V.
PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE.
XLI.
The Clayton Family.
BY
HENRY R. HEPBURN, ESQ., L.L. B.
OF PHII^ADEIvPHlA, PA.
Read before the Historical Society of Delaware, Feb. 15, 1904.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE,
WILMINGTON,
1904.
^
/
MOTTO :
'Probitatem Quam Divitias.
The Coat of Arms
The Clayton Family.
PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAIVARE.
XLI.
The Clayton Family.
BY
HENR^^ K. HEPBURN, ESQ., L.L. B.
OF PHILADEI.PHIA, PA.
Read before the Historical .^qcl^ty of Delaware, Feb. 15, 1904.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE,
, WII,MINGTON,
1904.
W.S
The John M. Rogers Press, Wilmington, Del.
THE CLAYTON FAMILY.
It is well to start with the family history at the founda-
tion, and then follow it up through its various changes to
the present time. We will start about 912, when Rollo
made peace with the King of France, and the Dukedom of
Normandy was confirmed. In that settlement after a thirty
years war, the King of France agreed to confirm Rollo's
title as Duke of Normandy, and give him his daughter in
marriage; the Duke agreeing to do homage to the King, to
become a Christian and marry the King's daughter. But
when the time came for the Duke to do homage, he refused
to kiss the King's foot, and no persuasion or entreaty could
induce him to perform that part of the ceremony. It was
finally compromised by permitting Rollo to kiss the King's
foot by proxy, but when the courtier lifted up the King's
foot, he raised it so high that it tumbled the King out of
his chair, which created great laughter among those present. /
Yet the King bore this indignity, well knowing that Rollo 'sy
army was too strong to meet in battle.
From that time Normandy began to flourish, and during
the time of its first six dukes, it was one of the richest pro-
vinces in the world, notwithstanding its many wars. When
"William the Conqueror" , who was the seventh Duke, came
upon the stage of action, Normandy was divided into two
classes, the nobility, who were the descendants of Rollo's
followers, and the peasants who were the descendants of the
French; so that we find a class of cultured people, who had
4 • THE CLA YTON FA MIL Y.
much of the polish of Paris, and who were far in advance
of the Saxons in England.
During the time of the quarrel between William the Con-
queror and King Harold, William called together his chief-
tains in council. Some were willing to go to war while
others refused; but one of his brainy men "Fitzosborne"
advised the Duke to call upon the nobility separately, which
was done, and in a short time sufficient men and means
were ready for his enterprise. A man by the name of
Robert, born in Caudebec Normandy, France, accompanied
William the Conqueror to England. He was a soldier well
skilled in arms, and after the battle of Hastings, had the
Manor of Clayton given him by William the Conqueror for
his laudable services in battle. He was afterwards known
as "Robert de Clayton" and was Eord of the Manor of
Clayton, and the first Clayton spoken of in the history of
England.
He had three sons: — John, William and Robert. John
accompanied William Rufus in his war against "Malcolm"
King of Scotland, and fell nobly in battle near Penrith, in
Cumberland. William de Clayton, the second son, succeed-
ed his father. He faithfully served King Stephen in all his
troubles, and on Candlemas Day, 1141, he lost his life in
battle, and was succeeded by his son Robert.
Robert had one son William de Clayton. He married
Elizabeth Farringtou, of Farrington. He had three sons
and died in 1152 and was buried at Leyland, Lancashire.
The eldest son, Richard, was a priest of a very benevolent
character and died in Normandy. Thomas, the second son,
died without issue and Robert de Clayton, the third son,
succeeded his father. He married in 1151 and had four
John M. Clayton.
THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 5
sons: — William, Robert, John and Thomas. Three of the
sons accompanied King John into Normandy in 1 200 and
died without issue. John the third son succeeded his father.
He had two sons William and Thomas and died in 1209 and
was succeeded by his second son Thomas de Clayton.
Thomas de Clayton had three sons, John, Robert and
William. John, the eldest son, succeeded his father. He
married in 1263 and died in 1280, having had issue two sons,
Thomas and Ralph. He was succeeded by his second son
Ralph de Clayton who left three sons, John, Giles and
Nicholas, and he was succeeded by his eldest son, John de
Clayton. This John accompanied John of Gaunt in 1356 to
assist the King of Navarre against the French. He also
accompanied King Edward in most of his expeditions. He
left four sons: John, William, Ralph and Robert and died
in 1399 and was succeeded by his eldest son John de Clay-
ton, who had three sons, Thomas, Robert and William, he
died in 1404, and was buried at Leyland, and was succeeded
by his eldest son. Thomas de Clayton married Dorothy
Thellwell of Thellwell in Cheshire with whom he received
that township and village as a marriage portion and by
whom he had two sons, John born in 1419, and William born
in 1420. (William died without issue in 147 1.) Thomas
de Clayton died in 1426 and was succeeded by his eldest
son, John de Clayton, who married, in 1440, Mary Main-
waring.
THE CLA^'TON FA MIL V.
ANCESTRY OF MARY MAINWARING.
The Mainwarings are the descendants of "Ranulphus,
one of the companions of William the Conqueror in the
Norman Invasion and also one of those thirty-two persons,
to whom that fortunate monarch gave all or most of Che-
shire, of which he obtained fifteen lordships in Peure (now
Overpever) which remained in the family until 1700."
His grandson, Roger, had a son named William, who was
the father of Sir Ralph Mainwaring, Knt., who was a
Judge of Chester in the reign of Richard (i). He is the
first Mainwaring spoken of in history. He married Amicia,
daughter of Hugh Kyvi.liok, Earl of Chester, whose ances-
tors were as follows: —
After the conquest, William the Conqueror, gave to his
nephew, Hugh Lupus, the Earldom of Chester about the
year 1070. He died July 27, iioi, leaving a son, his heir.
II. Richard, second Earl of Chester who married but died
without issue, and the Earldom descended to the nephew of
Hugh Lupus by his sister Maude.
III. Randal (i) Earl of Chester. He was Randall
Meschines, V. C, of Bayeaux, Normandy, France, and
married Lucy, a daughter of Algar, the Saxon Earl of
Marcia and died 1128, leaving issue his son and heir.
IV. Randal (2) Earl of Chester, who became a great
warrior and took King Stephen prisoner. He married
Maude, daughter of Robert, Earl of Gloucester, a natural
son of King Henry (i) of England and died 1153 leaving
two sons, Hugh and Richard and was succeeded bj^ his
eldest son.
THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 7
V. Hugh (2) Earl of Chester. He married Bertred, a
daughter of Simon, Earl of Evereaux, Normandy, France,
b}' whom he had (i) Randal, (2) Maude, who married
David, Earl of Huntingdon, and was a brother of William,
King of Scotland, (3) Mabil, who married William
Albiny, Earl of Arundel, (4) Agnes, who married William
Ferrars, Earl of Derby, (5) Hawaise, who married Robert
Quincy, son and heir of Sabil de Quincy, Earl of Win-
chester.
He had another daughter not of this marriage named
Amacia (Amice) over whom a great controversy was carried
on between Sir Peter I/Cycester and Sir Thomas Mainwaring,
Sir Peter claiming that she was an illegitimate daughter and
Sir Thomas claiming that she was a legitimate daughter.
Finally the question was referred to the Judges of Chester,
who decided that Amacia was the legitimate daughter of
Hugh (5) Earl of Chester and the heralds quartered the
arms of the Earls of Chester with the Mainwarings.
