David Clopton (September 29, 1820 – February 5, 1892) was a prominent

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 ...

politician.

Biography

Clopton was born in

Putnam County, Georgia Putnam County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 21,218. The county seat is Eatonton. Since the early 21st century, the county has had a housing boom. It has pro ...

near Milledgeville, Ga., on September 29, 1820. He attended the county schools and Edenton Academy in Georgia, and moved to

in 1844, graduating from Randolph-Macon College in 1840 and being admitted to the bar in 1841. He practiced law in Milledgeville, Ga. beginning in that year. In 1844, he moved to Tuskegee, Ala. and practiced law there. Clopton represented Alabama's 3rd district in the

United States 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

as a Democrat beginning in 1859. During his term he was a strong supporter of states' rights; in a speech delivered during the struggle for the Speakership of the 36th Congress, he said the following: "We do not desire war. The policy of the South would be peace. But whenever this Government, in the opinion of the Southern people, shall have failed to accomplish the ends for which it was instituted, the Southern States, exercising their right, will abolish it, and institute a new Government, laying its foundation in such principles, and organizing it in such forms, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Whenever they see proper to exercise these rights, then, if war comes, it must come from the North. If war must come, let it come". Clopton withdrew from the United States House of Representatives in 1861 and enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army in the Twelfth Alabama Infantry for one year. Afterwards he represented Alabama in the

First Confederate Congress The 1st Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from February 18, 1862, to February 17, 1864, during the first two years of Jefferson Davis's presidency, a ...

and the

Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia S ...

. He was among a group who wrote to the Alabama governor petitioning for the pardon of Robert Wynn, doorkeeper of the provisional Congress, who had been convicted of assault with intent to murder but later reconciled with his victim. As part of a Macon County consortium, he contracted with the Alabama Salt Commission to manufacture salt in Saltville, Virginia. In 1887 he married Virginia Tunstall Clay, widow of

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 ...

. After the war, he served in the Alabama state legislature in 1878 and as an associate justice of the

Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...

from 1884 until his death in Montgomery, Ala., February 5, 1892. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

References

Retrieved on 2008-10-01
Political graveyard

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clopton, David 1820 births 1892 deaths Randolph–Macon College alumni Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Alabama People from Putnam County, Georgia Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama Confederate States Army soldiers People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War Auburn High School (Alabama) people Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges