In 1888, he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives but lost to Clifton R. Breckinridge.

[3] During the Civil War, he served as a Colonel[4] in the Army of the Potomac where he engaged in several campaigns in the east.

Clayton became involved in the Brooks-Baxter War of 1874 which was fought over the disputed election for the governor's office between Joseph Brooks and Elisha Baxter.

He remained loyal to Brooks to the end of the conflict when President Ulysses S. Grant declared Baxter the rightful governor.

With the support of black Republican voters, he became sheriff of Jefferson County in 1876, being reelected to five successive, two-year terms.

Losing under such circumstances, Clayton decided to contest the election and went to Plumerville, Arkansas, to start an investigation on the matter.

On the evening of January 29, 1889, an unknown assailant shot through the window to the room he was staying in at a local boardinghouse and killed him instantly.