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Matthew Clarkson (mayor)

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Matthew Clarkson
48th Mayor of Philadelphia
In office
April 13, 1792 – October 18, 1796
Preceded byJohn Barclay
Succeeded byHilary Baker
Personal details
BornApril 1733
New York City, Province of New York, British America
DiedOctober 5, 1800(1800-10-05) (aged 67)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Resting placeChrist Church Burial Ground

Matthew Clarkson (April 1733 – October 5, 1800) was the mayor of Philadelphia from 1792 to 1796. He was elected to the Confederation Congress in 1785, but did not attend.

Biography

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Clarkson was born in New Jersey in April 1733. He moved to Philadelphia, where he was a justice of the court of common pleas, quarter sessions of the peace, and of the Philadelphia Orphans' court in 1771 and 1772. From 1779-1781 he served as treasurer of the American Philosophical Society, which he was elected to in 1768.[1] He was elected to the Confederation Congress in 1785, but did not serve. He was a member of the board of aldermen in 1789, then served as mayor of Philadelphia 1792–1796.

Clarkson was involved in numerous businesses, notably a dry-goods store on Second Street.[2] He was also part owner of two schooners registered in 1757 and 1758.[3] In 1765 he became involved inland settlement in the British colony of Nova Scotia, where a 100,000-acre township called Monckton was granted by the government in Halifax to Clarkson and several land partners including Anthony Wayne, John Hughes and Benjamin Franklin.[4]

He died in 1800 in Philadelphia, where he was interred in Christ Church Burial Ground.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bell, Whitfield J., and Charles Greifenstein, Jr. Patriot-Improvers: Biographical Sketches of Members of the American Philosophical Society. 3 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1997, 2:305–311.
  2. ^ Pennsylvania Journal, Oct. 25, 1764,
  3. ^ 'Ship Registers for the Port of Philadelphia, 1726-1775,' Penn. Mag. of Hist. and Biog., Vol. 26, pp. 128, 140
  4. ^ Leonard W. Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, American Philosophical Society, 1968, Vol. 12, pp. 348-9
  • United States Congress. "Matthew Clarkson (id: C000472)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Philadelphia
1792–1796
Succeeded by