Early Life and Family
See also: Clayton familyHis uncle, Dr. Joshua Clayton, was a former Governor of Delaware and his cousin, Thomas Clayton, was a prominent lawyer, U.S. Senator, and jurist. John M. Clayton studied at Berlin, Maryland and Milford, Delaware when his parents moved there. He graduated from Yale University in 1815, studied law at the Litchfield Law School, and in 1819 began the practice of law in Dover, Delaware.
About this time his father died and Clayton became the sole supporter of his immediate family, weekly walking the distance from Dover to Milford to see to their needs. He married Sally Ann Fisher in 1822. She was the granddaughter of former Governor George Truitt. They had two sons, James and Charles, but she died two weeks after the birth of Charles. Clayton never remarried and raised the two boys himself. From 1844 Clayton cultivated a tract of land near New Castle, Delaware which he called Buena Vista. Here he built a mansion and made one of the most fruitful estates in that region. Both of his sons died while in their 20's, shortly before the death of their father.
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