The Clopton Chronicles

A Project of the Clopton Family Genealogical Society

 

 

 

BEWARE THE SUBTERFUGE OF CHARLATANS

 

 

Regarding

 

Dr. Albert Gallatin Clopton

 

By Suellen Clopton Blanton,[1] [email protected]

 

 

 

The Halls of Montezuma

 

War was  not as much fun as they had anticipated.

Illness and inactivity soon cooled their martial ardor

               

 

Always a contradiction in terms, Albert Gallatin Clopton[2] spent years killing and then years saving lives.  Dr. Clopton was described as “scholarly,” “eccentric,” and “lovable,” and he was a brilliant and determined individual who was just about as hard headed as they come.  He was one of nine children who were born in Eatonton, Putnam County,  Georgia.  He later moved with his parents to Macon County, Alabama, and in 1841, began his studies under the prominent Alabama educator, Marvin M. Mason.  But events in the West proved too great a temptation for the teenager.  America was going to war with Mexico!  It was just about the most exciting thing to happen since the War of 1812, and our Albert wasn’t about to miss out on it.  To his parent’s horror, at seventeen he left school and joined Captain R. E. Ligon's Volunteer Company at Mobile, Alabama.[3]

The intrepid band embarked from Mobile for Brazos Santiago and flung themselves into what seemed like a terribly romantic adventure in exotic lands.  But it was a hot and messy war which was to stretch on until 1848.  But war was not nearly as much fun as they had anticipated.  Illness and inactivity soon cooled their martial ardor, and the entire company decided to disband in 1846 and return to Mobile.

In 1848, at the age of 20 Albert studied law for one year, and contrary to the advice of his father, he abandoned law for medicine, and graduated from Toulon University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana in 1852.  He shortly settled in Camden, Arkansas.  But once again the call of the wild got the better of him, and, delaying his medical career, he explored Texas, and for six months served as a Texas Ranger in Shapley P. Ross' Company.[4]

Returning to Arkansas, Albert practiced medicine for a time, then left his busy practice in 1854 to return to Case County, in northeast Texas.  In November of 1854 he married Anna Matilda Henderson.[5]  He combined farming with medicine and was apparently successful at both.[6]

 

 

Ominous Developments

 

            Nothing could more strongly illustrate the

                Madness which rules the hour

                Than the fact that a considerable

                Number of citizens of Washington,

                Some of them holders of real property,

                Are rabid Secessionists![7]

 

 

Dr. Clopton and his brother, Judge David Clopton[8] were strong advocates of State's rights.  A member of the Secession Convention in 1861, Dr. Clopton organized the Second Infantry Company, a part of Hood's Texas Brigade, the second unit from Texas in the service of the Confederacy.

After a few engagements with the enemy, he was promoted to major of his regiment.  Dr. Clopton distinguished himself during battle when he led his regiment in a charge, which resulted in saving a transportation train from the Army of the Potomac.  Although he received from General Hood a written commendation for his gallantry, he left the service and returned to Texas with his wife, who had followed him during the campaign west of the Mississippi.[9]

And then something very interesting happened: he got tired of killing.  Not that most everyone didn’t quickly have their fill of slaying, no matter how just they felt the cause, but he, at least, was in a position to change his role.  He went before the Board of Medical Examiners in 1863, and after passing a rigid examination, was commissioned surgeon, and transferred to the medical department.[10]

Unlike many of the Southern practitioners who became Confederate medical officers, Dr. Clopton was at least familiar with the grim realities of war.  There were very few up-to-date publications instructing doctors in the art of military surgery, and business was brisk.  It was widely recognized that a wounded soldier was a greater liability to the opposing army than a dead one.  And many a cry was heard, “Fire at their feet!”[11]

The 200,000 Confederate troops who would die from battle wounds or from illness were served by less than 3,000 medical officers altogether.[12]  Besides the bloody business of dealing with the wounded, inadequate sanitation, vermin and insects, poor food, and bad water assured a steady stream of sick men seeking some relief.  The hospitals quickly filled.[13]  As the War continued and the blockades held, drug supplies dwindled away.

