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Alexander Mosby Clayton (January 15, 1801 – September 30, 1889)[1] was an American politician who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1842 to 1852,[2][3] and as a deputy from Mississippi to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from February to May 1861.
Alexander Mosby Clayton | |
|---|---|
| Deputy from Mississippi to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States | |
| In office February 4, 1861 – May 11, 1861 | |
| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Bradford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 15, 1801 Campbell County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 30, 1889 (aged 88) Benton County, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hill Crest Cemetery, Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S. |
Born in Campbell County, Virginia, to William Willis Clayton and Clarissa Mosby Clayton. He attended the local schools. After this he read law with a Lynchburg attorney in 1822 to gain admission to the bar in 1823.[2] He migrated first to Arkansas Territory, where he was appointed in 1832 to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court, the highest court in the territory, and then to Mississippi, where he served as a state court judge from 1842 to 1852. From 1844 to 1852, he served as the first president of the University of Mississippi Board of Trustees.[4][2] In May 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed Clayton to serve as Consul to Havana, Cuba.[1][5] An editorial in the Natchez Daily Courier condemned the appointment, asserting that Clayton had authored a secessionist address on behalf of a committee appointed by the legislature to respond to the Compromise of 1850, with the editorial describing Clayton as "a leader of the secession forces".[1][6] Clayton nevertheless received the appointment; he resigned the following year, and was succeeded by Roger Barton in August 1854.[7]
Clayton represented Mississippi in the Provisional C.S. Congress from February to May, 1861. He resigned and was appointed as a Confederate District Court Judge for the balance of the year. After the war he again served as a state court judge from 1866 to 1869.[2]
Clayton died on his farm near Lamar, Mississippi, at the age of 88.[1] In his obituary, Clayton was described as "a leader at the bar of two States and at the time of his death [who] had practiced law longer than any other man in the country".[1]
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