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

Biography

Clement was born on July 7, 1846, in

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont *Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The ...

, the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Wood) Clement. He was educated at Rutland High School and St. Paul's School in

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. Clement graduated from

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. 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. 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 The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

from 1892 to 1894, and helped secure the charter for Rutland City to incorporate separately from Rutland Town. He served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Rutland City from 1897 to 1898, and was succeeded by William Y. W. Ripley. Clement served in the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator repre ...

from 1900 to 1902, and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1902 and 1906, in the latter year as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. 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.

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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 Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

and

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, but Vermont ratified the Prohibition Amendment to the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

. Clement also pardoned his predecessor as governor, Horace F. Graham, who had been convicted of embezzlement while serving as

State Auditor State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, or state examiners, among others) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, program eval ...

. 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.

References

External links

The Political Graveyard
*
the Vermont a state magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Percival W. 1846 births 1927 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Vermont 20th-century mayors of places in Vermont Republican Party governors of Vermont Republican Party Vermont state senators Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives People from Rutland (town), Vermont Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Rutland, Vermont) 19th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly