Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
John Hessin Clarke
John Hessin Clarke (September 18, 1857 – March 22, 1945) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1922.
Born in New Lisbon, Ohio, Clarke was the third and youngest child and only son of John Clarke (1814–1884), a Quaker immigrant from County Antrim, Ireland who became a lawyer and judge in the United States, and his wife Melissa Hessin. He attended New Lisbon High School and Western Reserve College, where he became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1877. Clarke did not attend law school but studied the law under his father's direction and passed the bar exam cum laude in 1878.
After practicing law in New Lisbon for two years, Clarke moved to Youngstown, where he purchased a half-share in the Youngstown Vindicator. The Vindicator was a Democratic newspaper and Clarke, a reform-minded Bourbon Democrat, wrote several articles opposing the growing power of corporate monopolies and promoting such causes as civil-service reform. He also became involved in local party politics and civic causes. His efforts to prevent Calvin S. Brice's renomination as the party's candidate for the United States Senate in 1894 ended in failure, but he worked successfully to oppose the election of a Republican candidate for mayor of Youngstown who was a member of the American Protective Association. A "gold bug" in 1896, Clarke's opposition to William Jennings Bryan's nomination as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate was so great that he bolted the party and participated in the subsequent "Gold Bug" convention in Indianapolis that nominated Senator John M. Palmer later that year.
Soon after the 1896 presidential election, Clarke moved to Cleveland, where he became a partner in the law firm of Williamson and Cushing. The firm represented corporate and railroad interests, and Clarke soon demonstrated his worth, replacing senior partner Samuel W. Williamson as the general counsel for the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. Yet Clarke continued his involvement in the Democratic Party. His politics evolved during this period, as Clarke abandoned many of the political views of his youth, including those involving states' rights, and embraced instead the program of the emerging progressive movement. Clarke's political evolution during this period was facilitated considerably by his friendship with Cleveland mayor Tom L. Johnson, who helped restore Clarke's standing within the state party after Clarke's previous failure to support Bryan's presidential bid.
In 1903, Johnson succeeded in taking control of the state Democratic Party, an effort which Clarke supported. At the party's convention that August, Clarke was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Though an accomplished orator, Clarke's work as a railroad attorney, his opposition to Bryan's presidential candidacy seven years before, and his own personal limitations all contributed to his failure to upset his Republican rival, Mark Hanna, who won the balloting in the Ohio General Assembly by 115 votes to 25 for Clarke.
In the aftermath of his defeat, Clarke reduced his participation in party politics, focusing instead on his legal work for a time. Yet Clarke was soon back in the political arena, withdrawing from the partnership with Williamson and Cushing in 1907. His relationship with Johnson suffered after Clarke supported the successful candidacy of conservative Democrat Judson Harmon for governor in 1908; in response, when nominating a candidate for the United States Senate race in 1910 Johnson passed over Clarke in favor of Atlee Pomerene, the eventual winner. Clarke's support for the incorporation of progressive reforms into the Ohio Constitution in 1911, however, helped to restore his standing among Ohio progressives. Clarke attempted to parlay this into a second run for a United States Senate seat early in 1914, but he faced opposition in the primary from Ohio Attorney General Timothy S. Hogan and by the spring appeared to be in danger of losing the race.
Clarke was in the middle of his primary campaign when he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson on July 15, 1914 to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio created by the resignation of William Louis Day. Clarke was the choice of both Woodrow Wilson and Attorney General James Clark McReynolds, who felt that the position required a "first rate appointment" to deal with the backlog in the court's docket, and that Clarke's high standing before the Ohio bar marked him out as a man of "decided ability". Wilson also wanted a candidate who could be groomed as a prospective Supreme Court nominee, given the relative dearth of Democratic prospects on the federal bench after sixteen years of Republican presidents. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 21, 1914, and received commission the same day.
Clarke soon vindicated their hopes in him, establishing himself as an effective judge. Though considered too formal and aloof by the attorneys before him, he cleaned up the backlogged docket and won their respect for his ability. His work was of the highest quality, with only five of the 662 suits tried before him reversed, and none of these for errors in the admission of evidence. Clarke himself enjoyed his time at the district level, finding his duties not too onerous and the variety of cases before him stimulating.
