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(IV) William
H., eldest son of Thomas and Josephine (Terwilliger)
Coldwell, was born May 6, 1863, at
Stormville, Dutchess county, New York. He
attended the Academy at Newburg and
Eastman's Business College at
Poughkeepsie. On completion of his studies
he organized the Coldwell Wilcox
Manufacturing Company of Newburg, of which
he is now the vice-president. In 1891 he
became representative in Europe for the
Coldwell Lawn Mower Company which he and his
father had newly organized. In 1897 they
bought out the Chadborn and Coldwell
Manufacturing company, a transaction which
considerably extended their business.
William H, has held all the offices within
the gift of the corporation, having gone
through the different grades, finally
becoming president on the death of his
father. He is the inventor of the motor
lawn mower, now in use the world over. He
is a member of the Republican Club of New
York, the Hardware Club, the City Club, the
Powellton, the Elks' Club and also belongs
to the Masonic order. He has been alderman
at large several years and has also been
supervisor of the fourth ward for a like
number of years. He has been alms house
commissioner and is now park commissioner in
the city of Newburg. He married, at
Newburg, December 24, 1885, Emma C.,
daughter of Henry T. and Mary E. (Chapman)
Pierce, of Newburg. Children: 1.
Theodora, born at Newburg, New York, in
1887. 2. Kenneth Pierce, born at Newburg,
New York, in April 1889.
(IV) Harry
T., son of Thomas and Josephine (Terwilliger)
Coldwell, was born at Newburg, New York,
January 15, 1876. He was educated at the
Academy at Newburg, and was also for two
years at St. Giles' School, London,
England. He did not, however, finish his
schooling in England for on his return he
entered the Sigler Preparatory School at
Newburg. On leaving school he entered the
Coldwell Lawn Mower Company, of which he has
since held all the office, with the
exception of that of president, and is now
secretary and director. He is a member of
the Masonic Order and a Shriner, member of
the City Club of Newburg, of the Friars'
Club, New York and of the Newburg Yacht
Club. He is president of the Stonybrook
Real Estate Improvement company, was
alderman of the fourth ward, Newburg, an
office which he filled for two terms. He
married, June 29, 1898, Mary A., daughter of
William Holt, of Lancashire County,
England. There has been one son of the
marriage, Thomas, born at Newburg, New York.
CRAWFORD. The
surname of Crawford appears to be of
Scottish origin, and has been derived by one
authority from a parish of the same name in
Lanarkshire, Scotland, and several other
places in North Britain. This may have been
the origin of the name as borne by families
of Anglo-Saxon or Norman descent on the
paternal side. In some cases, however, the
family name of Crawford, which is known in
the three kingdoms of England, Ireland and
Scotland, almost equally well, is the
transla-
Page 228
tion or transmutation
of a name that was purely Gaelic, but which
for convenience had to take an English form,
as the more modern displaced the more
ancient tongue of Eire and Alba. IN a great
many cases the name appears to have been
derived from the family of Sir Roger de
Cranfurd, a knight from Normandy; who was
the sheriff of Ayrshire in 1291, and who
himself seems to have been the common
ancestor of many of the branches of the
family bearing the name to which he
belonged. The name in its Norman form was
anciently written Craufuird. There is
another tradition to the effect that the
first bearer of the name was one Mackornock,
who signalized himself at an engagement by
"water of Cree in Galloway, by discovering
of a Foord, which gave a signal advantage to
his party." Hence he got the name of Cree-Foord,
or Craufurd. According to Burke's "Work on
Heraldry" there are something like
twenty-one families in the British Isles
bearing this name, who have the right to
bear arms. One of these shields is
described heraldically: Quarterly, 1st
and 4th, gu. A fesse erm, in base
two swords saltireways ppr. Hilted and
pommeled or., a bordure wavy ar. 2nd
and 3rd, sa. Three lions heads
erased or. Crest: A sword erect in pale
having on the point a pair of balances all
ppr. Motto: Quod tibi hoc alteri.
(I)
Quintan Crawford, the immigrant ancestor of
the Crawford family here under
consideration, was born in Edinburgh,
Scotland, 1675, died at New Castle,
Westchester county, new York, 1748. He was
a manufacturer of woolen goods and materials
of a similar kind. He emigrated to America
in the early part of 1701 and landed in new
Amsterdam, purchasing a large farm in New
Castle, which in those days was known as
North Castle, and there settled. He
married, in the early part of the year 1717,
Dorothy McDonald. Children; 1/ John, see
forward. 2. Felix. 3. Uriah. 4.
