Tarboro in Edgecombe County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Henry T. Clark

Photographed By Mike Stroud, July 18, 2011

1. Henry T. Clark Marker

Inscription. Governor of North Carolina, 1861-1862. Speaker of the State Senate. Helped organize the State for war. Grave is 3 blocks E.

Erected 1959 by North Carolina Office of Archives & History. (Marker Number E-65.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the North Carolina Division of Archives and History series list.

Location. 35° 53.85′ N, 77° 32.071′ W. Marker is in Tarboro, North Carolina, in Edgecombe County. Marker is on West St. James Street near Main Street (Business U.S. 64). Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Tarboro NC 27886, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. W.L. Saunders (a few steps from this marker); John C. Dancy (a few steps from this marker); W.D. Pender (a few steps from this marker); Courthouse Square (within shouting distance of this marker); Knights of Labor (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The 1999 Flood (about 400 feet away); Edgecombe County Veterans Memorial (about 600 feet away); George H. White (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tarboro.

Regarding Henry T. Clark. Henry Toole Clark was the second

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of three chief executives to serve North Carolina during the Civil War. The son of Major James W. and Arabella Toole Clark, he was born on February 7, 1808, on his father’s Walnut Creek plantation in Edgecombe County. He studied in the school of George Phillips in Tarboro and then attended school in Louisburg before entering the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated in 1826. Although he studied law and passed the bar, he never practiced. Instead, he returned home to manage his father’s plantation and business interests that extended as far as Alabama and Tennessee. In 1850 Clark married a cousin, the widow Mary Weeks Hargrave of Tarboro; they would have five children.

After brief service as Edgecombe County clerk of court, Clark was elected to the state senate in 1850. He was returned in every election through 1860. A Democrat and member of the planter aristocracy, he nevertheless promoted internal improvements, seeking and acquiring an appropriation to build a plank road from Tarboro to Jamesville. His high character and strong moral values commanded the respect of both parties; thus, he was elected president of the senate in 1858 and 1860. When Governor John Ellis became seriously ill in June of 1861, it fell upon Clark, as president of the senate, to assume the duties of the chief executive. The position was made official by the death of Ellis on July

Henry T. Clark image. Click for full size.

North Carolina Office of Archives & History

2. Henry T. Clark

7.

The war dominated Clark’s administration. He had been a secessionist, and in his first message to the legislature on August 16, he declared the cause of the Confederacy to be just, offering a plan of preparedness for defense of the state, particularly the long, exposed coastline. His suggestions, however, were overridden by the Confederate authorities in Richmond who had assumed control of all military affairs and turned a deaf ear to the governor’s request for assistance. With Union occupation of eastern North Carolina, citizens unfairly blamed Clark for their problems. He did not run for a full term in 1862.

Clark held some local offices in Edgecombe County after the war but ventured back into the state arena for only one term in the senate in 1866-1867. He retired to his plantation where he died in 1874. He was buried at Calvary Episcopal Church in Tarboro.
(North Carolina Office of Archives & History)

Henry T. Clark Marker,along West St. James Street at Main Street (US 64 Business) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, July 18, 2011

3. Henry T. Clark Marker,along West St. James Street at Main Street (US 64 Business)

Calvary Episcopal Church, 3 blocks east, as mentioned image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, July 18, 2011

4. Calvary Episcopal Church, 3 blocks east, as mentioned

Credits. This page was last revised on November 29, 2019. It was originally submitted on July 25, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 592 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 26, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.