Thomas Clayton was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in Kent County, Delaware.
18 Facts About Thomas Clayton
2.
Thomas Clayton was a member of the Federalist Party and later the National Republican Party and the Whig Party.
3.
Thomas Clayton served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Attorney General of Delaware, as Secretary of State of Delaware, as Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, as US Representative from Delaware, and as US Senator from Delaware.
4.
The family lived at Bohemia Manor and through this connection, Joshua Thomas Clayton later acquired his homestead from these estates, in Pencader Hundred, New Castle County.
5.
Thomas Clayton graduated from the Newark Academy, now the University of Delaware, studied law under Nicholas Ridgely in Dover, Delaware, and began a law practice there in 1799.
6.
Thomas Clayton was the cousin of US Senator John M Clayton.
7.
Thomas Clayton then served as a member of that body for 8 years, between the 1803 session and the 1814 session.
8.
Thomas Clayton was elected to the Delaware Senate for the 1808 session, but resigned to become the Delaware Secretary of State for 2 years.
9.
In 1814 Thomas Clayton was elected as a Federalist to one of two at-large seats Delaware had in the US House of Representatives, and served one term there, from March 4,1815 until March 3,1817.
10.
Thomas Clayton supported the change, but it became very controversial, and his support of it caused him to lose the nomination of the Federalist Party to Louis McLane, beginning a long rivalry between the two men.
11.
Thomas Clayton narrowly failed in an attempt to return to the US House of Representatives in the 1818 election, but was returned to the Delaware Senate again in 1821.
12.
In 1833, Chief Justice Thomas Clayton became one of the initial trustees of Newark College in Newark, Delaware, which would later become the University of Delaware.
13.
Thomas Clayton was elected to the US Senate to finish the term.
14.
Thomas Clayton died of pneumonia at his retirement home at New Castle and is buried in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery, which is at Dover, on the grounds of the Delaware State Museum.
15.
Thomas Clayton had a marvelous skill in perceiving the vital points of a case, largely due to his almost intuitive grasp of fundamental principles.
16.
Thomas Clayton was prompt in deciding the merits of an issue and felicitous in the precision with which he formulated facts and conclusions.
17.
Thomas Clayton's words were few but masterly in force and point.
18.
Thomas Clayton meted out to all the same even-handed justice, and required of all the same respectful regard for the law and for decorum.