Reader Wright Clarke was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

.

Born in Bethel, Ohio

Bethel, Ohio

Bethel is a village in Clermont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,637 at the 2000 census.Bethel was founded in 1798 by Obed Denham, in what was then the Northwest Territory....

, Clarke learned the art of printing.
He studied law.
He was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1836 and commenced practice in Batavia, Ohio

Batavia, Ohio

Batavia is a village in and the county seat of Clermont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,617 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Batavia is located at ....

.
Published a Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 paper in Shawneetown, Illinois

Shawneetown, Illinois

Shawneetown is a city in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gallatin County...

, for a few years.
He returned to Batavia, Ohio

Batavia, Ohio

Batavia is a village in and the county seat of Clermont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,617 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Batavia is located at ....

.
He served as member of the State house of representatives 1840–1842.
Presidential elector in 1844 for Whigs Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...

/Frelinghuysen

Theodore Frelinghuysen

Theodore Frelinghuysen was an American politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senator, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President with Henry Clay on the Whig ticket in the election of 1844...

.
He served as clerk of the court of Clermont County 1846–1852.

Clarke was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Thirty-ninth

39th United States Congress

The Thirty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1865 to March 4, 1867, during the first month of...

 and Fortieth

40th United States Congress

The Fortieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1867 to March 4, 1869, during the third and fourth...

Congresses (March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1869).
Third auditor of the Treasury from March 26, 1869, to March 26, 1870.
He was appointed collector of internal revenue in Ohio.
He died in Batavia, Ohio, May 23, 1872.
He was interred in Union Cemetery.

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