BIO: The Clinton Family; Buffalo, Erie Co., NY
Surname: Clinton, DeWitt, Franklin, Winthrop, Spencer, Riley, Evans, Hewes,
Thornton, Richmond

Transcribed by W. David Samuelsen for the USGenWeb Archives

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MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY NEW YORK
VOLUME I, BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL, ILLUSTRATED, PUB. 1906-8

THE CLINTON FAMILY in America is descended from one of the most ancient
families of Great Britain. Geoffrey de Clinton, the founder of the house, was
Lord High Chamberlain and Treasurer to King Henry I., who reigned from 1100 to
1135, and received from that monarch immense grants of land. Geoffrey de
Clinton built Kenilworth Castle, whose ruins area still to be seen near
Warwick, and which became famous, not only through its historic association,
but because it was chosen Sir Walter Scott as the scene of one of his most
celebrated romances. From Osbert, the brother of Geoffrey de Clinton,
descended Edward Clinton, first Earl of Lincoln, who became Lord High Admiral
of England. His son Henry, second Earl of Lincoln, was the father of Sir Henry
Clinton, who was born in 1587 and whose death occurred in 1641. Sir Henry's
son was William Clinton, who in the struggle between King and Parliament
espoused the Cavalier side and became an officer in Charles the First's army.
His son, James Clinton, married Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of one of
Cromwell's officers.

Charles Clinton, son of James, was the founder of the American branch of the
family. He was born in the county of Longford, Ireland, in 1690. In May, 1729,
he sailed from Dublin in a ship called the G eorge and Anne, himself paying
the passages of ninety-four persons, and settled in the Massachusetts Colony.
Mr. Clinton remained in that colony till 1731, when he removed to Little
Britain, Ulster County, New York. He took an active part in the wars with the
Indians and the French, and in 1758 was Colonel of a regiment of provincial
troops, and was present at the capture of Fort Frontenac. Col. Clinton was a
man of mat hematical attainments, and his services were much in demand in land
surveys. He was judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ulster County. Col.
Clinton died November 19, 1773. At that time the Revolutionary conflict was
distinctly foreshadowed, and Col. Clinton in his last moments told his sons to
espouse the cause of liberty. Col. Clinton's wife, Elizabeth Denniston, whom
he married in Ireland, was an accomplished woman who earnestly shared the,
patriotic spirit of her husband. She died December 25, 1779, being then in her
75th year. Of the four sons of this marriage, Alexander, Charles, James and
George, all attained distinction. The two first-named were prominent
physicians. George Clinton, the youngest, part icipated in the French and
Indian War and the Revolution, was time first Governor of the State of New
York and was continued in that office for twenty-one years. At the time of his
death he was VicePresident of the United States.

James Clinton, son of Col. Charles Clinton, was an ensign, first lieutenant,
and captain in the provincial army. After the war he became Lieutenant Colonel
of an Orange County regiment. Upon the outbreak of the Revolution he entered
the Patriot service, in 1775 being appointed Colonel of the Third New York
Regiment. In 1776 he was made Brigadier General and took part in the attack on
Quebec. The next year he was stationed at Fort Montgomery, on the Hudson, and
bravely resisted the British advance under Sir Henry Clinton. In 1778 Gen.
Clinton was stationed at West Point After the discovery of Arnold’s treason,
Washington ordered Gen. Clinton to assume command at Albany, at which
important post he continued until August, 1781.

After the close of the Revolution, Gen. Clinton was a member of the convention
called to ratify the Federal Constitution. He also served in the convention to
revise the Constitution of New York, was chosen a commissioner to determine
the New York and Pennsylvania boundary, and was elected State Senator.

The wife of Gen. Clinton was Mary De Witt. She was a daughter of Egbert De
Witt, and came from an excellent family of Holland extraction. Four sons -
Alexander, Charles, De Witt and George were the issue of this marriage. Gen.
Clinton died at Little Britain in 1812.