Amacia married Rause (Ralph) Mainwaring and it appears
from the manuscripts that Bertred, the wife of Hugh
Cyviliok, second, (5) Earl of Chester, witnessed a deed in
frank marriage with said Amacia. By this marriage there
were two children, one of whom, the daughter, was named
after Bertred, the Countess of Chester, and a son named Ran-
dal, who became the head of the Mainwaring Family of Over-
pever in Cheshire about 1175, and from whom the Main-
waring Family descended.
It will thus appear that this Amacia Mainwaring had in
her the blood of William the Conqueror and the old Saxon
Earls. She was the great grand-daughter of Henry (i)
King of England, and great grand-daughter of the Earl
8 THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y.
Garva of Marcia, also a descendant of the Earls of Normandy,
and the early Saxon Kings.
Her half sister Maude was the ancestor of Baloil, King of
Scotland, also of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland and his
descendants, making her related to the ancient Anglo-Saxon
Kings, to the English Norman Kings, to the Scotch Kings,
and the nobility of Normandy.
Robert Fitzroy, her grand-father, was a scholar and a
soldier, and commanded the forces of Empress Maude against
King Stephen. From the above recital it clearly shows that
Mary Mainwaring who married John de Clayton was a
lineal descendant of Hugh Cyviliok, Earl of Chester
through his daughter Amacia, who married Ralph Main-
waring. The Mainwaring family is very old, and the
founder Ranulf received fifteen manors or lordships in
Cheshire for his services to William the Conqueror.
John de Clayton, who married Mary Mainwaring of
Cheshire, had by her two sons, first: Thomas, who was after-
wards disinherited for disobeying his parents, (2) William
and also three daughters. His first wife died in 1445 and
he married secondly Jane Clifton, by whom he had two sons
Robert and Richard. Robert the eldest son, by the second
wife, died in Paris in 1471 without issue, and Richard
Clayton, the 3'oungest son by the second wife succeeded to
the estate, but dying without issue, he was succeeded
by William de Clayton, a son of Thomas de Clayton
and he dying without issue was succeeded by Robert
Clayton, third son of Thomas who was disinherited.
Robert Clayton as above, married Jane Farrington, by whom
he had four sons: — Thomas, born in 1498; John born in
1499; Edward born in 1505; and Richard born in 1506, and
Sarah (Middletoni Clayton,
The Mother of John M. Clayton.
J T).
THE CLA YTON FA MIL Y. 9
three daughters. He died 1510 and was buried at Le34and
and was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas Clayton who
married, in 156 1-3, Anne Jackson, of Bocking in Essex, and
had two sons, Robert and WiUiam, and died in 1580.
Robert, the eldest son, was of St. John's College and Vice-
Chancellor of Cambridge. He married and had one son,
John Clayton. This John Clayton had a son, Richard, and
two daughters, Dorothy and Elizabeth.
He died December 20, 1623, aged twenty-seven years and
was succeeded by Richard Clayton, his eldest and only son,
who died by a fall from his horse, without issue.
The family estates of Clayton and Crook went by virtue
of the settlement to Dorothy, his eldest sister, who was the
wife of George Leycester, of Toft in Cheshire, Esquire.
Whereupon the Lordship of Clayton, granted by William
the Conqueror, went with this Dorothy Clayton, to her hus-
band, and was afterward sold. This must have occurred
about 1650 or 1660.
The line was continued by William Clayton, second son
of Thomas Clayton and Anne Jackson. He had five sons
(i) Thomas, born in 1585, (2) William, born in 1587, (3)
John, born in 1588, (4) Ralph, born in 1589, (5) Richard,
born in 1592 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas
Clayton, who had the estates in Fulwood in Lancashire
settled upon him and his issue.
He married and had issue : Robert ; Thomas, born in
1630 and one daughter, Annie. Robert had four sons:
Thomas, William, John and Richard. Thomas, the eldest
son, had one son, Robert, born 1695, who became the
Bishop of Clogher, and died Feb. 26, 1756. He bequeathed
his Lancashire estate to his nearest male heir ' ' The Right
10 THE CLA YTON FA MIL V.
Honorable Richard Clayton, Lord Chief Justice of The
Common Pleas in Ireland." Thomas Clayton, the second
son of Thomas, on the death of the Bishop, became the
representative of the famil3\ He married a daughter of
John Atherton by whom he had five sons: (i) Thomas,
(2) John, (3) Richard, (4) Thomas, of whom hereafter,
(5) Robert and seven daughters. This Thomas purchased
the Lordships and estates of Worthington and Adlington
and died in the ninety-second year of his age. Thomas,
the eldest son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Atherton,
married in 1697, Martha, daughter of Joshua Horton, of
Chaderton, Esq., by whom he had five sons: Thomas,
William, Richard, Edward and John and four daughters.
He died in 1728 at Adlington in the sixty-first year
of his age. Thomas, his eldest son, died in 1735 unmar-
ried.
Richard, the third son, was brought up to the bar and
became King's counsel, and afterwards Lord Chief Justice
of the Common Pleas in Ireland, which office he resigned in
1774, and died the same 5'ear aged sixty-eight. By his will
dated the sixteenth day of March, 1772, he devised his
Manors of Adlington and Worthington to his nephew,
Richard Claj'ton.
The successor in line was John Clayton, the fifth son.
He had four sons : Richard, Robert, William and John,
and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard Clayton, Esq.,
who was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1762, called 1771,
and made a reader in 181 1. He was created a baronet May
3, 1774, and died in 1828. This ancient family produced
soldiers of valor and skill, preachers and monks of great
learning, and lawyers and jurists of great ability.
'\ '
THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 11
We will now take up the family in Yorkshire, a branch of
the family of "The Manor of Clayton."
As it is well known that from 1500 to 1660 the History
of England met with so many disasters, it is next to impos-
sible to get the family registry of the various branches dur-
ing that period. \ yy
We find in 1499 that Robert Clayton of the Manor of
Clayton had a son born named John. It is contended that
this John settled in Yorkshire and was the founder of Clay-
ton Hall. His eldest brother, Thomas, succeeded to the
Manor of Clayton, but did not marry until he was over
sixty years old. John married and had two sons, Thomas,
his heir, and Richard of Wakefield, Yorkshire. The names
that follow are similar to the names of the family of the
Manor of Clayton, the dates harmonize, but the strongest
evidence of the relationship is the arms borne by the family.
The arms of the descendants of the Manor of Clayton of
Lancashire and the arms of the descendants of John Clayton
of Clayton Hall are the same. It is claimed that John
Clayton, second son of Robert Clayton, and great grandson
of John de Clayton and Mary Mainwaring, was the founder
of Cla^'ton Hall, in the parish of High Hoy land, in the
County of Yorkshire, England, and in proof of this asser-
tion, we find that the dates, family names, marriages and
coat of arms are the same. This similarity of names covers
over eight hundred years and part of that time on both
sides of the Atlantic Ocean. But LeNeve in his ' ' Knights of
England," pp. 186-7, appears to have settled this question as
he has placed Thomas Clayton, son of John Clayton, of
Clayton Hall in Yorkshire, as being born at Clayton Hall
in Lancashire. And there is another reason why it is prob-
12 THE CLA YTON FAMIL V.
able that Thomas Clayton was born in Lancashire, namely :
His uncle, Thomas Clayton, who was the oldest son and
heir and successor to the estates in Lancashire did not
marry until 1563, and it is more than probable that the
younger brother, having married early, lived at the family
mansion until after his children were born.
