Clement Comer Clay | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromAlabama | |
| In office June 19, 1837 – November 15, 1841 | |
| Preceded by | John McKinley |
| Succeeded by | Arthur P. Bagby |
| 8th Governor of Alabama | |
| In office November 21, 1835 – July 17, 1837 | |
| Preceded by | John Gayle |
| Succeeded by | Hugh McVay |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1835 | |
| Preceded by | Gabriel Moore |
| Succeeded by | Reuben Chapman |
| Member of theAlabama House of Representatives | |
| In office 1827-1828 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1789-12-17)December 17, 1789 Halifax County, Virginia, US |
| Died | September 6, 1866(1866-09-06) (aged 76) Huntsville, Alabama, US |
| Resting place | Maple Hill Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Susanna Claiborne Withers (1798–1866; her death) |
| Alma mater | East Tennessee University |
| Profession | Politician, Governor of Alabama |
Clement Comer Clay (December 17, 1789 – September 6, 1866)[1] was theeighth Governor of theU.S. state ofAlabama from 1835 to 1837. An attorney, judge, and politician, he was elected to the state legislature as well as theU.S. House of Representatives and theUnited States Senate.
He and hisson, who also served as a U.S. senator, were among the Alabama’s most prominent enslavers, according to theWashington Post. Together the two men enslaved 87 people on four Alabama plantations as recorded in the 1860 census.[2]
Clay was born inHalifax County, Virginia, the son of Rebecca (Comer) and William Clay,[3] an officer in theAmerican Revolutionary War, who moved toGrainger County, Tennessee. Clay attended the local schools and graduated fromEast Tennessee College in 1807. He was admitted to thebar in 1809 and moved toHuntsville, Alabama, where he began a law practice in 1811.[4]
Clay married Susannah Claiborne Withers on April 4, 1815.[5] They had three sons:Clement Claiborne Clay,John Withers Clay, andHugh Lawson Clay.
Clay served in the Alabama Territorial Legislature from 1817 to 1818. He was a state court judge and served in theAlabama House of Representatives.
In 1828, he was elected to theU.S. House of Representatives, serving from March 4, 1829, and through re-elections until March 3, 1835, when he started as governor of Alabama.[6]
In 1835 Clay was elected governor. Clay's term as governor ended early when the state legislature appointed him to theUnited States Senate in 1837 (this was before the popular election of senators).[4]
In 1836, Governor Clay signed a legislative act that charteredSpring Hill College inMobile, Alabama, the third oldestJesuit college in the United States. The charter gave it "full power to grant or confer such degree or degrees in the arts and sciences, or in any art or science as are usually granted or conferred by other seminaries of learning in the United States." The college resulted from the strong French Catholic traditions in the city, founded as a French colony.
Clay's term in office was dominated by theCreek War of 1836 arising from resistance toIndian Removal, which had taken place in the Southeast since 1830. During Clay's administration, theUnited States Army removed theCreek Indians from Southeastern Alabama under the terms of the 1832Treaty of Cusseta. The Creek were relocated to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) west of the Mississippi. Confrontations between Indians and white settlers occurred.[7]
During thePanic of 1837, the United States suffered a financial crisis brought on byspeculative fever. This crisis caused a run on theBank of the State of Alabama. Clay ordered the bank to provide a detailed financial report, but it could not do so.[7][4]
Clay arrived in 1811 to Huntsville owning very little money and one slave.[8] By 1830 he enslaved 52 people and in 1834, 71. From 1840 – 1850, he sold many of those people in order to meet his debts. But by 1860 he claimed ownership of 84 enslaved people.[4]
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After the election by the state legislature, Clay served in theUnited States Senate from June 19, 1837, until his resignation on November 15, 1841.
In the year after the end of the Civil War, Clement died of natural causes in September 1866, aged 76. His wife Susanna had died earlier the same year. They were buried atMaple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Alabama 1835 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| New title | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama 1820–1823 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's 1st congressional district March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1835 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Alabama 1835–1837 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | United States Senator from Alabama (Class 3) 1837–1841 withWilliam R. King (1837–1841) | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
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Speakers of theAlabama House of Representatives | ||
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| Alabama Territory |  | |
| State of Alabama |
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