Israel. 5. Tamathy.
(II) John,
eldest son of Quintan and Dorothy (McDonald)
Crawford, was born about 1693, probably died
in new Castle. He married and had a number
of children, among them being Samuel.
(III) Samuel,
son of John Crawford, was known as "The
Patriot"> and was born at White Plains, new
York, October 12, 1736. When he had grown
to manhood he purchased a farm of ninety-six
acres located on the west side of the town
of Scarsdale, adjoining the farm of Jonathan
Griffin Tompkins, bordering on the Bronx
River and what is now known as Hartsdale.
This he made his permanent residence. In
the spring of 1775, when the country was all
aflame against the outrages of Great Britain
he, with James Varian, organized a company
of soldiers from among the young men living
in the towns of White Plains and Scarsdale,
and on February 14, 1775, he was elected
lieutenant of said company which was
attached to and formed a part of Colonel
Joseph Drake's regiment of minutemen. He
was deputy from Westchester county to the
provincial congress for the years
1775-76-77. In May, 1775, he was a
committeeman from the townof Scarsdale for
the purposes of the war of the Revolution.
When the news reached White Plains from
Philadelphia, declaring independence from
the mother country, the state convention was
in session. It was moved that the colony
of New York b e a free and independent state
which resolution was seconded by Samuel
Crawford (birth of state of New York). On
November 18, 1777, he, with a detachment of
his company, was surprised by a detachment
of British soldiers neat Stephen Ward's
tavern, which was located at the forks of
the Albany post road and the road to
Tuckahoe depot to town of East Chester, now
known as Gifford's Park. Samuel Crawford
and several others were killed and thrown
into a hole in the ground opposite this
tavern without a shroud or coffin. (An
account of this burial can be found in the
National Magazine of the year 1853).
Samuel
Crawford married, in Tarrytown, New York,
January 29, 1759, Jane Requa. Children:
1. Elijah, born November 4, 1759, died
September 28, 1840. 2. John, February 21,
1761, died March 7, 1851. 3. Esther. 4.
Mary. 5. Samuel, see forward. 6. Joseph,
November 8, 1776. 7. Rachel.
(IV) Samuel
(2), son of Samuel (1) and Jane (Requa)
Crawford, was born April 4, 1774, in White
Plains, New York, died October 18, 1813. He
married on City Island, Westchester county,
New York, (now the borough of the Bronx, New
York) August 12, 1797, Anna Horton, born
July 10, 1778, in New York City, died
January 17, 1860. Children: 1. James,
born June 25, 1798, died October 5, 1855;
married, January 23, 1822, Phoebe
Page 228A-Picture of
Geo. R. Crawford.
Page 229
Hyatt, born September
9, 1790, died February 7, 1883. 2. Elisha,
see forward. 3. Rachel, born February 23,
1803, died October 19, 1871; married, April
15, 1820, John S. Ellison, born June 12,
1798, died August 3, 1870. 4. John, born
August 4, 1805, died September 28, 1880;
married, November 5, 1820, Margaret
Tompkins, born November 25, 1802, died July
24, 1888. 5. Margaret Ann, born May 4,
1808, died August 15, 1876; married,
February 18, 1829, Daniel Devoe, born
February 5, 1804, died December 15, 1869.
6. George Washington, born July 8, 1812,
died January 9, 1890; married, May 17, 1827,
Margaretta M. Moore, born January 10, 1819,
died November 26, 1888.
(V) Elisha,
second son of Samuel (2) and Anna (Horton)
Crawford, was born in White Plains, New
York, December 6, 1800, died September 8,
1877. He married, September 12, 1822, in
Greenburg, Westchester County, New York,
Judith, born March 20, 1798, died February
19m 1843, daughter of James and Elizabeth
(Underhill) Tompkins. Children: 1.
Joseph, born December 24, 1823, died October
22, 1850; married July 12, 1844, Esther
Jackson, born October 12, 1823, had one
child, Joseph, Jr., born May 14, 1846, died
August 16, 1787. 2. Samuel, born June 26,
1825, died December 14, 1906; married,
November 27, 1854, Augusta Smith Hanna, born
October 9, 1831; children: i. Ada Louise,
born July 26, 1855, ii. Stella Augusta,
September 11, 1856, iii. Willard Lee, May
5, 1859, died December 8, 1859, iv. Joseph
Everhard, born September 23, 1860; married
November 21, 1890, Mary Elizabeth Clough,
born August 15, 1865 and had children: a.
