Clement Comer Clay (December 17, 1789 – September 6, 1866) was the
eighth Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
from 1835 to 1837. An attorney, judge and politician, he also was elected to the state legislature, as well as to the House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
Early years
Clay was born in
Halifax County, Virginia
Halifax County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,022. Its county seat is Halifax.
History
Occupied by varying cultures of indigenous peoples for thousands of years, in histo ...
, the son of Rebecca (Comer) and William Clay, an officer in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, who moved to
Grainger County, Tennessee
Grainger County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,527. Its county seat is Rutledge. Grainger County is a part of both the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area and Morristown M ...
. Clay attended the local schools and graduated from
East Tennessee College
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
in 1807. He was admitted to the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in 1809 and moved to
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...
, where he began a law practice in 1811.
Marriage and family
Clay married Susannah Claiborne Withers on April 4, 1815. They had three sons:
Clement Claiborne Clay
Clement Claiborne Clay (December 13, 1816 – January 3, 1882), also known as C. C. Clay Jr., was a United States Senator (Democrat) from the state of Alabama from 1853 to 1861, and a Confederate States senator from Alabama from 1862 to 1864. Hi ...
, John Withers Clay, and Hugh Lawson Clay.
Alabama House of Representatives
Clay served in the Alabama Territorial Legislature in 1817–1818. He was a state court judge and served in the
Alabama House of Representatives
The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...
.
In 1828, he was elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, serving from March 4, 1829, and through re-elections until March 3, 1835, when he started as governor of Alabama.
Governor of Alabama
In 1835 Clay was elected Governor. Clay's term as governor ended early when he was appointed by the state legislature to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in 1837 (this was before popular election of senators).
Spring Hill College
In 1836, Governor Clay signed a legislative act which chartered
Spring Hill College
Spring Hill College is a private, Jesuit college in Mobile, Alabama. It was founded in 1830 by Michael Portier, Bishop of Mobile. Along with being the oldest college or university in the state of Alabama, it was the first Catholic college in the ...
in
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, the third oldest
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
college in the United States. The charter gave it "full power to grant or confer such degree or degrees in the arts and sciences, or in any art or science as are usually granted or conferred by other seminaries of learning in the United States." The college resulted from the strong French Catholic traditions in the city, founded as a French colony.
Creek War of 1836
Clay's term in office was dominated by the
Creek War of 1836
The Creek War of 1836, also known as the Second Creek War or Creek Alabama Uprising, was a conflict in Alabama at the time of Indian Removal between the Muscogee Creek people and non-native land speculators and squatters.
Although the Creek pe ...
arising from resistance to
Indian Removal
Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a de ...
, which had taken place in the Southeast since 1830. During Clay's administration, the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
removed the
Creek Indians
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands[Treaty of Cusseta
The Treaty of Cusseta was a treaty between the government of the United States and the Creek Nation signed March 24, 1832 (). The treaty ceded all Creek claims east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
Origins
The Treaty of Cusseta, ...]
. The Creek were relocated to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) west of the Mississippi. Confrontations between Indians and white settlers occurred.
Panic of 1837
During the
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...
, the United States suffered a financial crisis brought on by
speculative fever. This crisis caused a run on the Bank of the State of Alabama. Clay ordered the bank to provide a detailed report of its finances, but it was unable to do so.
United States Senate
After election by the state legislature, Clay served in the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
from June 19, 1837, until his resignation on November 15, 1841.
In the year after the end of the Civil War, Clement died of natural causes in September 1866, aged 76. His wife Susanna had died earlier the same year.
Notes
References
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External links
The Political Graveyard*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Clement Comer
1789 births
1866 deaths
People from Halifax County, Virginia
Clay family
Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama
Democratic Party United States senators from Alabama
Democratic Party governors of Alabama
Members of the Alabama Territorial Legislature
Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives
Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama
Alabama state court judges
19th-century American judges
19th-century American politicians