Declaration of Independence Signer. Born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he was the son of a farmer, and grew up with an affinity for the common person. Too sickly to do heavy farm labor, he learned to become a surveyor, surveying land boundaries, and would later put that experience to work when he became a lawyer. He was called the "Poor Man's Counselor" because of his defense of poor farmers in land cases, where he worked for little or no fees. About 1749, he married Sarah Hatfield, with whom he would have ten children. He soon became popular with people of less means; like them, he detested people who were rich and powerful and controlled most affairs in colonial America. From 1752 to 1766, he served as a clerk of the New Jersey colonial Legislature. When the struggle with Great Britain became intense, he quickly sided with the rebels who wanted independence. He was elected to serve in the Second Continental Congress, where he voted for independence. In exchange for his support, few of the signers suffered as much as he would. The British captured his home and set it on fire. When the British captured one of his sons and imprisoned him on a prison ship in New York harbor, they offered to release him if Clark would abandon the American cause; refused to betray his country and his principles, even if it meant the death of his son. After the war, he was elected to the United States Congress, and would constantly represent the common people. When it was suggested that American currency show the head of the current American President, he responded that our nation's coins should display the word "Liberty" along with designs typical of our country, and Congress soon voted to adopt Clark's proposal. He died in 1794 at the age of 68. These words are inscribed on his tombstone: "He loved his country and adhered to her cause, in the darkest hours of her struggles against oppression."