Mildred, born August 13, 1891, b. Genevieve,
born December 4, 1893, died April 12, 1894,
c. Girard, born June 9, 1896, died July 7,
1898, v. Clara Tompkins, born June 21,
1864, married, October 17, 1888, Frederick
Maxson, born June 13, 1862 and had
children: Frederick Raymond, born May 1,
1890, and Harold Raymond, born June 12.
1892. 3. Ann Elizabeth, born May 1, 1827,
died April 29, 1903; married, February 12,
1892, James H. Olsen, born April 4, 1820,
was killed at Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862;
children: i Emma, born October 29, 1846,
married, July 10, 1863, George Barnett, born
December 23, 1839, ii. Fanny, born June
13, 1855, died September 29, 1887, married
(first) October 15, 1872, Thomas Browne,
born October 4, 1845, died November 4, 1874
and has one child, Albert, born July 26,
1873, married (second) July 8, 1880, Thomas
De Codezo, born August 6, 1849, died October
11, 1884, and had, Elsie, born December 9,
1884. 4. William Henry, born May 20, 1829,
died August 30, 1840. 5. James Ray
Tompkins, born June 26, 1831, died March 24,
1894. 6. Frances Araminta. Born July 11,
1833, died April 18, 1890; married, October
9, 1856, Daniel H. Little, born August 21,
1837, died May 8, 1892; children: i.
Chester H., born September 24, 1857, ii.
Laura F., born November 18, 1859, died
January, 26, 1862, iii. Elisha Crawford,
born October 8, 1861, died April 17, 1882;
married D. Franklin, who died November 7,
1891, iv. Ophelia A., born December 10,
1863, married December 23, 1885, Loron M.
Burdick, born October 18, 1856, and had
children: Hazel L., born January 12, 1887,
Mildred E., September 20, 1892, and Loraine
C., born December 11, 1894; v. Charles W.,
born June 25, 1866, died May 9, 1900, vi.
Lillie F., born September 22,1870, married ,
July 10, 1889, Frank M. Dunn, born February
12, 1863, and had children: Viola L., born
August 10, 1890, Helen L., born August 7,
1894. 7. John Washburn, born October 9,
1835, died March 27, 1877; married, May 5,
1864, Jennie H. Gedney, born May 7, 1842,
children: i. Lincoln, born February 27,
1865, died august 28, 1876, ii. Elisha,
born June 18, 1869, iii. John, born April
23, 1872. 8. Franklin, born November 21,
1837, died February 13, 1907; married,
November 11, 1865, Henrietta K. Smith, born
February 13, 1846, children: i. Eva, born
?December 22, 1869, died February 17, 1871,
Edwin, October 25, 1871, Mabel, April 14,
1873, died August 13, 1878. 9. Sarah
Margaret, born February 18, 1839; married
(first) October 17, 1861, Walter M. Covert,
born September 27, 1837, died May 22, 1874,
and had one children, Howard E., born
September 27, 1865, died March 28, 1878;
married (second) Robert J. Ellis, born
December 16, 1827, and had children: i.
Harriet C., born May 21, 1874, ii. Emily
H., May 2, 1880, died July 10, 1880, iii.
Robert C., born August 31, 1877. 10. George
R., see forward.
(VI) George
R., youngest son of Elisha and Judith
(Tompkins) Crawford, was born in White
Plains, New York, June 21, 1841. After
being graduated from the Lockwood Military
Academy, in 1859, he entered the
Page 230
store of A. Rankin &
Company, No. 96 Broadway, dealers in Scotch
woolens and hosiery. In 1802 he engaged in
the fire and life insurance business with
his father, under the title of E. Crawford &
son. On October 19, 1864, he was elected
secretary of the Westchester Fire Insurance
company, which position he held until
January 10, 1879, when he was elected to the
presidency, an office he has filled very
capably up to the present time (1913). On
May 16, 1861, with a number of other young
men, he organized the Union Hook and Ladder
Company of White Plains, New York. December
10, 1867, he was elected a member of the
Clinton Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, of
Mount Vernon, New York. March 4, 1869, he
was elected assistant foreman of said
company, and in 1870 was chosen as foreman,
and on April 20, 1877, he was elected chief
of the Mount Vernon Fire Department.
