Alexander Mosby Clayton (January 15, 1801 – September 30, 1889)"Judge Alexander M. Clayton, Lamar, Miss.", ''The New Orleans Times-Democrat'' (October 2, 1889), p. 4. was an American politician who served as a justice of the

Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the Supreme court, highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1 ...

from 1842 to 1852, Leslie Southwick
Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996
18 Miss. C. L. Rev. 115 (1997-1998). and as a deputy from

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

to the

Provisional Congress of the Confederate States The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, fully the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing ...

from February to May 1861.

Biography

Born in

Campbell County, Virginia Campbell County is a United States county situated in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Campbell borders the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county seat is Rustburg. Grounded on a to ...

, to William Willis Clayton and Clarissa Mosby Clayton. He attended the local schools. After this he

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

with a Lynchburg attorney in 1822 to gain

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1823. He migrated first to

Arkansas Territory The Arkansas Territory was a organized incorporated territory of the United States, territory of the United States from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the ...

, where he was appointed in 1832 to serve as a Judge of the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

, the highest court in the territory, and then to

, 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 The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

Board of Trustees. In May 1853, President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

appointed Clayton to serve as Consul to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. 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 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designe ...

, with the editorial describing Clayton as "a leader of the secession forces". Clayton nevertheless received the appointment; he resigned the following year, and was succeeded by Roger Barton in August 1854."Appointments by the President", ''The Weekly Mississippian'' (August 16, 1854), p. 2. Clayton represented Mississippi in the Provisional C.S. Congress from February to May, 1861. He resigned and was appointed as a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

District Court Judge for the balance of the year. After the war he again served as a state court judge from 1866 to 1869.

Death

Clayton died on his farm near Lamar, Mississippi, at the age of 88. In his obituary, Clayton was described as "a leader at the bar of two States and at the time of his death hohad practiced law longer than any other man in the country".

References

External links

*
Alexander Mosby Clayton
at ''

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

'' 1801 births 1889 deaths 19th-century Arkansas state court judges Judges of the Confederate States of America Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Mississippi Mississippi state court judges People from Campbell County, Virginia People of Mississippi in the American Civil War Signers of the Confederate States Constitution Signers of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States Judges of the Superior Court of the Arkansas Territory {{mississippi-politician-stub