Clement Laird Vallandigham (velanŽdigham, -gam) (1820-1871), the leader of the Copperheads in the American Civil War, was born born in Lisbon, Ohio. After graduating from Jefferson College and the Union Academy, he was admitted to the bar in 1842. Shortly after moving to Dayton, Ohio to practice law, Vallandigham began his career as a politician. As a Democrat, He was elected to the Ohio legislature in 1845 and 1846 and served as editor of the Dayton Empire, a Democratic weekly, from 1847 until 1849. and was elected to Congress in 1858. As a die-hard confederate, he was a very strong supporter of states rights and slavery, and on May 1, 1863, in a speech at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Vallandigham stated that the Civil War was being fought not to save the Union but to free the blacks and enslave the whites. He died by accidently shooting himself with a firearm from evidence in a murder case he was working on.

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