William L. Clements

William L. Clements
Portrait of William Clements
Born	William Lawrence Clements (1861-04-01)April 1, 1861 Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Died	November 6, 1934(1934-11-06) Bay City, Michigan
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Forest Hills Cemetery, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Education	University of Michigan
Occupation	Financier, Banker, Engineer
Known for	Philanthropy
Political party	Republican Party
Website	http://clements.umich.edu/

William Lawrence Clements (1861–1934) was a collector of historical works, founder, and donor to the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan. In addition, Mr. Clements donated more than twenty-million-dollars throughout his life to the University, oversaw a successful business career in the manufacturing and banking industry, and served as a regent of the University of Michigan for twenty-four years.

William Clements was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 1, 1861 to James and Agnes (Macready) Clements. His father James was a professor at the University of Michigan during a time of great expansion and as such, young William witnessed the University’s early development. James Clements rented the family’s State Street home from the University, which existed next to the Michigan Union. William Clements grew up on the Ann Arbor campus and attended the Ann Arbor public schools. He later matriculated into the University of Michigan in the year 1878 when he was 17. He studied Mechanical Engineering through the College of Literature and Arts due to the fact that the engineering college had not yet been created. Clements also joined Chi Psi Fraternity, Alpha Epsilon chapter at University of Michigan. Clements graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and was later bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate in Law (LL.D.) in 1934.

William Clements was married on February 7, 1887 in Pittsburg to Jessie N. Young, a daughter of one of the prominent families of that city. Together they had three children— two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son, Wallace William Clements was born on September 2, 1889 and followed his father's footsteps and graduated from the University of Michigan. Their daughter Elizabeth M. Clements born on September 9, 1891 went on to marry Harry S. Finkenstaedt and lived in Detroit. Their last son, James R. Clements, born on November 2, 1897 died in France while serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War I. William Clements additionally had four grandchildren.

Clements had one sister, Ida (Clements) Wheat, who later lived in Detroit with her husband. The two went on to have one son, a nephew of William who admired him very much and spoke fondly about William at his funeral.

Clements married a second time on April 22, 1931 to Florence Kathryn Fischer and then sailed to and honeymooned for an extended amount of time in Europe shortly before his death.

Upon his undergraduate graduation in 1882, William Clements moved to Bay City, Michigan to work as an engineer with his father who was also a partner at Bay City Industrial Works (now the Industrial Brownhoist Corporation of Bay City), a business that designed and manufactured hoists, cranes, and steam shovels. Although the business wasn’t very successful, Clements worked to improve the efficiency of the products and was awarded several patents for improvements to the railway cranes and steam shovels. In 1886, Clements and an associate bought out the stakeholders, and re-established the business. William Clements eventually became the president of Bay City Industrial Works in 1898. Under his management, Industrial Works became one of the most profitable institutions in Michigan as the company manufactured the construction equipment for the creation of the Panama Canal, and as such the company profits skyrocketed between 1904 and 1915. In addition, Mr. Clements saw a career in the banking industry having served as the president of First National Bank of Bay City. Clements made a fortune throughout his career, which allowed him to fund his personal passion of book collecting.