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~ ROCHESTER'S HISTORY ~ AN ILLUSTRATED TIMELINE .
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Freeman Clarke March 22, 1809 - June 24,1887 .
Freeman Clarke, one of the most distinguished men who ever made Rochester
their home, was the son of Isaac and Elizabeth Clarke, and was born in
Troy New York, on March 22, 1809. In 1827, he moved Albion, Orleans
county, New York, and engaged in mercantile and manufacturing pursuits.
His enterprises were successful, and in 1837, he was elected cashier of
the Bank of Orleans. In 1845 he moved to this city where he organized
and was president of the Rochester Bank; he was chosen trustee and treasurer
of the County Savings Bank, and in 1857 he organized and became president
of the Monroe County Bank, subsequently the Clarke National bank.
Mr. Clarke was treasurer and one of the first directors of the Rochester,
Lockport and Niagara railroad, now the Niagara Falls branch of the New
York Central. He also held the offices of president and director
of the Genesee Valley railroad; was treasurer and director of the House
Telegraph company; a director of the Western Union Telegraph Company; a
trustee and subsequently vice-president of the Union Trust company, New
York; one of the first directors of the Fourth National bank, New York;
and one of the Organizers and a director of the Metropolitan Trust company,
New York. Mr. Clarke was vice-president of the Whig State convention
in 1850 and acted as president. In 1852 was a delegate to the Whig
National convention and in 1854 was vice-president of the first Republican
convention in New York State. In 1862 he was elected a Representative
from New York to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving on the committees
of Manufactures and Pensions. In 1865 he was appointed Comptroller
of the Currency, by President Lincoln, and during his incumbency some of
the most important financial legislation of the war time was enacted, including
the organization of the National banks. He was a member of the State
Constitutional convention in 1867; in 1870 he was elected a Representative
to the Forty-second Congress, in which he served on the Committee of Appropriations.
In 1872 he was elected to the Forty-third Congress and was a member of
the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr. Clarke served on the commission that
had the Central railroad tracks in this city elevated, and he was a trustee
of the University of Rochester. Mr. Clarke was married in 1833 to Miss
Henrietta J. Ward, youngest daughter of Dr. Levi Ward, and died in this
city June 24,1887.
Biographical Sketch from 'Rochester and the Post Express' 1895
