William Cliffton

William Cliffton (1771 - December 1799) was a Philadelphian poet and pamphleteer. He is the only identified member of the Anchor Club. He is considered part of the "transitive state" of American poetry.

Bornthe son of a wealthy Quaker, Cliffton suffered form a blood clot at the age on nineteen, and from then till his death, aged twenty-seven, pursued an almost exclusively literary life, though he took an interest in field sports.

Cliffton was a supporter of William Cobbett. He died in December 1799 from consumption.