   charles clinton (1690 â 19 november 1773) was an anglo-irish soldier in colonial america. a colonel of the french and indian war, he was the father of general james clinton and george clinton, and the grandfather of dewitt clinton. ==life== charles clinton was born in corbay, county longford, ireland, to james clinton, a soldier in oliver cromwell's new model army who fought during the battle of drogheda and was rewarded with land in ireland, and elizabeth smith, the daughter of a captain in cromwell's army. in may 1729, the clinton family (charles, wife elizabeth, two daughters, and one son) chartered a ship from dublin called the george and anne and sailed for philadelphia with a group of neighbors and friends intending to settle in pennsylvania. according to his papers, he paid for ninety four of the passengers. the captain of the ship intentionally starved the passengers, possibly as a way to steal their belongings. ninety-six of the passengers died, including a son and a daughter of charles clinton. in october 1729 they arrived at cape cod, and after paying a large ransom for their lives, the survivors were allowed to disembark. in the spring of 1731, the group moved to ulster county, new york (now orange county), where they settled in an area called little britain about eight miles from the hudson river and sixty miles north of new york city. his life there is well described in this selection from dewitt clinton's memoir: :"... these hardy pioneers were at that period so exposed to the incursions of the indians, then inhabiting the vicinity of their residence, that it was found necessary to erect a palisade work around his house, for the security of himself and his neighbours. in this retreat mr. clinton spent his time in the improvement of his farm, in the cultivation of literature, in the enjoyment of his library, the education of his children, and occasionally acting as a surveyor of land, for which he was well qualified by his education, and particularly his mathematical knowledge, in which he eminently excelled. possessed of a well selected library, and endowed with extraordinary talents, he made continual accessions to his store of useful knowledge. :"the character he uniformly sustained, was that of pure morals, a stron
1690_births 1773_deaths 17th-century_Irish_people 18th-century_Irish_people Irish_soldiers Kingdom_of_Ireland_emigrants_to_the_Thirteen_Colonies New_York_colonial_people People_from_County_Longford People_from_New_Windsor,_New_York