33 Facts About DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton was an American politician and naturalist.

DeWitt Clinton was governor of New York from 1817 to 1822 and from 1825 to 1828, and presided over the construction of the Erie Canal.

DeWitt Clinton believed that infrastructure improvements could transform American life, drive economic growth, and encourage political participation.

DeWitt Clinton heavily influenced the development of infrastructure both in New York State and in the United States as a whole.

DeWitt Clinton was born in Little Britain, New York, which today is a hamlet in the western part of New Windsor.

DeWitt Clinton became the secretary to his uncle George Clinton, who was then governor of New York.

In 1801, his uncle George DeWitt Clinton appointed him to head the Council of Appointments, which held the power under the state constitution to appoint thousands of public positions, including sheriffs and the mayor of New York City.

DeWitt Clinton would serve on the committee from 1801 to 1802 and again from 1806 to 1807.

DeWitt Clinton used his power to deny supporters of Aaron Burr and members of the Tammany Society key roles.

DeWitt Clinton served as mayor of New York from 1803 to 1807,1808 to 1810, and 1811 to 1815.

DeWitt Clinton organized the New-York Historical Society in 1804 and was its president, and he was a leader in launching the Erie Canal.

DeWitt Clinton helped to reorganize the American Academy of the Fine Arts in 1808 and served as its president between 1813 and 1817.

DeWitt Clinton was a regent of the University of the State of New York from 1808 to 1825.

DeWitt Clinton was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814 and was its vice president from 1821 to 1828.

DeWitt Clinton ran for president as a candidate both for the Federalist Party and for a small group of antiwar Democratic-Republicans.

On July 1,1817, DeWitt Clinton took office as governor of New York.

The gubernatorial election was moved from April to November, but DeWitt Clinton was not renominated by his party to run for re-election in November 1822.

DeWitt Clinton served another two terms until his sudden death in office.

DeWitt Clinton was initiated in the "Holland" Lodge No 16, NY on September 3,1790, and, in 1806, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York.

DeWitt Clinton was essential in establishing the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar in the United States and served as its first, second, and third grand master from 1816 to 1828.

DeWitt Clinton retained the title until his death in 1828.

DeWitt Clinton issued three proclamations, each increasing the reward for information and conviction of the perpetrators until it reached $2,000.

DeWitt Clinton's proclamations had no effect and the Masonic fraternity underwent a period of severe decline in many regions of the United States because of criticism set off by the scandal.

From 1810 to 1824, DeWitt Clinton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission.

DeWitt Clinton was among its first members, who were appointed in 1810 and planned and surveyed the route to be taken.

DeWitt Clinton 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.

The completion of the canal brought about a significant shift in public opinion about DeWitt Clinton: he was now hailed for having completed the canal.

On May 8,1819, DeWitt Clinton married Catharine Jones, the daughter of a New York physician, Thomas Jones and his wife, Margaret Jones.

In 1813, DeWitt Clinton became a hereditary member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati in succession to his brother, Lieutenant Alexander DeWitt Clinton, who was an original member of the society.

When DeWitt Clinton died suddenly of heart failure in Albany on February 11,1828, he left his family in poor financial condition.

DeWitt Clinton's widow was completely without funds to purchase a suitable grave site.

The 1831 DeWitt Clinton locomotive was named in his honor.

DeWitt Clinton's portrait appears on many tobacco tax stamps of the late 1800s to early 1900s.