election
he was again chosen governor, by a large majority, and served from 1825
until his death. As governor he took part in the formal ceremony of
admitting the waters of Lake Erie into the canal in October 1825, and
thus witnessed the completion of a work which owed more to him than to
any other man. Clinton died at Albany, N.Y., on the 11th of February
1828. In addition to his interest in politics and public improvements,
he devoted much study to the natural sciences; among his published works
are a _Memoir on the Antiquities of Western New York_ (1818), and
_Letters on the Natural History and Internal Resources of New York_
(1822).

See J. Renwick's _Life of De Witt Clinton_ (New York, 1845); D.
Hosack's _Memoir of De Witt Clinton_ (New York, 1829); W. W.
Campbell's _Life and Writings of De Witt Clinton_ (New York, 1849);
and H. L. McBain's _De Witt Clinton and the Origin of the Spoils
System in New York_ (New York, 1907).

FOOTNOTE:

[1] In 1801 a state convention adopted an amendment to the
constitution giving the council an equal voice with the governor in
the matter of appointments; but Clinton, who is often represented as
the father of this movement, though chosen as a member of the
convention, did not attend its meetings.

CLINTON, GEORGE (1739-1812), American soldier and political leader, was
born at Little Britain, Ulster (now Orange) county, New York, on the
26th of July 1739. His father, Charles Clinton (1690-1773), who was born
of English parents in Co. Longford, Ireland, emigrated to America in
1729, and commanded a regiment of provincial troops in the French and
Indian War. The son went to sea at the age of sixteen, but, finding the
sailor's life distasteful, joined his father's regiment and accompanied
him as lieutenant in the expedition against Fort Frontenac in 1758.
After the war he practised law in his native town and held a number of
minor civil offices in Ulster county. From 1768 to 1775 he sat in the
New York provincial assembly, and in the controversies with Great
Britain zealously championed the colonial cause. In 1774 he was a member
of the New York committee of correspondence, and in 1775 was chosen a
member of the second Continental Congress. In December of this year he
was appointed a brigadier-general of militia by the New York provincial
congress, and in the following summer, being ordered by Washington to
assist in the defence of New York, he l