Daniel Clark

Who was Daniel Clark?

Daniel Clark was the first Delegate from the Territory of Orleans to the United States House of Representatives. Born in Sligo, Ireland, he was reportedly educated at Eton College in England.

Clark emigrated to the United States in the early 1780s, living with family members in Germantown, Pennsylvania. In 1786, at the invitation of his merchant uncle, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. The younger Clark streaked into the New Orleans economy, conducting at least 64 notarized transactions, mostly the sale of slaves, that year - double the number of transactions ever conducted in New Orleans in a single year until then. However, Clark's only appearance in the 1790s as a major businessman was reflected in his numerous formal protests for debts due him in 1793. Although he was a Spanish citizen until the late 1790s, Clark worked assiduously in the interests of the U.S. government, providing first-hand, detailed responses to President Thomas Jefferson's questions on Louisiana.