William C. C. Claiborne | |
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United States Senator from Louisiana |
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In office March 4, 1817 – November 23, 1817 |
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Preceded by | James Brown |
Succeeded by | Henry Johnson |
1st Governor of Louisiana | |
In office April 30, 1812 – December 16, 1816 |
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Preceded by | Himself (As Governor of the Territory of Orleans) |
Succeeded by | Jacques Villeré |
Governor of the Territory of Orleans | |
In office December 20, 1803 – April 30, 1812 |
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President | Thomas Jefferson |
Preceded by | Pierre Clément de Laussat (Under French control) |
Succeeded by | Himself (As Governor of the state of Louisiana) |
2nd Governor of Mississippi Territory | |
In office May 25, 1801 – March 1, 1803 |
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President | Thomas Jefferson |
Preceded by | Winthrop Sargent |
Succeeded by | Robert Williams |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's At-large district | |
In office November 23, 1797 – March 3, 1801 |
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Preceded by | Andrew Jackson |
Succeeded by | William Dickson |
Personal details | |
Born |
William Charles Cole Claiborne c. 1773-75 Sussex County, Virginia |
Died | November 23, 1817 (aged approx. 42) New Orleans, Louisiana |
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Spouse(s) | 1) Eliza Wilson Lewis, 2) Marie Clarisse Duralde, 3) Cayetana Susana "Suzette" Bosque y Fangui |
Alma mater | College of William & Mary |
Religion | Protestant |
Signature |
William Charles Cole Claiborne (c.1773-75 – 23 November 1817) was a United States politician, best known as the first non-colonial Governor of Louisiana. He also has the distinction of possibly being the youngest Congressman in U.S. history, though reliable sources differ about his age.
Claiborne supervised the transfer of Louisiana to U.S. control after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803; and he governed the "Territory of Orleans" from 1804 through 1812, the year in which Louisiana became a state. He won the first election for Louisiana's state Governor and served through 1816, for a total of thirteen years as Louisiana's executive administrator. (New Orleans served as the capital city during both the colonial period and the early statehood period.)
William C. C. Claiborne was born in Sussex County, Virginia. The date is unknown, but has been variously quoted as being 13 August 1773, or between 23 November 1773 and 23 November 1774, or in August 1775. His parents were Colonel William Claiborne and Mary Leigh Claiborne. He was a descendant of Colonel William Claiborne (1600–1677), who was born in Crayford, Kent, England and settled in the Colony of Virginia.
He studied at the College of William and Mary, then Richmond Academy. At the age of 16 he moved to New York City, where he worked as a clerk under John Beckley, the clerk of the United States House of Representatives, which was then seated in that city. He moved to Philadelphia with the Federal Government. He then began to study law, and moved to Tennessee in 1794 to start a law practice. Governor John Sevier appointed Claiborne to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1796.