The etching on the tombstone of Abraham Clark, one of the five New Jersey Signers of the Declaration of Independence, is a synopsis of the virtues and patriotic standards the Elizabeth born politician held.
Firm and decided as a patriot,
Zealous and faithful as a friend to the public,
He loved his country,
And adhered to her cause
In the darkest hours of her struggles
Against oppression.
Clark had such a belief in the colonies being capable of creating a nation of their own, without bowing to the tyranny of any King, that even when two of his sons, both serving in an artillery regiment during the Revolution, were imprisoned and tortured by the British, and he was a member of Congress, he declined to use his influence to give them any priority over any other imprisoned soldier. Both sons survived their imprisonment.
Born in 1726 in Elizabeth in a portion that is now Roselle, Clark was born on his father’s farm and was the only child of Hannah Winans Clark and Thomas Clark. Frail and with poor health in his childhood, he received a decent but minimal education and showed a great aptitude for math and law.
Though he never was certified as an attorney, Clark used his talent and excellent knowledge of the law to represent others without pay. At other times in his life he was a farmer, surveyor and politician and is recognized as much in many ways for his political actions after the signing of the Declaration than that historic act itself.
Clark, like his father, was heavily involved in politics all his life. He was a clerk in the colonial legislature and a sheriff in Essex County under the British Crown. He was a member of the New Jersey Council of Safety during the Revolution. He served in the Continental Congress and opposed the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was added.
It was in 1774 when Clark first got involved with the patriotic cause and was named a member of New Jersey’s Provincial Congress. With the First Continental Congress opposed to a war with England to gain independence, Clark was named, along with the four other New Jersey signers, to the Second Continental Congress with the directive to strive for and authorize Independence for the colonies.
As soon as Congress voted in July 1776 for the Declaration, Clark sent a copy of the document to New Jersey Militia’s General William Livingston, with a note directing the Declaration be published in all the colonies and armies, and also “which I make no doubt you will publish in your brigade.”
The ongoing challenges to his health did not deter Clark from remaining in the Congress and the New Jersey Legislature throughout the war, this in spite of the battles that were being waged near his home and family in Union County and concern over his sons imprisonment.
When the war ended in 1783, Clark returned to his home and served three years in the state legislature, and in 1786 he represented New Jersey at the Annapolis Convention.
The patriot lost a bid to serve in the Senate in 1788 but was elected as a member of the house of Representatives serving from 1791 and 1794. He authored the bill for the manumission of slaves, despite the fact he had three slaves but did not release them until the law was passed.
Although opposed to the Constitution without rigid amendments he felt necessary, Clark’s ill health prevented his attendance at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
However, once the Bill of Rights was included, the patriot approved the Constitution, though ill health prevented his being present for the signing. Only six legislators, including Benjamin Franklin, Roger Wilson and Robert Morris, signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Clark remained active in politics, although he lost a bid for Senate in 1788. He was then elected to the House of Representatives and served from 1791 to 1794 .
On Sept. 15, 1794, the signer of the Declaration of Independence suffered sunstroke while at his birthplace, where he had spent his entire life other than his service to the country. He died within a few hours at the age of 68, leaving his wife, Sarah Hetfield and ten children. Two months later, Nov. 15, 1794, Jonathan Witherspoon became the last of the five New Jersey signers to pass away.
Abraham Clark is buried in Rahway Cemetery. Abraham Clark High School in Roselle, and Clark Township established in 1864, are both named in his honor.
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Great series! Thank you.