Edward Clark, Governor of Texas March 16 to November 7, 1861

Edward Clark, Governor of Texas from March 16 to November 7, 1861, was a principal figure in the history of Confederate Texas. He was chief executive of the State during those critical months immediately following secession; his approach to the problems of adjusting to a new government and to a war situation set the pattern for the policies of following administrations. The purpose of this study, therefore, has been to reveal Governor Clark as a politician and as an administrator, and to explore the history of his administration. Clark was born in New Orleans of a prominent Georgia family. He spent his youth in Alabama, where he was educated and admitted to the bar. He came to Texas in 1841, settling at Marshall, in Harrison County, He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1845, He was elected to the First House of Representatives of the State of Texas, and to the Second Senate, He fought in the Mexican War, where he participated in the capture of Monterrey as a member of the staff of General James P. Henderson, from 1853 through 1857 he served as Secretary of State under Governor E. M. Pease. In 1858 he was appointed Commissioner of Claims, and in 1859 he was elected Lieutenant Governor on a ticket with Sam Houston. On March 16, 1861, when Governor Houston refused to take the oath of office under the Confederacy, Clark became Governor. [...]History, Department o