Clayton Wilson was born around 1841 in Alabama to Joseph and Amanda Wilson. His father was a horticulturist, and the family owned $16,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Montgomery, Alabama, and by 1860, he was working as a clerk.
He enlisted in the Confederate army, and he mustered in as a private in Company A of Hilliard’s Alabama Legion on June 25, 1862. In November 1862, he was promoted to captain and assistant quartermaster. Army officials dissolved the legion in November 1863 and transferred him to the 60th Alabama Infantry. He died sometime after January 1865.