Charles B. Clark

Who was Charles B. Clark?

Charles Benjamin Clark was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin and one of the founders of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

Born in Theresa, New York, Clark attended the common schools. He moved to Wisconsin in 1855 with his widowed mother, who settled in Neenah, Wisconsin. He enlisted in Company I, Twenty-first Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, when it was formed and served with the same unit during the American Civil War. He engaged in mercantile pursuits, banking, and the manufacture of paper, notably Clark was a founder of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. He served as mayor of Neenah from 1880 till 1883. He served as member of the city council of Neenah from 1883 to 1885. He served as member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1885.

Clark was elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress. He died in Watertown, New York, while on a visit to his old home on September 10, 1891. He was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Neenah, Wisconsin.