He was acting president for a short time at Alabama A&M and was dean of the theological department at Selma University.

That December he was appointed instructor of mathematics at Leland University, then run by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, in New Orleans which he held until May 1880.

His appointment at Leland was under the influence of Holbrook Chamberlain, G. W. Walker, A. R. Blount, and Esau Carter.

[1] In June 1883 he was elected Sunday school missionary of the American Baptist Publication Society.

A major issue facing the group was unifying black Baptists for mutual support and to increase their "race confidence" as Clanton put it in a presentation of a paper he wrote.

[6] He also held the position of field secretary of the American Doctors' Publishing Society of Philadelphia.

[9] Also in 1895 he became principal of the North Louisiana Industrial High School for blacks[10] In 1903 he became chaplain and principal of the Normal Department of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama[11] and served that year as acting president during the illness of the institute's regular president[12] Later in his career he moved to the Alabama Baptist Colored University (also called Selma University)[13] and became dean of the Theological Department.

[7] His funeral was at Antioch Baptist Church in his wife's home town of Decatur.