Merritt Clark was a Vermont businessperson and politician. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1823. A member of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives

Vermont House of Representatives

The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members. Vermont legislative districting divides representing districts into 66 single-member districts and 42 two-member...

 in 1832-33, 1839, and 1865–66, and to the Vermont Senate

Vermont Senate

The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The Senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-member districts, three three-member districts, and one...

 in 1863-64 and 1868–69, as well as the 1870 Vermont Constitutional Convention

Constitution of Vermont

The Constitution of the State of Vermont is the fundamental body of law of the U.S. State of Vermont. It was adopted in 1793 following Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791 and is largely based upon the 1777 Constitution of Vermont which was ratified at Windsor in the Old Constitution House. At...

. He was the first president of the Rutland and Washington Railroad

Rutland and Washington Railroad

The Rutland and Washington Railroad was a railroad company based in Rutland, Vermont which was chartered in Vermont on November 13, 1847 and built between Rutland and Eagle Bridge in Rensselaer County, New York in 1851 and 1852. One of the company's founders was Merritt Clark, a Vermont politician,...

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In 1870, he was a member of the Vermont Board of Education, which published a report critical of the state's normal schools (teacher training institutions).