Samuel Mercer CLARK, Congress, IA (1842-1900)

CLARK, Samuel Mercer, a Representative from Iowa; born near Keosauqua, Van Buren County, Iowa, October 11, 1842; attended the public schools and the Des Moines Valley College, West Point, Iowa; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1864, but did not engage in extensive practice; editor of the Keokuk Daily Gate City for thirty-one years; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1872, 1876, and 1880; appointed commissioner of education to the Paris Exposition in 1889; postmaster of Keokuk from 1879-1885; member of the Keokuk Board of Education 1879-1894, serving as president 1882-1894; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1899); was not a candidate for renomination in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress; resumed editorial duties; died in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa, on August 11, 1900; interment in Oakland Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present