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Samuel Mercer Clark
From the April 1901 issue of The Iowa Historical Record magazine
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 1st district
In office March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899
Preceded by	John H. Gear
Succeeded by	Thomas Hedge
Personal details
Born	(1842-10-11)October 11, 1842 Keosauqua, Iowa Territory
Died	August 11, 1900(1900-08-11) (aged 57) Keokuk, Iowa, U.S.
Resting place	Oakland Cemetery
Political party	Republican

Samuel Mercer Clark (October 11, 1842 – August 11, 1900) was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 1st congressional district at the end of the 19th century. He was the first Iowa-born member of Congress.

Early years

Born near Keosauqua in the portion of Iowa Territory that would later become the State of Iowa, Clark attended the public schools and the Des Moines Valley College, in West Point, Iowa. He went on to study law in the office of Judge (and future U.S. Senator) George G. Wright and was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1864. However, he did not practice extensively.

Career

He was editor of the Keokuk Daily Gate City in Keokuk, Iowa, for 31 years. He served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1872, 1876, and 1880.

He was appointed commissioner of education to the Paris Exposition in 1889. He served as Keokuk's Postmaster from 1879 to 1885. He was a member of the Keokuk Board of Education from 1879 to 1894, and served as the Board's president from 1882 until 1894.

In 1894, Clark was elected as a Republican to represent Iowa's 1st congressional district (in southeastern Iowa) in the Fifty-fourth Congress. He replaced John H. Gear, whom the Iowa General Assembly had chosen to serve as a U.S. Senator. Two years later Clark won re-election, and served in the Fifty-fifth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1898. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1899. After returning to Iowa, he resumed his editorial duties in Keokuk.

Death

He died in Keokuk on August 11, 1900, aged 57. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery.

References

1. Gue, Benjamin, "History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (biography of Samuel M. Clark).

• United States Congress. "Samuel M. Clark (id: C000452)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa
1st	W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum Finkenauer Hinson Miller-Meeks
2nd	Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack Miller-Meeks Hinson
3rd	Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young Axne Nunn
4th	Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle LeCompte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King Feenstra
5th	Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thurston LeCompte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King
6th	A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy
7th	Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle
8th	McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven
9th	Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey
10th	Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist
11th	Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell
AL	Hastings Leffler
Terr	Chapman A. Dodge

• 1842 births
• 1900 deaths
• People from Keokuk, Iowa
• People from Van Buren County, Iowa
• Iowa postmasters
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives