I grew up in Silverton area on Barnegat Bay, New Jerswey spending my youth fishing, hunting and sailing.  The Clayton family has lived in this area for seven generations, most of them earning their livelihood from the Bay.  My great grandfather Capt Firm Clayton was a bayman and duck hunting guide between 1870 and 1910.  Below is a copy fo the information I submitted for a Collectors Choice Display at the Ward Museum and explains the reason why I collect decoys.

The most meaningful decoy in my collection is a Brant, circa 1890, by Joe King of Barnegat, New Jersey.  It has been in my family since that time and is out of the hunting rig of my great grandfather, Capt. Forman E. Clayton of Silverton, New Jersey.

Capt. Firm, as he was called, was a bayman and gunning guide until the time of his death in 1912.  He was a friend and guide to President Grover Cleveland on many of his hunting and fishing trips in New Jersey.  Cleveland was an avid hunter and especially loved to gun waterfowl.  They hunted the area around Silverton and Mosquito Cove  for Redheads and Canvasbacks and also sailed about 17 miles south in Firm's catboat to Sedge island to gun Brant and Broadbill.  One can assume that Cleveland hunted over this very decoy.

The Great Sedges were purchased in 1884 by Leonard W. Warner of New York City,  the founder of Warner Lambert.  He built a gunning lodge and over the years had such notable guests as President's Cleveland, William Mckinley and Teddy Roosevelt.  Evidence shows the Capt. Firm guided for Warner and it was here that Cleveland and he met and became friends.

The family retains six Brant and a single Goose decoy by an unknown maker.  The Brant are a eclectic mix with two by H V Shourds, two by Joe King and two by Cooper Predmore.  The rest of the rig is unknown as they were stolen from under our boat house in the early 1960's.  What remains has little monetary value, as all are in restored paint, but priceless to me.  A family treasure, this decoy no doubt started me collecting and is my favorite.

I was privalaged for may years to be President of the New Jersey Decoy Collectors.  Currently I am chairman of the East Coast Decoy Collectors and serve on the Board of Directors of the Ward Museum.

Brant  Joe King  Barnegat, New Jersey  Circa 1880

Capt. Firm  Barnegat, New Jersey  Circa 1900

Warners at Great Sedge Barnegat, New Jersey  Capt Firm on left Cleveland on right Circa 1900