John Henry Clifford (16 January 1809-2 January 1876) was the Whig Governor of Massachusetts from 14 January 1853 to 12 January 1854, succeeding George S. Boutwell and preceding Emory Washburn.
Biography[]
John Henry Clifford was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1809, and he practiced law in New Bedford, Massachusetts throughout his life. He served in the State House from 1835 to 1839 as a Whig, as State Attorney General from 1849 to 1853 and from 1854 to 1858, and as Governor from 1853 to 1854. In 1849, he revolutionized the use of dental forensics to convict Harvard lecturer John Webster of murder, and he supported the Union cause during the American Civil War and served as a railroad president after the war. He died in 1876.