John Clayton, of Clayton Hall in High Hoyland Parish,
County of Yorkshire, was living about 1550. He had two
sons, Thomas and Richard. Richard of Wakefield married
Joan, daughter of Henry Bentley, by whom he had one
son, Daniel of Wakefield. Daniel married (i) Dorothy,
daughter of Thomas Methwold, Esq., and had issue Richard,
D. D., Master of University College; (2) Jane, daughter of
Thomas Leghe, by whom he had four sons : Thomas,
Robert, Ferdinando and John.
Thomas Clayton, the eldest son of John Clayton of Clay-
ton Hall, Lancashire (*), married Anguis, daughter of John
Thornhill of Fixby, County York, and died about the year
1585, having had issue two sons :
(1) John Clayton of Clayton Hall, who died in 1618.
His will is dated the 13th day of April, 1618. He married
a daughter of .... . Barnby, of Barnby Hall, and had
one son, Thomas, of Clayton Hall, who married Alice,
daughter of . . . Burdette of Dunly, and sold Clayton Hall
to Sir George Cook of Wheatly. This "John" is called
Richard in some of the works, but it must be a mistake.
William Clayton, of Oakenshaw, County York, and of
the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law, married Margaret,
daughter of Jasper Cholmleyof East Riding, and died 1627,
having had issue eight sons and three daughters.
♦See XvCNeve's Knights, pp. 186-7.
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THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y. 13
(i) John Clayton, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Bar-
rister at lyaw in 1626, born April 15, 1592, died April,
1 67 1. He married and had issue (i) John Clayton, o^
the Inner Temple and a Barrister at L,aw, born 1620; (2)
James Clayton, born 1624. John, the eldest son d. s. p.,
and James, the second son, became a D. D., and the issue
of that branch of the family produced many ministers and
lawyers.
2. William, the second son of William Clayton of Oaken-
shaw, has no record.
3. Thomas, the third son, settled in the City of London,
and had issue five sons and two daughters. .
4. Sir Jasper Clayton married Mary Thompson. He was
an alderman of London and knighted at Guild Hall, July
5, 1660. He married at St. Faith's, London, May i, 1624,
Mary, daughter of William Thompson of Timouth Castle,
Northumberland. The "issue of this family was as follows:
(i) "Sir John, of London and Parson's Green, Fulham,
"Middlesex, admitted to Inner Temple, July 22, 1650,
"knighted 1664; married Alice, daughter of Sir William
"North Crey, Esq.; (2) George, of London, haberdasher,
" born in St. Edmunds, Lombard street, December 24, 1639;
"was at Merchant Taylor's School, married Hester,
' ' daughter of Sir Thomas, and sister of Sir Henry
" Palmer, of Wingham, Kent, Baronets ; (3) Mary, mar-
" ried Peter Nourse, of Woodeaton, Oxfordshire; (4)
"Prudence; (5) Rebecca married Robert Paston, Earl of
"Yarmouth."
George and Hester (Palmer) Clayton had issue: (i)
Jasper Clayton, admitted to the Inner Temple, July 12,
1682. He was probably the Jasper Clayton, born July,
14 THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y.
1665, who was a scholar of Merchant Taylor's School ;
(2) George.
"Sir John and Alice (Bowyer) Clayton had issue:
(i) John, born 1665, died November 18, 1737, studied at
one of the universities (probably Cambridge) and was
admitted to the Inner Temple, June 6, 1682 ; was called
to the bar, and coming to Virginia in 1705, was appointed
Attorney-General of the Colony in 17 14 and held the
office until his death. He was also judge of the Court
of Admiralty, frequently a member of the House of
Burgesses, presiding justice of James City County and
Recorder of Williamsburg. One of his descendants has
a large volume containing copies of many of his letters to
his Engli.sh correspondents. These relate chiefly to the
business affairs of himself and his clients, but some notices
of the family can be gathered from it. It appears that
he owned an estate called Hawkhurst, four miles from
Cranbrooke, Kent, England, which he inherited at his
mother's death (and which descended to his sou, John).
There are letters to 'my cousin,' Cecil Bowyer, Esq., of
Denham, which contain messages to Mr. Bowyer's wife,
to ' my uncle ' and to ' my L^ady Bowyer. ' There is
frequent reference to his brother. General Jasper Clayton.
He sends his customary annual present of a box of tobacco
to his steward at Hawkhurst, orders plate with his arms
on it, and frames for two portraits, gives directions in
regard to his son, Thomas, while at Cambridge, and a
medical student in Eondon, acknowledges a present of
'arrack' from Eondon 'which was last night drunk by
some of the best company in Virginia,' refuses and returns
a present of a very costly wig from an English client
THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y. 15
because he makes a rule only to receive his fees as a law-
yer, and seems to have a very large practice."
"The name of his wife is not known: (2) Jasper, of
Fernhill, in County Bucks, was colonel of the 4th Regi-
ment of Foot, Lrieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar, and a
I^ieutenant-General in the British Army. He was killed
at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, and buried at Wing-
field, County Bucks.
"The following is an abstract of his will dated March 23,
1742, and proved in L,oudon, July 1743, by his son,
Jasper : * In the name of God, Amen. I, Jasper Clayton,
of Fernhill, in county Bucks, Esq., Lieutenant General of
his Majesties Forces, declare this my last will and testa-
ment. I give to my dearly beloved daughter, Charlotte
Clayton, ^3,500 over and above any other sum or sums
of money which her late mother Juliana or myself at any
time have given her. To her, my said daughter, Charlotte
Clayton, the whole and entire furniture of her room at
my house at Fernhill. To my dearly beloved second son,
John Clayton, ^2,500. To my son-in-law, Colonel John
Laforey, ^100 for family mourning. I give and bequeath
to my very undutiful and lost daughter, Juliana, the
reputed wife of Peter Hooper, who was my servant,
I shilling and no more. I give to Mrs. Hill, sister to the
late Lady Marsham, ^100 to buy her a ring. To my
eldest son, Jasper Clayton, his heirs and assigns forever,
all my capital, messuage and lands at Fernhill, in the
Parish of Wingfield, Bucks, and I recommend him to sell
the same. As to my burial, I desire it may be in the most
frugal manner and most private, thinking everything
otherwise vanity and ostentation. To the Right Hon.
16 THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y.
"Samuel, L,ord Marsham, one of my executors, ^loo
"to buy a ring. My eldest son, Jasper Clayton, Lord
" Marsham, and said daughter, Charlotte Clayton, executors
"and executrix. Dated 23rd March, 1742,"
' ' Not long after the death of General Clayton, his nephew,
"John Clayton, of Virginia, writes to his London merchant
" (letter book referred to above) that he has shipped to him
"a portrait of the late Attorney-General, John Clayton,
"which he desired to be sent to 'Mrs. Charlotte Cla^^ton,
" Fernhill,' 3, Alice; 4, Mary; 5, Elizabeth. One of these
"daughters married John, Lord Lovelace, and another,
"Thomas Strickland."
William Clayton, of Oakenshaw, in addition to the above-
named, left four other sons: 5, Edward; 6, Daniel, of Nor-
wich, clerk; 7, George, slain at Bois-leduc, and 8, Nathaniel,
of London.
THE VIRGINIA BRANCH OF THE CLAYTON FAMILY.
