Matthew Clarkson

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title: "Matthew Clarkson" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1758-births", "1825-deaths", "american-militia-generals", "continental-army-officers-from-massachusetts", "members-of-the-new-york-state-assembly", "new-york-(state)-state-senators", "politicians-from-new-york-city", "bankers-from-new-york-(state)", "abolitionists-from-new-york-city", "18th-century-members-of-the-new-york-state-legislature", "candidates-in-the-1802-united-states-elections"] description: "American politician and colonial soldier (1758-1825)" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Clarkson" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician and colonial soldier (1758-1825) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Matthew Clarkson
image	Matthew Clarkson.jpg
caption	Portrait of Clarkson by Gilbert Stuart (ca. 1794)
office	7th President of the Bank of New York
term_start	1804
term_end	1825
predecessor	Herman LeRoy
successor	Charles Wilkes
office1	Member of the New York State Senate for the Southern District
term_start1	July 1, 1793
term_end1	June 30, 1795
predecessor1	Philip Van Cortlandt
successor1	Philip Livingston
office2	Member of the New York State Assembly for New York County
term_start2	July 1, 1789
term_end2	June 30, 1790
birth_date
birth_place	New York City, Province of New York, British America
death_date
death_place	New York City, New York, U.S.
party	Federalist
parents	David Clarkson
Elisabeth French Clarkson
spouse	{{plainlist
* {{marriage	Mary Rutherfurd
* {{marriage	Sally Cornell
children	8
relations	John Clarkson Jay (grandson)
allegiance	United States of America
New York
branch	New York New York State Militia
rank	Brigadier general
battles	Revolutionary War:
Battle of Long Island
Battles of Saratoga
::

| name = Matthew Clarkson | image = Matthew Clarkson.jpg | caption = Portrait of Clarkson by Gilbert Stuart (ca. 1794) | order = | office = 7th President of the Bank of New York | term_start = 1804 | term_end = 1825 | predecessor = Herman LeRoy | successor = Charles Wilkes | office1 = Member of the New York State Senate for the Southern District | term_start1 = July 1, 1793 | term_end1 = June 30, 1795 | predecessor1 = Philip Van Cortlandt | successor1 = Philip Livingston | office2 = Member of the New York State Assembly for New York County | term_start2 = July 1, 1789 | term_end2 = June 30, 1790 | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, Province of New York, British America | death_date = | death_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | party = Federalist | parents = David Clarkson Elisabeth French Clarkson | spouse = {{plainlist|

| children = 8 | relations = John Clarkson Jay (grandson) | allegiance = United States of America New York | branch = New York New York State Militia | rank = Brigadier general | serviceyears = | battles = Revolutionary War: Battle of Long Island Battles of Saratoga Matthew Clarkson (October 17, 1758 – April 25, 1825) was a colonial soldier and politician. Clarkson Street in Greenwich Village and the town of Clarkson in Western New York were both named after him.

Early life

Clarkson was born on October 17, 1758, at his father's residence on Whitehall Street in New York City in the Province of New York in what was then British America. He was the son of David Clarkson (1726–1782) and Elisabeth (née French) Clarkson (1724–1808). His brother, Thomas Streatfeild Clarkson, was the grandfather of Thomas S. Clarkson, the namesake of Clarkson University.

Clarkson was the great-grandson of Matthew Clarkson, who emigrated to New York and served as a patent official in the 1690s. His father, Clarkson's great-great grandfather, was Rev. David Clarkson (1622–1686), the English born Puritan clergyman whose sermons included "The Doctrine of Justification is Dangerously Corrupted by the Roman Church." Through his mother, he was descended from Phillip French, the 27th Mayor of New York City.

Career

At the age of 17, he entered the Army to serve in the Revolutionary War, first on Long Island, subsequently under Benedict Arnold. He was at Saratoga and, later, on the staff of General Benjamin Lincoln, was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, at Savannah (1779) and at the defense of Charleston (1780). He was also present at the surrender of Cornwallis.

After the war, Clarkson was commissioned brigadier general of militia of Kings and Queens Counties in June 1786 and Major General of the Southern District of New York in March 1798. For a time, he was engaged in merchant business with John Vanderbilt under the company Vanderbilt & Clarkson. The firm was later closed and he worked with his brother at the firm S. & L. Clarkson & Co.

Political service

When the war ended, Lincoln became Secretary of War and Clarkson became his assistant. He served as a Federalist member of the 13th New York State Legislature in the New York State Assembly for one term from 1789 to 1790, where he introduced a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in the State.

