DeWitt Clinton

For the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad locomotive of the same name, see DeWitt Clinton (locomotive).
DeWitt Clinton
Portrait by Rembrandt Peale (c. 1823)
6th Governor of New York
In office
July 1, 1817 – December 31, 1822
Lieutenant John Tayler
Preceded by John Tayler
Succeeded by Joseph C. Yates
In office
January 1, 1825 – February 11, 1828
Lieutenant James Tallmadge, Jr.
Nathaniel Pitcher
Preceded by Joseph C. Yates
Succeeded by Nathaniel Pitcher
United States Senator
from New York
In office
February 23, 1802 – November 4, 1803
Preceded by John Armstrong, Jr.
Succeeded by John Armstrong, Jr.
47th, 49th and 51st Mayor of New York City
In office
1803–1807
Preceded by Edward Livingston
Succeeded by Marinus Willett
In office
1808–1810
Preceded by Marinus Willett
Succeeded by Jacob Radcliff
In office
1811–1815
Preceded by Jacob Radcliff
Succeeded by John Ferguson
Personal details
Born March 2, 1769
Little Britain, Province of New York
Died February 11, 1828 (aged 58)
Albany, New York, United States
Political party Democratic-Republican
Federalist
Spouse(s) Maria Franklin
Catharine Jones
Alma mater Columbia University
Religion Presbyterian
Signature
Clinton Memorial by Henry Kirke Brown, 1855, at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769 – February 11, 1828) was an early American politician and naturalist who served as a United States Senator and was the sixth governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal.[1] Clinton was the leader of New York's People’s Party and was a major rival of Martin Van Buren, who was the Attorney General of New York during Clinton's governorship. Clinton believed that infrastructure improvements could transform American life, drive economic growth, and encourage political participation, and he heavily influenced the development of the New York State and the United States.[2]

Gubernatorial portrait of DeWitt Clinton.

Early life and political career

DeWitt Clinton was the second son born to James Clinton and his wife Mary DeWitt (1737–1795, aunt of Simeon De Witt) and was educated at King's College, which is now Columbia University. He was the brother of George Clinton, Jr., who served in Congress, and the half-brother of James G. Clinton, who also served in Congress. 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 for U.S. Senator from New York after the resignation of John Armstrong, Jr. and served from February 23, 1802, to November 4, 1803. He resigned, unhappy with living conditions in newly built Washington, D.C., and was appointed Mayor of New York City. He served as Mayor from 1803 to 1807, from 1808 to 1810, and from 1811 to 1815. While serving as Mayor, he organized the Historical Society of New York in 1804 and was its president. He also helped re-organize the American Academy of the Fine Arts in 1808 and served as its president between 1813 and 1817. He was Regent of the University of New York from 1808 to 1825. Clinton was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814,[3] and served as its vice-president from 1821 to 1828.[4]

He was married twice. On February 13, 1796, he married Maria Franklin, daughter of the prominent New York Quaker merchant, Walter Franklin and descendant of John Bowne and Elizabeth Fones. 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; she outlived her husband. His son, George William Clinton (1807–1885), served as Mayor of Buffalo, New York, 1842–1843.

Later political career and governorship

From 1810 to 1824, he was a member of the Erie Canal Commission. He was among the first members, appointed in 1810, who projected and surveyed the route to be taken. After 1816, he became the driving force during the construction of the canal.

Print showing DeWitt Clinton mingling the waters of Lake Erie and the Atlantic, 1826.

In 1811, the death of John Broome left a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor of New York. In a special election, Clinton defeated the Federalist Nicholas Fish and the Tammany Hall candidate Marinus Willett, to become Lieutenant Governor until the end of the term in June 1813.

In 1812, Clinton ran for President of the United States as candidate for both the Federalist Party and a small group of anti-war Democratic-Republicans. In the close election of 1812, Clinton was defeated by President Madison; Clinton received 89 electoral votes to James Madison's 128. It was the strongest showing of any Federalist candidate for the Presidency since 1800, and the change of the votes of one or two states would have given Clinton the victory.

After the resignation of Governor Tompkins, who had been elected Vice President, he won a special gubernatorial election in which he was the only candidate. 1,479 votes were cast for Peter Buell Porter – against Clinton's 43,310 – because the Tammany organization, which fiercely hated Clinton, had printed ballots with Porter's name on them and distributed them among the Tammany followers in New York City. On July 1, 1817, Clinton took office as Governor of New York. He was re-elected in 1820, defeating the sitting Vice President Tompkins in a narrow race – 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 re-election in November 1822. Even so, he still kept his post as President of the Erie Canal Commission. In April 1824, a majority of his political enemies, the Bucktails, voted in the New York State Legislature for his removal from the Canal Commission. This caused such a wave of indignation among the electorate, that he was nominated for Governor by the "People's Party", and was re-elected governor, against the official candidate of the Democratic-Republican Party, fellow canal commissioner Samuel Young. He served another two terms until his sudden death in office.

