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词条 John M. Clayton
释义

  1. Early life and family

  2. Delaware politics

  3. National politics

  4. Death and legacy

  5. Almanac

  6. Notes

  7. See also

  8. References

  9. Images

  10. External links

{{Short description|American judge}}{{about|the lawyer and politician from mid nineteenth century Delaware|other people|John Clayton (disambiguation)}}{{Infobox officeholder
|name = John Clayton
|image = JMiddletonClayton-SecofState.jpg
|jr/sr = United States Senator
|state = Delaware
|term_start = March 4, 1853
|term_end = November 9, 1856
|predecessor = Presley Spruance
|successor = Joseph P. Comegys
|term_start1 = March 4, 1845
|term_end1 = February 23, 1849
|predecessor1 = Richard H. Bayard
|successor1 = John Wales
|term_start2 = March 4, 1829
|term_end2 = December 29, 1836
|predecessor2 = Henry M. Ridgely
|successor2 = Thomas Clayton
|office3 = 18th United States Secretary of State
|president3 = Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
|term_start3 = March 8, 1849
|term_end3 = July 22, 1850
|predecessor3 = James Buchanan
|successor3 = Daniel Webster
|birth_name = John Middleton Clayton
|birth_date = {{birth date|1796|7|24}}
|birth_place = Dagsboro, Delaware, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1856|11|9|1796|7|24}}
|death_place = Dover, Delaware, U.S.
|party = National Republican {{small|(Before 1834)}}
Whig {{small|(1824–1854)}}
American {{small|(1854–1856)}}
|spouse = Sally Fisher
|children = 2
|education = Yale University {{small|(BA)}}
Litchfield Law School
|signature = John M. Clayton signature.png
}}

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

{{see also |Clayton 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.[1][2] He graduated from Yale University in 1815, studied law at the Litchfield Law School, and in 1819 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}}

He married to Sally Ann Fisher in 1822. She was the granddaughter of former Governor George Truitt.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} 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.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[2] Here he built a mansion and made one of the most fruitful estates in that region. Both of his sons died while in their 20s, shortly before the death of their father.

Delaware politics

Clayton was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives for the 1824 session and was appointed the Delaware Secretary of State from December 1826 to October 1828. Conservative in background and outlook, Clayton quickly became a leader of the Adams faction which later developed into the Delaware Whig Party. During this time he was also the driving force in the convention that produced the Delaware Constitution of 1831.

National politics

In 1829 Clayton was elected to the United States Senate as its youngest member. Six years later he declined re-election, but the General Assembly elected him anyway, only to have him resign. He served from March 4, 1829 until December 29, 1836. He distinguished himself in the Senate by a speech during the debate on the Foote resolution, which, though merely relating to the survey of the public lands, introduced into the discussion the whole question of nullification. Clayton favored the extension of the charter for the Second Bank of the United States and his investigation of the Post Office Department led to its reorganization. At various times he served on the Military Affairs, Militia, District of Columbia and Post Office Committees, but his most important position was the Chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee in the 23rd and 24th Congress.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}}

After returning to Delaware from his first term in the United States Senate, Clayton was appointed Chief Justice of the Delaware Superior Court, replacing his cousin Thomas Clayton, who had been elected to the vacant U.S. Senate seat. He served in this position from January 16, 1837 until September 19, 1839, when he resigned to support the presidential candidacy of William Henry Harrison.

Clayton was once again elected to the United States Senate in 1845, where he opposed the annexation of Texas and the Mexican–American War but advocated the active prosecution of the latter once it was begun. His tenure was only from March 4, 1845 until February 23, 1849, as he resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State.

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.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}}

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 proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. One of his most noted speeches delivered in the Senate was that made June 15, 1854[5] 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} 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.

