CLARKE, Rufus L. B. (1817-1910)

CLARKE

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 1/19/2019 at 12:38:36

Rufus Lathrop Baker Clarke
(June 4, 1817 – August 9, 1910)

Rufus Lathrop Baker Clarke was born in New Haven County, Conn. on June 4, 1817, the son of Thaddeus Clarke and Sarah Deborah Baker. Rufus became a lawyer and practiced law in Rochester, New York until 1851 when he moved to Mt. Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa. Rufus married Annie H. Phillips of Lynn, Massachusetts on Sep 17, 1856. Rufus L. B. Clarke was a member of the 1857 Iowa Constitutional Convention which convened at the Iowa Capitol in Iowa City, Iowa. On July 28, 1960 Rufus L. B. Clarke gave an hour speech for a “Lincoln Pole Raising” promoting Abraham Lincoln’s candidacy for presidential election. Rufus moved his family to Washington D. C. in 1862 and became Examiner in Chief and then a Judge for the board of appeals, U. S. Patent Office from 1869 through 1895. He died Aug 9, 1910 in Washington, D.C. and his wife, Annie, died in 1911. Both are buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Essex County, Mass. Rufus and Annie had three children: Katherine P. Clarke Nicholson, born in Mass. (1857-1943), Percy Edward P. Clarke, born Iowa (1859-1896), and Phillips Clarke, born in Conn. (1865-1900).

Sources:
(1) Find A Grave, memorial #135635053, for Rufus Lathrop Baker Clarke, Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn, Essex County, Mass.
(2) Letter of Lewis Todhunter to the Pioneer Lawmakers Association of Iowa, Reunion of 1902, p.111, listing the seven members of the Iowa Constitutional Convention still living, including R. L. B. Clarke of Washington, D. C.
(3) Sons of the American Revolution Membership Application, #80144, Rufus Lathrop Baker Clarke
(4) A Lincoln Pole Raising on Henry County IAGenWeb, speech by Rufus Clarke for Lincoln’s Presidential Campaign
(5) 1856 Iowa Census, Henry County, p.530, R. L. B. Clarke, age 35, attorney
(6) 1860 Federal Census, Trenton, Henry County, IA, family of R. L. B. Clark
(7) 1870 Federal Census, Washington, D. C., family of Rufus L. Clarke

Henry Obituaries maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
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