen's inquiries led her to believe that many documents related to Alexander G. Clark are in the hands of private collectors. She found that the US government apparently disposed of older documents in the 1920s. The State Department has no documentation (i.e., of Clark's diplomatic service); the National Archives holds only two sets of documents; the Library of Congress has no documentation. In addition, the Frederick Douglas Library has no documentation, although Bette's research seems to document a 40-year friendship between the gentlemen.* We welcome information on any and all Clark-related material which individuals might find. We also welcome your comments regarding this website. Please send your messages via e-mail to our webmaster. *Ultimately, Douglas accepted appointment by President Benjamin Harrison to the Haiti diplomatic post Clark refused years earlier when it was offered by President Grant. D. Kent Sissel |
Historical Background
From the second Fact Sheet, c. 1975: Alexander Clark, a well-known civil rights advocate of his time, is again achieving fame in his adopted home of Muscatine. His accomplishments and contributions to society in the mid 1800's have become public just recently during a battle between urban renewal leaders and those wanting to preserve his brick home. Since 1974, when a historical homes study group discovered that the Clark home was slated for destruction as a part of the urban renewal program, the brick house has been moved from the corner of Chestnut and West Third Street to a new location a half a block away on West Third Street, in Muscatine, Iowa.
Clark, who served as a Minister-Resident and Consul-General to Liberia, was a community leader, lawyer, newspaper editor and publisher, and a civil rights activist, during which time a black man was regarded by law as unsuitable to vote, to be educated in public schools, or to hold public office.
From the first Fact Sheet, c. 1975: Cedar Rapids Links, Inc. is a group of women organized around the concept of a three-prong approach to life, these prongs being educational, cultural and civic. The Chapter is composed of women throughout Eastern Iowa.
This project centers around the preservation of Iowa History in the form of the Alexander Clark house in Muscatine, Iowa. The house was found last fall to qualify for the National Register of Historic Places due to Mr. Clark's many outstanding contributions to the State of Iowa and to this nation. At the same time, or just before, the housing department of Muscatine was granted funding under the Turnkey Project of HUD for a low rent housing project for the elderly. If the city were to leave the house where it is, it would have to reapply for the funding and as the Turnkey Projects are discontinued, would stand a chance of not getting the monies needed for the unit. To preserve the Clark house, it must he moved from the site, and the plan is to move the house up the street.
At present the Alexander Clark Memorial Project has official endorsement of the Iowa American Revolution Bi-Centennial Committee; the National D.A.R. Bi-Centennial Committee; the National Endowment Fund for Arts.
HONORABLE ALEXANDER CLARK, U.S. MINISTER TO LIBERIA 1890-91
The Alexander Clark House in Muscatine, Iowa was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in October, 1976. A listing on the National Register means that the site or building is an outstanding example of the architecture of the period or that it is connected with outstanding historical events or with the life of a person who was outstanding in the history of our country. The Clark House was accepted because of the outstanding achievements and the influence of Alexander Clark during his life.
LIFE OF ALEXANDER CLARK
Alexander Clark was born Feb. 25, 1826 in [Washington County] Pennsylvania. His father, John Clark (the son of a mulatto woman and her [Irish] master), was manumitted when a baby. His mother, Rebecca Darnes Clark was African.
After a limited education, he was trained [for two years] as a barber by an uncle [William Darmes] in Cincinnati, Ohio. [While there, Clark also continued his schooling.] At age 15 he left Cincinnati on the steamer "George Washington" [serving as a bartender].
On May 22, 1842, at age 16, he arrived in Muscatine (then Bloomington [Iowa Territory]) and followed his trade as a barber [until 1868 when he retired]. He saved his earnings; invested in timberlands; sold the timber to steamboats; and reinvested in real estate. By 1860 tax records show he held $10,000 in real estate.
Oct. 9, 1848 he married Catherine Griffin of Iowa City. Miss Griffin was of African and Indian descent, born in slavery [Jan. 21, 1823, in Virginia], but freed at age 3.
[Three years earlier] Clark helped a negro, Jim White, to escape from agents who attempted to return him to St. Louis, and probably found attorneys for Jim. In Nov. 1848, Judge S. C. Hastings made the decision which freed Jim (probably the first decision under the Fugitive Slave Law).
In 1849 he was one of the group which founded the African Methodist Church in Muscatine. (One of the earliest on the west side of the Mississippi.) He served the church as member of the Board of Trustees, Steward and Superintendent of the Sunday School until he left for Liberia.
