Early Life and Career
Henry D. Clayton was born in Pulaski County, Georgia. He graduated from Emory and Henry College in Virginia. He moved to Eufaula, Alabama, after graduation and read law. He passed the bar exam in 1849 and opened an office in Clayton, Alabama, where he married Victoria Hunter and raised a family. Two of his sons, Henry De Lamar Clayton, Jr. and Bertram Tracy Clayton, later became United States Congressmen. His brother-in-law James L. Pugh was also a Congressman.
He was twice elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, serving from 1857 until 1861. Clayton recruited and organized a local militia organization and was elected as its captain. Among his subordinate officers was future fellow Civil War general William W. Adams. In August 1860, he was elected as colonel of the 3rd Alabama Volunteers, a state-wide militia organization.
Read more about this topic: Henry De Lamar Clayton (general)
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