October 16, 1905, he was appointed fire
commissioner of the city of Mount Vernon,
New York. He was initiated a member of
Huguenot Lodge, No. 46, Free and Accepted
Mason, of New Rochelle, New York, February
8, 1866; was demitted to Hiawatha Lodge, No.
442, Mount Vernon, New York; exalted in
Nepperham Chapter, No. 177, Royal Arch
Masons, Yonkers, New York, July 1, 1868;
demitted to Mount Vernon Chapter of the
Royal Arch Masons, August 19, 1868. He was
knighted in Westchester Commandery, No. 42,
Knights Templar of White Plains, August 19,
1868. He became a charter member of
Bethlehem Commandery, No. 53, Knight
Templar,. New Rochelle, New York, and was
elected first generalissimo, April 12,
1888. He was elected eminent commander, Jun
e 3, 1895; a member of Mecca Temple, Ancient
Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,
June 3, 1895; a member of Wauregan
Encampment, O. D. O., Mount Vernon, New
York, October 29, 189o; became a member of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,
Northern Jurisdiction, February 17, 1896.
He is a member of the Empire State Society
of Sons of the American Revolution, through
Lieutenant Samuel Crawford, his lineal
ancestor. He is a life member of the
Bethlehem Golf Club, at Bethlehem, New
Hampshire, and holds membership in the
Methodist Episcopal Church of White Plains.
Mr. Crawford
married, in Brooklyn, New York, May 24,
1864, Lucretia, born September 10, 1844, in
Long Beach, New Jersey, daughter of James
and Rebecca Anna (Woolley) Grieg, whose
marriage occurred in 1844. Mr. Grieg was a
clothing merchant. Children: 1, Mabel,
born March 27, 1866, died August 21, 1867.
2. George Beaumont, born March 16, 1869;
married, October 27, 1880, Ella F. Tichenor,
born December 27, 1886, and has one child,
Morrell Tompkins, born October 12, 1899.
CLINTON.
Various origins have been attributed to
this name. It has been described as Saxon,
Norman-French, Welsh and Irish in origin,
and the truth seems to be that the name has
really at least two differing origins. It
appears as the family name of the Earls of
Lincoln in England; but it is well known
also in Ireland and Scotland, in those two
countries it is asserted to have a purely
Gaelic origin. Lower, the British authority
on surnames, says of it: "the duke of
Newcastle derives from Reinbaldus, who cam
hither at the Conquest, and assumed his
surname, Glimpton (anciently written as
Clinton), county Oxford, part of the
possessions granted to him for his
services." The name is known in Ireland and
Scotland under the forms Clinton, Mac
Clinton and Mac Clintain; and in these cases
is said to be a contraction of the Gaelic
terms Mac-giolla-Finton. Mac stand for
"son;" giolla means "votary" or "devoted;'
and Finton stands for "St. Finton." The
meaning of the term Mac-giolla-finton,
therefore, is "the son of the votary of St.
Finton." This, it is claimed, has been
contracted into the form of MacClinton, just
as Malcolm is a contraction of the terms
mac-maoil-Colum, meaning the "son of the
votary of St. Columbia." It was the custom
in the old days throughout Gaeldom to take a
saint's name with "Giolla" or "Maoil," both
having the same meaning of votary or
devotee, prefixed to it as a mark of
respect. These names subsist to the present
day, in every case considerably modernized,
whoever, in the way of contraction. Still
another form of Clinton is found in the
patronymic "De Clinton," which seems to
argue a difference and a Norman origin. It
is difficult to distinguish the origin of
each of these names in a particular case,
but the Clintons, whose first American
ancestor came from Ireland, are declared to
have belonged to the same family as
Page 231
the British Earls of
Lincoln, a member of the family having
apparently settled in Ireland some
generations previous to the sailing of the
first American ancestor with his family to
America.
(I) Charles
Clinton, immigrant ancestor of the Clinton
family, was born in County Longford,
Ireland, in 1690, and died in what is now
called Orange County, New York, November 19,
1773. He spent his youth and early manhood
in Ireland, leaving the island when he was
verging on his fortieth year. he was a
dissenter from the church that had been
established in the country, and in
opposition to the ruling powers in Ireland,
so he resolved to emigrate to America. With
a party of friends and relatives he
chartered the vessel "George and Anne" of
Dublin, and sailed may 20, 1729, for
Philadelphia, where they proposed to forma
colony. Emigration in those days was a
risky proceeding, not only because of the
possible unseaworthiness of seagoing craft,
but because of the autocratic powers
possessed by the captains of the vessels,
whose conduct to their passengers and crews
often left a great deal to be desired. When
the vessel bearing Charles Clinton and his
family and friends were well out to sea, the
captain formed a plan to starve the
passengers in his care for the purpose of
possessing himself of their property, and
for the purpose also, it is said, of
preventing their immigration to America.
