Dewitt Clinton Giddings was born July 18, 1827, in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.

When word reached home that Giddings's older brother, Giles, died of wounds received at the battle of San Jacinto, another brother, Jabez Demming Giddings, traveled to Texas to Claim Giles's land bounty.

During the American Civil War Giddings served as Lieutenant Colonel of the 21st Texas Cavalry Regiment in the Confederate States Army.

Giddings first served in the Forty-second Congress[2] after a controversial election in which he defeated William T. Clark by 135 votes.

[1] On August 19, 1903, De Witt Clinton Giddings succumbed to heart disease and died in Brenham, Texas.