Clark, Thomas March

(July 4, 1812-Sept. 7, 1903). Twelfth Presiding Bishop. He was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale College in 1831 and worked for two years as a teacher. Clark was raised a Presbyterian. He studied at Princeton Theological Seminary and was licensed as a preacher after his graduation in 1835. He soon applied for ordination in the Episcopal Church. Clark was ordained deacon on Feb. 3, 1836, and priest on Nov. 6, 1836. He served parishes in Boston, Philadelphia, and Hartford, Connecticut, prior to his election as the fifth Bishop of Rhode Island. He was consecrated in Grace Church, Providence, on Dec. 6, 1854. Clark was rector of Grace Church between 1854 and 1866, but then resigned to devote himself full-time to episcopal duties. He served as Presiding Bishop from Feb. 7, 1899, until his death. Clark was an active supporter of the Union cause during the Civil War, and he was committed to the theological and social liberalism of the broad church party. He died in Newport, Rhode Island.