Clarke was born in
Standing Stone, Pennsylvania. She attended the
University of Nebraska art school for a year, before she graduated from
Colorado College in
Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1902. She was elected to Congress in 1933 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband
John Davenport Clarke who had died in a car crash on November 5, 1933. She served from December 28, 1933, until January 3, 1935, withdrawing her nomination for reelection prior to the primary of 1934. She died in
Cooperstown, New York. She is interred at the Locust Hill Cemetery in
Hobart, NY. ==See also==