Career
Born in Prince George"s County, Maryland, Clarke moved to Buffalo, New York, in 1815. He was employed as a clerk in the Bank of Niagara. He served as clerk in the office of the Holland Land Company, Batavia, New York, from 1819 to January 1822, when he was transferred as their agent for the county of Cattaraugus to Ellicottville, New New York
Elected Treasurer of Cattaraugus County in 1824 and served until 1841.
Clarke was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1842.
He died in Ellicottville, New York, October 14, 1860. He was interred in Jefferson Street Cemetery, but then reinterred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.