DE WITT CLINTON, third son of Gen. James Clinton and grandfather of Spencer
and George Clinton of Buffalo, was born March 2d, 1769, at the family home in
Little Britain, Orange County. His early education was gained at the
grammar-school in Little Britain and at the Kingston Academy. His studies were
rudely interrupted by the Revolutionary War, but in the spring of 1784 he
entered the junior class of Columbia College An address delivered by him in
later years to the Columbia alumni contains a vivid description of the college
building as it was at the close of the war. Young Clinton was one of the most
systematic and careful of students. His custom was to read pen in hand, and he
continued the practice to the end of his life. In 1786 he was graduated at the
head of his class. Shortly after his graduation he began reading law with
Samuel Jones, a noted lawyer of New York City. At this time an event occurred
which marked an epoch in the life of  De Witt Clinton, and had much to do with
determining his career. This was the assembling of the convention which
formulated the Constitution of the United States. The youthful law student
assiduously read the publications relative to the proposed Constitution, and
his attention to Constitutional subjects was intensified by his attendance, in
1788, at the New York convention which met at Poughkeepsie to ratify the
United States Constitution.

About 1789, on the death of his brother Alexander, De Witt Clinton succeeded
him as private secretary to Governor George Clinton, his uncle, and he held
this situation till 1795. In 1797 he was elected Member of Assembly, and in
1798 became State Senator, becoming very prominent in the political
controversies and legislative measures of the day.

In 1802 Mr. Clinton was elected to the United States Senate.

At this time he was only thirty-three years of age. In February, 1803, Mr
Clinton took a leading part in the Senate debate on Mr Ross's resolutions
authorizing the President to take possession of New Orleans The summer of the
same year Mr. Clinton succeeded Edward Livingston as Mayor of New York, and
with the exception of a year or two, continued in that office till 1815. By
his acceptance of the mayoralty, Mr. Clinton was obliged to resign his place
in the United States Senate, but he was elected to the State Senate and served
as State Senator for several years of his mayorality, his name becoming
identified with a large amount of State legislation.

In 1810 Mr. Clinton took the first step in the enterprise which. was destined
to link his fame with the greatest artificial waterway of the continent and to
give him for all time the popular appellation of "Father of the Erie Canal."
In the summer of that year. he and the first Canal Commissioners, his
associates, made a journey through the Mohawk Valley and Western New York in
order to ascertain the practicability of constructing a canal from the Hudson
to the Lakes. The following year Mr. Clinton was elected Lieutenant-Governor
of New York. In 1811 he received the nomination for President of the United
States. His opponent was Mr. Madison, who was elected, obtaining 128 electoral
votes, the number received by Mr. Clinton being 89. In December, 1811. Mr.
Clinton read before the New York Historical Society his discourse on the
Iroquois Indians. This dissertation is a notable example of deep research and
eloquent style.

The period immediately after the War of 1812 was marked by a revival of public
interest in the project of a canal from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes.
Mr. Clinton was insistent in bringing the subject before the people and the
Legislature. He prepared on behalf of canal construction a most able memorial,
which was adopted at a meeting held by representative citizens of New York, in
1816. April 15th, 1817, the Canal Bill was passed, the work of construction
being begun on the 4th of July. In the fall of the same year Mr. Clinton was
elected Governor of New York by a nearly unanimous vote. This triumph was all
the more signal because of the fact that two years before, Mr. Clinton's
political adversaries had succeeded in depriving him of the Mayorahity of New
York City. In 1820 he was re-elected Governor. During both of these terms the
canal enterprise was pushed with energy.

