Thomas Clayton

Thomas Clayton
United States Senator
from Delaware
In office
January 9, 1837 – March 3, 1847
Preceded byJohn M. Clayton
Succeeded byPresley Spruance
In office
January 8, 1824 – March 3, 1827
Preceded byCaesar Augustus Rodney[1]
Succeeded byLouis McLane
Chief Justice of Delaware
In office
January 18, 1832 – January 9, 1837
Preceded bySamuel M. Harrington
Succeeded byJohn M. Clayton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Delaware's first at-large district
In office
March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817
Preceded byHenry M. Ridgely
Succeeded byLouis McLane
5th Attorney General of Delaware
In office
1810–1815
GovernorGeorge Truitt
Joseph Haslet
Preceded byEdward W. Gilpin
Succeeded byGeorge P. Fisher
Member of the Delaware Senate
In office
January 3, 1821 – January 6, 1824
Member of the Delaware House of Representatives
In office
January 4, 1803 – January 19, 1808
January 1, 1811 – January 3, 1815
Personal details
BornJuly 1777
Cecil County, Maryland
DiedAugust 21, 1854(1854-08-21) (aged 77)
New Castle, Delaware
Political partyFederalist
National Republican
Whig
SpouseJennette Macomb
Parent
ResidenceDover, Delaware
Alma materNewark Academy
Profession
  • Lawyer
  • politician

Thomas Clayton (July 1777 – August 21, 1854) was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party and later the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. He 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 U.S. Representative from Delaware, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware. In 1846 he was one of two members of the United States Senate to vote against declaring war on Mexico.

  1. ^ The seat was vacant from January 29, 1823, until January 8, 1824.