Like his cousin, Dr. John Fielding Clopton, Sr.,[14] he would serve the Confederacy throughout the remainder of the war, performing heroically under the most primitive of circumstances, making imaginative use of limited resources.

 

 

 

In Unity There is Strength

 

Like the diamond which glitters so brightly in the light,

But whose value and beauty is undiscovered beneath

The rubbish, so may your skill and scientific abilities

Go unappreciated among a people.

 

Following the War Dr. Clopton left his large Cass County practice and moved, in 1866, a few miles south to the city of Jefferson, Texas and engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery.  In April 1874, he was elected the sixth President of the Texas State Medical Association for a one-year term.

Prior to the Civil War approximately one doctor in Texas served 345 people,[15] and there was no guarantee that the “doctor” who showed up had any formal training. The situation got worse after the Civil War.  Yes, there were certainly more “doctors, but far too many were men who had served as orderlies during the Civil War.  This deeply concerned him.

In 1875, the minutes of the proceedings of the Texas State Medical Association seventh annual session show there was much turmoil among the ranks, which threatened its very existence.  Held in Austin April 6th through the 9th, Dr. Clopton gave the President’s annual address.   His speech emphasized the responsibilities and duties of and the benefits such an association brought.

 

When I look upon this assemblage of physicians, and contemplate the motive which gathers them together from all parts of the State, by the magic power of association, I recall the time when many of us, years ago, immigrated to Texas, then a vast wilderness, and began our professional career.  How different is it between now and then!  With no ready and convenient modes of communication and travel, intercourse with the members of the profession was interrupted by natural causes.  The medical practitioner was compelled to depend upon the lessons taught through his own observation and experience.  He was denied very often, association with his neighboring physician.  The mails were uncertain, and the journals of our science, which we now receive so regularly, and ready with pleasure and instruction, came to us then, if at all, at long distant intervals.   ....'In unity there is strength,' applied as well to science as to government.  Individual efforts in scientific investigations accomplishes much, but it is only by united and combined research, that any great and important progress is made."

 

 

He warned against physicians who chose the profession for monetary gains or who "(stooped) to pander to the errors, or the vices, or the caprices, or play upon the credulity of the people."   His final words called on their "inborn dignity of character, our high estimation of the ethics of your profession, and your own self-respect, which forbids you to resort to the subterfuge of the charlatan to procure a practice, too often are impediments to your success.  Like the diamond which glitters so brightly in the light, but whose value and beauty is undiscovered beneath the rubbish, so may your skill and scientific abilities go unappreciated among a people, where the ignorant pretender, with or without his diploma, may be successful.  It is peculiar to our profession to see presumptions ignorance fatten upon the purse of a deceived and credulous people, when skill and science remain hidden in unmerited obscurity."

The theme of shoring up the standards of just who would and would not be recognized a qualified Texas physicians continued throughout.  The spotlight was on the important business of the session included revision of the constitution and bylaws.  The debates were long and heated.  The three major sticking points revolved around the qualifications for membership, prior membership in a county or district society, and trial of offending members.  Article III of the constitution used the word "man" in setting out the requirements for admission.  Dr. C. M. Rosser thought this "would exclude ladies and admit colored people."  Dr. William Keiller felt that "learning made all men akin and that color had nothing to do with it."  Dr. Clopton reminded the gentleman that he "had not been long enough in the south to appreciate the prejudice which exists in the minds of the southern people against anything like social equality between the whites and Negroes."  

Article III was amended, almost unanimously, to include every regularly educated physician within the limits of this state, who is a graduate of a regular medical college in good standing, and who adopts and conforms to the Code of Ethics of the American Medical Association, shall be eligible to membership in this body, except those of the negro race"

And so, while Dr. Clopton was instrumental in opening the door to women physicians, he firmly closed it in the face of blacks.

