Daniel Bragg Clayton

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Additional Resources:

ID: I739
Last: Clayton
First: Daniel
Middle: Bragg
Birth: 18 Apr 1817 at Spartanburg District, South Carolina 1 2 3
Death: 12 Nov 1906 at Columbia, South Carolina 4 5
Burial: Elmwood Cemetary, Columbia, South Carolina 6
Sex: M
Notes: Daniel B. Clayton was a Universalist minister who traveled from Eastern North Carolina to Texas preaching often in churches with descendants of Feasters and Colemans of Fairfield Co., South Carolina (1). His son, Virgil P. Clayton, was a serious suitor of Maria Louisa Georgiana "Lula" Feaster in the years before she married John G. Wolling in 1872.

The D.B. Clayton family lived in Red Banks, 9 miles from Holly Springs, Mississippi. Dr. Clayton's passion for his faith is evident in a letter published in 1848, shortly before the birth of his son, Virgil Clayton, in 1850 (2). After Civil War fighting threatened the family, they went to Feasterville, SC in autumn, 1863.

Dr. Clayton's book, "Forty Seven Years in the Universalist Ministry", provides a clue about how his son Virgil Clayton may have met the teenage "Lula" Feaster, when the Claytons sought refuge among Universalist friends in Feasterville during the Civil War.

The Claytons lived in the Feasterville Boarding House, and Rev. Clayton taught at the Feasterville Academy 1864 and 1865 (3). He did not teach in 1866 because he could not collect from his subscribers. In 1866 he began traveling the countryside earning money by repairing clocks. Clayton ran a "little mercantile business for someone who lived more than 20 miles away." He ran the store for a year and preached once a month at Feasterville's LIberty Universalist Church (1).

Mrs. Clayton was "discontented at the isolation" - she was used to living in town. Rev. Clayton rented a hotel in Columbia in March, 1868. They closed out the store and moved in April, 1868. They ran the hotel for 12 years. He moved to Atlanta to work for the newspaper "Universalist" and ran a hotel (4). In 1883 he returned to South Carolina with his wife and daughters. He traveled extensively, preaching across the south. His wife Mary Ann and daughters lived with their son and family when they went to Cash's Depot, SC. Rev. Clayton came to Feasterville to preach, on occasion (1).

Sources:

1. Smith, Nancy Jo Ross, e-mail msg 5 Jan 2003, sharing information from "Forty Seven Years in the Universalist Ministry" by Daniel B. Clayton

2. Clayton, Rev. D. B. 1848. Letter from Mississippi - to the Rev. Thomas Whittemore on the progress of Universalism in Mississippi. Trumpet and Universalist Magazine, 18 Nov. 1848): 90. Transcribed on "The Southern Universalist" webpage, http://www.athens.net/~wells/miss1848.htm
3. Bolick, Julian Stevenson. 1963. A Fairfield Sketchbook. Reprinted 2000, Fairfield County Historical Society, Winnsboro, South Carolina. pp. 268-269.

4. U.S. Census, 1880, Atlanta, Fulton Co., Georgia, roll T9-0148, p. 507-b. Daniel B. Clayton, age 63
Sources: 7 8
 
Mother: Mary Newport Bragg b: UNKNOWN d: Summer 1826
Father: William Clayton b: ABT 1790 d: 8 May 1856
 
Marriage 1   Mary Amanda. UNKNOWN b: ABT 1825 d: UNKNOWN
 
Children:
1 Virgil Pingree. Clayton b: 16 Jun 1849 Mississippi
 
Sources:
1 Title: 1880 U.S. Census, Atlanta, Fulton Co., Georgia
Publication: T9-0148
Page: p. 507-b
Note: Birth year calculated from Daniel B. Clayton, age 63 in 1880.
 
2 Title: Forty Seven Years in the Universalist Ministry
Author: Clayton, Rev. Daniel B.
Publication: 1889. Columbia, South Carolina
Note: Portions kindly shared by Nancy Jo Ross Smith in e-mails, January 2003.
Note: Rev. D.B. Clayton gives both his birth and death dates.
 
3 Title: Tombstone
 
4 Title: Forty Seven Years in the Universalist Ministry
Author: Clayton, Rev. Daniel B.
Publication: 1889. Columbia, South Carolina
Note: Portions kindly shared by Nancy Jo Ross Smith in e-mails, January 2003.
Note: Rev. D.B. Clayton gives both his birth and death dates.
 
5 Title: Tombstone
 
6 Title: Tombstone
Text: IN MEMORY OF\
DANIEL BRAGG CLAYTON, D.D.\
BORN IN SPARTANBURG Co, S.C.\
APRIL 18, 1817,\
DIED IN COLUMBIA, S.C.\
NOV.12 1906\
PREACHED UNIVERSALISM FOR SIXTY EIGHT YEARS.\
----\
WE, THE CONTRIBUTORS FOR THE ERECTION OF THIS\
STONE HAVE THE FONDEST RECOLLECTIONS AND MUCH LOVE\
FOR OUR NEVER-TIRING RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTOR.
 
7 Title: 1850 U.S. Census, Mississippi, Marshall Co.
Publication: M432_377
Date: 12 Jun 1850
Page: p. 339-b
Note: Daniel B. Clayton age 33 in HN/FN 839 with wife, children, and boarders in Twp: Northern Division. (images 130-131/210)
Text: HN/FN 839
Name Age Sex Col Occup Value Born
Daniel B. Clayton 33 M w Merchant 0 SC
Mary A. Clayton 24 F w SC
Daniel E. Clayton 8 M w SC
William P. Clayton 4 M w SC
Virgil P. Clayton 2 M w Mississippi
William B. Cooper 25 M w Farmer SC
Jno D. Farris 24 M w Clerk SC
James W. Clayton 24 M w Merchant SC
[Transcriber CMB]
 
8 Title: 1880 U.S. Census, Atlanta, Fulton Co., Georgia
Publication: T9-0148
Date: 19 Jun 1880
Page: p. 507-b
Note: Daniel B. Clayton, age 63, keeping hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, E.D. 199 (image 18/67)
Text: HN 15b/ DN 139/ FN 167 (Hotel)
Name Reln Mar Sex Col Age Born-Fa-Mo Occup
Daniel B. Clayton Self Md M w 63 SC-SC-SC Keeps Hotel
Mary A. Clayton Wife Md F w 55 SC-SC-SC Keeps Home
Mary N. Clayton Dau Sgl F w 26 MS-SC-SC
Roza T. Clayton Dau Sgl F w 20 MS-SC-SC
Cassie L. Clayton Dau Sgl F w 13 SC-SC-SC At School
[Transcriber: LDS]
 


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