Representative Newton Nash Clements

Newton Nash Clements (December 23, 1837 – February 20, 1900) was a colonel in the Confederate States Army and a U.S. Representative from Alabama. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Alabama in the Forty-sixth Congress for one term, contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American history and representing the interests of his constituents.

Clements was born on December 23, 1837, in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, to Hardy Clements and Maria Pegues Clements. He was raised in a region that would later become central to his political and professional life. He pursued higher education at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, from which he was graduated in 1858. While a student there, he became the first pledge member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, marking an early association with one of the South’s prominent collegiate organizations.

Following his graduation, Clements entered Harvard University in 1859 to study law. Although he undertook formal legal studies, he never entered the practice of law as a profession. His time at Harvard nonetheless provided him with training and exposure to legal and governmental principles that would later inform his legislative work in Alabama and in the U.S. Congress.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Clements returned to Alabama and entered the Confederate States Army. He initially served as a captain in the 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment, which was later redesignated as the 50th Alabama Infantry Regiment. Over the course of his military service, he was successively promoted through the ranks of major and lieutenant colonel, ultimately attaining the rank of colonel. His wartime experience as a field officer in the Confederate Army helped establish his public standing in the postwar South.

After the war, Clements embarked on a political career in Alabama during the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction eras. He was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, serving from 1870 to 1872 and again from 1874 to 1878. Within the state legislature, he rose to a position of leadership, serving as speaker of the Alabama House in 1876, 1877, and 1878. His repeated selection as speaker reflected his influence within the Democratic Party and his prominence in state politics.

Clements advanced to national office when he was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Burwell B. Lewis. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from December 8, 1880, to March 3, 1881. During his single term in Congress, he participated in the democratic process at the federal level during a period of adjustment and realignment following Reconstruction, representing Alabama’s interests in national legislative deliberations. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1880, which brought his brief congressional career to a close.

Following his service in Congress, Clements returned to state politics and to his business interests. He was re-elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1886, 1888, and 1890, and was again chosen as speaker, a position he held until 1896. His extended tenure as speaker during these later years underscored his continuing authority in the legislature and his role in shaping Alabama’s laws and policies in the late nineteenth century. Outside of politics, Clements was largely interested in planting and cotton manufactures, reflecting the centrality of agriculture and textile production to Alabama’s economy during his lifetime.

Newton Nash Clements spent his later years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He died there on February 20, 1900. He was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Tuscaloosa, closing a life that had encompassed military service in the Confederacy, leadership in the Alabama legislature, and a term in the U.S. House of Representatives.