John Clayton, Attorney-General of Virginia, married
, and had issue (i) John Cla^^ton, born at
Fulham, England, 1685, and died in Gloucester County,
Virginia, 1773. He came to Virginia in 1705, was an emi-
nent botanist, a physician, a member of some of the most
learned societies of Europe, President of the Virginia
Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, 1773 ; and
author of 'Flora Virginica'." "It appears that John
Clayton married Jan. 21, 1723, Elizabeth Whiting of
Gloucester County. Issue : Several sons and daughters.-
The eldest son was named John, another named Jasper.
He was clerk of the Gloucester Committee of Safety,
Joshua Clayton, M. D.
Governor of Delaware.
U. S. Senator.
Ths
THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 17
1774-5. He served in the cavalry of the Revolutionary
Army and married Courtnej^ daughter of General John
Baylor of New Market, Caroline, and had issue (i)
Baylor; (2) Arthur B., born 1800, in Gloucester County,
and died March 31, 1845; (3) Caroline, (4) Courtney.
A branch of this family was resident in New Kent,
descendants of Attorney-General John Clayton. Colonel
William Clayton of New Kent, a grandson of Attorney-
General John Clayton, was a member of the House of
Burgesses, from New Kent from 1769 (and perhaps earlier)
to 1774; of the Convention of 1776; of the House of Dele-
gates of 1776 and other years, and the Convention of 1788.
Of the same branch was Colonel Wm. Beverly Clayton,
clerk of New Kent, 1787 to 1803 and later. Other mem-
bers of the family were Jasper Clayton, who married a
daughter of Edmund Berkeley of Barn Elms, Middlesex
County.
Arthur Clayton was a member of the House of Dele-
gates from Louisa from 1817-1818. Jasper S. Clayton was
appointed Justice of Matthews in 1791, and James and
Joseph Clayton were living in Gloucester in 1840.
From these references it appears that John Clayton, the
Attorney-General, had at least three sons, John, Thomas
and Arthur, and in all probability a son named Samuel,
for it appears by Slaughter's History of Culpepper County,
that Samuel Clayton, of New Kent, who is supposed to be
a son of John Clayton, the Attorney-General of Virginia,
married Elizabeth Pendleton, a daughter of Philip Pendle-
ton, and as he is the first by that name he will be called
Philip Clayton (i). He married Anne Coleman. They
had a son, Samuel Clayton, who married his cousin, Anne
18 THE CLA YTON FA MIL V.
Coleman, and among their children was Major Philip Clayton
II, an officer in the Revolutionary Army. Philip Clayton I
was the grandfather of Captain Philip Slaughter, another
officer in the Revolutionary Army. He lived at "Catalpa,"
Virginia.
Philip Clayton II married Mildred Dixon and moved
from Virginia to Georgia. One of their sons was named
Augustin Smith Clayton. He was born in Petersburg, Va.,
November 27, 1783. In 1784 his family moved to Rich-
mond County, Ga. In February, 1790, on the occasion of
the visit of President Washington to Augusta, Ga. , Augustin
Smith Clayton, the 7-year old boy was selected to make a
speech of welcome to the President, which so pleased Wash-
ington that he presented the boy with a copy of ' ' Salust ' '
duly inscribed. "He graduated at Franklin College, was
distinguished at the bar, was a judge of the Western Cir-
cuit and a member of Congress, where he won a national
reputation." He was an able statesman, jurist, and man of
letters, and left his impress upon the policy and literature
of the State. He married Julia Carnes, by whom he had
nine children, among them Philip, born at Athens, Ga.,
March 19, 1815. He died June i, 1839, in the 56th year of
his age.
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THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 19
THE PENNSYLVANIA BRANCH OF THE CLAYTON
FAMILY.
William Clayton, one of the sons of Thomas Clayton of
London, and a grandson of William Clayton of Oakenshaw
of County Yorkshire, England, had a patent granted to
him by the British government for five hundred acres of
land at Chichester, Pa., where he settled in 1671, and on
the 13th day of September, 1681, he presided over the first
court held under the proprietory government at Upland in
Chester county, Pennsylvania. His son, William Clayton,
Jr., was one of the jurors of that court. William Clayton,
(i) was a member of Penn's Council during 1683-1684,
and assisted in drafting most of the laws for Pennsylvania
at that time. He was a personal friend of William Penn.
He was a cousin of Joshua Clayton, who settled in Del-
aware, and was the ancestor of the numerous Claytons who
have been prominent in Pennsylvania, and, after a busy
life, died about 1691.
He was a man of prominence among the Quakers and in
the active part which he took in the government at that
time. It appears that a company of land owners in New
Jersey had sent him over to this country to look after their
interests and after attending to those duties, he settled in
Chichester, Pennsylvania.
"William Clayton (i) of Chichester, Pa., was the son of
"Thomas Clayton, a third son of WilHam Clayton, of Oken-
" shaw, and a brother of Sir Jasper Clayton of London, and
"a grandson of Thomas Clayton of Clayton Hall, in York-
" shire." Note. — See Rambles and Reflections of Hon.
20 THE CLAYTON FAMILY.
T. J. Clayton, p. 297. "The first son of Thomas Clayton,
' of Clayton Hall, died a minor. His second son was
' William of Okenshaw. He was known as a barrister of
' the Inner Temple. He died in 1627. The estate known
' as ' Clayton Hall ' descended to Thomas Clayton (2), who
' was in possession as heir in 1666. He had a son, William,
'who came to this country' in 1671, and is the ancestor of
' our family, and will be hereafter called ' William of
' Chichester.' * -^ -^ t^ -^ -^(. Thomas (2) also had
' a son John, who was a barrister of the Inner Temple. He
'died April 6, 1666." After William Clayton settled in
Chichester, Pennsylvania, his cousin, Joshua Clayton,
another grand-son of William Clayton of Okenshaw, accom-
panied William Penn to this country on his first visit. He
had two sons John and Joshua who settled in Little Creek
Hundred, Kent County in the State of Delaware, who
became the ancestors of that branch of the Clayton family.
William Clayton, with his family, arrived in the ship
' ' Kent ' ' from I^ondon in company with certain commis-
sioners sent out by the proprietors of New Jersey to purchase
lands from the Indians. He left many prominent descend-
ants and his branch of the family occupies prominent posi-
tions in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, Illinois
and many other states. The late Hon. Thomas J. Clayton,
President Judge of Delaware Count)' who was admitted to
the bar in 1850, and died in 1900, Hon. Powell Clayton of
Arkansas, now Ambassador to Mexico, the late Henry
Armitt Brown a distinguished lawyer and orator of Phila-
delphia are lineal descendants of William Clayton of
Chichester. William Clayton of Chichester was nearly
related to Hon. John Clayton, Attorney General of Virginia.
THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y. 21
He was a personal friend of William Penn, and it is known
that Penn selected a majority of his councilors from among
his relatives or personal friends, in order that he might have
a majority of the council. To illustrate the language used
in 1681, the following quotations from Cope's History of
Chester County Pennsylvania pp. 18-19 is given.
"Province of Pennsylvania; at the Cort at Vpland,
"September 13, 1681 —
" Mr. William Clayton, Mr. Rober Lucas,
" Mr. William Warner, Mr. Lassey Cock,
" Mr. Robert Wade, Mr. Swan Swanson,
"Mr. Otto Ernst Cock, Mr. Andreas Bankson,
" Mr. William Byles, Justices present.
" Mr. John Test, Sheriffe.
"Mr. Tho. Revell, Gierke r
"Of the justices, five are Englishmen, four Swedes, two
' ' of whom had been members of the former court.