[In July 1853, at age 27, Clark was a delegate from Iowa to the National Colored Convention at Rochester, N.Y., which Frederick Douglas called "the largest and most enlightened colored convention that, up to that time, had ever assembled in this country."]
In 1863 he enlisted in the 1st Iowa Colored Volunteer Infantry, was appointed Sergeant-Major, then refused muster because of a physical disability. He spent the Civil War years recruiting volunteers for the Union Army.
Susan Clark (age 12) was denied admission to the Grammar School in Muscatine in Sept. 1867. Clark started a series of law suits. In July 1868 the Supreme Court of Iowa ruled in favor of Susan, granting all children of Iowa the right to attend Common School. In 1871 Susan became the first black to graduate from Muscatine High School. (Probably the first black to graduate from a public high school in Iowa.) In 1873 Alexander Clark, Jr. became the second black to graduate from Muscatine High School.
Clark was spokesman for and chairman of the Colored Men's Convention in 1868. He took to the Iowa Legislature a request for political rights of colored men. In Dec. 1868 a clause was added to the Iowa Constitution granting political rights to colored men in the State of Iowa. This was two years before the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
In 1868 Clark was arched, knighted and elected Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri (Prince Hall Masons), becoming Grand Master after the death of H. M'Gee Alexander. His jurisdiction extended over Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. He was instrumental in the establishment of Masonic Lodges (Black) in Iowa, Illinois, and states west of the Mississippi as far as Colorado. He was elected Deputy Grand Master of the National Prince Hall Masons in the 1880's.
In 1869 he was appointed a delegate to the Colored National Convention at Washington, D.C. At this Convention, Clark was appointed a member of the committee which called on President Grant and Vice-Pres. Colfax to extend to them the congratulations of the colored people of the United States. Clark was an active Republican, making many speeches for the Party in many campaigns, earning the title "the colored orator of the west." He was a delegate to the Republican State Convention in 1869 (one of the Vice Presidents) and in 1870; and to the Republican National Conventions in 1872 and 1876. In 1873 President Grant appointed him Consul to Aux-Cayes, Haiti. Clark refused the position because of the meager stipend.
In 1876 Clark represented the colored people of Iowa at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. His Centennial Speech, Jan. 4, 1876, at Oskaloosa was considered one of his major speeches, as was his speech on political rights in Des Moines in 1868.
Alexander Clark, Jr. was the first black to graduate from the University of Iowa, receiving his L.L.B. in 1879. Alexander Clark, Sr. entered the University of Iowa's Law School at age 57, and graduated eighth in a class of eighty in 1884. Father and son practiced law in both Iowa and Illinois.
Clark was one of eight delegates from the African Methodist Episcopal Church to the Ecumenical Conference of Methodists in London in 1881. This conference was the largest and most scholarly Christian Conference ever convened and was attended by delegates from all parts of the world. On this trip he established the legality of Prince Hall Masons. In 1881 he applied to Pres. Garfield for a state position. (Garfield was assassinated shortly after the interview.)
In 1882 he bought the Chicago Conservator with Alexander, Jr. and F. L. Barnett. In 1884 Clark, Sr. became the sole owner and editor. George Van Horne [former mayor of Muscatine, appointed consul to Marseilles, France, in 1866 and author of unlocated biography of Alexander G. Clark] called Clark's writings part of the political literature of the day and cited Clark's stand of vindication of the colored exodus 1879-80; scathing review of the Supreme Court in their decision on the Civil Rights Bill 1883, indignant views of Pres. Hayes' policies; strong advocacy of savings banks, postal telegraphy, pensions for every honorably discharged soldier and woman suffrage. In 1886 he was elected treasurer of the National Press Association. He sold the Conservator in 1887.
On August 8, 1890 he was appointed Minister and Consul-General to Liberia by Pres. Benjamin Harrison at an annual salary of $4,000 plus stipend. (At that time the salary of the Governor of Iowa was $3,000.) He was called "one of the leading colored men of the country" when he sailed for London. In London he called on Robert Lincoln, Minister to England (Abraham Lincoln's son). On Nov. 25, 1890 he took over his office in Liberia. There he died May 31, 1891, and was honored at funeral services conducted with full state military and diplomatic honors. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Muscatine, Iowa.
