Nathaniel C. Claiborne

Claiborne was born in Virginia in 1820, and graduated from Washington College in 1837-38.[1]

The Virginia Capitol at Richmond VA
where 19th century Conventions met

As an adult, Claiborne at first made his law practice in Franklin County, Virginia. He was a successful criminal attorney, never having lost a case before a jury.[2]

Claiborne served as a member of the Virginia General Assembly, for several years.[3]

In 1850, Claiborne was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850. He was one of three delegates elected from the Southside delegate district made up of his home district of Franklin County, as well as Patrick, and Henry Counties.[4]

Following his residence in Virginia, Claiborne relocated to Missouri, where he again practiced law and became a prominent member of the Missouri House of Representatives from Jackson County, Missouri (Kansas City)[5] and the Secretary of the Senate for Missouri in 1860 at the onset of the American Civil War. During the conflict he removed to Union held St. Louis, Missouri.[6] In 1861 Claiborne was again elected to Secretary of the Missouri State Senate.[7]

During his career in Missouri, Claiborne was known as the "silver-tongued orator of the west", in great demand during Presidential campaigns.[8]

Nathaniel C. Claiborne died in Missouri.[9]

• "Officers of the Missouri Senate and House, 1820-2011". Records and Archives: Missouri History. Missouri Secretary of State. 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
• Napton, William Barclay (2005). The Union on Trial: the political journals of Judge William Barclay Napton. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-6461-9. Nathaniel C. Claiborne of Missouri.
• Pulliam, David Loyd (1901). The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the foundation of the Commonwealth to the present time. John T. West, Richmond. ISBN 978-1-2879-2059-5.