" The jurors in attendance appeared to have been twenty-
six.",
THE DELAWARE BRANCH OF THE CLAYTOiN FAMILY.
In order that this sketch of the ' ' Clayton Family ' ' may
be understood, it is given in genealogical order for, six gen-
erations by numbers after each individual name, but as
certain prominent members of the family have an historical
interest, their history is intended to precede the table using
the numbers there given.
Joshua Clayton ( i ) is spoken of by some of the authori-
ties as a minister of the Gospel and that he visited or settled
finally in Virginia. It will be found that there was a
22 THE CLA YTON FA MIL Y.
Thomas Clayton in Virginia on York River who was a
prominent lawyer as early as 1680, who had a large practice
from London merchants. Among the archives of Pennsyl-
vania it appears that on the 25th of October, 1682 Thomas
Clayton took up land in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It
must be remembered that Sir John Clayton of London was
a first cousin of Joshua Clayton (i) and that his son John
settled in Virginia; and as Virginia and the three Delaware
Counties, which were parts of Pennsylvania, were in close
proximity, it required but little time to complete a trip to
and from each state. There appear to be no records in the
State of Delaware showing any will or letters of adminis-
tration on the estate of Joshua Clayton (i). It is claimed
that he came to this country with William Penn on his first
visit. It has been handed down from generation to genera-
tion both in Delaware and Pennsylvania that William
Clayton (i) of Pennsylvania, and Joshua Clayton (i) of
Delaware were cousins. The late Hon. John M. Clayton
while Secretary of State under President Taylor, conversed
with the Virginia branch of the Clayton Family on the sub-
ject of the relationship between the two families, and after
going over all the facts they decided that the Virginia
Claytons and the Delaware Claytons were from the same
original stock.
The late Judge Clayton of Pennsylvania states in his
biography of the family that William Clayton ( i ) and Joshua
Cla3^ton (i) were descendants of Thomas Clayton of
Clayton Hall in the parish of Highhojdand County York,
England.
Joshua Clayton ( i ) married ******* by
whom he had issue, two sons, John (2) and Joshua (3,)
THE CLA YTON FA MIL V. 23
both of whom settled in Kent County, Delaware, perhaps
as early as 1695.
John Clayton and Joshua Clayton must have been very
old men at the time of their respective deaths, which hap-
pened in 1759 and 1761. From these two men, the record
of the "Clayton Family" is verified by wills, deeds, bibles.
Friends' Yearly Meeting Records, tombstones and family
history. John and Joshua Clayton must have been born
about 1675 or 1677, as they purchased lands jointly in Kent
County, Delaware as early as 1698. See Deed Book "C",
Volume I, page 211 etc. John Clayton (2) son of Joshua
(i) of whom hereafter. Joshua Clayton (3) son of Joshua
Clayton (i) and brother of John Clayton (2) settled in Little
Creek Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, and became a
prominent member of the Society of Friends, and he appears
to have taken a very decided and active part in all their
meetings from 17 16 to the date of his death in January 1761.
He became a large land owner in Kent County, was a
very religious and devoted Quaker, and lived on his home
plantation at the time of his death. He married * * *
* * * * by whom he had three daughters : Lydia (6)
who married John Cowgill on the i6th day of December
1720, Sarah, (7) who married Thomas Cowgill, Elizabeth
(8) who married Mark Manlove, Jr., on the 19th day of
August 1730.
Joshua Clayton (3) died about the first day of January
A. D. 1761, having made his last will and testament dated
the 2nd day of September A. D. 1760, probated at Dover,
Delaware on the sixth day of January A. D. 1761, and
registered in Will Book "K" page 225 etc., wherein he
devised as follows :— ITEM : "I leave unto my grand-
24 THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y.
"daughter Eunice Osbourne, (wife of Jonathon Osbourne)
" my now dwelling plantation, being part of a tract of land
"called ' Higham's Ferry,' and a part of a tract of land
"called ' Wilton Creek.' " He also left other lands and a
number of slaves to his grand-children and the following
grand-children are named as devisees : — John Cowgill,
Clayton Cowgill, Ezekiel Cowgill, Thomas Cowgill, Sarah
Register, who was the wife of John Register of Talbot
County, Md., Elizabeth Neal, Jean Smith, Lydia Durbor-
ough and the said Eunice Osbourne.
John Clayton (2) married Grace * * * by whom
he had issue two sons and one daughter, to wit: John Clay-
ton (4) James Clayton (5) and * * * Clayton (5>^)
who married * * * Caldwell by whom she had a son
John Caldwell and a daughter Sarah Caldwell.
^X. John Clayton (4) was a prominent man in the County, a
large land owner and died in 1758 having made his last
will and Testament dated the 4th day of December A. D.
1754, probated at Dover on the 9th day of May A. D. 1759
and recorded in Will Book K. page 203, etc, wherein he
constituted and appointed his son James (5) his Executor
and devised his estate to his two grand-children John Cald-
well and Sarah Caldwell, his two sons John Clayton (4) and
James Clayton (5) and his widow Grace Clayton.
John Clayton, Jr. (4) a son of John and Grace Clayton,
was returned High Sheriff of Kent County Delaware, in
1 752- 1 753, and was styled John Clayton, Jr. He was also
a Lieutenant and (perhaps a Captain) in the Continental
Army in 1757, and his name appears in a Caveat in the land
office in 1760. he also appears as the Administrator of the
Estate of his brother James in 1761. He appears to have
\
Rachel McCleary Clayton,
The Wife of Governor Joshua Clayton
AND Her Two Sons.
James Lawson Clayton.
Richard Clayton.
THE CLAY7VN FAMILY. 25
been the first Clayton to hold public office in the State of
Delaware and left an only son who d. s. p.
John Clayton (ii) a son of James (5) and Grace Clayton,
b. 1749, and d., 1802. m. Mary Mason Manlove by whom
he had two sons.
His will is dated April i, 1794, probated at Dover in Will
Book O, page 67, etc., wherein he provided that in the
event of the death of his two sons James and Edward Clayton
in their minority, his estate should be divided between
James Lawson Clayton, Richard Clayton and Thomas
Clayton, sons of his brother Dr. Joshua Clayton, to John
Clayton and Charles Clayton, sons of his brother Thomas
Clayton — and James Hanson, a son of his sister Lydia
Hanson, (nee Clayton).
He was appointed a Judge in Admiralty under the Con-
stitution of 1776, and also appointed fourth Justice of the
Court of C. P. for Kent County, Delaware on the 15th day
of February 1788, and again appointed third Justice of the
same Court on the 8th day of February 1790. About 1792,
he was High Sheriff of Kent County, Delaware, and while
acting in that capacity, compelled the Legislature of the
State, then in session, (May 1792) to vacate the Court
House, and they adjourned to Duck Creek, Cross Roads,
(now Smyrna).
This act showed the strong character of the man. He
took a deep interest in Colonial politics, in the Revolution,
and in the Government afterwards. He was appointed one
of the Associate Judges of the Court of C. P. of the State
of Delaware on the i6th day of September A. D. 1793,
which position he occupied until the time of his death 1802.
He was a large land owner in Kent County, Delaware and
26 THE CLA YTON FA MIL Y.
resided in Murderkill Hundred. He left two sons, James
and Edward Manlove, whose descendants largely live in the
Southern States, none in Delaware.