He took a lively interest in all political matters affecting the welfare of the country.  He strongly advocated that political leadership should be on a higher plane and that sectionalism should be abandoned to work for the good of the whole country.  In 1876 he entered the race for Congress but withdrew in favor of his fellow townsman and friend, David B. Culberson.

He was elected President of the East Texas Medical Association in 1891,and that year was chosen by a very discriminating Board of Regents to fill the Chair of Physiology in the medical department of the Texas State University.

He died on June 21, 1916 and his wife followed him in death the next day.  Both died at the home of a daughter, Mrs. George "Fannie" (Clopton) Helm of Texarkana, Arkansas, where the couple lived the last few years of their lives.  The double funeral was held in their Methodist Church by their pastor and by the Masonic Lodge.  They were buried side-by-side in the Oakwood Cemetery in that city.[16]

        1.  Alford²⁰ Clopton, MD, C.S.A.  (David¹⁹, Waldegrave¹⁸, William¹⁷, William¹⁶, William¹⁵, Walter¹⁴, William¹³, Richard¹², William¹¹, John¹⁰, William⁹, Thomas⁸, Walter⁷, William⁶, Walter⁵, William⁴, Walter³, William², Guillaume¹ Peche, Lord Of Cloptunna and Dalham)¹ was born January 25, 1787 at Henrico County, Virginia², and died December 1870 at Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama and buried Tuskegee Cemetery, Macon County³.  He married Sarah Kendrick⁴ June 25, 1812 at Monticello, Jasper County, Georgia⁵, daughter of Martin Kendrick and Jane Whitehead.  She was born December 13, 1794 at Washington County, Georgia⁶, and died September 15, 1851 at Tuskegee, Macon County,  Alabama and buried Tuskegee Cemetery.

       

Children of Alford Clopton and Sarah Kendrick are:

        2                 i.    Ann Gunn²¹ Clopton, born November 12, 1816 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia⁷; died at Georgia and buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon.  She married Jack Barnett Wiley, Sr., MD, of Sparta, Georgia⁸ February 25, 1836 at Vineville, Bibb County, Georgia⁹; born November 21, 1803 at Sparta, Hancock County, Georgia¹⁰; died June 22, 1861 at Macon, Bibb County, Georgia and buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon¹¹.

Dr. Jack Wiley and his twin brother, Laird Harris Wiley, are both buried at Rose Hill Cemetery at Macon, Georgia.  Each man's tombstone shows the same date of birth, November, 21, 1803; yet Dr. Jack's says the place of birth was Hancock County, while Laird's says his was Baldwin County.  After they were born a section of one of these counties was shifted to the other which would explain the inconsistency.

        3                ii.    Eliza Jane Clopton, born 1817 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia; died Aft. 1850 at Probably Alabama.  She married William Fort August 18, 1831 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia¹²

        4               iii.    Martin Kendrick Clopton, C.S.A.¹³, born 1819 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia; died August 10, 1864 at Confederate hospital, Greenville, North Carolina.  He married (1) Elizabeth E. Dick January 6, 1842 at Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia¹⁴; died Bef. 1855.  He married (2) Sara Elizabeth Greathouse, of Georgia September 16, 1856 at Dadeville, Tallapoosa County, Alabama; born March 19, 1832 at Newton County, Georgia; died 1915 at Bell County, Texas.

Martin enlisted in the Confederate Army Aug 11, 1863, in Co. D. 61st Alabama

Infantry for the duration of the War, butler County, Alabama by Captain J. F. Barganier.  Medical record show his name appears on a Register of the Wayside General Hospital, Richmond, Virginia in June 1864.  His name again appears in June 1864 on the Register of the Episcopal Church Hospital, Williamsburg.   He died of typhoid fever, August 10, 1864,  in a Confederate hospital in Greenville, NC.  Sara Elizabeth's father was a Baptist Minister, and a planter.  The Reverend Greathouse served two terms in the Alabama legislature from Dadeville.  He was on committee that wrote a new State Constitution when state was re-admitted to the Union after the Civil War.  He moved to Texas, and Sara, widowed with her four children, went with him.

