John Clopton

Ancestor Number

A023229 »

Date of Birth

1756

Place of Birth

St. Peter’s Parish, Tunstall, New Kent County, Virginia

Date of Death

September 11, 1816

Place of Death

New Kent, Virginia

Spouse(s)

Sarah Bacon

Children

Izard, Maria L. Adelaide, John Bacon, William Edmond, Sarah Elizabeth

Service during theAmerican Revolution

First lieutenant and as captain in the Virginia militia

State of Service

Virginia

Donor

In honor of Charlotte Applegarth White, Honorary State Regent of Oregon and a dedicated worker for the Daughters of the American Revolution. Sponsored by love of her daughters: Sibyl Louise White Stronach, Charlene Clopton White Bradley, Dorothea Scott White, Sarah Tolman White and Frances Boyd White

Captain John Clopton was born at St. Peter’s Parish, Tunstall, New Kent County, Colony of Virginia on 1756.

His parents were Captain William Clopton III and Elizabeth Dorrall Ford. He took over the running of the family estate named “Roslyn” after the death of his father. He attended William and Mary and then the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Philadelphia, in 1776. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and practiced.

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John Clopton served in Colonel Proctor’s Company of Artillery for the Virginia, as first lieutenant and then as captain. He was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine Creek, which was fought under George Washington

He was wounded there, ironically, 39 years to the day of his death.

John Clopton married Sarah Bacon on May 15, 1784, and they had 13 children. Among the children were John Bacon Clopton who became a judge, William Edmond Clopton, Sarah Ann Elizabeth Churchill Foster, Maria Louisa Adelaide Lewis, Izaard Clopton and Thomas Clopton.

Clopton was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1789 to 1791, and was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fourth and Fifth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1795 to March 3, 1799. Then he became a member of the Virginia Privy Council from 1799 to 1801. He was then elected to the Seventh and to the seven succeeding Congresses. Clopton was a strict constructionist in the House, standing as one of the few who opposed the Second Bank of the United States on constitutional grounds. During the Tenth Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business. He served from March 4, 1801 until his death at New Kent, Virginia, on September 11, 1816. He is buried on his family plantation, Roslyn. The future President John Tyler was elected to fill the vacancy caused by Clopton’s death.