{{Short description|American politician}} {{redirect|James W. Clarke|other people with similar names|James Clark (disambiguation)}}
{{No footnotes|date=March 2024}} <!-- Commented out because image was deleted: thumb|Rep. James West Clark --> '''James West Clark''' (October 15, 1779 – December 20, 1843) was a United States representative from North Carolina. Born in Bertie County to Hannah and Christopher Clark, a successful sea captain and import/export merchant. James Clark graduated from Princeton College in 1797, was a member of the State House of Commons in 1802, 1803 and 1811, and was a presidential elector on the Madison ticket in 1812. He was a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1812 to 1814 and was elected as a Republican to the Fourteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817. Clark was appointed chief clerk of the Navy Department by Secretary John Branch and served from 1829 to 1831. He resigned his appointment in protest (as did John Branch) as a result of the Petticoat affair (or Peggy Eaton affair), which rocked Washington society and the Jackson administration.
In private life, Clark was a planter, businessman and slave owner. He owned several hundred acres of lands in North Carolina and at least {{convert|5000|acre|km2}} in Dyer County, Tennessee. In 1835 he moved the bulk of his male slaves to Livingston, Alabama, where he made a substantial profit in the slave hire business. Clark's son, Henry Toole Clark, helped his father manage the family plantations and their local business interests, which included a grist mill and operating a canal. His son would later become governor of North Carolina during the Civil War from 1861 to 1862.
He died at home in Tarboro, North Carolina, at the age of 64.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Concord Lodge, no. 58, ancient, free and accepted Masons, Tarboro, North Carolina, 1811-1958 - ECU Digital Collections |url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/16920 |website=digital.lib.ecu.edu}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} * Poteat, R. Matthew, ''Governor Henry Toole Clark: a biography'' (McFarland Press, 2009). * {{CongBio|C000438}} * Poteat, R. Matthew, "A Modest Estimate of His Own Abilities: Governor Henry Toole Clark and Civil War North Carolina," The North Carolina Historical Review, 84 (1) and 84 (2) (January and April 2007)
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=North Carolina | district=3 | before=William Kennedy | years=1815–1817 | after=Thomas H. Hall }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, James West}} Category:1779 births Category:1843 deaths Category:People from Bertie County, North Carolina Category:Democratic-Republican Party United States representatives from North Carolina Category:1812 United States presidential electors Category:Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Category:19th-century owners of plantations in the United States Category:U.S. state legislators who owned slaves Category:People from Tarboro, North Carolina Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:United States representatives who owned slaves Category:Owners of plantations in North Carolina