Clifford, Burton Emory

The following data is extracted from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans.

Burton Emory Clifford. Chances for success are slight with the lawyer of modern times unless he be a man of sound judgment, possessed of a liberal education and a stern training, combined with a keen insight into human nature and motives. The reason for this lies in the spirit of the age with all its complexities, for modern jurisprudence had become more and more complex because of new laws and conditions. Years of experience and a natural inclination for and inherent ability in his profession are superinduced upon a careful training in the case of Burton Emory Clifford, ex-prosecuting attorney of Allen County and now one of the foremost members of the Iola bar. His career had been characterized by many successful results for his clients, and he had brought to his profession an enthusiasm and belief in its importance which have resulted in his being entrusted with some of the most important cases ever brought to trial in Allen County.

Mr. Clifford was born at Aledo, the county seat of Mercer County, Illinois, May 7, 1872, and is a son of Edward and Gwendoline (Jones) Clifford. His father was born in 1825, in County Cavan, Ireland, and was twenty years of age when he emigrated to the United States, settling first in Harrison County, Ohio, where he was engaged in farming. He spent a number of years there and then removed to Mercer County, Illinois, where in the vicinity of Aledo he passed the remainder of his life, continuing in agricultural pursuits, and died in 1885. He was one of the substantial citizens of his community, a man universally esteemed and respected, and the incumbent of a number of township offices, in which he served efficiently and conscientiously. His politics made him a democrat. Mr. Clifford married Miss Gwendoline Jones, who was born in 1837, in Wales. She was three years of age when brought to the United States by her parents, who became pioneer settlers and agriculturists of Mercer County, Illinois, where both rounded out their lives, and where Mrs. Clifford died August 27, 1916, when nearly eighty years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Clifford were the parents of the following children: John, who passed his life as a farmer in Mercer County, Illinois, and died at Aledo, in 1884; Carl I., who also followed farming and passed away at Aledo; Harry E., who died in infancy at Aledo; Burton E., of this review; Minnie, who is the wife of George P. Graham, the proprietor of a news depot at the Aledo Postoffice; and Roy H., who is engaged in farming near the old homestead.

Burton E. Clifford received his primary and high school training at Aledo, being graduated from the latter with the class of 1890, and then enrolled as a student at the Burlington Institute, Burlington, Iowa, being graduated from that institution in 1892. Following this he spent one year in attendance at the University of Chicago, and in 1894 matriculated at the Kent Law School, Chicago, from which he was graduated with his degree in 1898. In that same year he was admitted to the bar and took up his residence at Iola, where he had since continued in a general practice in civil and criminal law. In 1903 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Allen County, Kansas, a capacity in which he served for two terms, or four years, during which time he displayed fearless courage and established an enviable record. He is equally at home in the various branches of his calling and is accounted an astute, learned and thorough lawyer, a good pleader, a careful counsel and a close student of the intricacies of his difficult calling. He holds membership in the Allen County Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association and the American Bar Association and had the esteem and friendship of his professional colleagues. Mr. Clifford is a ropublican. He maintains offices in the McCall Building, on East Madison Street, while his home, which he owned, is at 524 South Buckeye Street. Mr. Clifford is interested in land in Colorado, where he owned a valuable tract of 160 acres, which is under development. Fraternally, Mr. Clifford is affiliated with Iola Lodge No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Valley Chapter, No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, of Iola; Esdraelon Commandery, No. 49, Knights Templar, of Iola; and Mirza Temple, Ancient and Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Pittsburg, Kansas; Iola Lodge, No. 21, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Iola Camp, No. 101, Woodmen of the World.

Mr. Clifford was married at Rock Island, Illinois, in 1899, to Miss Lucille Miller, daughter of the late G. D. and Sophia (Everett) Miller, who were farming people of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Clifford have no children.

Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans

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