The result was that a large percentage of
the passengers died, and among the deceased
were a son and daughter of Charles Clinton.
Those that survived were finally allowed to
land at Cape Cod, October 4, 1729, having
paid a large sum of money for the
preservation of their lives. A proposal to
wrest the command of the vessel from the
captain had previously failed, owing to a
want of energy among the victims. In the
spring of 1731 the party settled in Ulster
County, New York, six miles west of the
Hudson, and sixty miles north of New York,
where Mr. Clinton pursued his occupation of
farmer and land surveyor. He was afterwards
justice of the peace, county judge, and
lieutenant-colonel of the Ulster County
militia. He was made a lieutenant-colonel
in Oliver Delaney's regiment, march 24,
1758, and served under Colonel Bradstreet at
the siege and capture of Fort Frontenac. He
married Elizabeth Denniston. Children: 1.
Alexander, born April 7, 1732, died March,
1757; educated at Princeton, and was a
practicing physician. 2. Charles, born
July 20, 1734, died unmarried, April 30,
1791; he was also a physician and surgeon in
the Army, attaining the rank of Colonel.
3. James, born in Ulster County, New York,
August 9, 1736. Died in Little Britain,
Orange County, December 22, 1812. He was
provided by his father with an excellent
education, but his ruling inclination was
for military life. He was appointed an
ensign in the Second Regiment of Ulster
County Militia, and became its
lieutenant-colonel before the beginning of
the Revolution. During the war of 1756,
between the English and the French, he
particularly distinguished himself at the
capture of Fort Frontenac, where he was
captain under Bradstreet, rendering
essential service by capturing a French
sloop-of-war on Lake Ontario. The
confidence reposed in his character may be
estimated by his appointment as
captain-commandant of four regiments levied
for the protection of the western frontiers
of Ulster and Orange counties. He was
appointed colonel of the Third new York
Regiment, June 30, 1775, and in the same
year accompanied Montgomery to Quebec. He
was made brigadier-general August 9, 1776,
and commanded Fort Chester when it was
attacked in October, 1777, by Sir Henry
Clinton. After a gallant defence by about
six hundred militia against three thousand
British troops, Fort Clinton, as well as
Fort Montgomery, of which his celebrated
brother, General George Clinton, as
commander-in-chief, was carried by storm.
General Clinton was the last man to leave
the works, receiving a severe bayonet wound,
but escaping from the enemy by riding a
short distance and then sliding down a
precipice for something like a hundred feet
to the creek, whence he made his way to the
mountain. In 1779 he joined with 1,600 men
in the expedition of General Sullivan
against the Indians, proceeding up the
Mohawk to the head of Otsego Lake, where he
succeeded in floating his bateaux on the
shallow outlet by damming up the lake and
then letting out the water suddenly. After
an engagement in which the Indians were
defeated with great loss at Newtown (now
Elmira), all resistance upon their part
ceased, their settlements were destroyed,
and they fled to the British fortress of
Negara. General Clinton commanded
Page 232
at Albany during a
great part of the war, but was present at
the siege of Yorktown and the evacuation of
New York by the British. He was a
commissioner to adjust the boundary line
between New York and Pennsylvania, and was a
member of the legislature and of the
convention that adopted the constitution of
the United States. 4. George, mentioned
below.
(II) George,
son of Charles and Elizabeth (Denniston)
Clinton, was born at Little Britain, New
York, July 26, 1739, and died in Washington,
D. C., April 20, 1812. On his return from a
privateering cruise in 1758 he accompanied
his father and brother James in the
expedition against Fort Frontenac as a
lieutenant, and on the disbanding of the
colonial forces, he studied in the law
office of William Smith, and settled in his
birthplace, receiving shortly afterwards a
clerkship from the colonial governor, Adam
George Clinton, a connection of the
family. He was elected in 1768 to the New
York Assembly, where he so resolutely
maintained the cause of the colonies against
the crown that April 22, 2775, he was
elected by the New York provincial
convention one of the delegates to the
second continental congress, taking his seat
May 15. He did not vote on the question of
independence, as the members of the New York
provincial congress, which he represented,
did not consider themselves authorized to
instruct their delegates to act on that
question. They purposely left it to the new
provincial congress, which met at White
Plains, July 8, 1776, and which on the next
day passed unanimously a resolution
approving of the delegates. Clinton was
likewise prevented from signing the
Declaration of Independence with the New
York delegation of July 15, by receiving, on
the seventh of that month, an imperative
call from Washington to take post in the
Highlands, with the rank of general of
militia. This accident, which prevented him
from being a signer, he always referred to
in later days as the saddest event of his
life. In the spring of 1777, he was a
deputy to the new York provincial congress
which framed the state constitution, but was
again called into the field by congress, and
appointed March 25, 1777, a
brigadier-general in the Continental Army.