Clinton was a Freemason, and in 1806, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York. He retained this title until 1819. The Grand Lodge of New York has established the DeWitt Clinton Award. The Award recognizes distinguished or outstanding community service by non-Masonic organizations or individuals whose actions exemplify a shared concern for the well-being of Mankind and a belief in the worldwide brotherhood of Man.[5] Clinton was also essential in establishing the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar in the United States, serving as its first, second, and third Grand Master from 1816-1829.[6]

When DeWitt Clinton died suddenly in Albany on February 11, 1828, he left his family in poor financial condition. While Clinton was a fine administrator in government, he had handled his own financial affairs rather poorly. As a result, the Clinton family was badly in arrears and had no means of support after the governor’s death. One creditor alone put in a claim for $6,000. Fearing that he might not get his money, the creditor obtained a judgment that resulted in a public sale of most of the Clinton family possessions. Enough money was realized from the sale of the property to satisfy the judgment, but nothing was left to help the Clinton family through the difficult years ahead. Although the governor received the grandest of state funerals, when it was all over, the family had no place to bury him. His widow was completely without funds to purchase a suitable gravesite. As a result, Clinton’s remains were placed in the family vault of Dr. Samuel Stringer (1735-1817), an old friend and fellow Mason from Albany, in the old Swan Street cemetery.

Sixteen years later, enough money was collected to provide a suitable burial. On June 21, 1844, a newspaper in Albany printed this small announcement: "The remains of DeWitt Clinton, which had been deposited in the cemetery in Swan Street, were removed to New York for interment under a monument created by the family." Clinton 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. The community of Whitestone, New York, was for several decades after his death known as Clintonville, but reverted to its traditional name; however, the governor is memorialized to this day by Clintonville street, a major local road.

Erie Canal

Main article: 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 "DeWitt's Ditch".[7] 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. The cost of freight between Buffalo and Albany fell from $100 to $10 per ton, and the state was able to quickly recoup the funds it spent on the project through tolls along the canal. The completion of the canal brought about a significant shift in public opinion on Clinton, who was now hailed for completing the canal. This change in public opinion was reflected in the newspapers of the time. Previously being filled with harsh criticisms of Clinton and the canal, they now celebrated his accomplishment. For example, an article in the New Hampshire Sentinel began saying, “The efforts of Gov. Clinton to advance the best interest of the State over which he presides are very generally acknowledged both by his constituents and the public abroad. His exertions in favor of the great Canal have identified his name with that noble enterprise, and he will be remembered while its benefits are experienced,” and ended with “Yield credit to Clinton, and hail him by name".

Legacy

$1,000 Legal Tender note, Series 1880, Fr.187k, depicting DeWitt Clinton.

List of places named for DeWitt Clinton:

Towns

Counties

(Note that the naming of two counties in Illinois after Clinton is the only instance in the United States of two counties in the same state being named after the same person.)

Mountains

Schools

Other namesakes

Notes

  1. ↑ Edwin G. Burrows "Little Short of Madness," American Heritage, Winter 2010.
  2. ↑ Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848, (2007) p. 241
  3. ↑ American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
  4. ↑ Dunbar, B. (1987). Members and Officers of the American Antiquarian Society. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society.
  5. ↑ "Masonic Service Awards" (PDF). Grand Lodge of New York. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  6. ↑ "Past Ge Officers". Knightstemplar.org. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  7. ↑ John Steele Gordon "10 Moments That Made American Business," American Heritage, February/March 2007.
  8. ↑ Hemmerly, Thomas Ellsworth (2000). Appalachian Wildflowers. University of Georgia Press. p. 122.

Further reading

External links

United States Senate
Preceded by
John Armstrong, Jr.		 U.S. Senator (Class 3) from New York
1802–1803
Served alongside: Gouverneur Morris, Theodorus Bailey		 Succeeded by
John Armstrong, Jr.
Political offices
Preceded by
Edward Livingston		 Mayor of New York City
1803–1807 		Succeeded by
Marinus Willett
Preceded by
Marinus Willett		 Mayor of New York City
1808–1810 		Succeeded by
Jacob Radcliff
Preceded by
John Tayler
acting		 Lieutenant Governor of New York
1811–1813 		Succeeded by
John Tayler
Preceded by
Jacob Radcliff		 Mayor of New York City
1811–1815 		Succeeded by
John Ferguson
Preceded by
John Tayler		 Governor of New York
1817–1822 		Succeeded by
Joseph C. Yates
Preceded by
Joseph C. Yates		 Governor of New York
1825–1828 		Succeeded by
Nathaniel Pitcher
Party political offices
Preceded by
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
1808		 Federalist Party presidential candidate
1812 (lost) 		Succeeded by
Rufus King
1816