The portrait of Judge John Clayton appearing in this
sketch was made from a miniature painted in Philadelphia
in 1784, and now in the possession of the family.
IV. Joshua Clayton (10) born in 1744, married Mrs.
Rachel McCleary an adopted daughter of Richard Bassett,
an early Governor of the State of Delaware. Joshua Clay-
ton was a practicing physician and was a surgeon in the
Revolutionary Army. He was elected Major of the Bohemia
Batallion on the 6th day of January, 1776, and was com-
missioned Colonel by General Washington just before the
battle of Brandy wine; it is said that General Washington
placed him on his staff ' ' in order to make a good appear-
" ance when receiving the sword of General Howe, whom
" he expected to take at that place."
Colonel Dr. Joshua Clayton held many prominent positions
in the army, state and nation. He was the last President
of the State of Delaware, and the first governor under the
new Constitution, and in 1798 was elected to the United
States Senate. He filled each and every position with
honor to himself, his state and the nation. He was largely
interested in the ownership of Bohemia Manor, and he and
Richard Bassett owned nearly all of that ancient manor of
20,000 acres of land lying in New Castle County, Delaware
and Cecil County, Maryland. He took the yellow fever in
1798, and against the entreaties of Dr. Rush, returned to
his home in Bohemia Manor, where he died leaving to sur-
vive him three sons:— James I^awson (16,) Richard (17,)
Thomas (18).
Profile Silhouette of John M. Clayton.
IwTBLlCUBRARt
AT-ron, LENOX
THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y. 27
Thomas Claj'ton (i8) was born at Massey's Cross Roads,
Maryland in July 1777. He married Jennette Macomb,
daughter of Eleazer Macomb, studied law, and was admitted
to the Delaware Bar in 1799. He practiced law at Dover
and was appointed Secretary of State in 1808, Attorney
General in 181 1, elected to the Congress in 18 14, and took
his seat in the Senate of the United States January 15, 1824
to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Caesar A. Rodney. In
1828 he was appointed Chief Justice of the State of Dela-
ware. He was again elected to the United States Senate in
1 84 1 and at the expiration of his term retired to private life
at New Castle where he died August 31, 1854, having had
issue an only son and tw^o daughters: — Joshua Clayton (39)
b August 2, 1802, Elizabeth (40,) Jennette (41).
JOHN M. CLAYTON.
John M. Clayton, (25) the son of James Clayton (15) and
Sarah (Middleton) Clayton his wife was born at Dagsboro,
Sussex County, Delaware, November 24th, 1796. After a
preliminary education at Lewes he graduated from Yale
College and studied law with his cousin, Hon. Thomas
Clayton, afterwards Chief Justice of the State. He was
admitted to the Delaware bar in 18 19, and soon showed
a bent toward politics, serving as Secretary of State from
1826 to 1828. As the leader of the Adams party in 1828
he carried the state and was rewarded by election to the
United States Senate entering that body at the early age
of thirty-two. He served as a Senator with Webster, Clay,
Calhoun and Benton and soon became a prominent figure in
National Politics. Was re-elected to the Senate in 1835,
28 THE CLAYTON FAMILY.
and was twice after elected in 1845 and in 1853. During
Zachary Taylor's brief term as President he served as Secre-
tary of State and negotiated the celebrated Clayton-Bulwer
treaty. For three j^ears he occupied the office of Chief
Justice of the State.
He was a born leader of men. No man whom Delaware
has produced has measured higher in intellectual capacity or
in combination of rare gifts. As a man he was tender and
true, as a lawyer and judge he occupied the highest rank,
and as an advocate and statesman none surpassed him. His
life was full of accomplishments and at his death on Novem-
ber gth, 1856 his remains were laid at rest in the grave-
yard of the Presbyterian Church at Dover.
Joshua Clayton, son of Thomas and Emma (Purner)
Clayton was born February 8th, 1871. He was the grand-
son of Colonel Joshua the great grandson of Chief Justice
Thomas, and great-great grandson of Governor Joshua.
After being educated at the Middletown Academy he
studied law with Albert Constable, Esq., at Elkton, Mary-
land, and was admitted to the Cecil County bar in 1899, and
was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1901.
Mr. Clayton is an active man with much of the ability, that
has made the Clayton family famous, and as a lawyer
promises to make a successful career.
THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y. 29
GENEALOGICAL TABLE, FOR SIX GENERATIONS, OF
THE DELAWARE FAMILY OF CLAYTONS.
First Generation: —
I Children of Joshua Clayton ( i ) , first settler in Delaware :
> John (2) d 1758 m Grace
Joshua (3) a Quaker preacher d 1760.
Second Generation.
Children of John Clayton (2) and Grace his wife:
John (4)
- James (5) m Grace d about May 10, 1761.
Children of Joshua Clayton (3) and his wife: —
Ivydia (6) m John Cowgill 12- 16- 1720,
Sarah (7) m Thomas Cowgill,
Elizabeth (8) m Mark Manlove, Jr., 8- 19- 1730.
Third Generation.
Children of John Clayton (4):
John Edmund (9) d. s. p.
Children of James Clayton (5) and Grace . . . his wife:
Joshua (10) b 1744, d 1798, m Rachel McCleary.
John (11) b 1749, d 1802 m Mary Mason Manlove.
James (12) d in infancy.
Thomas (13) d 1785 m Elizabeth Wharton of Philadel-
phia.
Eydia (14) m Joseph Hansou^by whom she had one
son John.
Grace (14^) b d.
Miriam (14^).
Amelia (14^).
^ George b 3-24-1761 renamed James (15) d 11-24-1820, m
Sarah Middleton 8-1 8-1 791, a daughter of Ignatius
Middleton of Annapolis, Md.
30 THE CLA YTON FA MIL V.
Fourth Generation.
Children of Joshua Clayton (lo) and Rachael McCleary
his wife:
James Lawson ( 1 6) b 7- 14- 1769, d 3- 19- 1 833 m Elizabeth
Polk 12-16-1795.
Richard (17) b 1774, d 1836, m first, Mary Richardson,
second Mary I^awrenson, third Aramiuta Lewis.
, Thomas (18), b 7- 1777, d 8-21-1854, m Jennette
Macomb.
Children of John Clayton (11) and Mary Manlove, his wife:
James (19) b. 1780, d 1825, m Sarah Medford.
Edward Manlove (20) d 1819, m Rachel H. Manlove
1 1-20-181 1.
Children of Thomas Clayton (13) and Elizabeth Wharton
his wife:
Charles (21) d. s. p.
John (22) d. s. p.
Children of Pearse Clayton (14) and . . . .Hanson her
husband:
James (23).
Children of James Clayton (15) and Sarah Middleton his
wife:
Eydia (24) b. 9- 18- 1794, m John Kellam of Accomac
County, Virginia and d. s. p.
John Middleton (25) b 11-24-1796 m Sallie Ann Fisher
"^ daughter of Dr. James Fisher, 9- 12- 1822 at Middle-
town, Del. by the Rev. (afterward Dr.) Samuel
Brinckle and d 11-9-1856.
Harriet M. (26) b 5-8-1798 m Walter Douglass 10-6-
18 14 who d 4-20-1826. She married secondly Henry
W. Peterson of Canada.
Judge John Clayton.
1749-1802.
THE CLA YTON FA MIL V. 31
Henry (27) b 3-2-1800 d 6- 17- 1800.
Elizabeth (28) b 9-12-1801 d. s. p. 3-5-1822.