Assisted by his brother James, he made a
brilliant, though unsuccessful defence,
October 6, 1777, of the Highland Forts,
Clinton and Montgomery, against Sir Henry
Clinton. He was chosen first governor of
the state April 20, 1777, and in 1780 was
re-elected to the office, which he retained
by successive elections until 1795. From
the period of his occupation of the
gubernatorial chair until its final
relinquishment he exhibited great energy of
character, and in defence of the state
rendered important services, both ina civil
and military capacity. In 1780 he thwarted
an expedition led by Sir John Johnston,
Brant, and Cornplanter, into the Mohawk
Valley, and thus saved the settlers from the
horrors of the torch and scalping knife. He
was active in preventing encroachments on
the territory of New York by settlers
belonging to the New Hampshire grants, and
was largely instrumental with Timothy
Pickering in concluding after the war
lasting treaties of peace with the western
Indians. In 1783 he accompanied Washington
and Hamilton on a tour of the northern and
western parts of the state, on their return
visiting, with Schuyler as a guide, the
High Rock of Saratoga. While on this trip
he first conceived the project of a canal
between the Mohawk and Wood creeks, which he
recommended to the legislature in his speech
opening the session of 1791, an idea that
was subsequently carried out to its
legitimate end in the Erie and Champlain
canals by his nephew, Governor De Witt
Clinton. At the time of Shay's Rebellion in
1787 he marched in person at the head of the
militia against the insurgents, and by this
prompt action greatly aided the governor of
Massachusetts in quelling the outbreak. In
1788 he presided at the state convention to
ratify the federal constitution, the
adoption of which he opposed, believing that
too much power would thereby pass to the
federal congress and executive. At the
first presidential election he received
three of the electoral votes cast for the
vice-presidency. In 1792, when Washington
was re-elected, Clinton had for the same
office fifty votes, and at the sixth
presidential election, 1809-1913, he
received six ballots from New York for the
office of president. In 1800 he was chosen
to the legislature after of the most hotly
contested elections in the annals of the
state. He participated in the inauguration
of General George Washington in the
metropolis, in Wall Street, and escorted the
president to his elegant "city
Page 232A-Picture of
George Clinton-Caption---First Governor of
New York, serving 1777-95, 1801-04; was most
active as a General in the Revolution, and
Vice-President 1805-12. Born at Little
Britain, N. Y., July 26, 1739, died at
Washington, D. C., April 29, 1812. From the
painting by Ezra Ames.
Page 233
residence at No. 3
cherry Street." His most enduring work is
seen perhaps in the two old forts on
Governor's Island. In 1801 he was elected
vice-president of the United States, which
office he filled until his death. His last
important public act was to negative, by his
casting vote in the senate, the renewal of
the charter of the United States Bank in
1811. He took great interest in education,
and in his message at the opening session of
the legislature in 1795, he initiated the
movements for the organization of the common
school system. As a military man Clinton
was bold and courageous, and endowed with a
will that rarely failed him in sudden
emergencies. AS a civil magistrate he was a
staunch friend to literature and to social
order. In private life he was affectionate,
winning, though dignified in his manner,
strong in his dislikes, and warm in his
friendships. The vast influence that he
wielded was due more to sound judgment,
marvelous energy and great moral force than
to any specially high-sounding or brilliant
achievement. The old state papers show that
the governor was keenly alive to the
commercial prosperity of the state. He
favored all bills which he thought would
benefit the people, and so far as can be
seen today he was progressive almost to
radicalism. At the same time he had a
well-balanced mind and a keen knowledge of
human nature. He never went to extremes and
never incurred the extremes of opposition.
He married
Cornelia Tappan, of Ulster County, and had
six children, one of them a son George,
whose only son died unmarried, so that the
family name has disappeared in that branch
of the family.
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