CLINTON
COUNTY, INDIANA
DeWitt Clinton
[From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
DeWitt Clinton (March 2,
1769 Little Britain, New York – February 11, 1828 Albany, New York) was
an early American politician who served as United States Senator and
Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible
for the construction of the Erie Canal. Unlike his adversary Martin Van
Buren, who invented machine politics, Clinton became the leader of New
York's People’s Party. Clinton was an authentic but largely forgotten
hero of American democracy, according to Daniel Walker Howe (2007).
Howe explains, "The infrastructure he worked to create would transform
American life, enhancing economic opportunity, political participation,
and intellectual awareness
Early life and political career
He was the second son
born to James Clinton and his wife Mary DeWitt (1737-1795, aunt of
Simeon De Witt), and was educated at what is now Columbia University.
He became the secretary to his uncle, George Clinton, who was then
governor of New York. Soon after he became a member of the
Democratic-Republican Party. He was a member of the New York State
Assembly in 1798, and of the New York State Senate from the Southern
District from 1798 to 1802, and from 1806 to 1811. He was a delegate to
the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1801. He was a member
of the Council of Appointments in 1801-1802 and 1806-1807. He won the
by-election to the United States Senate after the resignation of John
Armstrong, Jr. and served from February 9, 1802, to November 4, 1803.
He resigned, unhappy with living conditions in newly built Washington,
DC, to become the Mayor of New York. He served as Mayor in 1803-1807,
1808-1810, and 1811-1815. While serving as Mayor, he organized the
Historical Society of New York in 1804 and was its president. He also
organized the Academy of Fine Arts in 1808. He was Regent of the
University of New York from 1808 to 1825.
Clinton was married
twice. On February 13, 1796, he married Maria Franklin, daughter of the
prominent New York Quaker merchant, Walter Franklin. By her he had ten
children, four sons and three daughters surviving at the time of her
death in 1818. On May 8, 1819, he married Catharine Jones, daughter of
a New York physician, Thomas Jones, who survived him.
Later political career
and governorship
In 1811, defeating the
Federalist Nicholas Fish and the Tammany Hall candidate Marinus
Willett, he won a special election for Lieutenant Governor of New York
- to fill the vacancy left by the death of Lt. Gov. Broome - and served
under Governor Daniel D. Tompkins until the end of the term in June
1813.
In 1812 Clinton ran for
President of the United States as candidate of the Federalists and
anti-war Democratic-Republicans, but was defeated by President Madison;
Clinton received 89 electoral votes, Madison 128.
After the resignation of
Governor Tompkins, who had been elected Vice President, he won a
special gubernatorial election against Peter Buell Porter - Clinton
received 43,310 votes, Porter only 1,479. On July 1, 1817, Clinton
became the governor of New York. He was re-elected in 1818, defeating
the sitting Vice President Tompkins - DeWitt Clinton 47,447 votes,
Tompkins 45,900 - and served until December 31, 1822.
During his second term,
the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821 shortened the
gubernatorial term to two years, and moved the beginning of the term
from July 1 to January 1, actually cutting off the last 6 months of the
3-year-term he had been elected to. Also the gubernatorial election was
moved from April to November, but Clinton was not renominated by his
party to run for reelection in November 1822.
In 1824 he was re-elected
governor, and served another two terms until his sudden death in
office. He was originally buried at the Clinton Cemetery in Little
Britain, New York, later he was re-interred at the Green-Wood Cemetery
in Brooklyn, New York. Clinton was able to accomplish many things as a
leader in civic and state affairs, such as improving the New York
public school system, encouraging steam navigation, and modifying the
laws governing criminals and debtors. The 1831 DeWitt Clinton
locomotive was named in his honor.
Erie Canal
While governor, Clinton
was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. He was
persuaded by Canal proponent Jesse Hawley to support construction of a
canal from the eastern shore of Lake Erie to the upper Hudson River.
Many thought the project was impracticable, and opponents mocked it as
"Clinton's Ditch". But in 1817, he got the legislature to appropriate
$7,000,000 for construction. When the Canal was finished in 1825,
Governor Clinton opened it, sailing in the packet boat Seneca Chief
along the Canal into Buffalo. After sailing from the mouth of Lake Erie
to New York City he emptied two casks of water from Lake Erie into New
York Harbor, celebrating the first connection of waters from East to
West. The Canal was an immense success, carrying huge amounts of
passenger and freight traffic. It provided cheap transportation from
the Atlantic to the West, drawing traffic to New York state and New
York City, which became the most important state and city in America.
