Governor Percival W. Clement

PERCIVAL W. CLEMENT was born in Rutland, Vermont. After graduating from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, he began his business career as a clerk in his father’s marble company, rising to become a partner in the firm. He was also president of the Clement National Bank and the Rutland Board of Trade, and an owner of numerous railroad interests. He served in both the state House and Senate and was elected to numerous terms as Mayor of Rutland. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1902 and 1906, in the latter year as a Democrat. 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. During his term as governor, the state legislature appropriated one million dollars to pay military draftees, and Vermont ratified the Prohibition Amendment to the Constitution. When his term of office ended, he returned to his business affairs.