Abraham Clark

Signature reading 'Alma Clark' in elegant cursive handwriting.
A black and white portrait of a man with dark hair, wearing a dark jacket and a white shirt, looking slightly to the side.

BORN – February 15, 1726 in Elizabethtown, NJ.  Parents (English ancestry) - Thomas C. Clark (b1701-d1765) and Hannah Winans Clark (b1705-d-before 1765).   One Child – Abraham Clark (b1726-d1794).    

DIED – September 15, 1794 (age 68) of a heat stroke at his home in Roselle, NJ.  Religion – Presbyterian.  Buried - Rahway Cemetery, Rahway, NJ.  

APPEARNCE – The picture above is the portrait of Abraham Clark (age 50) painted by James Reid Lambdin in 1873, based on the image in the earlier painting by John Trumbull titled “Declaration of Independence”.  Plain looking, resembled Connecticut signer Roger Sherman.  Unlike other representatives to Congress, he did not wear a wig. 

FAMILY – Married – Sarah Hatfield (b1728-d1804) in 1749.  Ten Children (Eight surviving to adulthood) - Aaron Clark (b1750-d1811), Thomas Clark (b1753-d1780), Abraham Clark (b1755-d1758, as infant), Hannah Clark Miller (b1757-d1795), Elizabeth Clark (b1758-d1776), Andrew Clark (b1759-d1778), Sarah Clark Edgar (b1761-d1817), Cavalier Clark (b1763-d1764, as infant), Abraham Clark (b1767-d1854), Abigail Clark Salter (b1773-d1811).  

OCCUPATION – SURVEYOR, FARMER, LAWYER, LEGISLATOR. Self-taught lawyer.  Helped low income people and was known as the “Poor Man’s Councilor.”  Member of the Continental Congress representing New Jersey from 1776 to 1778.  Served again from 1780 to 1783 and from 1786 to 1788.  U.S. Congressman from 1791 to 1794.  Advocated the word Liberty be included on all U.S. coins.                

AT SIGNING – Age 50 at signing.  About the vote, Clark wrote to his friend Elias Dayton on July 14, 1776 - "Our Declaration of Independence I dare say you have seen.  A few weeks will probably determine our fate.  Perfect freedom, or Absolute Slavery.  To some of us freedom or a halter.  Our fates are in the hands of An Almighty God, to whom I can with pleasure confide my own; he can save us, or destroy us; his Councils are fixed and cannot be disappointed, and all his designs will be Accomplished."

AFTER SIGNING – Continued to service in Congress in Philadelphia until 1778.  His property was destroyed by the British.  Sons Aaron and Thomas served as officers in the Continental Army.  They were captured, imprisoned on the infamous British prison ship, Jersey, in New York Harbor where 11,000 American captives died.  Brutally treated.  Was offered his sons by the British if he recanted and swore allegiance to the king and parliament.  He responded refused.    

HISTORIC SITES

Roselle Home – Abraham Clark House, Roselle, NJ.  Located at 101 West 9th Avenue, Roselle, NJ 07203, Phone 908-245-1777, Website www.revolutionarywarnewjersey.com  

Gravesite – Rahway Cemetery, Rahway, NJ.  Located at 1670 St. Georges Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065, Phone 732-388-0613.                                                                       

Church – First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, NJ.  Located at 42 Broad Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202, Phone 908-353-1518, Website fpcenj.org.  Abraham was a member of the church.  The original church was burned by the British in 1780.     

A house with a front porch, brown siding, and gray roof, situated on a grassy lawn next to a street with a yellow curb. There are trees nearby and power lines in the background.

Abraham Clark House, Roselle, NJ. 

Located at 101 West 9th Avenue, Roselle, NJ 07203, Phone 908-245-1777, Website www.revolutionarywarnewjersey.com 

The original Clark house was near the colonial Wheatsheaf Road, which is now Crane Street.  After the house burned, around in the early 1900’s, a replica house was built on land once owned by Clark at Chestnut Street and Ninth Avenue in Roselle, NJ.  Today, the home has a small museum.