As a Regent of the University of the State of New York he was presented at the court of French King Louis XVI. From 1791 to 1792, he served as U.S. Marshal. In 1793, he was elected to fill the vacancy, in place of Philip Van Cortlandt, as State Senator in the 17th New York State Legislature representing the Southern District, which consisted of Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties. He served until 1795 after being reelected to the 18th Legislature, and resigning before he completed his full four year term. He was also a member of the commission to build a new prison 1796-1797 and President of the New York (City) Hospital (1799).

In 1802, Clarkson was the Federalist Party candidate for U.S. Senator from New York but was defeated by DeWitt Clinton. He was President of the Bank of New York from 1804, succeeding Herman LeRoy, and serving until his death in 1825. He was succeeded by Charles Wilkes.

Philanthropy

Clarkson was one of the first trustees of New York's earliest savings bank established to serve laborers and the poor, The Bank for Savings in the City of New-York. His son-in-law Peter Augustus Jay was one of the bank's founders.

Personal life

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Coat_of_Arms_of_William_Clarkson.svg" caption="Coat of Arms of Matthew Clarkson"] ::

On May 24, 1785, Clarkson was married to Mary Rutherfurd (1761–1786), the daughter of Walter Rutherfurd and Catherine (née Alexander) Rutherfurd and the sister of U.S. Senator John Rutherfurd. Through her mother, she was the niece of William Alexander, Lord Stirling, and the granddaughter of James Alexander and Mary Alexander Provoost. Before her death in 1786, they were the parents of one child together:

• Mary Rutherfurd Clarkson (1786–1838), who married her cousin Peter Augustus Jay (1776–1843), the eldest son of Chief Justice John Jay and Sarah Van Brugh (née Livingston) Jay, in 1807.

His second marriage was on February 14, 1792, to Sally Cornell (1762–1803), the daughter of Samuel Cornell (1731–1781) and Susan (née Mabson) Cornell (1732–1778). Among Sally's siblings were Hannah Cornell (wife of Herman LeRoy) and Elizabeth Cornell (wife of William Bayard Jr.). Together they had eight children, including:

• Elizabeth Clarkson (1793–1820), who died unmarried.
• Catherine Rutherfurd Clarkson (1794–1861), who married Jonathan Goodhue, son of U.S. Senator Benjamin Goodhue.
• David Clarkson (1795–1867), who was President of the New York Stock Exchange, from 1837 to 1851, who married his cousin, Elizabeth Streatfield Clarkson, in 1822.
• Matthew Clarkson, Jr. (1796–1883), who married Catherine Elizabeth Clarkson in 1821.
• William Bayard Clarkson (1798–1875), who married Adelaide Margaret Livingston (1806–1885), daughter of Robert L. Livingston and granddaughter of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, in 1826.
• Susan Maria Clarkson (1800–1823), who married James Ferguson de Peyster, brother of Frederic de Peyster, in 1822.
• Sarah Cornell Clarkson (1802–1849), who married Rev. William Richmond in 1826.

Legacy

On April 2, 1819, the town of Clarkson was established by the New York State Legislature and named in honor of General Clarkson. Although there is no evidence that he ever lived in Western New York, he reportedly owned a sizable amount of land there, and he gave 100 acres (405,000 m²) to the town, the rest of his interest was placed in trust for his children.

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter Mary, he was the grandfather of: John Clarkson Jay (1808–1891), a physician and noted conchologist, Catherine Helena Jay (1815–1889), who married Henry Augustus DuBois (1808–1884), in 1835. Anna Maria Jay (1819–1902), who married Henry Evelyn Pierrepont (1808–1888), in 1841, and Susan Matilda Jay (1827–1910), who married another of his grandchildren, Matthew Clarkson (1823–1913), the son of David Clarkson, in 1852.

References

References

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19. (2002). "Around Brockport". Arcadia Publishing.
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21. (17 November 1891). "OBITUARY.". [[The New York Times]].
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23. (3 January 1902). "MRS. A. M. PIERREPONT DEAD.; Was a Granddaughter of John Jay, First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.". [[The New York Times]].
24. (1 April 1888). "H.E. PIERREPONT'S FUNERAL.". [[The New York Times]].
25. (5 November 1911). "HENRY E. PIERREPONT DEAD.; Retired Merchant Was One of the Brooklyn Family of Pierreponts.". [[The New York Times]].
26. (30 June 1910). "Obituary -- CLARKSON". [[The New York Times]].
27. (13 March 1913). "Obituary -- CLARKSON". [[The New York Times]].

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