Mary Ann (29) b 12-8- 1803 m George T. Fisher.
James Henry (30) b 9-12-1809 d. s. p. 6-7-1836.
Fifth Generation.
Children of James I,awson Clayton (16) and Elizabeth
Polk, his wife:
Rachel (31), born 1797, d 1890, m Nathaniel Smithers,
d. s. p.
John E. (32) b 1788 d m Ellen M. Clark.
Margaret (33) b 1799 died in infancy.
Hester (34) b 1802 died in infancy.
Amelia (35) b 1803 d 1891 m Thomas C. Hambley.
Anna (36), b 1805, d 1891, m Joshua Clayton (42).
Susanna (37) b 1808 died in infancy.
James (38) b 18 10 died in infancy.
Children of Richard Clayton (17) and Mary Richardson
his first wife.
Joshua (42) b 1794, d 1854, m Anna White Clayton (36).
James (43) b 1803 d 1857 m Emeline Eewis.
Thomas E. (44) b 1800 d 1858 m Sarah Eawrenson.
Mary (45) b 1797 d 1845 ^1 first, Richard Eawrenson,
secondly, George Eewis.
Children of Richard Clayton (17) and Mary Eawrenson,
his second wife.
Richard T. P. (46), b 1808, m Ann Templeton. -
Jennette (47), died unmarried.
Children of Richard Clayton (17) and Araminta Eewis his
third wife:
Eydia A. (48) b 18 16 d 1849 m Joshua Clayton (39).
32 THE CLA YTON FAMIL Y.
Children of Thomas Clayton (i8) and Jennette Macomb
his wife:
Joshua (39) b 1802 d 1888, m first, I,ydia A. Clayton
m secondly, Martha E. Lockwood.
Elizabeth (40) b 1804 d 1847 m Nathaniel Young.
Jennette (41) b 1805 d 1848 m Robert Frame.
Children of James Clayton (17) and Sarah Medford his
wife:
Henry M. (49) b 12-31-1810 d 11-13-1888 m Mary E.
Woodland.
John (50) b 1819 d 3-14-1881 m Anna B. Colton.
Susan M. (51) b 7-23-1802 d 8-6-1881 d. s. p.
Mary A. (52) b 7-17-1804 d 11-17-1881 d. s. p.
Children of Edward Manlove Clayton (20) and Rachel H.
Manlove his wife:
Ann Rebecca (53) b 8-21-1812 d 3-31-1883 m James W.
Dunklin.
Elizabeth W. (54) b 10-24-1815 d 12-1-1898 m Charles
E. Lavender.
Mary Louisa (55) b 4-21-1817 unmarried.
Children of John M. Clayton (25) and Sarah Middleton
his wife:
James Fisher (56), unmarried, b 7-11-1823, d. s. p.
3-1-1851.
Charles McClymont (57) b 2-3-1835, d. s. p. 7-20-1849.
Children of Harriet M. Clayton (26) and Walter Douglas
her husband.
Margaret A. (58) b 4-17-1816 m Joseph P. Comegys
3-30-1837.
James Clayton (59) b 11-24-1817 m Ellen Stewart Sin-
clair 11-7-1848.
THE CL A YTON FA MIL Y. 33
Children of Mary Ann Clayton (29) and George T.
Fisher her husband.
James C. (60) died unmarried.
John C. (61) died unmarried.
Sixth Generation.
Children of John L. Clayton (32) and Ellen M. Clark, his
wife:
Julius (62).
James W. (63).
Theodore (64).
John P. (65).
Henry (66).
Children of Amelia Clayton (35) and Thomas C. Hambley
her husband:
Thomas C. Jr. (67) died young.
Henrietta M. (68) m Charles M. Siter.
William T. (69) died 1894.
Samuel C. (70) unmarried.
Children of Anna White Clayton (36) and Joshua Clayton
her husband;
Charles, (71) m Emma Clark.
Joshua (73) m Eavinia Moyer.
Children of Joshua Clayton (39) and Eydia A. Clayton
his first wife:
Thomas (74) b 12-6-1833 d 9-20-1896.
Henry (75) b 1839 d 1896.
Richard (76) b 1842 d 1898.
Children of Joshua Clayton (39) and Martha E. Eockwood
his second wife:
Adalaide Y. (77) m Charles S. Elhson.
34 THE CLA YTON FA MIL K
Macomb (78) m Elizabeth Porter Laws.
Mary (79) m J. Fletcher Price.
Elizabeth (80) m Dr. Williams.
Joshua (81) m Estelle Pennington.
Frances (82) m Nathaniel J. Williams.
Eugene (83) m Anna J. Wilson.
Children of Elizabeth Clayton (40) and Nathaniel Young
her husband:
Jennette (84) unmarried.
Adelaide (85) unmarried.
Children of Jennette Clayton (41) and Robert Frame, her
husband:
Robert (86) b 1837 m Hetty McColley d 1902.
Thomas C. (87) b 1840 m Mary Eayton.
Julia (88) b 1844 unmarried.
Children of Joshua Clayton (42) and Anna White Clay-
ton (36) his wife:
See ante. No. 36.
Children of James Clayton (43) and Kmeline Eewis his
wife:
Arianna (89) m Edward Townseud.
George (90) died unmarried.
Caroline (91) m Arthur Johns.
Children of Thomas E. Clayton (44) and Sarah Eawren-
son his wife:
Emma Elizabeth (92) m James A. Eewis.
Children of Mary Clayton (45) and Richard Eawrenson
her first husband:
Eliza (93) m George Templeman.
Children of Mary Clayton (45) and George Lewis her
second husband:
Thomas Clayton.
Cheif Justice of Delaware.
U. S. Senator.
- ■■'',-' 'IONS.
THE CLA YTON FA MIL Y. 35
James A. (94) m Emma Elizabeth Clayton(see foot note).
Matilda m Dr. Swartz.
Children of Richard T. P. Clayton (46) . . and his wife:
Richard (95) married,
Anna (96) m James Jamison.
Children of Lydia A. Clayton (48) and Joshua Clayton
her husband:
See ante. No. 39.
Children of Henry M. Clayton (49) and Mary E. Wood-
land his wife:
James W. (97) b 10-30-1837) m Elizabeth Hunter.
Henry M. (98) b 6-9-1844 d 7-3-1901 married first
Adelia Tracy secondly Mary Pemberton.
John A. (99) b 1850 d 1899 m Mar^'
Mary E. (100) b 1838 d 1902 m John Thompson.
Sarah E. (loi) b 7-16-1848 m Henry Snow Bartlett.
Children of John Clayton (50) and Anna B. Colton his
wife:
Anna B. (102) b 1847 d 1899 m J. G. R. McElroy.
Louisa B. (103) b 1852 m W. H. Gilpin.
Ella M. (104) b 1858 d 1901 unmarried.
Children of Ann Rebecca Clayton (53) and James W.
Dunklin her husband:
Edward C. (105) b 6-23-1832 d 1-11-1900.
Mary E. (106) b 1-10-1835 d 1-20-1902.
William H. (107) b 3-6-1837 d 5-7-1864.
Virgie J. (108) b 9-26-1841 d 1-14-1885.
Florence E. (109) b 10-16-1845.
Charles P. (no) b 11-18-1847.
Note — This James A. Lewis (the son of a Clayton woman) was the only rela-
tive of John M, Clayton ever appointed to office by him, he being his private
secretary, and the man who prepared the rough draft of the Clayton-Bulwer
Treaty.
