James Clark

James Clark (January 16, 1779 – August 27, 1839) was a 19th-century American politician who served in all three branches of Kentucky's government and in the U.S. House of Representatives. His political career began in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1807. In 1810, he was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, where he served for two years before resigning to pursue a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served two terms in that body, resigning in 1816.

Clark accepted an appointment to the circuit court of Bourbon and Clark counties in 1817. It was in this capacity that the most defining event of his career occurred. In 1822, he struck down a debt relief law in the case of Williams v. Blair on the basis that it impeded the obligation of contracts. His decision was unpopular with the legislature, who condemned the ruling and summoned Clark to appear before them and defend it. The following year, the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld Clark's ruling. In retaliation, the legislature attempted to abolish the court and create a new one more sympathetic to their views. This event and its aftermath became known as the Old Court-New Court controversy.

In 1825, Clark was chosen to fill the congressional seat vacated by Henry Clay's elevation to Secretary of State. He served until 1831, but did not seek re-election that year. He became active in organizing the Whig Party in Kentucky and was rewarded for his efforts by being chosen as the party's nominee for governor in 1836. He won the election and laid out an ambitious platform to the legislature, which acted on only part of it. Clark's most significant accomplishment as governor was securing the creation of a state board of education and the establishment of public schools in every county in the state. Clark died in office in 1839. His estate, Holly Rood, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Early life and family James Clark was born to Robert and Susannah (Henderson) Clark on January 16, 1779, near the Peaks of Otter in Bedford County, Virginia. In 1794, the family moved to Clark County, Kentucky, where Clark was educated by Dr. James Blythe (who later became a professor at Transylvania University) and attended Pisgah Academy in Woodford County. Clark then went to Virginia, where he studied law with his brother, Christopher.

Clark married Susan Forsythe on July 2, 1809, and the couple had four children. Susan Clark died in 1825. He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1812. This decision was in keeping with the recent Supreme Court ruling in Dartmouth College v. Woodward. He was twice re-elected, and chaired the Committee on Territories. A slave owner himself, he strongly believed in the rights of slave owners, and encouraged Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to cooperate in returning escaped slaves. In response to his remarks on slave property, the legislature enacted laws that raised the reward for apprehending a fugitive slave and made it illegal for stagecoach owners to allow fugitive slaves to use their coaches to escape.