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Sidney Clarke

Politician. Republican. Born: October 16, 1832, Southbridge, Massachusetts. Died: June 18, 1909, Oklahoma. Served in U.S. House of Representatives: March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1871.

Sidney ClarkeA three-term congressman (March 4, 1865 to March 3, 1871) from Lawrence, Kansas, Sidney Clarke was born in Southbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts, on October 16, 1831, where he attended the public schools. He became publisher of the Southbridge Press in 1854, and removed to Kansas Territory in 1859, settling in Lawrence. Clarke enlisted as a volunteer during the Civil War and was subsequently appointed assistant adjutant general of Volunteers on February 9,1863; he also served as captain and assistant provost marshal general for Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Dakota. (Clarke was in Lawrence on the morning of August 21, 1863, but managed to elude William C. Quantrill's raiders who, no doubt, would have been eager to capture and kill him--[see an article]) In the 41st Congress, Clarke chaired the Committee on Indian Affairs, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1870 to the Forty-second Congress. Clarke returned to Kansas and was a member of the state house of representatives in 1879. Clarke moved to Oklahoma City in 1889, where he engaged in railroad building and politics, and where he died on June 18, 1909.

Entry: Clarke, Sidney

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: June 2011

Date Modified: May 2012

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