Satterlee Clark, Jr.

Satterlee Clark (May 22, 1816 – September 20, 1881) was an American attorney, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served ten years in the Wisconsin State Senate (1862–1872), representing eastern Dodge County, and also served two years in the Wisconsin State Assembly. He wrote a historical essay of his memories of Fort Winnebago and the Black Hawk War in pre-statehood Wisconsin. In his lifetime, he was widely known by the nickname Sat Clark.

Early years

Clark was the eldest son of U.S. Army Major Satterlee Clark of Vermont, an 1807 graduate of the United States Military Academy and a veteran of the War of 1812. Major Clark married Frances Whitcroft, the daughter of a Maryland politician, Burton Whitcroft. Following the War, the elder Clark was assigned to work as a paymaster for the Army in Washington, D.C., where the younger Satterlee Clark was born in 1816. The family moved to Utica, New York, in the 1820s, and at age 10 the younger Clark attended the Utica Free Academy. He remained there as sutler clerk for most of the remainder of the 1830s and early 1840s, though Henry Merrill was appointed official sutler for the base in 1835.

One of his closest friends during this time was the half-French, half-Winnebago fur trader known as Peter (or Pierre) Pauquette.

While working at Fort Winnebago, Clark played a significant role in the Black Hawk War. The war involved a rebellion by a group of aggrieved Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo people, led by a warrior named Black Hawk. In the Spring of 1832, Black Hawk's band crossed into Illinois and was confronted by a group of U.S. Army soldiers and Illinois militia. Black Hawk avoided battle and took his men north into Wisconsin, eventually arriving in the vicinity of Fort Winnebago, which he discovered was now defended by just 30 men. Learning of the danger, the inhabitants of Fort Winnebago selected Satterlee Clark to run to Fort Atkinson to gather reinforcements.

Clark returned along the same route, and arrived back at Fort Winnebago before the army. With the fort secure, the army sought to pursue Black Hawk's band, which had begun retreating toward the Mississippi River. Clark was one of several young men selected to operate as scouts for the army, along with his friend Peter Pauquette.

Clark studied law while working at Fort Winnebago, and, in 1843 was admitted to the bar. He resigned his sutler duties shortly thereafter and moved to eastern Marquette County (now Green Lake County). He was the Democratic candidate for the 2nd State Senate district in 1849, but was defeated by the Whig candidate George DeGraw Moore. He attempted to regain his Assembly seat in 1850, but lost again, this time to Whig candidate Charles Waldo.

At the time of his death, in 1881, it was noted that Clark had attended every Democratic State Convention from the establishment of the state until his death. He was, however, chosen as a Democratic presidential elector for the 1852 United States presidential election, and ended up on the winning slate, casting his vote for Franklin Pierce. In 1861, following the outbreak of the Civil War, the Democratic Party fell significantly out of favor in Wisconsin, and the papers remarked on Sat Clark as the last party chieftain directing the 1861 State Convention.

Also in 1861, the Wisconsin State Senate expanded from 30 seats to 33, and one of the consequences was the creation of a second Senate district for Dodge County. Clark ran as the Democratic candidate for the 33rd State Senate district, and won election to the 15th Wisconsin Legislature. He would subsequently win re-election four times in this district, serving until 1872. He was then elected to one final term in the Assembly in the 1873 session.

Throughout the Civil War and afterward, Clark was notorious in the state for his stalwart opposition to the war and his defense of Jefferson Davis (who he had known from his years at Fort Winnebago). He considered himself a proud Copperhead. The allegations resulted in a congressional investigation of Calhoun during his time as Vice President of the United States. Major Clark ultimately received a favorable judgement from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, restoring some of the pay which had been withheld from him.

Satterlee Clark was one of five children born to Major Clark and Frances Whitcroft. His younger sister, Frances, married Joseph B. Plummer, a Union Army officer who died of wounds during the American Civil War after rising to the rank of brigadier general. His younger brother, Temple Clark, was also a Union Army officer with the 5th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and rose to the rank of colonel as an adjutant on the staff of General William Rosecrans.

Clark and his wife, Eliza, had at least four children, though one daughter, Charlotte, died in infancy.

Clark's grandfather was Isaac Clark, an American militia officer in the American Revolutionary War who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.