David Clopton, American congressman, jurist. member United States House of Representatives from Alabama, 36th Congress, 1859-1861; member, speaker Alabama House of Representatives, 1878-1879.
Background
CLOPTON, David was born on September 29, 1820 in Putnam County, Georgia, United States, United States. Son of Dr. Alfred Clopton and his wife Sarah (Kendrick). His father was a physician, a bank president, and a member of the Georgia legislature.
Education
Graduate Randolph-Macon College, 1840.
Career
Clopton attended Eatonton Academy in Georgia and graduated first in his class at Randolph-Macon College in 1840. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1844, he moved to Tuskegee, Alabama, where he began the practice of law.
He was a Democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He had one son, Edward Hunter, by his marriage to Martha E. Ligon. She died in November 1867.
He subsequently married Mary F. Chambers. His third wife was Virginia Tunstall Clay, the widow of Clemont Claiborne Clay. Little is known of his political activities or his business practice except that he was a successful lawyer.
In 1859, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama as a secessionist and a states’ rights Democrat. He retired from the House in January 1861. Clopton enlisted in the Civil War as a private in the 12th Alabama Infantry at the outbreak of hostilities and served as quartermaster of his regiment.
He also was elected to both permanent Confederate Houses. He served on the Claims, Naval Affairs, Illegal Seizures, and Medical Department Committees. Clopton supported the Davis administration.
After the war, he made his home in Montgomery, where he practiced law and participated in the redemptionist movement in Alabama. In 1878, he was named speaker of the lower house of the Alabama legislature. He declined reelection.
Clopton also organized both the First National Bank of Sheffield and the Sheffield Iron and Coal Company during the 1870s. In 1884, he was appointed associate justice of the state Supreme Court, a position which he held until his death on February 5, 1892, at Montgomery.
Religion
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Politics
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.
Membership
Member United States House of Representatives from Alabama, 36th Congress, 1859-1861. Member, speaker Alabama House of Representatives, 1878-1879.
Connections
Married Martha E. Ligon. Married second, Mistress.; married 3d, Mistress.