Thomas Clayton: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Officeholderofficeholder

| name image = Thomas ClaytonThomas_Clayton_US.jpg

| term_start1 office2 = January 9, 1837

| term_end1 term_start2 = MarchJanuary 48, 18471824

| term_start3 state4 = January 18, 1832[[Delaware]]

| successor3 term_end4 = [[JohnMarch M.3, Clayton]]1817

| office5 preceded5 = 5th [[Attorney GeneralEdward ofW. DelawareGilpin]]

|office6 term_end5 = Member of the [[Delaware = 1815Senate]]

|office7 preceded5 = Member of =the [[EdwardDelaware House W.of GilpinRepresentatives]]

| birth_date spouse = JulyJennette 1777Macomb

'''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.

Clayton died of pneumonia at his retirement home at New Castle and is buried in the [[Old Presbyterian Cemetery]], which is at Dover, on the grounds of the [[Delaware State Museum]].

"A handsome man with polished manners, he was a stickler for dignity, decorum and punctuality at court session, and once ordered himself fined $10 for being 10 minutes late in appearing in court." <ref>{{cite book |last author= Wilson |first =, W. Emerson |authorlink = |coauthors = |year = 1969 |title = Forgotten Heroes of Delaware |publisher = Deltos Publishing Company |location = Cambridge, MA |id =}}</ref>

[[John Thomas Scharf|Thomas Scharf]] comments: "Chief Justice Clayton was profoundly versed in the principles of the law. He had a marvelous skill in perceiving the vital points of a case, largely due to his almost intuitive grasp of fundamental principles. He was prompt in deciding the merits of an issue and felicitous in the precision with which he formulated facts and conclusions. His words were few but masterly in force and point. Judge Clayton was eminently impartial in his judicial capacity. Neither distinction of the person nor relationships swayed his judgments. With respect to the lawyers at the Bar, he made no difference in the administration of rules between the eminent John M. Clayton and his own son who was a practitioner at the same bar. He meted out to all the same even-handed justice, and required of all the same respectful regard for the law and for decorum." <ref>{{cite book |title = History of Delaware 1609-18881609–1888. 2 vols. |last author= Scharf |first =, John Thomas}}

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]]

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

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|[[Delaware Senate|State Senator]]

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|[[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]]

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

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|[[Delaware Senate|State Senator]]

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

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|<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'']]

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|[[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'']]

|[[United States House of Representatives elections, 1814 and 1815|1814]]

|{{Party shading/Federalist}} |Thomas Clayton<br>[[Thomas Cooper (representativeAmerican politician, born 1764)|Thomas Cooper]]

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

|[[United States House of Representatives elections, 1818 and 1819|1818]]

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

*{{cite book |title = History of the State of Delaware, 3 vols. |last = Conrad |first = Henry C. |coauthors = |work = |publisher = Wickersham Company |location = Lancaster, Pennsylvania |year = 1908 |id =}}

*{{cite book |title = Delawareans in Congress |last = Martin |first = Roger A. |authorlink = |coauthors = |year = 2003 |publisher = Roger A. Martin |location = Middletown, DE |isbn = 0-924117-26-5}}

*{{cite book |title = Memoirs of the Senate |last = Martin |first = Roger A. |authorlink = |coauthors = |year = 1995 |publisher = Roger A. Martin |location = Newark, DE |id =}}

*{{cite book |title = Federalist Delaware 1775-1815 |last = Munroe |first = John A. |authorlink = |coauthors = |year = 1954 |publisher = Rutgers University |location = New Brunswick, New Jersey |id =}}

*{{cite book |title = History of Delaware 1609-18881609–1888. 2 vols |last = Scharf |first = John Thomas |coauthors = |work = |publisher = L. J. Richards & Co |location = Philadelphia |year = 1888 |id =}}

*{{cite book |title = Forgotten Heroes of Delaware |last = Wilson |first = W. Emerson |authorlink = |coauthors = |year = 1969 |publisher = Deltos Publishing Company |location = Cambridge, MA |id =}}

| years= 1810&ndash;18151810–1815 }}

{{U.S.US Senator succession box

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

|years=1824-18271824–1827

|years=1837-18471837–1847

[[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]]

[[Category:Infectious19th-century diseaseAmerican deaths in Delawarelawyers]]

[[Category:WhigDeaths Partyfrom Unitedpneumonia Statesin SenatorsDelaware]]