George Henry Clinton was a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

, lawyer, and Democratic politician from St. Joseph in

Tensas Parish Tensas Parish (french: Paroisse des Tensas) is a parish located in the northeastern section of the State of Louisiana; its eastern border is the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,252. It is the least populated paris ...

in the northeastern

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. Clinton was born in the late 1860s in

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

in western

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. His father was a native of East Feliciana Parish, one of the

Florida Parishes The Florida Parishes ( es, Parroquias de Florida, french: Paroisses de Floride), on the east side of the Mississippi River—an area also known as the Northshore or Northlake region—are eight List of parishes in Louisiana, parishes in the southe ...

of southeastern Louisiana. The senior Clinton served in the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

Army and became the district attorney for the Louisiana 6th Judicial District, based about St. Joseph, Tallulah in Madison Parish, and Lake Providence in

East Carroll Parish East Carroll Parish (french: Paroisse de Carroll Est) is a parish located in the Mississippi Delta in northeastern Louisiana. As of 2020, its population was 7,459. The parish seat is Lake Providence. An area of cotton plantations in the antebell ...

. Clinton's mother was part of the Briscoe family of Claiborne County, Mississippi. Clinton attended school in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and at the Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in Port Gibson, Mississippi, before he graduated in 1889 from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

in Baton Rouge. Clinton worked as a sugar

in Louisiana,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In 1898, he began his legal practice in St. Joseph. Clinton served on the LSU Board of Supervisors. He was a state representative from 1908 to 1912, having served alongside the

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

planter Samuel W. Martien of

Waterproof Waterproofing is the process of making an object or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environme ...

in southern Tensas Parish. He was twice a state senator, from 1912 to 1916 and again from 1920 to 1924. Clinton also served on the Louisiana Board of Appraisers and was a director of the East Louisiana State Hospital. He was a member and president of the Tensas Parish School Board, based in St. Joseph, and a delegate to the 1913 and 1921 state constitutional conventions. Nothing is known of Clinton after he left the state Senate in 1924. He is not buried in Legion Memorial Cemetery in Newellton nor is he listed at Natchez City Cemetery, the resting place of most whites in St. Joseph until the middle to late 1940s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, George Henry Year of birth missing Year of death missing Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Democratic Party Louisiana state senators School board members in Louisiana Politicians from Natchez, Mississippi People from St. Joseph, Louisiana Louisiana lawyers American chemists