The Biographical Dictionary of America/Clark, Laban

CLARK, Laban, clergyman, was born in Haverhill, N.H., July 19, 1778. He was educated at an academy at Bradford, Vt. In 1800 he began to preach; joined the New York Methodist conference in 1801 and for fifty years was an itinerant preacher. He was instrumental in the

formation of the missionary society of the M.E. church, established in 1819. He actively interested himself in the formation of a Methodist college and procured the necessary endowments for Wesleyan university, which was established at Middletown, Conn., in 1831, and which in 1853 conferred upon him the degree of D.D. He served as president of its board of trustees until his death at Middletown, Conn., Nov. 28, 1868.