REFERENCES (partial)
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES - ALEXANDER G. CLARK
John Clark (born in slavery. Mother and child were both freed by the master, an Irishman)
John Clark married Rebecca Darnes (full-blooded African) and settled in Washington Co., Penna.
Alexander G. Clark was born Feb. 25, 1826 in Washington Co., Penna. and received a limited education.
1839
At age 13, he was sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, to learn the barber's trade under an uncle, Wm. Darnes. He attended school at different periods for the next two years.Oct. 1841
He left Cincinnati and went south on the steamer George Washington as a bar-tender.May 1842
He came to Muscatine, Iowa, and opened a barber shop.Oct. 9, 1848
He married Miss Catherine Griffin of Iowa City. Miss Griffin was of African and American Indian descent. She was born in s1avery, Feb. 4, 1823 (in Virginia), manumitted at age 3, taken to Ohio, then to Marion, Iowa, by two women who had owned her mother (Mrs. Paddick and Rachael Cheadle). She was employed by E.C. Lyons, Esq. of Iowa City at the time of her marriage.1848, Nov.
A reference to activity of Clark in the Underground Railroad was made by J. P., Walton in Evening Journal, Mar. 7, 1882. In a public speech Walton told of Clark hiding a runaway slave named Jim White, and aiding in his escape. Judge S.C. Hastings of Muscatine made the decision which freed Jim White, Nov. 18, 1848. [Hastings was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa and had served as Iowa's first representative in the U.S. Congress. In 1849 he removed to California where he served as Attorney-General and later as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of that state.]1849
He was one of the group who founded the African Methodist Church in Muscatine. (One of the earliest on the west side of the Mississippi River.) He formally joined the A.M.E. Church in 1850, served as a member of the Board of Trustees, Steward, and was Superintendent of the Sabbath School until he left for Liberia.1849, Sept.
He purchased Lot 1, Block 55 from Wm. Allen [?] Smith.1850's
During this period he acquired timber land near Muscatine, and began to sell wood for fuel to steamboats going up and down the Mississippi. The profits were reinvested in real estate. Tax records show that he paid taxes on several thousand dollars worth of property.1851
He became a member of the Masonic Order by joining Prince Hall Lodge, No. 1, Saint Louis, Mo.1853
[At age 27 served as a delegate from Iowa to first National Colored Convention, Rochester, N.Y.]
1863
He enlisted in the 1st Iowa Colored Volunteer Infantry, received the appointment of Sergeant-Major; was refused muster because of physical disability. Became active in gathering recruits for Union.Sept. 1867
Susan V. Clark (age 12) was denied admission to School #2 in Muscatine by the principal, Joseph P. Eldridge. This led to a series of law suits, registered as Susan V. Clark by her next best friend, Alexander Clark vs. the Muscatine Bd. of Education. The case continued to the Supreme Court of Iowa, where the decision was made, July 1868, granting Susan Clark, and all children regardless of race, religion, nationa1ity or appearance, the right to attend Common School in Iowa. Susan became the first black graduate of Muscatine Public High School, June 23, 1871; probably the first black to graduate from a public high school in Iowa.1868
He was arched, knighted, and elected Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, becoming Grand Master after the death of H. M'Gee Alexander, on Apr. 20, 1868. His jurisdiction extended over the states of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.1868, Feb. 12
He was chairman of, and spokesman for, the committee at the first convention of colored men held in Iowa. This led to political equality for the colored men of Iowa, proclaimed as part of the Iowa Constitution of Dec. 8, 1868, two years before the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.''1869, Jan.
Clark was appointed a delegate(convention in Muscatine, Dec. 31, l868) to the Colored National Convention held in Washington, D.C. At the National Convention he was appointed to the committee which called upon President Grant and Vice-President Colfax to extend to them the congratulations of the colored people of the United States.1869, June
He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri (colored) Masons.1869, June
He attended the Republican State Convention of Iowa where he served as one of the Vice-Presidents.1869, Oct.
