Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/275

 CLAYTON

CLAYTON

of Camden. In 1824 he was elected a member of the state legislature and shortly afterward be- came secretary of state of Delaware. In 1829 he was elected a U.S. senator, the youngest mem- ber in that body, and was re-elected in 1835, re- signing in December, 1836, to accept the chief justiceship of the state. This office he retained until August, 1839. He was again elected to the senate in 1845, and on the accession of General Taylor to the presidency in 1849, he accepted a position in his cabinet as secretary of state. While holding this office he negotiated with Great Britain the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, guarantee- ing neutrality and protection to inter-oceanic communication which might be constructed across Central America. In 1850 President Taylor's death relieved him of his secretary- ship, and not desiring again to enter jjublic life, he retired to his country seat, " Buena Vista, " in New Castle county. In January, 1853, the Whigs and Democrats united in the legislature and sent him back to the senate that he might have it in his power to meet charges made against him in his absence in regard to the nego- tiation of the Clayton-Bulwer ti'eaty. His first speech after his new election to the senate was in defence of his action and in vindication of Taylor's administration. His senatorial career was brilliant and unmarred by any imputation against his honor. Yale conferred on him the degree of LL.D. in 1886. See " Memoir of John M. Clayton " (1882) by Joseph P. Comegys. He died at the home of his niece, Mrs. Joseph P. Comegys, in Dover, Del., Nov. 9, 1856.

CLAYTON, Joshua, senator, was born in Cecil county, Md., in 1744; son of James and Grace Claj'ton, grandson of John and Grace Clayton, and great-grandson of Joshua Clayton, a Quaker preacher who came to America in 1682. He be- came a physician of skill and reputation, and practised in his native place. In 1776 he was first major in the Bohemia battalion of the Mary- land line and served as aid on the staff of Gen- eral Washington at the battle of Brandywine. He was a delegate to the provincial congress, 1782-84; judge of the court of appeals; state treasurer, 1786; pi-esident of Delaware under the first constitution from May 30, 1789 to Jan. 13, 1793; governor of Delaware by election of the people from Jan. 13, 1793, to Jan. 13, 1796; and U.S. senator from Delaware from January 19, 1798, until his death. He was married to Mrs. Eachel ]\IcCleary, an adopted daughter of Rich- ard Bassett, an earl}' goA'ernor of Delaware. He left three sons, the youngest of whom, Thomas, became U.S. senator and chief justice of the state. He died in Bohemia Manor, Md., Aug. 11, 1798.

CLAYTON, Philip, statesman, was born in Athens, Ga., March 19, 1815; fourth son of Au-

gustin Smith and Julia (Carnes) Clayton; grand- son of Major Philip and Mildred (Dixon), great- grandson of Samuel and Ann (Coleman), great* grandson of Major Philip and Ann (Coleman), great^ grandson of John Claj'ton of Williams- burg, Va., attorney-general and friend of Gov- ernor Spotswood, great* grandson of the Rev. David Clayton, a minister in New ^-'^ —

Kent county, Va., and great* grandson of the Rev. Jolm Clayton, rector of Crofton in York- shire, England, who settled in Virginia and while serving the church in the new colony also en- gaged in agricul- tural pursuits and reported to the Royal society of England '■ Several Observa- bles"' in which he discussed the soil, climate, etc., in Virginia. Philip was graduated at Franklin college with the honors of the class of 1833. He then studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1836. The same year he was married to Leonora, daughter of Hol- combe Gaines and Martha (Semons) Harper, of Greensboro, Ga. Her father was a lineal de- scendant of Robert Goodloe Harper. Philip soon after relinquished the practice of the law to take charge of his father's plantation in Mississippi. On the death of his father in 1839 he returned to Athens, Ga., where he was editor of the H^outhern Banner. In 1849 he was appointed by President Taylor second auditor of the U.S. treasury and held the office through the administrations of Presidents Fillmore and Pierce. On the acces- sion of President Buchanan, when Howell Cobb was made secretary of the treasury, Auditor Clayton was made assistant secretary, which position he resigned on the secession of Georgia in 1861. On the formation of the Confederacy Mr. Clayton was made assistant secretarj' of the Confederate states treasury and held the office during the existence of that government. After the restoration of the Union he acted with the Republican party and in 1874 President Grant appointed him U.S. consul at Callao, Peru, S.A. At his death he was succeeded in ofiice by his son Robert, who was at the time his secretary. Mr. Clayton died at Callao, Peru, S.A., March 22, 1877. CLAYTON, Powell, diplomatist, was born in Bethel, Delaware county. Pa., Aug. 7, 1833; son of John and Ann (Clark) Clayton. His mother was a daughter of George Clark, a captain in the