In 1822, the year of the new Constitutional Convention, Joseph C. Yates was
elected Governor, but in 1824 Mr. Clinton was again elected to that office, in
which lie was continued, by successive re-elections, to the day of his death.
In October, 1825, the Erie Canal was completed. Mr. Clinton made a triumphal
journey from Lake Erie to the Hudson, and in his message of January, 1826, he
referred in characteristic and appropriate terms to the consummation of the
canal enterprise.   Governor Clinton's last message to the Legislature was
delivered Jan. 1st, 1828. Its opening sentences were strikingly expressive of
gratitude to the Providence which had guarded the destinies of the young State
and nation, and it may be observed in this connection that Mr. Clinton was the
first Governor who recommended the observance of days of public thanksgiving
by the people of the State.

De Witt Clinton died February 11th, 1828.

Maria Franklin, the wife of De Witt Clinton, was a daughter of Walter
Franklin, of New York. Through her mother, Mary Bowne of Flushing, she was a
direct descendant of Adam Winthrop, founder of the Winthrop family.

GEORGE WILLIAM CLINTON, son of Dc Witt Clinton and founder of the Buffalo
branch of the family, was born in 1807. He adopted the profession of the law,
first practicing in Canandaigua, N. Y., where he lived for several years, his
law partner at the tune being John C. Spencer, son of Chief-Just ice Ambrose
Spencer, of Albany, Laura Catherine Spencer, .John C. Spencer's daughter,
becoming about this time Mr. Clinton's wife.

Shortly after his marriage, in 1836, George W. Clinton removed to Buffalo,
where he spent most of the active portion of his life. Mr. Clinton was soon
recognized as one of the leaders of the Western New York bar. When thirty-five
years old he was elected Mayor of Buffalo, serving in that capacity during the
year 1842. He served as Judge of the Superior Court of the City of Buffalo,
from the time of its organization in 1846 until he arrived at the age limit in
1877. He was also for some years Collector of Customs and for many years was a
Regent of the University of the State of New York, furthermore acting as
Vice-Chancellor of that body.

During the Civil War, Mr. Clinton was an ardent supporter of the Union cause.
Being one of the leading Democrats of the State, his speeches had a powerful
influence in holding the State Democratic party loyal to the support of
President Lincoln and the prosecution of the war.

Mr. Clinton was an accomplished naturalist, devoting himself more particularly
to botany, in which science he had a national reputation. He was the leading
spirit among the founders of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, being
chosen its first President and continuing in that office for many years until
he voluntarily declined to serve longer.

The death of Mr. Clinton took place in Albany in 1885. He was considered one
of the most illustrious citizens Buffalo ever had.

The children of George W. Clinton were four sons, De Witt Clinton and Charles
Clinton, now deceased, and Spencer Clinton and George Clinton, of Buffalo;
also three daughters, Elizabeth Spencer, now Mrs. Henry S. Clinton of New York
City; Catherine, afterwards Mrs. Albert J. Wheeler, now deceased, and Mrs.
Abram H. Baldwin of Albany.

SPENCER CLINTON, the elder surviving son of George William Clinton, and the
brother of George Clinton, was born in Buffalo June 29th, 1839. He was
educated in public and private schools in Buffalo, Albany and Brockport. Early
inclined toward the legal profession, Mr. Clinton began reading law in the
office of Solomon G. Haven, afterward pursuing his studies with William
Dorsheimer. In October, 1860, Mr. Clinton was admitted to the bar, he then
being twenty-one years of age. For the next two years he practiced law in New
York City, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Henry L. Clinton. A few
years after his admission to practice, Mr. Clinton was appointed Assistant
United States District Attorney under his former instructor Mr. Dorsheiiner.
In this office the young lawyer served with marked ability from 1866 to 1868.
In the latter year Mr. Clinton formed a law partnership with Charles D.
Marshall, the firm being styled Marshall & Clinton. Later Robert P. Wilson was
admitted, the firm becoming Marshall, Clinton & Wilson. It continued to be so
designated till 1893, when Adolph Rebadow was made a junior partner and the
firm name was changed to Marshall, Clinton & Rebadow. Both in its original
personnel and as subsequently enlarged, the asso ciation attained a
distinguished success, being held one of the strongest combinations of legal
talent in Western New York.

