Representative Clifton Clagett

Clifton Clagett (December 3, 1762 – January 25, 1829) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from New Hampshire who served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, the United States House of Representatives, and on the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He was born in Portsmouth, in the Province of New Hampshire, the son of Wyseman Clagett and Lettice (Mitchell) Clagett. Raised in the closing years of the colonial era, he came of age during the American Revolution, a context that shaped the early legal and political institutions in which he would later serve.

Clagett pursued legal studies and was admitted to the bar in 1787. He commenced the practice of law in Litchfield, New Hampshire, establishing himself as a member of the state’s legal community at a time when New Hampshire’s courts and statutes were still developing in the post-Revolutionary period. His professional standing as an attorney provided the foundation for his subsequent appointments to judicial office and his repeated elections to legislative service at both the state and national levels.

Clagett’s public career included service in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, where he participated in state governance before and between his terms in federal office. Elected as a Federalist candidate to the Eighth Congress, he represented New Hampshire in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1803, to March 3, 1805. During this first term in Congress, he served in the early years of the Jefferson administration, contributing to the legislative process at a time of significant national expansion and political realignment. As a member of the Republican Party representing New Hampshire in later years, Clifton Clagett contributed to the democratic process during three terms in office, representing the interests of his constituents during a formative period in American political history.

After his initial congressional service, Clagett increasingly combined legal and judicial responsibilities with his political career. He was appointed a justice of the peace and quorum in 1808, reflecting his growing stature in New Hampshire’s legal affairs. In 1810 he was appointed judge of probate for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, a position he held until his resignation in 1812, when he was selected for higher judicial office. That same year, he moved from Litchfield to Amherst, New Hampshire, which would remain his home for the rest of his life.

In 1812 Clagett was appointed a judge of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, placing him among the leading jurists of the state. While serving on the bench, he continued to engage in legislative work and was elected a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1816. He returned to the national legislature the following year. Elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fifteenth Congress and reelected to the Sixteenth Congress, he served as a United States representative from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1821. Across his three terms in Congress—one as a Federalist and two as a Democratic-Republican—Clagett participated in debates and legislation during a period marked by the aftermath of the War of 1812, the “Era of Good Feelings,” and evolving party alignments, while consistently representing New Hampshire’s interests at the federal level.

Following his final departure from Congress in 1821, Clagett resumed his judicial career. On August 5, 1823, he was again appointed judge of probate, a position he held until his death. In this capacity he oversaw matters relating to estates and guardianships, continuing his long service in the legal and judicial administration of New Hampshire. His combined record as legislator and judge reflected a career deeply embedded in the civic life of the state over several decades.

Clagett married Margaret McQueston, with the marriage recorded as taking place on November 19, 1834, and he was said to have had eleven children: Wyseman, William, Elizabeth, Margaretta, Cornelia Clifton, Susan, Frances G., Emma C., Harriet, Frances, and Lucretia. The reported marriage date appears inconsistent with the date of his death, but the names of his wife and children are preserved in biographical and genealogical accounts. Clifton Clagett died in Amherst, New Hampshire, on January 25, 1829, at the age of 66 years and 53 days. He was interred at Meadow View Cemetery in Amherst, where his grave marks the resting place of one of New Hampshire’s prominent early nineteenth-century legislators and jurists.