The
Online Archive of Clinton Lucretius Terry
By
Clinton Lucretius Terry, the son of Joseph R. Terry and Sarah D. (Smith)
Terry, was born June 30, 1831, in Clinton, Hines County, Mississippi. He was
a brother of Benjamin Franklin Terry. On September 6, 1855, in Brazoria County,
Texas, Clinton married Ariadne O. Gautier, daughter of Peter William Gautier,
Jr., M. D., and Lucy Ann (Holmes) Gautier. An attorney, Clinton was a partner
with John Austin Wharton---the son of William H. and Sarah (Groce) Wharton,
owners of Eagle Island Plantation---in the Brazoria law firm of Wharton and
Terry. Though they had planned to build a house in Brazoria, the Terrys instead
purchased the residence there of Edward Purcell, a merchant and former Chief
Justice (County Judge) of Brazoria County. Friends and neighbors of Elisha
Marshall Pease (a resident of Brazoria when elected governor of Texas in 1853),
Clinton and Arie named their first-born son, Aurelius Pease Terry, after their
friend, as well as after Clinton's brother. That brother, Aurelius Josiah
Terry, and Clinton were partners in owning and operating Willow Lake Plantation,
near Sandy Point. Clinton and Arie were the parents of the following four
children:
Aurelius Pease (11 July 1856, died in infancy),
Annie Lucy (5 June 1858 - 14 November 1943),
John Wharton (8 April 1860 - 25 August 1936), and
Clinton, a daughter (9 May 1862 - 13 November 1951).
Clinton, a member of Terry's Texas Rangers, was killed at Shiloh. The following inscription appears on the monument in the Terry family plot in Sandy Point Cemetery, Sandy Point, Brazoria County, Texas:
"Was mortally wounded at Shiloh April 6, 1862, while gallantly leading a charge of Terrys Texas Rangers."