Alphabet File page 90
The Virginia Claibornes had been gentry and landowners since the first William Claiborne landed at Jamestown in 1621 as surveyor of the plantation of Virginia for the London Company. They had been staunch patriots in the American Revolution during which William Cole's father had impoverished the family for the cause.
Having attended William and Mary College, William at the age of 15 was on his own and made his way to New York, then the seat of national government where he secured a job copying bills and resolutions for the members of Congress. While there Thomas Jefferson gave him access to his excellent library and John Sevier urged him to study law and go to Tennessee.
This he did -- was admitted to the bar after only three months intensive study and then equipped with a copy of Gladstone, he journeyed to Sullivan County, Tennessee, where within two years he had no rival as an advocate at the criminal bar. On the formation of Tennessee as a state, Governor John Sevier appointed William a judge of the Supreme Court of Law and equity. He was then just 22 years old.
It was this brilliant young man that President Thomas Jefferson appointed as Governor of Mississippi Territory in 1801 to succeed Winthrop Sargent.
One of the most important acts of the Claiborne Administration was the collection, for the Federal government, of data relative to Mississippi land titles then in a chaotic condition. The report he made to Secretary Madison was the foundation upon which Congress based future measures for the settlement of local land titles.
After the consummation of the Louisiana Purchase this reliable young statesman was made governor of the Territory of Orleans and so served until Louisiana was admitted into the Union in 1812 after which he served two terms as elected Governor of the State of Louisiana.
William Charles Cole Claiborne died at age 42 on the threshold of a promising national career. But for seventeen years he had been one of the most important men in public service in which was then the great Southwest Frontier. (Copyright 1963 Ray M. Thompson, The Daily Herald, Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi Coast)
Claiborne, Ferdinand Leigh
The Three Famous Claibornes Of Mississippi
They were William Charles Cole Claiborne who in 1801 when he was only 26 years old was appointed the second governor of Mississippi Territory by President Thomas Jefferson; his brother Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne, brigadier-general in command of the militia of Mississippi Territory who was unjustly blamed for the massacre at Fort Mims; and Ferdinand's eldest son, John Francis Hamtramack Claiborne, the "Confederate Yankee" whose greatest achievement was his History of Mississippi, which Dunbar Rowland rated as "one of the greatest if not the greatest of state histories."
His brother Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne already had won renown as an officer under General Mad Anthony Wayne when he resigned from the army in 1802 and came to Natchez during William Charles Cole's administration as governor of the Mississippi Territory. There he became a merchant and married the daughter of Colonel Anthony Hutchins, that redoubtable English Tory who was one of the leaders in the 1781 abortive revolt against Spanish rule at Natchez.
He resumed his active military career in 1811 when upon the recommendation of Governor Holmes he was commissioned brigadier-general of the militia of Mississippi Territory. Two years later he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers in the U.S. service. He organized a brigade of Louisiana and Mississippi volunteers and was ordered to Fort Stoddert where he arrived July 30, 1813, to guard the frontier against the Creek Indians.
One month later occurred the terrible massacre at Fort Mims during which over 500 of its occupants were killed, scalped and mutilated simply because a front gate had become banked with sand and could not be closed when the Indian attack came. Brigadier-General Claiborne, because of his overall responsibility for the frontier's safety, was severely criticized for the disaster at Fort Mims.
Two years later, his wealth dissipated in public service (he made liberal personal expenditures for the transportation, feeding and care of his men), broken in health by exposure and in spirit because of the unreasonable criticism of so many who could not forget the carelessness at Fort Mims for which one of his officers Major Daniel Beasley was personally to blame. General Claiborne died in his 44th year near the end of the year 1815. One of the last dramatic acts of his life, which cost about the last dollar of his fortune, was to brilliantly illuminate his home and grounds in celebration when the news reached Natchez of the brilliant and decisive victory of Jackson's army at the Battle of New Orleans. (Copyright 1963 Ray M. Thompson, The Daily Herald, Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi Coast)
CLAIBORNE PLANTATION -
To the right of the beach drive, on a dirt roar through cut-over pine land, one passes a great game preserve en route to the old Claiborne Plantation home which is locally referred to as the Baldwin plantation. (Note HCHS: This is not correct. Baldwin Plantation was not the same as Claiborne.) The place is particularly interesting because of its early history. It is a planter's type house with broad front gallery and dormer windows, the main floor resting on high brick piers. The gallery is reached by a single flight of steps, and its roof is supported by slender hand-hewn columns across the front. There is a wide central hall from which huge, high-ceilinged rooms open. The walls in the hall and dining room are decorated with paintings of fishing and hunting scenes by Coulon, a New Orleans artist. Atop the building is a square observatory, which gives a outlook across the vast stretch of marshlands to the Gulf beyond. This plantation was the property of the noted historian, Col. J. F. H. Claiborne. the house was built about 1800, of timbers grown and hewn on the place and bricks made and burned by slave labor.
It is said that the brick piers running under the house were originally joined by iron bars to form giant cages used for temporary restraint of negro slaves when first brought from Africa. It was expedient that they be kept in confinement until they became submissive and would not endanger or frighten the slaves in the regular quarters. The ruins of the old slave quarters are at the back of the house. (The Gulf Coast of Miss by Nola Nance Oliver, page 17 - This is a small book, copy belonging to HCHS)
"Laurel Wood" Plantation near Ansley See J. F. H.
Claiborne (PC&C p 27)
Dee-Dee and Milton Beckendorff visited the HCHS in 1993 and said they owned Laurel Wood at that time. They left their card "Country Antiques, 121 Meyer Street . Hwy 36, 885-6115 (No city listed). (CHG)
Clair, Rev. Matthew W. - See article named "Methodist" on alphabetical list
CLERMONT HARBOR
Located two miles west of Waveland, Clermont Harbor was a flag stop on the L & N Railroad boasting a post office and a small factory which made building supplies. Later a hotel and a few summer homes were added and the place became popular as a summer resort. (Hometown Mississippi by James F. Brieger)
Clapp Ammonia Co. (B. W. Clapp) see: Circuit Court article (SCE 10/28/1893)
Clapp, T. P., 417 Citizen (Ph 50, 55)
Clark, Mr. Archie of New Orleans spent a few days with friends here this week. (SCE 9/03/1892)
Clark, Mr. Archie, a handsome and highly esteemed young gentleman of the Crescent City, attended the Easter Monday ball. (SCE 04/08/1893)
Clark, Charlotte Deloris McGill m Jackson, Alan Eugene 6-221991 (PC&C)
Clark, C. W. r Hwy 90 (Ph 55)
Clark, Edw. C. r 123 Ballintine (Ph 55)
Clark, John, Photographer, has moved his gallery from the head of Union Street to his residence. He has taken charge of the Eureka Gallery at Pass Christian. (SCE 02/04/1893)