Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/147

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

tiianding the Brunswick county militia in 1789; member of the Virginia house of dele- gates, 1784-1786: elected to the third, fourth, and fifth congresses (March 4. 1793-March 3. 1 799 1 : elected to the seventh and eighth congresses (March 4, 1801-March 3. 1805); died in Urunswick county, Virginia, in 1812.

Clark, Christopher, born in Albemarle county. X'irginia. in 1767; studied law and practiced : member of the state house of delegates for several terms; elected as a JeflFersonian Democrat to the eighth con- gress, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of John Trigg, re-elected to the ninth con- gress and served from November 5. 1804. tc July I, 180^). when he resigned : died near New I^ndon. \'irginia. November 21, 1828. He was a son of Robert Clark and Susan Henderson, his wife, daughter of John Hen- derson. (See "Cabells and their Kin,'' p. 290).

Clay, Matthew, born in Halifax county, Virginia. March 25. 1754; served in the revo- lutionary war from 1776 to 1783 as a lieu- tenant and quartermaster; elected as a Democratic Republican to the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth congresses (March 4, 1795-March 3, 1813) ; died in Halifax county, Virginia, 1815.

Clemens, Sherrard, born in Wheeling. \'irginia. April 28. 1820; attended Wash- ington College and the Cnited States Mili- tary Academy; studied law and entered upon practice in Wheeling. He was elected a.« a Democrat to the thirty-second con- gress, to fill vacancy occasioned by the resig- nation of George W'. Thompson, and served from December 6, 1852, to March 4, 1853; was presidential elector on the Buchanan

arnl Breckinridge ticket in 1856; elected to the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth congresses (March 4. 1857-March 3, 1861). He served in the Confederate army, and at the close of the war resumed the practice of law in Wheeling, West \'irginia. Later he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he continued the practice of his profession until his death, June 30, 1881.

Clopton, John, born in St. Peter's parish. New Kent county, \'irginia, February 7, 1756, son of William Clopton and Elizabeth Dorrall Ford, sister of Rev. Reuben Ford; \va.> graduated from the University of Penn- sylvania in 1773: wa.^ captain of a company t»f militia in the revolutionary war from the date of his graduation from the university until the close of the war; refused promo- tions to remain with his company that was mainly composed of relatives and that was fi-rnished its supplies and clothing by his father; served several terms'in the Virginia house of delegates between 1785 and 1795; elected as Democratic Republican to the fourth and firth congresses (March 4, 1795- March 3. 1799) ; and to the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth congresses; served from March 4, 1801. until his death, in St. Peter's parish. New Kent county, Virginia. Sep- tember II, 1816. He was succeeded in con- gress by John Tyler. He married Sarah Bacon, daughter of Edmund Bacon, and left issue.

Coke, Richard, born in Williamsburg, Vir- ginia, about 1804, son of John Coke and Re- becca Lawson. widow of Col. James Shields, completed preparatory studies; was graduated from William and Mary College; studied law; was admitted to the bar, and

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