36 THE CLA YTON FA MIL V.
Children of Elizabeth W. Clayton (54) and Charles E.
Lavender her husband:
Mary Louisa (in) b 5-2-1837.
Edward C. (112) b 5-13-1839 d 6-1-1892.
Delia (113) b 6-15-1842 d 10-23-1865.
Charles H. (114) b 11-16-1843.
Children of Margaret A. Douglass (58) and Joseph P.
Comegys her husband:
Walter Douglass (115) b 9- 12- 1838 m 12-29-1863 Anna
E. Bell dau of Hon. John Bell of Tennessee, issue
one child which died in infancy.
Walter Douglas Comegys (116) d. s. p. 11 -28- 1877.
Harriet Clayton (117) b 9-26-1840, living.
Cornelia (118) b d.s. p. 9-25-1878.
Children of James Clayton Douglas (59) and Ella Stewart
Sinclair his wife:
Constance Margaret (119) b 3-20-1852 m i- 16- 1884
Francis N. Buck.
Clayton Douglas (120) b 3-27-1854 d. s. p. 2-21- 1872.
EXTRACT FROM THE FAMILY BIBLE OF THE LATE
HON. JOHN M. CLAYTON.
' ' My father gave me the following pedigree of the Clayton
"family. Joshua Clayton came to America from England
"with William Penn. He left sons /o/t?i and Joshua.
" Joshua left one daughter, who married a Cowgill, and the
" Cowgill family in Delaware is connected with mine, being
' ' the descendants of that daughter. John left sons James
" and John. James left sons Joshua, John, Thomas, James
"and George. John (Senior of John) left a son John
"Edmunds Clayton who died without issue. Joshua (of
THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 37
"James) left Thomas, James, Richard and Thomas. John
" (of James) left James and Edward now dead.
"Thomas (of James) died leaving two sons John and
" Charles who died without issue.
"James died an infant a few days after his father and
' ' then George was renamed James after his father. He was
"born March 24, 1761, married my mother August 18,
" 1 79 1 and left at his death on the 24th day of November
" 1820 Ivydia, wife of John Kellam, John M. Clayton,
"Harriet, wife of Walter Douglass, Elizabeth Clayton,
" Mary Ann, wife of G. T. Fisher, and James H. M. Clayton.
Attest :
[Signed] JOHN M. CIvAYTON."
GENERAL COMMENT.
It will be found by an examination of the admission of the
great number of lawyers produced by the Clayton family;
that for over three hundred years either in this country or
England, some of them have graced the bar. We will begin
with 1590 when William Clayton of Okenshaw County, York,
England, of the Inner Temple Barrister at law had been
admitted, and dying in 1627 left a son John Clayton of the
Inner Temple, Barrister at Eaw, admitted in 1626, w^ho died
in 1 67 1, leaving a son John Clayton of the Inner Temple,
Barrister at Eaw, who died subsequent to 1705.
From 1705 to 1743 John Clayton, a son of Rev. James
Clayton, and great grand-son of William Clayton, of Oken-
shaw, was a member of the Middle Temple.
From 1650 to 1682 Sir John Clayton, a son of Sir Jasper
Clayton;
38 THE CLA YTON FA MIL V.
From 1682 to 1737 John Clayton of Va., a son of Sir John
Clayton;
From 1727 to 1772 Richard Clayton, Lord Chief Justice
of Ireland;
From 1762 to 1824 Sir Richard Clayton, Baronet.
From 1799 to 1854 Thomas Clayton, late Chief Justice of
Delaware ;
From 18 19 to 1856 John M. Clayton also late Chief Justice
of Delaware;
From 1825 to 1888 Joshua Clayton of Delaware;
1850 to 1900 Thomas J. Clayton, late Judge of Delaware
County, Pennsylvania;
From 1899 to 1904 Joshua Clayton of Maryland who is
now living.
This family has not been any less conspicuous in its num-
ber of physicians. From 1705 to 1773 John Clayton was a
phj'sician in Gloucester County, Virginia. From about
1770 to 1798 Dr. Joshua Clayton was a physician in Dela-
ware, and from the year 1800 to the present time there have
been so many physicians from this family it would take a
book to contain their names. They are scattered all over
the United States. We find the ministry beginning about
HOC and continuing until the present day.
The ministers of the Gospel in this famil}^ represented the
Roman Catholic, Protestant Episcopal, Presbyterian, Metho-
dist and other denominations. Many of them became
Quakers during the Seventeenth century. From this array
of talented men one might expect to find a man filling the
highest station in life, one who would be singled out among
men as a great leader, lawyer, orator and statesman, and it
was left to the Diamond State to produce such a man.
THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 39
We can name with praise our own John M. Claj'ton as
the man of great natural abilities, well cultivated and thor-
oughly matured. Here we find the greatest of great law-
yers, the brighest of brilliant orators, the profoundest of
jurists, the most astute of astute statesmen, and one of the
deepest, clearest and strongest diplomats. He honored the
name of " Clayton," the name of the State of Delaware and
the nation that gave him place and position. He was the
boy orator of the state that loved him and his name will go
down in history as the one man who could fill the highest
judicial chair of his state, who could challenge the greatest
statesmen to combat and meet the diplomats of the world
with such marked ability that they all honored him. Well
may the state be proud of her noble statesman. One word
more and we will close and that is to appeal to you all to
uphold the honor of this state with such men in the halls
of our national legislature. For further information on
John M. Clayton see Memoir of his life, containing over 300
pages by the late Hon. Joseph P. Comegys, Chief Justice
of the State of Delaware, and a former student in his ofl&ce.
40 THE CLA YTON FA MIL Y.
ABBREVIATIOiNS.
b. born ; s. succeeded ; d. died ; d. s. p. died without
issue ; ra. married ; unm. unmarried ; dau. daughter.
Books and papers referred to in manuscript.
Playfair's British Family Antiquities Vol. VII. p. 159 &c.
Dugdale's Visitations of Yorkshire p. 266.
Slaughter's St. Mark's Parish, Culpepper Co., Va. pp.
125-126-127.
Rambles and Reflections of T. J. Clayton, late President
Judge of Delaware County, Pa., pp. 396-7-8-9 &c.
Burk's Landed Gentry of England, Vol. I. p. 360.
History of Chester County, Pa., by Gilbert Cope.
Lamb's Biographical Dictionary. Sir Peter Leycester's
Antiquities.
Letters of Rev. John Clayton of Crofton, Wakefield Co.,
York, England.
May 12, 1688, "Account of Va." published in Miscellanea
Curiosa, Vol. III. pp. 281-293-301-312-327 &c. Historical
Society of Virginia.
Scharf's Histor}' of Delaware, Vol. I. and II.
Quaker Record of Births, marriages and deaths of Dela-
ware families.
Chalmer's Historical Dictionary, Vol. IX. p. 435.
Testa de Nevil a Survey of England, A. D. 1247 pp. 372-
396-397-403.
Baines Lancashire and Cheshire "Past and Present" Vol.
I. Division II. pp. 531-530-602-603. Delaware Court Rec-
ords.
THE CLAYTON FAMILY. 41
Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. I.
Personal Reminiscenses of members of the Clayton family,
and special mention is made of Hon. Thomas J. Clayton,
Dr. Thomas Clayton Frame, Dr. Joshua Clayton of Phila-
delphia, Joshua Clayton, Esq., of Elkton, Md., H. C. Con-
rad, Esq., and Miss Harriet Clayton Comegys.
