Thomas Clayton: Difference between revisions

|term_end1 = March 43, 1847

|term_end2 = March 43, 1827

|predecessor2 = [[Caesar A.Augustus Rodney]] <ref>ThisThe seat was vacant from January 29, 1823, until January 8, 1824.</ref>

|district4 = [[Delaware's Atat-large congressional district|Firstfirst Atat-large]]

|term_end4 = March 43, 1817

|term7 = January 4, 1803 – January 19, 1808<br />January 1, 1811 – January 3, 1815

|birth_place = [[Cecil County, Maryland|Cecil County]], [[Maryland]]

|death_date = {{death date and age|1854|8|21|1777|7|1}}

|death_place = [[New Castle, Delaware|New Castle]], [[Delaware]]

|profession = {{hlist|Lawyer|politician}}

'''Thomas Clayton''' (July 1777 – August 21, 1854) was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in [[Kent County, Delaware]]. He was a member of the [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist Party]] and later the [[National Republican Party]] and the Whig Party. He served in the Delaware General Assembly, as [[Attorney General of Delaware]], as [[Secretary of State of Delaware]], as Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, as U.S. Representative from Delaware, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware. In 1846 he was one of two members of the [[United States Senate]] to vote against declaring war on Mexico.

Clayton was born at Massey in Kent County, Maryland, son of the former Governor of Delaware, Dr. [[Joshua Clayton]], and Rachael McCleary Clayton. It is said he was born while his mother was fleeing invading British troops on the way from their Elk River landing to the Battle of Brandywine. While the Clayton's were natives of Kent County, Delaware, Rachael McCleary was the niece and adopted daughter of [[Richard Bassett (Delaware politician)|Richard Bassett]], the aristocratic heir to the expansive Bohemia Manor estates. The family lived at Bohemia Manor, and through this connection, Joshua Clayton later acquired his homestead from these estates, in [[Pencader Hundred]], [[New Castle County]].

Thomas Clayton graduated from the Newark Academy, now the [[University of Delaware]], studied law under Nicholas Ridgely in Dover, Delaware, and began a law practice there in 1799. His wife's name was Jennette Macomb, they had four children, and belonged to the [[Old First Presbyterian Church (Newark, Delaware)|Presbyterian Church]]. He was the cousin of U.S. Senator [[John M. Clayton]].

In 1814 Clayton was elected as a Federalist to one of two at-large seats Delaware had in the U.S. House of Representatives, and served one term there, from March 4, 1815, until March 3, 1817. While he was in Congress, it was proposed that the compensation given U.S. Representatives be increased $6 a day to $1,500 a year. Clayton supported the change, but it became very controversial, and his support of it caused him to lose the nomination of the Federalist Party to Louis McLane, beginning a long rivalry between the two men.

Clayton narrowly failed in an attempt to return to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1818 election, but was returned to the Delaware Senate again in 1821. Then, when Caesar A.Augustus Rodney resigned as U.S. Senator from Delaware, the General Assembly elected him to serve out the term, from January 8, 1824, to March 3, 1827. Clayton thus became one of the last men affiliated with the Federalist Party to be elected to the United States Senate. This was the time when the old[[First partyParty systemSystem]] of Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans was giving way to the Jacksonian Democrats, and those opposed to Jackson. Clayton, his family, and much of the old Federalist following in Delaware, aligned themselves with John Quincy Adams, and thosethe [[National Republican Party|National Republicans]] who would later become Whigs.

In 1837, Clayton's cousin, U.S. Senator John M. Clayton, resigned his office. Thomas Clayton was once again elected to the U.S. Senate to finish the term. After it ended, he was reelected in 1841 and served from January 9, 1837, to March 3, 1847. During this second period of service in the Senate, Clayton was at various times the Chairman of the Committee on Printing and a member of the Committee of Revolutionary Claims.

The General Assembly chose the U.S. Senators, who also took office March 4, but for a six-year term. In this case, he was initially completing the existing term, the vacancy caused by the resignation of Caesar A.Augustus Rodney. However, the General Assembly failed to fill the position for nearly a year.

! '''notesNotes'''

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware Senate|State Senator]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Secretary of State (U.S. state government)|Secretary of State]]

|[[Executive (government)|Executive]]

|[[Delaware Attorney General|Attorney General]]

|[[Executive (government)|Executive]]

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware House of Representatives|State Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Delaware Senate|State Senator]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]

|[[Legislature]]

|<ref>He was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Caesar A.Augustus Rodney in the preceding Congress. There was a vacancy in this class from January 29, 1823, until January 8, 1824.</ref>

|[[Judiciary]]

|[[Chief Justice]]

|[[Judiciary]]

|[[Delaware Superior Court|Superior Court]]

|[[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]

|[[Legislature]]

|[[Joseph Haslet]]<br>[[Charles Thomas (Delaware governor)|Charles Thomas]]

!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |United States Congressionalcongressional service

|[[Delaware's Atat-large congressional district|''1st at-large'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 1'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 1'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 2'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 2'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 2'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 2'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 2'']]

|[[Classes of United States Senators|''class 2'']]

|{{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} |[[Willard Hall]]<br>[[George Read, Jr.]]

|{{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} |[[Willard Hall]]<br>[[George Read, Jr.]]

{{U.S.US Senator succession box

|before=[[Caesar A.Augustus Rodney]]

[[Category:AmericanPeople Presbyteriansfrom Cecil County, Maryland]]

[[Category:PeoplePresbyterians from Dover, DelawareMaryland]]

[[Category:DelawareWhig WhigsParty United States senators from Delaware]]

[[Category:MembersChief of the United States HouseJustices of Representatives from Delaware]]

[[Category:ChiefPeople Justicesfrom ofDover, Delaware]]

[[Category:DeathsDelaware from pneumonialawyers]]