The well-known connection of Mr. Clinton with the Buffalo Savings Bank began
in 1866. September 6, 1892, he was elected a director of the bank. In 1898 he
became its president, a post he still holds. Upon his election Mr. Clinton
retired from the active practice of law. Three years prevlous to his election
as president of the bank, Mr. Clinton was appointed chairman of the building
committee for the new bank. The old structure, occupied many years, was at
Broadway and Washington street. The new building was begun in 1898 and was
finished and occupied March 11, 1901. It is a superb edifice, made of granite,
and admirably lighted and equipped. Its cost was $583,OOO. It is one of the
tinest bank buildings in the world. Financier and lawyer, Mr. Clinton’s
business relations are very extensive. He is a director of the Third National
Bank. As executor of two large estates, he represents the Bennett and C. J.
Wells elevators in the Western Elevating Association.

Mr. Clinton's absorption in business has caused him to avoid public office.
But he has, from time to time, been active in Democratic politics. In 1887 he
was the Democratic nominee for State Senator, and the National Democratic
State convention held in Brooklyn in 1896 nominated him by acclaim for
Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals. The only civil office Mr. Clinton has
ever held is his present one of attorney for the Grade Crossing Commission.
Before the Grade Crossing Cornmssjon. was constituted, Mr. Clinton, in
association with the late B. B. Adam; worked hard to get the bill constituting
it through the Legislature. The first Act, of 1888, did not give the
commissioners power enough to compel the abolition of grade crossings, and Mr.
Clinton was of great service in bringing about the Acts of 1890 and 1892,
which were passed to invest the commission with authority to carry out its
plans. Mr. Clinton was chosen attorney for the commission on its organization
in 1888, and has ever since continued to conduct for it a vast amount of
difficult work, including the drawing of contracts, the furnishing of legal
advice and the management of critical and delicate negotiations with the
railroads. To the commission, and the public, these services are of very great
value.

Mr. Clinton enjoys a high social position. He is a leading member of the
Buffalo Club, and in 1885 was its president. He is a member of St. Paul's
Episcopal Church.

In 1870 Mr. Clinton married Sarah Riley, daughter of William A. Riley and
Frances A. Stillman of Berlin, Conn., members of old New England families. The
children of this union are De Witt Clinton, Dr. Marshall Clinton, Anne, who is
Mrs. Urquhart Wilcox, of Buffalo, and Nathalie, who is married to Dr. Thew
Wright, and Ethel, who IS the wife of Dr. N. G. Russell. In 1895 Mr. Clinton
married again, his bride being Cora Caldwell of North East, Pa. The children
are Spencer Clinton, and Catherine Clinton.

GEORGE CLINTON, son of George W. Clinton, was born in Buffalo, September 7,
1846. he spent his boyhood, and gained his earlier education in this city,
graduating from the Buffalo Central High School in 1865. In 1866 he entered
the Columbia College Law School, graduating two years later with the degree of
LL.B. He practiced for about a year in New York City. He then removed to
Hudson, Wis., where he followed his profession for five years. In 1874 he
returned to Buffalo, where he has since resided, continuing the practice of
his profession.