For more on Martin Kendrick Clopton and Sara Elizabeth Greathouse, see The Unfortunate Mattie Lee.

        5               iv.    David C. Clopton, Esq., C.S.A.¹⁵, born September 29, 1820 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia¹⁶; died February 5, 1892 at Montgomery, Alabama and buried Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery County, Alabama¹⁷.  He married (1) Martha E. Ligon¹⁸ September 29, 1844 at Macon, Bibb County, Georgia; born Abt. 1827 at Georgia; died Bef. November 12, 1867 at Montgomery, Alabama.  He married (2) Mary F. Chambers 1871 at Columbus, Georgia; born at Columbus, Georgia; died February 1885 at Montgomery, Alabama.  He married (3) Virginia Caroline Tunstall November 29, 1887 at Huntsville, Alabama¹⁹; born January 16, 1825 at Nash County, North Carolina; died June 23, 1915.

David obtained his education at the Eatonton Academy, Eatonton, Georgia until he

was 11 years of age. (1831-32), when the family moved to Macon City. Alabama

where he continued in school until 1836 when he attended Randolph Macon

College in VA.  He graduated with first honors in 1840.   One of his class

mates was Thomas Peter Saffold, who would marry Sarah Elizabeth Reid, the

daughter of his older sister, Marianne Clopton.  See A Tempest In the Briar Patch.

        6                v.    Sarah Clopton, of Eatonton, born 1821 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia; died December 29, 1844 at Sparta, Hancock County, Georgia.  She married James Lovick Pierce, Sr., Esq., D.Div²⁰ September 28, 1841 at Macon, Bibb County, Georgia²¹; born May 12, 1820 at Greensboro, Georgia; died February 9, 1890 at Texarkana, Texas²².

As a theologian his father rated Dr. Pierce above his more famous son, George.  His ministerial life was “checkered owing largely to his delicate nervous organism.  The closing years of his life were characterized by a humility and gentleness.”

Shortly before his death he removed to Texas where he spent his last days in the home of his son (John Foster Pierce), who achieved great success as a minister of the Gospel.  Thus far away from his native Georgia and quite aloof from his old conference associated, Dr. James L. Pierce entered into rest. See The Old Doctor's Son

        7               vi.    Nathaniel Vanderwall Clopton, Sr., born May 9, 1824 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia; died 1901 at Pensacola, Florida.  He married Letitia Hutoka Calloway, of Eatonton, Georgia at possibly, Notasulga, Alabama; born Abt. 1826 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia.

        8              vii.    Alford H. Clopton, born 1828 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia.

        9             viii.    Albert Gallatin Clopton, M.D., C.S.A.²³, born September 29, 1828 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia; died June 21, 1916 at Texarkana, Texas and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Jefferson, Texas.  He married Anna M. Henderson November 1854 at Texas; died June 22, 1916 and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Jefferson.

                                 The couple adopted two children.  In 1880, two children, Atwell and Fannie Johnson, ages 12 and 7, were living with the Cloptons.  Presumably these were the adopted pair.  On January 9, 1906, in Jefferson, Atwell J. Clopton married Myrtie Etheridge, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Etheridge.  Atwell died in April of 1917 in Washington, DC.  He was the Assistant Attorney General of the United States.  His body was returned to Jefferson for burial beside his adoptive parents. There is a grave next to them inscribed Atwell J. Clopton (1866-1917).  One obituary gives the daughter’s name as Mrs. George Helme of Texarkana.  Mrs.  Mrs. Clopton’s parents, James B. and Anne S. Henderson, are also buried in the same plot

        10              ix.    James Osgood Andrews Clopton, C.S.A., born November 11, 1830 at Putnam County, Georgia; died August 21, 1864 at Lovejoy's Station in the Confederates brave but vain attempt to halt General Sherman's "March to the Sea".

