Background
John Flavel Clark was born on December 10, 1784, in Allentown, New Jersey, the oldest of three sons of Margaret Imlay Clark and Doctor Joseph Clark who was pastor of First Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey (1796–1813).
cleric Chaplain of the United States Senate
John Flavel Clark was born on December 10, 1784, in Allentown, New Jersey, the oldest of three sons of Margaret Imlay Clark and Doctor Joseph Clark who was pastor of First Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey (1796–1813).
John F. Clark graduated valedictorian from Princeton University in 1807.
Joseph Clark also served on George Washington"s general staff during the Revolutionary War. After graduation he was engaged in teaching in Georgia. He began studying for the ministry at Andover Theological Seminary in 1810.
There he became acquainted with Adoniram Judson, Samuel Newell and Samuel John Mills, thus beginning a lifelong commitment to the cause of foreign missions.
He was one of the founders of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was chosen to be a tutor at Princeton, where he continued his divinity studies under its president Ashbel Green.
He was elected Chaplain of the Senate on November 18, 1818. This was the 15th United States Congress, meeting in the Old Brick Capitol in Washington.
Clark died on October 7, 1853 in his sixty-ninth year.