Life and times of Gen. Sam. Dale, the Mississippi partisan
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Historical Account Of Hancock County And The Sea Board Of Mississippi: An Address (1876)
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Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman: Major-General, U.S.A., and Governor of the State of Mississippi, Volume 2
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John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne was an American politician, editor, and historian. He served as a Member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Mississippi from 1835 to 1838.
Background
John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne was born on April 24, 1807 near Natchez, Mississippi, United States. He was descended from William Claiborne. His father was General Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne, who married a daughter of Colonel Anthony Hutchins, a retired British officer who had settled on a large royal grant in what was then West Florida. The name, John Francis Hamtramck was bestowed on General Claiborne’s eldest son in honor of a German officer under whom the general had served in the American Revolution.
Education
Young Claiborne studied law in the office of his cousin, Benjamin Watkins Leigh in Richmond, Virginia, until a slight hemorrhage caused him to return to the warmer climate of his childhood home. He resumed his studies in the office of Griffith & Quitman of Natchez, Mississippi, but again gave up and went to Cuba for his health. Six months later he returned to Virginia and completed his studies under the direction of General Alexander Smythe, at Wytheville. His delicate constitution, however, caused him to abandon his intention of living in Virginia, and he once more returned to Mississippi. He was admitted to the bar in 1825.
Career
About 1825 Claiborne commenced the practice of law at Natchez. In 1828 he took charge of a Jackson paper, published in Natchez. He was then elected to the legislature from Adams County for three successive terms. In 1835 he removed to Madison County, and in the same year was nominated for Congress by the first Democratic convention held in Mississippi and was elected by a large majority.
When he entered Congress he was the youngest member of that body, and the only one who was a native of the West. Although he was in feeble health during his brief congressional career, his speeches established his reputation as an orator and debater. He was reelected to Congress in July 1837, an extra session having been called to meet in September of that year. He and his colleague Gholson were seated by the House not only for the special session, but for the regular session which was to follow in December. They did not, therefore, enter the November election, and Prentiss and Ward, the Whig candidates, were elected. As a result there was a spirited contest between the two sets of representatives for seats in the House, when the regular session of Congress began in December. Claiborne, being very ill, was not able to participate in the debate, and under the influence of Prentiss’s eloquence the House “rescinded” its former action, but refused to seat Prentiss and Ward, and notified the governor of Mississippi that the seats were vacant.
Upon the advice of his physician, Claiborne then retired from public life and went to Cuba a second time for his health. Later he returned to Natchez, and in July 1841, became one of the editors of the Mississippi Free Trader, an influential organ of the Democratic party. In 1842 he was appointed president of a commission to adjudicate the claims of the Choctaw Indians to several thousands of acres of valuable land, which were also claimed by speculators, whose designs he thwarted. In 1844 he removed to New Orleans and became editor of the Jeffersonian, published in French and in English, and of the Statesman, published in German and in English. Several years later, he became editor of the Louisiana Courier, which supported Franklin Pierce for the presidency.
After the election of Pierce he accepted a position as custodian of the public timber in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, a position which he held until these states seceded from the Union. His opposition to secession caused him to hold aloof from all official connection with the Confederacy. Having inherited a large collection of “time-worn papers and documents” from his father, his uncle and his grandfather, all of whom w'ere connected with the early history of Mississippi, Claiborne set himself to work to add thereto from every available source. His manuscript history of the Southwest, “when ready for the press, ” was lost by the sinking of a steamboat on the Mississippi. He then reproduced from memory part of this book under the title, Life and Times of Sam Dale, which was published in 1860. In the same year appeared his Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman, in two volumes.
Shortly after the Civil War, warned by declining health, he retired from all other pursuits and devoted his energies to writing a history of Mississippi, the first volume of his Mississippi as a Province, Territory and State appearing in 1881. He completed the second volume of this work, but the manuscript was destroyed by the burning of his home, March 2, 1884. The shock and grief caused by the double loss hastened his death, which occurred on May 17, 1884.
Achievements
Claiborne was noted for his service in the United States Congress and for his editorial newspaper work in Natchez. He played an important role in organizing Democratic Party in the state. He also gained the reputation as a writer on the history of Mississippi. His most famous work was published in 1881 under the title "Mississippi as a Province, Territory and State".
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Politics
Claiborne was a member of the Democratic Party and a supporter of Andrew Jackson.
Connections
In December 1828 Claiborne was married to Martha Dunbar of Dunbarton, near Natchez. His only son, Willis Herbert, entered the Confederate Army and died from wounds received in the service.