        11               x.    Marianne Clopton²⁴, born May 13, 1813 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia²⁵; died April 20, 1886 at Eatonton, Georgia and buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Eatonton.  She married Andrew Reid, of Eatonton, Georgia²⁶ October 20, 1829 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia²⁷; born June 26, 1806 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia²⁸; died July 17, 1865 at Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia and buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Eatonton²⁹.

                                 Andrew and his Marianne gave the unmarried  Mary Harris and her son, Joel Chandler Harris a home and paid for the young Joel's education. Much has been made of the influence of professional writers on the creator of "Uncle Remus," however, seldom is more than a nod directed towards the kith and ken who undoubtedly made the greatest impression on him from his birth through young adulthood.  Possibly no family in Putnam County held any greater fascination to the writer than the Reids and the Cloptons.  A family named Clopton play a prominent role in one of his delightful novels.  See A Tempest In The Briar Patch.

 

 

Endnotes

 

1.  He is named in his father's will.

2.  Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible,  (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society).

3.  Two Alford Cloptons are listed in the Georgia Tax Digests for the year 1815, page 50 and 51, paying tax on two properties in the John H. "Brodnax" District.  An Alford was granted 202 1/2, acres, 2,970 feet square,  in Monroe County, Georgia, Lot 15, Section 2, in the Forth Georgia Land Lottery of 1821.  It is believed this refers to two different Alfords.  At the time of the drawing, about September 1821, an Alford was living in Putnam County, Leggetts Military District.  An indenture dated August 29, 1838, GS Film 7566 pt. 21 (031811) Book 41, page 319, between Nathaniel G. Clopton and Sarah S. G. Clopton, his wife, of the County of Fauquier in the State of Virginia, and "Allford" Clopton of the County of Putnam, State of Georgia.  (Copy located Clopton Family Archives).  An Alford Clopton is listed as living in Putnam County in the 1820 and 1830 Georgia Census.

4.  Milledgeville, Georgia, Georgia Journal,  (Courtesy of Leia Katherine Eubanks), Wednesday, November 30, 1814 Issue, A notice appeared in this issue stating that on the first Tuesday in March 1815, will be sold at the Courthouse at Dublin,  Laurens County, Georgia, 475 acres of swamp land of the first quality, lying on the Oconee River in Laurens and belonging to the estate of Martin Kendrick, deceased, and signed by Alford Clopton, Administrator, and Jane Kendrick, Administrator.  She is named Sarah Clopton, in her mother's will which was probated August 1, 1830.

5.  Marriage license, Putnam County, Georgia

6.  Washington County, Georgia, 1794 Census.

7.  Bibb County, Macon, Georgia, 1860 Census.

8.  Special thanks to Carole Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D. and Lee Graham, Jr., M.Div. who provided the information for this family.

9.  Automated Archives, Inc., Marriage Records, Georgia, 1700-1850,  (Courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), "CD-ROM."

10.  Bibb County, Macon, Georgia, 1860 Census.

11.  Death Notice, A Macon Newspaper, Dated June 26, 1861.

12.  Putnam County, Georgia, Marriage Book.

13.  Milledgeville, Georgia, Southern Recorder,  (Courtesy of Leia Katherine Eubanks), March 31, 1836 Issue, page 3, Item Number 2, Elizabeth Kendrick vs. Martin Kendrick for Divorce in Jones County, Georgia.  And Item Number 3:  Martin Kendrick Vs. Elizabeth Kendrick for Divorce.

14.  Automated Archives, Inc., Marriage Records, Georgia, 1700-1850,  (Courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), "CD-ROM."

