Percival W. Clement

Percival Wood Clement (July 7, 1846 – January 9, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 57th Governor of the U.S. state of Vermont from 1919 to 1921.

Percival W. Clement
Bain News Service photo, circa 1919
57th Governor of Vermont
In office
January 9, 1919 – January 6, 1921
LieutenantMason S. Stone
Preceded byHorace F. Graham
Succeeded byJames Hartness
Mayor of Rutland City, Vermont
In office
1911–1912
Preceded byHenry O. Carpenter
Succeeded byCharles L. Howe
In office
1897–1898
Preceded byThomas H. Browne
Succeeded byWilliam Y. W. Ripley
Member of the Vermont Senate from Rutland County
In office
1900–1902
Serving with James H. Aiken, Philip R. Leavenworth, Elwin O. Aldrich
Preceded byFrederick S. Platt, Frank C. Partridge, Silas L. Griffith, Jesse E. Thomson
Succeeded byFrank J. Nelson, George E. Royce, Hiram F. Noyes, Quincy S. Backus
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Rutland Town
In office
1892–1894
Preceded byThomas W. Maloney
Succeeded byLouis M. Walker
Personal details
Born(1846-07-07)July 7, 1846
Rutland Town, Vermont
DiedJanuary 9, 1927(1927-01-09) (aged 80)
Rutland City, Vermont
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Maria H. Goodwin Clement
Alma materTrinity College
ProfessionBusinessman

Biography

Clement was born on July 7, 1846 in Rutland, Vermont, the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Wood) Clement. He was educated at Rutland High School and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. Clement graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.[1]

He married Maria H. Goodwin in 1868 and they had nine children.

Career

Clement worked as a clerk in the business office of Clement and Sons Marble, the family business and a prominent company in Rutland County. He became a partner in 1871.[2] He was also president of the Clement National Bank and the Rutland Board of Trade, and an owner of numerous railroad interests.

A Republican, Clement served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1892 to 1894, and helped secure the charter for Rutland City to incorporate separately from Rutland Town. He served as Mayor of Rutland City from 1897 to 1898, and was succeeded by William Y. W. Ripley. Clement served in the Vermont Senate from 1900 to 1902, and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1902 and 1906, in the latter year as a Democrat.

From 1911 to 1912 Clement served again as Rutland's Mayor. In 1912 he was chairman of the New England Railroad Conference Commission. The following year he served on the Vermont Educational Commission, and in 1917 he was a member of the executive committee of the Vermont Committee of Public Safety.

Vermont State House portrait painted in 1944 by John Christen Johansen

Elected in 1918, Clement served as Governor of Vermont from January 9, 1919 to January 6, 1921. During his term, the state legislature appropriated one million dollars to pay military draftees. He opposed women's suffrage and Prohibition, but Vermont ratified the Prohibition Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Clement also pardoned his predecessor as governor, Horace F. Graham, who had been convicted of embezzlement while serving as State Auditor.[3] When his term of office ended, he returned to his business affairs.

Death

Clement died in Rutland on January 9, 1927 and is interred at Rutland's Evergreen Cemetery.[4]

References
  1. "Percival W. Clement". National Governors Association. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  2. Percival W. Clement. the Vermont a state magazine. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  3. Newspaper article, "Gov. Clement Gives Graham Full Pardon", Boston Daily Globe, November 5, 1920
  4. "Percival W. Clement". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Eli H. Porter		 Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont
1906		 Succeeded by
James Edmund Burke
Preceded by
Horace F. Graham		 Republican nominee for Governor of Vermont
1918		 Succeeded by
James Hartness
Political offices
Preceded by
Horace F. Graham		 Governor of Vermont
1919–1921		 Succeeded by
James Hartness
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