Augustin Smith Clayton

Augustin Smith Clayton (November 27, 1783 – June 21, 1839) was a jurist and politician from the American state of Georgia.

Early life Augustin Smith Clayton was born on November 27, 1783, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Philip Clayton. In 1794, he moved with his family to Richmond County, Georgia. He attended the Richmond Academy in Augusta, Georgia, and graduated with the inaugural class of Franklin College (now known as the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences) at the University of Georgia in Athens with a Bachelor of Arts in 1804. While at the University of Georgia, Clayton founded the Demosthenian Literary Society.

After studying law under the tutelage of judge Thomas P. Carnes, Clayton was admitted to the bar in 1806.

Career Clayton began practicing law in Carnesville, Georgia (which was named after his tutor Carnes). He then moved to Athens. During his tenure, he was opposed to the tariffs and the Bank of the United States.

After his congressional service, Clayton returned to Athens and practiced law. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. and Clayton, Alabama. His final residence in Athens was located on the north side of Clayton Street, which the city named for him, approximately halfway between Thomas and Jackson Streets. (Lawrenceville, Georgia, named for a War of 1812 hero, also has a street named for Clayton, the only one of its original streets that does not commemorate a veteran of that war.)

Clayton was a friend and congressional colleague of Davy Crockett. Literary scholar John Donald Wade posited that Clayton was the ghost writer (or at least co-writer) of Crockett's autobiography, and possibly some of his other published works, but this suggestion has been robustly challenged. He was reported to be the author of the political pamphlet "Crockett's Life of Van Buren".