Hub AI
John Hessin Clarke AI simulator
(@John Hessin Clarke_simulator)
John Hessin Clarke
John Hessin Clarke (September 18, 1857 – March 22, 1945) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1922.
Born in New Lisbon, Ohio, Clarke was the third and youngest child and only son of John Clarke (1814–1884), a Quaker immigrant from County Antrim, Ireland who became a lawyer and judge in the United States, and his wife Melissa Hessin. He attended New Lisbon High School and Western Reserve College, where he became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1877. Clarke did not attend law school but studied the law under his father's direction and passed the bar exam cum laude in 1878.
After practicing law in New Lisbon for two years, Clarke moved to Youngstown, where he purchased a half-share in the Youngstown Vindicator. The Vindicator was a Democratic newspaper and Clarke, a reform-minded Bourbon Democrat, wrote several articles opposing the growing power of corporate monopolies and promoting such causes as civil-service reform. He also became involved in local party politics and civic causes. His efforts to prevent Calvin S. Brice's renomination as the party's candidate for the United States Senate in 1894 ended in failure, but he worked successfully to oppose the election of a Republican candidate for mayor of Youngstown who was a member of the American Protective Association. A "gold bug" in 1896, Clarke's opposition to William Jennings Bryan's nomination as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate was so great that he bolted the party and participated in the subsequent "Gold Bug" convention in Indianapolis that nominated Senator John M. Palmer later that year.
Soon after the 1896 presidential election, Clarke moved to Cleveland, where he became a partner in the law firm of Williamson and Cushing. The firm represented corporate and railroad interests, and Clarke soon demonstrated his worth, replacing senior partner Samuel W. Williamson as the general counsel for the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. Yet Clarke continued his involvement in the Democratic Party. His politics evolved during this period, as Clarke abandoned many of the political views of his youth, including those involving states' rights, and embraced instead the program of the emerging progressive movement. Clarke's political evolution during this period was facilitated considerably by his friendship with Cleveland mayor Tom L. Johnson, who helped restore Clarke's standing within the state party after Clarke's previous failure to support Bryan's presidential bid.
In 1903, Johnson succeeded in taking control of the state Democratic Party, an effort which Clarke supported. At the party's convention that August, Clarke was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Though an accomplished orator, Clarke's work as a railroad attorney, his opposition to Bryan's presidential candidacy seven years before, and his own personal limitations all contributed to his failure to upset his Republican rival, Mark Hanna, who won the balloting in the Ohio General Assembly by 115 votes to 25 for Clarke.
In the aftermath of his defeat, Clarke reduced his participation in party politics, focusing instead on his legal work for a time. Yet Clarke was soon back in the political arena, withdrawing from the partnership with Williamson and Cushing in 1907. His relationship with Johnson suffered after Clarke supported the successful candidacy of conservative Democrat Judson Harmon for governor in 1908; in response, when nominating a candidate for the United States Senate race in 1910 Johnson passed over Clarke in favor of Atlee Pomerene, the eventual winner. Clarke's support for the incorporation of progressive reforms into the Ohio Constitution in 1911, however, helped to restore his standing among Ohio progressives. Clarke attempted to parlay this into a second run for a United States Senate seat early in 1914, but he faced opposition in the primary from Ohio Attorney General Timothy S. Hogan and by the spring appeared to be in danger of losing the race.
Clarke was in the middle of his primary campaign when he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson on July 15, 1914 to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio created by the resignation of William Louis Day. Clarke was the choice of both Woodrow Wilson and Attorney General James Clark McReynolds, who felt that the position required a "first rate appointment" to deal with the backlog in the court's docket, and that Clarke's high standing before the Ohio bar marked him out as a man of "decided ability". Wilson also wanted a candidate who could be groomed as a prospective Supreme Court nominee, given the relative dearth of Democratic prospects on the federal bench after sixteen years of Republican presidents. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 21, 1914, and received commission the same day.
Clarke soon vindicated their hopes in him, establishing himself as an effective judge. Though considered too formal and aloof by the attorneys before him, he cleaned up the backlogged docket and won their respect for his ability. His work was of the highest quality, with only five of the 662 suits tried before him reversed, and none of these for errors in the admission of evidence. Clarke himself enjoyed his time at the district level, finding his duties not too onerous and the variety of cases before him stimulating.