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TEN?The Daily Herald, Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi Coast
KN
HAT M. THOMPSON
UR
TATE
The Three Famous Claibornes Of Mississippi
They were William Charles Cole ing and care of his men', broken
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 Ilamtramaek Claiborne, the ?Confederate Yankee" whose greatest achievement was his History of Mississippi, which Dunbar Rowland rated as ?one of
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 M:i.i?r Daniel Beaslev 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 .Tack-
the greatest if not the greatest of.Eon.s arm,.at the Rattle of New-state histories.	j	Orleans.
W. C. C. CLAIBORNE
The Virginia Claibomes had been gentry and landowners since the first William Claiborne landed
J.F.II. Cl.AIBORXE
Hi? oldest son ? John Francis Ilamtramaek Claiborne ? was
, T .	.	eight	years	old	when	General
at Jamestown in 1621 as surveyor	died	and	was	sent a
?L*Te PUnta*,on of V,?pn,a . jiyear later to Virginia to be edu-the London Company They ha-ijj t d The future lamous Missis-been staunch patriots in . the^ ; hi<torian had intended to re-
^0,?Cvrn- Rovo'u l?u dur?nSjmBin in Virginia, but his health which William Coes father had KO rieli^te he retumed to
impoverished the family lor t h e |Natchez whcre he temporarily cause-	|took charge of the newspaper
Having attended William and t)10n published by the venerable Mary College, William at the ag'e of 15 was on his own and made his way to New York, then the seat of national government
The Mississippi Hall of Fame oil portrait of William C. C. Claii>ome, second governor of Mississippi Territory who went from its capitol at Natchez in 1803 to New Orleans to receive the Louisiana Purchase from the representatives of Napoleon and to succeed the Spanish Governor. During his absence from Mississippi Territory his duties were performed by Territorial Secretary Cato West.
Andrew Marschalk, Mississippi?s
first printer.
Belore he was 21 John Francis
.	.	,	. ,	was the Democratic candidate of
Whore he secured a job copying Adnms C(iunly )or lhe Lef,jsiature
bills and resolutions for the mem-
':to which he was elected for three
ben, of Congress. While there	?	nomi.
Thomas Jefferson gave him ac- d f CongresJ in 1835 by the cess to his excellent library a ;i d 1 D(.mocratic sta(o Convention
John Sevier urged him to stuny
in Mississippi, was clected by a
no question of his loyalty to the South, especially as the owner of a hundred slaves.
And yet, although he decided fi: nally to openly support the Confederacy (he was quickly commissioned to administer oaths and handle deeds and other papers for the Confederacy and during the war purchased several thousand dollars worth of Confederate boncte) ho also decided to secretly serve the Union.	i
Ilis intrigue tliroughout the wr.ri was known to the Confederate, Government, but in the absence | of absolute proof of traffic with the enemy, it was unable to inter- j fere. He was not a common spy!
law and go to Tennessee.	I	large majority and arrived the jerking behind the lines. He was}
This he did?was admitted to youngest member in that impres-ja prominent Coast citizen and!
the bar after only three months intensive study and then equipped with a copy of Gladstone, he journeyed to Sullivan County,
Tennessee, w here within two years he had no rival as an advocate at the criminal bar. On to af|ju<ycate the claims of the the formation of Tennessee a.s a ^Mjjans uw|(>r the Treaty of Dane' state. Governor John Sevier ap- ( Rabbit Creek, which were the pointed William a judge of he,	.	t and cornlpt spe,u.
Supreme Court of law and equity. jlati d wWd) ciaibome fear-He was then just 22 years old. kcss]y
exposed ? treading on the It was this brilliant young man	0{ interests so intluential
that President Thomas Jefferson'they could employ S. S. Prentiss appointed as Governor of Mis- on r, contingent fee of $100,000 to sissippt Territoi-v in 1801 to suc-j((c.|elu)	Claiborne's	life	was
ceed Winthrop Sargent.	troptntcdly	threatened and he
One jsf tlur-most important not.;:was twice challenged to a duel of IhV ClniTSome Administration!which he refused to accept. His was the collection, for the Fed-junwavering action crushed the
;Sive body of men.	I	presumably	a	loval	Confederate
He was respected by some and supporter. Also, in bis strategic | reviled by others (depending on j position at Laurel Wood he was whose ox was being gored) when!under the constant protection of he was appointed president of thelthe Federal gunboats that block-Bonrd of Choctaw Commissioners aded the Coast.
When the war was over Clai-, borne immediately took the oath j of allegiance to the United States | nnd promptly aligned himself with , the carpct-bagger government of his State of Mississippi. He con- _ tinued to live quietly at Laurel ' Wood until 1870 when he inherit ed the ?Dunbarton Plantation? at ? Natchei and moved there.
Claiborne spent the remainingi_ years of his life completing the]^ monumental history of Mississip- j' pi for which he is famous and|
eral government, of data relative speculation and ruined those in-? ,v^jch wns started at Laurel Wood to Mississippi land titles then in a I volved. However, Claiborne found	the	war	period.	j
chaotic condition. The report he it the better part of valor to tem-l	KJ.., n	T1,,,
made to Secretary Madison wM|porarily leave the unfriendly at-l Copyright Ufa.3 Ecy Thompson. I the foundation upon which Con-imosphcre of Mississippi and take!	1
f,.,Mrk;>rnyvv.. fnr!jn Wt" Ohioans.