David Clopton

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title: "David Clopton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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-united-states-representatives-from-alabama", "19th-century-alabama-state-court-judges", "19th-century-united-states-representatives"] description: "American judge and politician (1820–1892)" topic_path: "people/1820s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Clopton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American judge and politician (1820–1892) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
image	David Clopton Portrait.jpg
state3	Alabama
district3	3rd
term_start3	March 4, 1859
term_end3	January 21, 1861
predecessor3	James F. Dowdell
successor3	Benjamin W. Norris
office4	Member of the
Alabama Legislature
term4	1878
office1	Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
term_start1	October 30, 1884
term_end1	February 5, 1892
office2	Member of the
C.S. House of Representatives
from Alabama's 7th district
preceded2	Constituency established
succeeded2	Constituency abolished
term_start2	February 18, 1862
term_end2	March 18, 1865
birth_name	David Clopton
birth_date
birth_place	Putnam County, Georgia
death_date
death_place	Montgomery, Alabama
party	Democratic
education	Randolph–Macon College
spouse
module	{{Infobox military person
embed	yes
allegiance	Confederate States
branch	Confederate States Army
serviceyears	1861–1862
rank	Private
unit	12th Alabama Infantry
battles	American Civil War
::

| image = David Clopton Portrait.jpg | image_size = | state3 = Alabama | district3 = 3rd | term_start3 = March 4, 1859 | term_end3 = January 21, 1861 | predecessor3 = James F. Dowdell | successor3 = Benjamin W. Norris | office4 = Member of the Alabama Legislature | term4 = 1878 | office1 = Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court | term_start1 = October 30, 1884 | term_end1 = February 5, 1892 | office2 = Member of the C.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 7th district | preceded2 = Constituency established | succeeded2 = Constituency abolished | constituency2 = | term_start2 = February 18, 1862 | term_end2 = March 18, 1865 | birth_name = David Clopton | birth_date = | birth_place = Putnam County, Georgia | death_date = | death_place = Montgomery, Alabama | party = Democratic | education = Randolph–Macon College | profession = | spouse = | module = {{Infobox military person | embed = yes | allegiance = Confederate States | branch = Confederate States Army | serviceyears= 1861–1862 | rank = Private | unit = 12th Alabama Infantry | battles = American Civil War

David Clopton (September 29, 1820 – February 5, 1892) was an American politician who was member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the C.S. House of Representatives, a member of the Alabama Legislature, and associate judge of the Alabama Supreme Court. A member of the Democratic Party, he was also a veteran of the Confederate Army.

Early life

Clopton was born in Putnam County, Georgia, near Milledgeville, Georgia, on September 29, 1820, a son of Alford Clopton (1787–1870) and his wife, Sarah “Sally” Clopton (). He attended the county schools and Edenton Academy in Georgia, and moved to Alabama in 1844, graduating from Randolph–Macon College in 1840 and being admitted to the bar in 1841.

Early career

He practiced law in Milledgeville, beginning in that year, and developed an association with Robert S. Lanier, whose son Clifford later married Clopton's daughter. In 1844, he moved to Tuskegee, Ala. and practiced law there.

Political career

U.S. House of Representatives

Clopton represented Alabama's 3rd district in the United States House of Representatives 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".

Civil War

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.

C.S. House of Representatives

Afterwards he represented Alabama in the First Confederate Congress and the Second Confederate Congress. 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.

Personal life

On November 29, 1887 he married Virginia Tunstall Clay, widow of Clement Claiborne Clay.

Later life and death

After the war, he served in the Alabama state legislature in 1878 and as an associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 1884 until his death in Montgomery, Ala., February 5, 1892. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

References

References

1. "Bioguide Search".
2. Cunningham, Adelaide. (c. 1928). "Clifford Lanier".
3. "Collection: Sidney Lanier papers {{!}} Johns Hopkins University Libraries Archives Public Interface".
4. Long, Durward. (1963). "Alabama's Secession Commissioners". Civil War History.
5. "David Clopton (1820-1892)".
6. "Pardons, paroles, and clemency files, 1862-1863".
7. "Contracts to manufacture salt, 1861-1864".
8. "Clopton, David".
9. Richardson, Pat W.. (October 1, 1971). "Virginia Clay-Clopton". Huntsville Historical Review.
10. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Clinton-boyd to Clynick".

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