He was a delegate to the Most Worshipful National Grand Compact of Masons (colored) for the U.S. held at Wilmington, Del.1870
He was a delegate to the Republican State Convention of Iowa, and a member of the committee on resolutions. His eloquence led to the title "the colored orator of the west" and to speeches across Iowa and many states in the west and south.1872
He was elected Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Missouri (colored) Masons.1872
He served as de1egate-at-large to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, "took the stump" for U.S. Grant over Iowa with Gov. Kirkwood, etc., at direction of Rep. Central Com.1873
He was appointed chairman of the committee on foreign correspondence for the Grand Lodge of Missouri.1873
He was appointed consul at Aux Cayes, Haiti, by President Grant, a position which he refused because of the meager stipend.1874
He was re-elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri.1876
Centennial Address, Jan. 4, 1876, at Oskaloosa.1876
He represented an Iowa' convention of colored people at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, to which he was sent for the purpose of preparing statistics for the colored race.1876
He was appointed an alternate delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Convention in Cincinnati.
1878, June 3l
The frame house, corner of 3rd and Chestnut Streets, originally built by Wm. Brownell of lumber shipped from Cincinnati, and purchased by Clark in Sept. 1849 [at age 23], was destroyed by fire between 1 and 2 A.M. Prowlers were seen around the house about 1 A.M. One half of the house was occupied by the Clark family, the other half by the Michael Fitzpatrick family. Plans were announced July 22,1878 to rebuild on the site. At this time the family moved to the frame house facing Chestnut St. on the same lot.1878, Sept.
Alexander G. Clark,Jr. entered the University of Iowa (Law School) a its first black student. Alexander,Jr. was a graduate of Muscatine High school (1873) and had worked for the Journal as a compositor. (Alexander Sr. had been denied admission to the University earlier.) In June 1879, Alexander. G. Clark, Jr. became the first black to graduate from the Univ. of Iowa (L.L.B.). He attended classes in the year 1879-1880.1879, Sept.
Catherine Griffin C1ark died in Mucatine. Her funeral was recorded as the largest colored funeral ever held in Muscatine. She was buried in Greenwood Cemetery beside her two children, John and Ellen, who died in infancy. She joined Methodist Church at age 13.1879 to 1887
[During this period, John B. Lee and his son Alfred W. Lee lived in a suite of rooms in Alexander G. Clark's house. Both men worked at the Muscatine Journal which was an abolitionist newspaper under leadership of John Mahin, longtime editor, owner, and publisher. Mahin was married to A.W. Lee's sister, Anna, and was his first tutor. The young man learned quickly, succeeding his father as head bookkeeper before moving for a job at the Chicago Times. Lee later founded the publishing syndicate that became Lee Enterprises. "Some of the Quaker Pilots on the Underground Railroad" lists John B. Lee and Dr. Relt Ran at Muscatine. Sources: Richman's history of Muscatine County, a Lee website, and The Lee Papers: A Sage of Midwestern Journalism (Kewanee, Ill., 1947). See Alexander Clark and the Lee Papers Connection.]1881, Apr.
Clark applied to President Garfield for a State Dept. position. (Garfield was mortally wounded shortly after the interview.)1881, Sept.
He was one of eight lay delegates from the A.M.E. Church, U.S.A., to the Methodist Ecumenical Conference which was held in London. (He was elected as a delegate from the A.M.E. Church in St. Louis, March 1880.) Four A.M.E. bishops, four elders, and four lay delegates attended. Bishop Carr, South Carolina A.M.E., formerly of Muscatine, was the alternate delegate. Clark sailed from Philadelphia on Aug. 3 or 10.1882
He purchased [the Chicago newspaper] The Conservator with A. Clark, Jr., and F.L. Barnett [and] was editor of The Conservator.1883, Sept.