Public Offices
Office Type Location Began office Ended office notes
State RepresentativeLegislatureDoverJanuary 4, 1824January 3, 1825
Secretary of StateExecutiveDoverDecember 1826October 1828
U.S. SenatorLegislatureWashingtonMarch 4, 1829December 29, 1836
Superior CourtJudiciaryDoverJanuary 16, 1837September 19, 1839Chief Justice
U.S. SenatorLegislatureWashingtonMarch 4, 1845February 23, 1849
U.S. Secretary of StateExecutiveWashingtonMarch 8, 1849July 22, 1850
U.S. SenatorLegislatureWashingtonMarch 4, 1853November 9, 1856
Delaware General Assembly service
Dates Congress Chamber Majority Governor Committees Class/District
182448thState SenateFederalistSamuel PaynterKent at-large
United States Congressional service
Dates Congress Chamber Majority President Committees Class/District
1829–183121stU.S. SenateNational RepublicanAndrew JacksonMilitiaclass 2
1831–183322ndU.S. SenateNational RepublicanAndrew JacksonMilitiaclass 2
1833–183523rdU.S. SenateNational RepublicanAndrew JacksonJudiciary, Militiaclass 2
1835–183724thU.S. SenateWhigAndrew JacksonJudiciaryclass 2
1845–184729thU.S. SenateWhigJames K. Polkclass 1
1847–184930thU.S. SenateWhigJames K. Polkclass 1
1853–185533rdU.S. SenateWhigFranklin Pierceclass 2
1855–185734thU.S. SenateAmericanFranklin Pierceclass 2

Notes

1. ^{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=71000222}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Parson Thorne Mansion|author=M. Catherine Downing |date=May 1971 |publisher=National Park Service}}
2. ^{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
3. ^{{cite web |url=http://history.delaware.gov/conf_centers/bv/information/history.shtml |title=Buena Vista History |publisher=Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs |date=2008-10-01 |accessdate=2010-12-07 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107025255/http://history.delaware.gov/conf_centers/bv/information/history.shtml |archivedate=2011-01-07 |df= }}
4. ^Included from left to right are: William B. Preston, Thomas Ewing, John M. Clayton, Zachary Taylor, William M. Meredith, George W. Crawford, Jacob Collamer and Reverdy Johnson, (1849). Click on image to view in greater detail.
5. ^{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4e0RAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Speech of Hon. John M. Clayton, of Delaware on the veto message of the President, on the bill for the benefit of the indigent insane, in the Senate of the United States, June 15, 1854|work= Google Books |publisher=google.com |accessdate=2010-12-07 }}

See also

  • List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)

References

  • {{cite book |title = Memoirs of John M. Clayton |last = Comegys |first = Joseph P. |authorlink = |coauthors = |year = 1882 |publisher = Historical Society of Delaware |location = Wilmington, Delaware |id =}}
  • {{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 = History of Delaware 1609-1888. 2 vols |last = Scharf |first = John Thomas |coauthors = |work = |publisher = L. J. Richards & Co |location = Philadelphia |year = 1888 |id =}}

Images

  • Architect of the Capitol; portrait courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

External links

  • Answers.com
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110107025255/http://history.delaware.gov/conf_centers/bv/information/history.shtml Buena Vista History]
  • Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  • Delaware’s Members of Congress
  • 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
  • {{findagrave|6653482}}
  • The Political Graveyard
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|-{{s-bef|before=Richard H. Bayard}}{{s-ttl|title=U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Delaware|years=1845–1849|alongside=Thomas Clayton, Presley Spruance}}{{s-aft|after=John Wales}}
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19 : 1796 births|1856 deaths|Yale University alumni|People from Dover, Delaware|People from Sussex County, Delaware|Delaware lawyers|Delaware Whigs|19th-century American politicians|Secretaries of State of Delaware|Members of the Delaware House of Representatives|United States Senators from Delaware|United States Secretaries of State|Chief Justices of Delaware|Burials in Dover, Delaware|Whig Party United States Senators|Taylor administration cabinet members|Delaware National Republicans|People from Milford, Delaware|People from New Castle, Delaware

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