Enoch White Clark (November 16, 1802 – August 4, 1856) was the founder of E. W. Clark & Co., [1] a prominent financial firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that helped the U.S. government finance the Mexican–American War. In 1857, Clark was listed as one of Philadelphia's 25 millionaires. [2]
Clark also launched the financial career of Jay Cooke, who helped finance the Union's war effort in the Civil War and establish a true national currency.
Clark was born in November 16, 1802, in Easthampton, Massachusetts, a descendant of Captain William Clark (1609–1690), who emigrated from England aboard the ship Mary and John and landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1630, and moved to the town of Easthampton in 1639. [3] Enoch traced his descent from William as follows: John (1651-1704), John (1679-1768), Eliakim (1707-1781), Lt. Asahel (1737-1822), to his father, Bohan (1772-1846), a merchant and miller who married Mary White (1777-?) on February 11, 1802. [4] [5]
Enoch Clark got his start in finance by working as an office boy [6] at S. & M. Allen & Company, a prominent Philadelphia bank. In 1823, he was made a partner of a new branch of the bank in Providence, Rhode Island. [6] On February 1, 1826, Clark married Sarah Crawford Dodge (1806-1878), a daughter of Nehemiah Dodge. [7] (After she died, her son Edward White Clark commissioned a stained-glass window in her memory in the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. [8])
In 1832, Clark launched his own bank in Boston, Massachusetts; it failed four years later, whereupon he headed back to Philadelphia. [9]
In 1837, [1] he created the E. W. Clark & Co. financial house with his two brothers, Luther Clapp Clark (July 4, 1815 - 1877) and Joseph Washington Clark (1810-1892); and brother-in-law, Edward Dodge. [10] It was described as a "general banking, commission, and exchange business." [11]
Clark's Philadelphia firm did well, earning enough to pay off his debts in seven years, [9] then to propel the Clarks to a place among the city's wealthiest families. [2] The firm opened branches in New York City, St. Louis, New Orleans, [6] and Burlington, Iowa, [10] and made considerable money performing domestic exchanges in the wake of the 1836 revocation of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States and the Panic of 1837. Moody's magazine, a monthly publication of the Moody's credit rating agency, later wrote:
During the first ten years of its development the firm gained wide recognition and public confidence, owing to the indomitable energy of Enoch W. Clark. The drafts of this house drawn between the various branches, were regarded as the very best circulating medium in the West. There were more than $2,000,000 worth of these drafts in circulation within a short time after the establishment of the western branch offices and they were considered everywhere as the equivalent of gold. [10]
Along the way, Clark hired a clerk who would one day shape the American financial system: 16-year-old Jay Cooke of Sandusky, Ohio. "Enoch W. Clark liked the boy's looks and he gave him a job. Cooke was assigned to the clerical department where his devotion to his work and his exceptional abilities in financial matters caused Mr. Clark to push him along," a 1914 history of the firm recounted. [11]
At the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), the U.S. government borrowed about $50 million (about $1,695,555,556 today [12]) from the firm, then recognized as "the leading domestic exchange house" in the country. [10]
In 1849, Enoch's oldest son, Edward White Clark, became a member of the firm. That same year, Cooke was made a partner. (Cooke retired from the firm in 1854, and went on to help to sell the bonds that financed the U.S. Civil War and push the cash-strapped American government to form a true national currency.) [11]
Enoch Clark "withdrew from the really active management" of his firm in 1850. [13] He died on August 4, 1856, of nicotine poisoning. [14] [13]
![]() | This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(May 2023) |
Enoch W. Clark was the patriarch of a family that gained much prominence in Philadelphia and national affairs. He married Sarah Crawford Dodge. [15] [16] Together they had at least four sons and three daughters:
E. W. Clark & Co., investment banking and brokerage house, is observing its 100th anniversary today. Founded in Philadelphia as a private bank on February 15, 1837, the firm has been continuously under the direction of its founder, Enoch White Clark, and his descendants. Of the present eight partners, three are grandsons and four great grandsons. One of the early partners of the firm was Jay Cooke.
The founder of the firm was Enoch W. Clark, who was born in 1802 in East Hampton, Mass., and received his business ... Enoch W. Clark died in 1856. The present partners are Edward Walter Clark, Clarence M. Clark, Herbert L. Clark, ...
Clark, Enoch W., banker, was born in East Hampton, Mass., Nov. 16, 1802, a descendant of Capt. William Clark, who came from England in 1630, and removed to the town of East Hampton in 1639. At the age of sixteen our subject removed to Philadelphia, and entered the office of S.tfc M. Allen, one of the leading financial houses, with main offices in Philadelphia and New York, and branches in Charleston, Louisville, Albany, and other cities. ...
Mr. Enoch W. Clark, of the firm of E W. Clark & Co, bankers and exchange brokers, Third street, died yesterday morning after a long and painful illness, caused by cancer of the tongue Mr Clark is extensively known over the whole Union, being connected with the house of Clark, Dodge & Co., New York, and also with houses in the West, St Louis, ...[ permanent dead link]
Mrs. Marion Clark Madeira, a leader in social welfare work, died at her home in Germantown today after an illness of six months. She was 70 years old.
