Henry De Lamar Clayton Jr.


Henry De Lamar Clayton Jr. was a United States Representative from Alabama and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Education and career

Born on February 10, 1857, near Clayton, in Barbour County, Alabama, Clayton attended the common schools, then received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1877 from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor of Laws in 1878 from the University of Alabama School of Law. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Clayton from 1878 to 1880. He continued private practice in Eufaula, Alabama from 1880 to 1914. He was a register in chancery for Barbour County from 1880 to 1884. He was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from 1890 to 1891. He was the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama from 1893 to 1896. He was permanent Chairman of the Democratic National Convention in 1908.

Congressional service

Clayton was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives of the 55th United States Congress and to the eight succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1897, until May 25, 1914, when he resigned and moved to Montgomery, Alabama to accept a federal judgeship. He was Chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary for the 62nd and 63rd United States Congresses. He was sponsor of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. He was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1905 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Charles Swayne, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, and in 1912 against Robert Wodrow Archbald, Judge of the United States Commerce Court. He was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Senator Joseph F. Johnston, but his appointment was challenged and withdrawn.

Federal judicial service

Clayton was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson on May 2, 1914, to a joint seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama vacated by Judge Thomas G. Jones. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 2, 1914, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on December 21, 1929, due to his death in Montgomery. He was interred in Fairview Cemetery in Eufaula.

Family

Clayton's father, Henry DeLamar Clayton, was a Major General in the Confederate States Army. His brother, Bertram Tracy Clayton, was a United States Representative from New York.

Home

Clayton's home in Clayton, the Henry D. Clayton House, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.