Thomas Clayton

Thomas Clayton

Thomas Clayton ( July 1777 in Cecil County , Maryland , † August 21, 1854 in New Castle , Delaware ) was an American politician of the Federalist Party . From 1815 to 1817, from 1824 to 1827 and from 1837 to 1847 he sat for the US state of Delaware in the US House of Representatives and in the US Senate .

Early life

Thomas Clayton was born in Maryland to Joshua Clayton . Clayton studied law at the University of Delaware . In 1799 he opened his own law firm in Dover .

Political career

After establishing his law firm in Dover, Clayton began working for the Delaware House of Representatives . From 1803 he finally switched to politics as a member of the House of Representatives. There he sat intermittently until 1814. In 1808 he was elected to the Delaware Senate, but he did not take this post because he was appointed Secretary of State . After two years in that office, he was appointed Attorney General of Delaware. He held this office until 1815.

In 1814, Clayton was elected to the US House of Representatives as a member of the Federalist Party. There he represented Delaware for one legislative period. In 1817 he left the House . In 1818 he ran again for a seat in the House ; however, his efforts were unsuccessful. In 1821 he was instead re-elected to the Delaware Senate, this time he also took up this post. After Caesar A. Rodney's resignation in 1824, Clayton was elected to the Federal Senate as his successor. He served the remainder of Rodney's tenure, then retired from the Senate in 1827.

In 1828, Clayton was appointed Chief Judge at the Delaware Court of Common Pleas . After a revision of the Delaware constitution, Clayton was appointed chief judge at the newly established Delaware Superior Court in 1832 . After Clayton's cousin John Middleton Clayton announced his resignation from the post of US Senator, Clayton was elected as his successor. In 1841 he was confirmed in office and again represented Delaware from 1837 to 1847 in the Federal Senate.

death

Clayton died of pneumonia in his New Castle home in 1854 . He was buried in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery in Dover.

Web links

• Thomas Clayton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Thomas Clayton in the database of Find a Grave (English)