15.  Alabama Census, Macon County, 1850, page 192; July 12, 1860; August 3, 1870, page 532, Dwelling 12, gives age as 30, occupation, attorney, and place of birth, Georgia.  The Southern Division of Macon County, Alabama Census, taken July 12, 1860, page 800, lists family number 750, swelling 799.  States his occupation as Judge.   Gives birth date as 42, which would be 1818.  Gives birth of five children listed as Alabama.  The August 3, 1870 Census, 3rd Ward, Montgomery County, Alabama, page 532, dwelling 364, family 470, gives occupation as lawyer with a personal worth of $20,000.  His age is given as 49.  There is no wife listed and give children living with him.  Two individuals, martin Edward, aged 28, a welder born in England, and Shoclman Hinny, age 27, from Bavaria.  Hinny works in "dry goods," and has a personal worth of $25,000.

16.  Virginia Historical Society Microfilm and Manuscript Collections, Additional references may be found in the August W. Rosene Papers, MSSIR7243 a 16-22; Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio Papers, 1862-1863, MSS 3 C z505a.

17.  Tombstone, loc. cit, Old Division, Clopton Plot.

18.  Alabama Census, 1850, page 192, and July 12, 1860, Dwelling 12, lists age as 23 and place of birth, Alabama.  Gives age as 34, and place of birth, Georgia.

19.  Alabama Marriage Book, Book 15, page 396, Madison County, Georgia.

20.  Pierce, Wilson Lovick & Esther Pierce Maxwell, Two Brothers:  Reddick & Lovick Pierce,  (Cherokee Publishing Company, Atlanta, 1981, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton).

21.  Pierce, Wilson Lovick & Esther Pierce Maxwell, Two Brothers:  Reddick & Lovick Pierce,  (Cherokee Publishing Company, Atlanta, 1981, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), Also Marriage Records of Georgia, 1700's-1850, Automated Archives, Inc.

22.  Pierce, Wilson Lovick & Esther Pierce Maxwell, Two Brothers:  Reddick & Lovick Pierce,  (Cherokee Publishing Company, Atlanta, 1981, courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton).

23.  The Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865, Volume III, p. 468, Texas 1st Inf. Co. D. Lt. Col.; Texas 3rd St. Troops Surg.; Texas Gen. & Staff Surg.

24.  Ottis Edwin Guinn, Sr., provided the information regarding this family unless otherwise noted.

25.  Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible,  (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society), She spells her name Mary Ann in the Bible, but later documents with her signature have changed the spelling to Marianne. To further add to the confusion, an undated article from the "Eatonton Messenger," written by Julia Adams, gives her name as Maryan in one spot and Marian in another.  "It is Mrs. Gardner who bears her grandmother's name, however, Marian.  This lovely name is found in the family handed down from generation to generation.

26.  Wood, Faith of Our Fathers,  (Courtesy of Suellen (Clopton) DeLoach Blanton), p. 92, He is one of the founders of Eatonton First United Methodist Church.

27.  Putnam County, Georgia, Bride Index, p. 00006.

28.  Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible,  (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society), The Bible was in the possession of Louise de Jarnette Taylor in 1980.  In a letter dated Thursday, February 28, 1980, from the Reid Collection at the Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society, she writes in part, "The Bible itself is about to fall apart.  I really do hate to have it rebound because it will destroy its originality but I'm afraid not to.  The paper is also quite brittle.  But then it is 153 years old.  It is interesting that a piece of paper is glued over the name of Joseph A. Reid, b Aug 8, 1828 d. June 15, 1829.  Evidently he was a twin of Alexander J. Reid and their mother was Andrew Reids first wife Mariah who died shortly after the birth of the twins."  There are four pages of records.  The entries were made over time by several hands.  The earliest date is 1787, the latest, 1917.  Special thanks to James Penick Marshall, Jr., President, Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society for assisting in the preparation of this family page.

29.  Marianne Clopton & Andrew Reid Holy Bible,  (Courtesy Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society), Both are buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Eatonton, Section 1, Division A., Lot 110.  Mysteriously, there was no tombstone on their graves until, in 1997, descendant Ottis Edwin Guinn placed a stone after raising money from Clopton and Reid family members.

 

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