Why are so many cities and counties named after DeWitt Clinton?

by smellyrebel

In a recent post to /r/dataisbeautiful about place names, Clinton popped up as one of the most frequently used place names in the US. Some cursory research revealed that many of these cities and counties were named for DeWitt Clinton. My question is, why would states as far west as Iowa name a city and/or county after a former Governor of New York? Why was his legacy important to states other than New York?

CaptianMississippi

I live in a city named after him in Mississippi. It got it's name in the early 1820's. We even have a college here (still open) that was founded in 1826.