Enoch White Clark (November 16, 1802 – August 4, 1856) was the founder of E. W. Clark & Co., [1] a prominent financial firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that helped the U.S. government finance the Mexican–American War. In 1857, Clark was listed as one of Philadelphia's 25 millionaires. [2]
Clark also launched the financial career of Jay Cooke, who helped finance the Union's war effort in the Civil War and establish a true national currency.
Clark was born in November 16, 1802, in Easthampton, Massachusetts, a descendant of Captain William Clark (1609–1690), who emigrated from England aboard the ship Mary and John and landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1630, and moved to the town of Easthampton in 1639. [3] Enoch traced his descent from William as follows: John (1651-1704), John (1679-1768), Eliakim (1707-1781), Lt. Asahel (1737-1822), to his father, Bohan (1772-1846), a merchant and miller who married Mary White (1777-?) on February 11, 1802. [4] [5]
Enoch Clark got his start in finance by working as an office boy [6] at S. & M. Allen & Company, a prominent Philadelphia bank. In 1823, he was made a partner of a new branch of the bank in Providence, Rhode Island. [6] On February 1, 1826, Clark married Sarah Crawford Dodge (1806-1878), a daughter of Nehemiah Dodge. [7] (After she died, her son Edward White Clark commissioned a stained-glass window in her memory in the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. [8])
In 1832, Clark launched his own bank in Boston, Massachusetts; it failed four years later, whereupon he headed back to Philadelphia. [9]
In 1837, [1] he created the E. W. Clark & Co. financial house with his two brothers, Luther Clapp Clark (July 4, 1815 - 1877) and Joseph Washington Clark (1810-1892); and brother-in-law, Edward Dodge. [10] It was described as a "general banking, commission, and exchange business." [11]
Clark's Philadelphia firm did well, earning enough to pay off his debts in seven years, [9] then to propel the Clarks to a place among the city's wealthiest families. [2] The firm opened branches in New York City, St. Louis, New Orleans, [6] and Burlington, Iowa, [10] and made considerable money performing domestic exchanges in the wake of the 1836 revocation of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States and the Panic of 1837. Moody's magazine, a monthly publication of the Moody's credit rating agency, later wrote:
During the first ten years of its development the firm gained wide recognition and public confidence, owing to the indomitable energy of Enoch W. Clark. The drafts of this house drawn between the various branches, were regarded as the very best circulating medium in the West. There were more than $2,000,000 worth of these drafts in circulation within a short time after the establishment of the western branch offices and they were considered everywhere as the equivalent of gold. [10]
Along the way, Clark hired a clerk who would one day shape the American financial system: 16-year-old Jay Cooke of Sandusky, Ohio. "Enoch W. Clark liked the boy's looks and he gave him a job. Cooke was assigned to the clerical department where his devotion to his work and his exceptional abilities in financial matters caused Mr. Clark to push him along," a 1914 history of the firm recounted. [11]
At the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), the U.S. government borrowed about $50 million (about $1,695,555,556 today [12]) from the firm, then recognized as "the leading domestic exchange house" in the country. [10]
In 1849, Enoch's oldest son, Edward White Clark, became a member of the firm. That same year, Cooke was made a partner. (Cooke retired from the firm in 1854, and went on to help to sell the bonds that financed the U.S. Civil War and push the cash-strapped American government to form a true national currency.) [11]
Enoch Clark "withdrew from the really active management" of his firm in 1850. [13] He died on August 4, 1856, of nicotine poisoning. [14] [13]
![]() | This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(May 2023) |
Enoch W. Clark was the patriarch of a family that gained much prominence in Philadelphia and national affairs. He married Sarah Crawford Dodge. [15] [16] Together they had at least four sons and three daughters:
E. W. Clark & Co., investment banking and brokerage house, is observing its 100th anniversary today. Founded in Philadelphia as a private bank on February 15, 1837, the firm has been continuously under the direction of its founder, Enoch White Clark, and his descendants. Of the present eight partners, three are grandsons and four great grandsons. One of the early partners of the firm was Jay Cooke.
The founder of the firm was Enoch W. Clark, who was born in 1802 in East Hampton, Mass., and received his business ... Enoch W. Clark died in 1856. The present partners are Edward Walter Clark, Clarence M. Clark, Herbert L. Clark, ...
Clark, Enoch W., banker, was born in East Hampton, Mass., Nov. 16, 1802, a descendant of Capt. William Clark, who came from England in 1630, and removed to the town of East Hampton in 1639. At the age of sixteen our subject removed to Philadelphia, and entered the office of S.tfc M. Allen, one of the leading financial houses, with main offices in Philadelphia and New York, and branches in Charleston, Louisville, Albany, and other cities. ...
Mr. Enoch W. Clark, of the firm of E W. Clark & Co, bankers and exchange brokers, Third street, died yesterday morning after a long and painful illness, caused by cancer of the tongue Mr Clark is extensively known over the whole Union, being connected with the house of Clark, Dodge & Co., New York, and also with houses in the West, St Louis, ...[ permanent dead link]
Mrs. Marion Clark Madeira, a leader in social welfare work, died at her home in Germantown today after an illness of six months. She was 70 years old.