Definitely named after DeWitt Clinton. It was just the Word, “Clinton” at that point in history ...
A song we sang in school when I was growing up in NY: Do you recognize it?
“Oh I had a mule and her name was Sal...”
“...fifteen years on the Erie Canal...” You must be of an age when children were taught to celebrate our history instead of being ashamed of it. I grew up in SoCal and we sang that song in school and even learned about the Erie Canal.