Mr. Clinton was early recognized as a strong personality in politics and
public affairs. In 1883 he was elected to the Assembly on the Republican
ticket, and served with high credit, being characterized for independence and
conscientious care for the interests of the people. He was chosen chairthan of
the Assembly Canal Committee, and throughout his civic career has been noted
for his attention to the subject of canals and for the weighty
responsibilities he has borne in connection with both State and national
waterway questions. As a leading member and second president of the Union for
the Improvement of the Canals, Mr. Clinton has been instrumental in bringing
about the extensive improvements made in recent years on the Erie Canal. In
1898 he was made chairman of the Coimminission appointe(l by Governor Black,
pursiiant to an Act of the Legislature, to investigate and report on the
expenditure of the $9, 000,000 appropriated for the improvement of the Erie
and other Canals. The same year the Commission made its investigation and
submitted its report, the result being the purification of the State
Engineer's Department and the adoption of a much better system of
administration in that Department and the State Department of Public Works. In
1902 President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Clinton a member of the American
section of the International Waterways Commission for the purpose of settling
various questions arising relative to the water boundaries between the United
States and Canada and to consider and report on the advisability of
constructing a dam at the eastern end of Lake Erie for the purpose of
regulating the lake level. On this commission he is still serving. Mr. Clinton
enjoys an international reputation as an authority on admiralty law and is
retained in cases of the greatest importance.

Mr. Clinton shows a practical interest in all matters relating to the welfare
of Buffalo. He helped prepare the present City Charter, and worked hard to
secure its adoption. He has been Park Commissioner, and was a member of the
trunk-sewer commission during the building of the Genesee and Bird Avenue
branches of the sewer system. He helped establish the Buffalo Law School, and
for several years was its professor of admiralty law. He is a firm friend of
the public schools, and has been active in the endeavors to raise their
standard and remove them from political influences. He is an active member of
the Chamber of Commerce, was for many years a member of its predecessor, the
Merchants' Exchange, and in 1893 was the president of that organization.

Mr. Clinton belongs to the Episcopal Church, and is a member of the Masonic
order. He is connected with the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, the
Buffalo Historical Society, the Ellicott Club and other social and charitable
organizations.

The marriage of Mr. Clinton took place in Trinity Church, Buffalo, on the 17th
of January, 1872. The maiden name of Mrs. Clinton was Alice Thornton. Her
parents were Thomas F. and Jane Parker Thornton. The children of the marriage
are George Clinton, Jr., born Jan. 18, 1877, Laura Catherine and Elizabeth
Spencer. The daughter last named was married June 5, 1901, to Chester D.
Richmond. George Clinton, Jr., is his father's partner in the practice of law,
time firm name being Clinton & Clinton. January 25, 1908, he married Sophie
Klein.

DR. MARSHALL CLINTON, one of Buffalo’s leading physicians and surgeons, has
practiced his profession in this city since 1895. Born in Buffalo July 22,
1873, he was educated in the public schools, H.eathcote School, and graduated
from the Medical College of the University of Buffalo in 1895.

He spent a year as resident physician at the Erie County Hospital, and for the
succeeding two years was house surgeon at the Fitch Accident Hospital, of
Buffalo.

In June, 1898, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the 202d Regiment, United
States Volunteers, for service during the Spanish-American War. In thus
capacity lie accompanied the command through the campaign, being stationed
with the regiment at Camp Black, N. Y., at Camp Meade, and in Cuba until the
troops returned to the United States. In April, 1899, he was mustered out with
the regiment at Savannah, Georgia.

Upon returning from the war Dr. Clinton began the private practice of his
profession in Buffalo as a general surgeon.

He is attending surgeon at tile Buffalo Hospital and the Sisters of Charity
and Erie County hospitals, the Buffalo Children's Hospital and the Fresh Air
Mission Hospital at Athol Springs. He is Instructor in Surgery at the
University of Buffalo, is Assistant Surgeon of the 65th Regiment, N. G. N. Y.,
with time rank of Captain, and is surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company.

Dr. Clinton is a member of the Erie County Medical Society, the Buffalo
Academy of Medicine, the State Medical Association, the American Medical
Association, and the American Association of Military Surgeons, and the Saturn
Club.

December 12, 1900, Dr. Clinton married Miss Alethe Evans, daughter of Edwin T.
Evans and Josephine (Hewes) Evans, of Buffalo. The children of the union are
three sons, Be Witt, born October 29, 1901; Karl, born May 10, 1903, and
Geoffrey, born July 13, 1906.