George W. Clarke
CLARKE, AKERS, GREENE, KINNICK
Posted By: Nettie Mae (email)
Date: 5/14/2025 at 13:27:20
George Washington Clarke served two terms as the 21st Governor of Iowa from 1913 to 1917. Born in Shelby County, Indiana, emerged as a prominent figure in Iowa's political and legal landscape during the transformative years of the early 20th century. His life was characterized by public service, legal scholarship, and a lasting familial legacy that extended to the football fields of the University of Iowa.
Clarke was the son of John Clarke and Jane Eliza Akers. In 1856, when George was just four years old, the Clarke family moved west and settled in Davis County, Iowa, joining a wave of pioneer families building new communities in the heartland. He spent his youth in Drakesville, where he would later teach school in both Drakesville and Bloomfield—an early indication of his intellectual pursuits.
In the 1870s, Clarke enrolled at Oskaloosa College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1877. He continued his studies at the University of Iowa College of Law, earning his degree in 1878. That same year, he was admitted to the bar and married Arletta Greene on June 25, 1878, in Dallas County. The couple settled in Adel, Iowa, where Clarke began a law practice that would anchor his career and public life for decades.
Clarke’s legal acumen and civic-mindedness led him into public office. He served as a justice of the peace and, in 1882, entered a law partnership with John B. White. By the turn of the century, he had made his way into the Iowa House of Representatives (1901–1909), eventually becoming Speaker of the House—a powerful role in shaping state legislation. His reputation as a fair, diligent leader propelled him into higher office.
From 1909 to 1913, Clarke served as Lieutenant Governor under Beryl F. Carroll. In the 1912 gubernatorial election, Clarke secured a narrow but consequential victory over Progressive (Bull Moose) Party candidate John L. Stevens. He became Iowa's 21st Governor in 1913 and was re-elected for a second term, serving until 1917.
As Governor, Clarke championed major reforms in infrastructure and labor. His administration pushed for the establishment of a state highway commission—an essential move in a time when the automobile was beginning to transform American life. He strongly supported a workmen’s compensation bill to protect injured laborers, and he restructured election procedures to enhance democratic governance. One of his most ambitious projects was the $2.3 million beautification and expansion of the Iowa State Capitol grounds, which grew from four city blocks to an impressive 93-acre landscape.
After leaving office, Clarke briefly served as dean of Drake University Law School (1917–1918), lending his experience to the next generation of Iowa lawyers. He also remained politically active, notably managing the 1926 Senate campaign of Albert B. Cummins—an effort that ended in Cummins' primary defeat and untimely death shortly afterward.
Returning to Adel, Clarke resumed legal practice and maintained an extensive personal library. He remained a respected elder statesman of Iowa’s Republican Party and a touchstone of integrity and intellect in his community.
Beyond his own achievements, Clarke’s family would contribute to Iowa’s legacy in a deeply symbolic way. His grandson, Nile Kinnick Jr., would win the 1939 Heisman Trophy while playing for the University of Iowa and later die heroically in World War II. Today, the University’s Kinnick Stadium stands as a tribute to both Nile’s sacrifice and the Clarke family’s enduring legacy in Iowa history.
George and Arletta Clarke raised four children—two sons and two daughters—and remained lifelong residents of Adel. Arletta’s father, Benjamin Greene, had also served in the Iowa House of Representatives during the 1850s, suggesting that public service was embedded in the family’s heritage.
Clarke lived a long life marked by public impact and quiet scholarship. He died at home in Adel on November 28, 1936, at the age of 84 and was buried in Oakdale Cemetery. At the time of his death, Iowa and the nation were still in the grips of the Great Depression, a far cry from the Progressive optimism that had defined his governorship two decades earlier.
George Washington Clarke’s story is one of a dedicated Iowan whose leadership helped shape the state’s modern foundations. From rural beginnings to the governor’s mansion, from law books to legislative chambers, and through the valor of his descendants, Clarke’s legacy lives on in Iowa’s institutions and in the lives of the people he served.
(Sources include census records, state archives, FamilySearch collections, and the University of Iowa Library’s Clarke Papers.)
George Washington Clarke
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