William Barclay Napton

Letter from William B. Napton, Jefferson City, Missouri, to his wife Melinda, Saline County, Missouri, 1845 William Barclay Napton (1808–1883) was an American politician and jurist from the state of Missouri. A Democrat, Napton served as the state's 4th Attorney General, and multiple terms on the Missouri Supreme Court.

Early life William Barclay Napton was born March 23, 1808, in Princeton, New Jersey, to John and Susan Barclay (Hight) Napton. Napton's father was a moderately successful tailor, enough so that as the oldest son William received private tutoring before enrollment in Princeton and Lawrenceville (New Jersey) preparatory academies. Following his graduation in 1826 Napton moved to Albemarle County, Virginia, where he was employed as a tutor for the children of General William F. Gordon for a period of two years. He then studied law at the University of Virginia, earning his degree in 1830. After graduation Napton found the abundance of lawyers in Charlottesville, Virginia, made finding work as an attorney difficult, so for two years he and a University of Virginia classmate operated Mudwell Academy, a college preparatory school. At their urging Napton started a newspaper, the Boon's Lick Democrat, serving as editor. On March 27, 1838, Napton married Melinda Williams. Napton and his wife would eventually become parents of ten living children, nine boys and one girl. It was a history-making time to be in Missouri government, with major issues like the Honey War—a border dispute with Iowa, the 1838 Mormon War and Governor Boggs' Executive Order 44 in the forefront. Other than to offer the Governor requested opinions on the constitutionality of certain measures however, Napton's time as Attorney General was relatively unremarkable.

In January, 1839 William Napton was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court by Governor Boggs. Due to a change in Missouri law in 1851, Supreme Court justices were elected instead of appointed, and Napton was defeated in his first election. This was due in large part to a split among the Missouri Democratic party over the expansion of slavery. Senator Thomas Hart Benton and a faction of "free soil" followers felt slavery should be curtailed in new territories while Napton's pro-slavery faction were against anything of the sort. In 1849 pro-slavery Democrats had Napton author a series of instructions for the state's representatives in Washington D.C.