John Clark

John Clark (sometimes spelled Clarke) (February 28, 1766 – October 12, 1832) was an American planter, politician, and slaveholder. He was the 31st Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia, from 1819 to 1823. As governor, he prevailed in the U.S. Supreme Court case Ex parte Madrazzo, a dispute over whether a claim of ownership of a group of enslaved people could be enforced against the state.

Clark was born in 1766 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Along with his father, Elijah Clarke, Clark fought in the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Kettle Creek and served in the Georgia militia.

He moved to Wilkes County, Georgia, in the early 1770s. He became a major general in 1796.

Clark served as a presidential elector in the 1816 presidential election. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives before he was elected to consecutive two-year terms as the 31st Governor, from 1819 to 1823. During his term, he successfully defended states' rights in a US Supreme Court case, Ex parte Madrazzo, over a Spanish citizen who claimed that he owned some of Clark's slaves.

Clark resided at Woodville, a plantation in Milledgeville, Georgia. He was married to Nancy Clark.

Clark died of yellow fever in St. Andrews Bay (Florida) in 1832 in what was then Washington County (now Bay County) and was buried in that same city; however, his grave was relocated to Marietta National Cemetery in Georgia in 1923 by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Clarkesville, Georgia and Clarke County, Alabama are named after him.

• "John Clark (1766–1832)," New Georgia Encyclopedia.
• Georgia State Archives Roster of State Governors
• Georgia Governor's Gravesites Field Guide (1776–2003)
• Georgia Secretary of State official website
• John Clark House historical marker