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'''Abraham Clark''' (February 15, 1726 – September 15, 1794) was a delegate to the [[Constitutional Convention]] from the state of [[New Jersey]] and a signer of the [[Declaration of Independence]].  He was a member of the [[Continental Congress]] from 1776-1778, 1780-1783 and 1786-1788. <ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000418 CLARK, Abraham, (1726 - 1794)]</ref>

'''Abraham Clark''' (February 15, 1726 – September 15, 1794) was a delegate to the [[Constitutional Convention]] from the state of [[New Jersey]] and a signer of the [[Declaration of Independence]].  He was a member of the [[Continental Congress]] from 1776-1778, 1780-1783 and 1786-1788.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000418 CLARK, Abraham, (1726 - 1794)]</ref>

==Early Life==

==Early life==

He was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, on the 15th of February, 1726. He was an only child, and his early education, although confined to English branches of study, was respectable. For the mathematics and the civil law, he discovered an early predilection. He was bred a farmer, but not being of a robust constitution, he turned his attention to surveying, conveyancing, and imparting legal advice. As he performed the latter service gratuitously, he was called "the poor man's counsellor."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1tcDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA344 Lives of the Presidents of the United States: With Biographical Notices of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence]</ref>

He was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, on the 15th of February, 1726. He was an only child, and his early education, although confined to English branches of study, was respectable. For the mathematics and the civil law, he discovered an early predilection. He was bred a farmer, but not being of a robust constitution, he turned his attention to surveying, conveyancing, and imparting legal advice. As he performed the latter service gratuitously, he was called "the poor man's counsellor."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1tcDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA344 Lives of the Presidents of the United States: With Biographical Notices of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence]</ref>

Two or three of the sons of Mr. Clark were officers in the army, during the revolutionary struggle. Unfortunately they were captured by the enemy. During a part of their captivity, their sufferings were extreme, being confined in the notorious prison-ship, Jersey. Painful as was the condition of his sons, Mr. Clark scrupulously avoided calling the attention of Congress to the subject, excepting in a single instance. One of his sons, a captain of artillery, had been cast into a dungeon, where he received no other food than that which was conveyed to him by his fellow prisoners through a key-hole. On a representation of these facts to Congress, that body immediately directed a course of retaliation on a British officer. This had the desired effect, and Captain Clark's condition was improved.

Two or three of the sons of Mr. Clark were officers in the army, during the revolutionary struggle. Unfortunately they were captured by the enemy. During a part of their captivity, their sufferings were extreme, being confined in the notorious prison-ship, Jersey. Painful as was the condition of his sons, Mr. Clark scrupulously avoided calling the attention of Congress to the subject, excepting in a single instance. One of his sons, a captain of artillery, had been cast into a dungeon, where he received no other food than that which was conveyed to him by his fellow prisoners through a key-hole. On a representation of these facts to Congress, that body immediately directed a course of retaliation on a British officer. This had the desired effect, and Captain Clark's condition was improved.

==Later Life==

==Later life==

On the adjournment of Congress in June, 1794, Mr. Clark retired from public life. He did not live long, however, to enjoy the limited comforts he possessed. In the autumn of the same year, a stroke of the sun put an end to his existence, after it had been lengthened out to sixty-nine years. The church at Rahway contains his mortal remains, and a marble slab marks the spot where they are deposited. It bears the following inscription:

On the adjournment of Congress in June, 1794, Mr. Clark retired from public life. He did not live long, however, to enjoy the limited comforts he possessed. In the autumn of the same year, a stroke of the sun put an end to his existence, after it had been lengthened out to sixty-nine years. The church at Rahway contains his mortal remains, and a marble slab marks the spot where they are deposited. It bears the following inscription:

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{{Declaration of Independence}}

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[[Category:Signers of the Declaration of Independence]]

[[Category:Signers of the Declaration of Independence]]

[[Category:Founding Fathers]]

[[Category:Founding Fathers]]