John Middleton Clayton (July 24, 1796 – November 9, 1856) was an American lawyer and politician from Delaware. He was a member of the Whig Party who served in the Delaware General Assembly, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware and U.S. Secretary of State.
Early life and family
Born in Dagsboro, Delaware, son of Sarah (née Middleton) and James Clayton. His uncle, Dr. Joshua Clayton, was a former Governor of Delaware and his cousin, Thomas Clayton, was a prominent lawyer, U.S. Senator, and jurist. John M. Clayton studied at Berlin, Maryland and Milford, Delaware when his parents moved there. His boyhood home, known as the Parson Thorne Mansion, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. He graduated from Yale University in 1815, where he was a member of Brothers in Unity and then studied law at the Litchfield Law School. In 1819 he began the practice of law in Dover, Delaware.
About this time his father died and Clayton became the sole supporter of his immediate family, weekly walking the distance from Dover to Milford to see to their needs.
He married Sally Ann Fisher in 1822. She was the granddaughter of former Governor George Truitt. They had two sons, James and Charles, but she died two weeks after the birth of Charles. Clayton never remarried and raised the two boys himself.
In 1844, Clayton cultivated a tract of land near New Castle, Delaware which he called Buena Vista. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.]]
On March 8, 1849, Clayton became U.S. Secretary of State in the Whig administration of Zachary Taylor. His most notable accomplishment was the negotiation of the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty of 1850 with the British minister, Sir Henry Bulwer-Lytton. This treaty guaranteed the neutrality and encouragement of lines of travel across the isthmus at Panama, and laid the groundwork for America's eventual building of the Panama Canal. His tenure was brief, however, ending on July 22, 1850, soon after President Taylor's death.
As secretary of state, Clayton was intensely nationalistic and an ardent advocate of commercial expansion but his strict interpretation of international law created crises with Spain, Portugal, and France.
Clayton was again elected to the United States Senate one last time in 1853 and served from March 4, 1853, until his death on November 9, 1856. He opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. One of his most noted speeches delivered in the Senate was that made June 15, 1854 against the message of U.S. President Franklin Pierce, vetoing the Bill for the Benefit of the Indigent Insane, which would have ceded public lands for an insane asylum.
Death and legacy
After the death of his second son, Clayton moved his residence back to Dover. He died there and is buried in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery, which is at Dover, on the grounds of the Delaware State Museum.
His contemporaries considered Clayton one of the most skilled debaters and orators in the Senate. He was always accessible, and was noted for his genial disposition and brilliant conversational powers. Clayton Hall at the University of Delaware is named in his honor, as are towns in Delaware, New York, North Carolina and a county in Iowa. In 1934, the state of Delaware donated a statue of Clayton to the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Almanac
Elections were held the first Tuesday of October. Members of the General Assembly took office on the first Tuesday of January. State Representatives had a one-year term. The Secretary of State was appointed by the Governor and took office on the third Tuesday of January for a five-year term. The General Assembly chose the U.S. Senators, who took office March 4, for a six-year term.
{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Public Offices
|-
! Office
! Type
! Location
! Began office
! Ended office
! notes
|-
|State Representative
|Legislature
|Dover
|January 4, 1824
|January 3, 1825
|
|-
|Secretary of State
|Executive
|Dover
|December 1826
|October 1828
|
|-
|U.S. Senator
|Legislature
|Washington
|March 4, 1829
|December 29, 1836
|
|-
|Superior Court
|Judiciary
|Dover
|January 16, 1837
|September 19, 1839
|Chief Justice
|-
|U.S. Senator
|Legislature
|Washington
|March 4, 1845
|February 23, 1849
|
|-
|U.S. Secretary of State
|Executive
|Washington
|March 8, 1849
|July 22, 1850
|
|-
|U.S. Senator
|Legislature
|Washington
|March 4, 1853
|November 9, 1856
|
|}
{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly service
|-
! Dates
! Congress
! Chamber
! Majority
! Governor
! Committees
! Class/District
|-
|1824
|48th
|State Senate
|Federalist
|Samuel Paynter
|
|Kent at-large
|}
{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |United States Congressional service
|-
! Dates
! Congress
! Chamber
! Majority
! President
! Committees
! Class/District
|-
|1829–1831
|21st
|U.S. Senate
|National Republican
|Andrew Jackson
|Militia
|class 2
|-
|1831–1833
|22nd
|U.S. Senate
|National Republican
|Andrew Jackson
|Militia
|class 2
|-
|1833–1835
|23rd
|U.S. Senate
|National Republican
|Andrew Jackson
||Judiciary, Militia
|class 2
|-
|1835–1837
|24th
|U.S. Senate
|Whig
|Andrew Jackson
|Judiciary
|class 2
|-
|1845–1847
|29th
|U.S. Senate
|Whig
|James K. Polk
|
|class 1
|-
|1847–1849
|30th
|U.S. Senate
|Whig
|James K. Polk
|
|class 1
|-
|1853–1855
|33rd
|U.S. Senate
|Whig
|Franklin Pierce
|
|class 2
|-
|1855–1857
|34th
|U.S. Senate
|American
|Franklin Pierce
|
|class 2
|}
See also
- List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)