He entered the University of Iowa at age 57, and graduated the following June (1884) with an L.L.B. degree.1884, June 20
He was admitted to practice law by the Muscatine County Bar Association during a session of the Muscatine Circuit Court. Judge Wm. F. Brannon introduced the motion. This admitted Clark to practice law in all the courts of the State of Iowa. On June 23, 1884, he was honored at a banquet given by the Bar Association of Muscatine.1884, July 18
He opened a law office at 194 S. Clark St., Chicago.1884
He assumed full ownership of The Conservator.1884-1885
He supervised an exhibit of the colored people of Iowa at the New Orleans Fair.l887, Mar. 14
He sold The Conservator [to its founder, Ferdinand Lee Barnett, husband of the anti-lynching activist and publisher, Ida B. Wells-Barnett. More to follow.]1887, May l6
Plans to lay new sidewalk around property, 3rd and Chestnut.1887, July 18
He was chairman of the meeting at which two groups of Black Masons in Iowa [only Iowa?] were united and became the [?] Lodge of Iowa.1888
Evening Journal records that Clark voted in both Mar. 14 and Nov. 6 elections.1889, Aug. 5
Evening Journal A.Clark has not "relinquished his residence since he located here more than forty years ago. He has retained a suite of rooms in the house which was his family residence for a generation and always occupies it while in the city."1890, Aug. 8
Clark was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison as Minister and Consul-General to Liberia at an annual salary of $4000 plus stipend. Clark was one of thirteen American Ministers from Iowa who were appointed during the period, 1855-1898. (Four Consuls from Muscatine were appointed during this period: George Van Horne, Consul to Marseilles, France, 1866; Samuel McNutt, Consul to Maracaybo, Venezuela, 1890; I.B. Richman, Consul to St. Gaul, Switzerland, 1893; and Frank W. Mahin, Consul to Richenburg, Austria, 1900.) In 1890, Mr. McNutt's salary was recorded as $2000 plus fees, the salary of the Governor of Iowa as $3000, and the salary of the Lieutenant-Governor as $1100.1890, Sept. l6
Clark was honored at a Muscatine celebration. (His bond was reported as $5000, the largest ever raised in Muacatine, with four cosigners worth collectively over $1,000,000.)1890, Oct. 2
Called "one of the leading colored men of the nation." The Advance1890, Oct. 8
He sailed from New York City to London on the City of Chicago.1890, Oct. 20
Called on Hon. Robert Lincoln, Min. to England.1890, Oct. 25
Sailed from Liverpool on Bonna [?]l890, Nov. 5
He took over his office as Minister and Consul-General at Monrovia, Liberia. No official communication was ever received from him.1891, May 31
He died at Monrovia, Liberia. [More to follow.]1891, June 1
Masonic and state funeral services at Methodist Church [in Monrovia] were attended by other Ministers to Liberia and the Pres. of Liberia.1891, June 11
George W. Appleton, Muscatine (husband of Rebecca Clark Appleton) was notified of the Hon. Alexander G. Clark's death.1892, Feb. l6
Hon. Alexander G. Clark was buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Muscatine.1893, Sept. l6
Newspaper reported that.Dr. E.B.Fulliam had purchased Lot l, Block 55 from the Clark heirs. The lot was reported as having one double-brick house and one double-frame house on it.1940, May 3l
Centennial Edition Muscatine Journal reviewed Clark's appointment.1958, Feb. 25
Muscatine's Mayor Walter J. Conway declared Feb. 25, 1958, as Alexander Clark Day.
Rebecca J. Clark (born Sept. 15, 1849) on Oct. 10, 1872, married George L Appleton, a barber in Muscatine who operated his shop with [Alexander Sr.] Clark at one time. They lived on Eighth St. until after Clark's death. The Evening Journal reported on June 2,1892: "A. Clark [Jr.] has packed up Appleton's Barber Shop furniture and will ship it to Sigourney [Iowa]. George will not resume his trade at present because of ill health." One daughter, Mabel White Appleton, born Aug.12, l893, died May 2, 1903. Rebecca died Aug. 24, 1906. Both are buried in Greenwood. One daughter, Mrs. Clara Lieber of Chicago, survived Rebecca Appleton. [George Appleton was born July 19, 1846, and died Jan. 17, 1898. George, Jr. died in infancy, one year and 10 days.]
Susan V. Clark (born Dec. 6, 1854) attended the African School in the A.M.E. Church on E. 7th St. before she entered the 2nd Ward School. She married [Dec. 6, 1877] Rev. Richard E. Holley (Ho1ly), A.M.E. minister, and lived with him in many cities in this area: Champaign, Ill.1879; Davenport 1880,1881; Cedar Rapids 1889, 1906. She died June 4, 1925, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
Alexander G. C1ark, Jr. (born Oct. 1856) graduated from Muscatine High School in 1873. He worked as a compositor for the Evening Journal before he entered the University of Iowa in 1878, received his L.LB. in 1879. He spent several years in Iowa City, some time in Chicago [with The Conservator], later moved to Sigourney [and Oskaloosa]. He started a History of Prince Hall Masonry which was finished by S.J. Brown, a negro attorney of Des Moines after Clark died on July 3, 1939. His widow, Adeline, attended Alexander Clark Day in 1958. Both are buried in Oskaloosa.
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© Daniel
G. Clark, 2005, except as otherwise indicated. Address of this page: http://alexanderclark.org/clarkbio.html |
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