There has been no citizen of Miami county, in recent years, whose death was so sincerely regretted as that of W. J. Clyde. The citizens of the county, regardless of church or party, felt a pride in his career, for the reason that he was one of the people in every meaning of the word. He was born February 14, 1842, was reared upon a farm and had a limited education. He married Miss Sarah Green, December 3, 1862, and remained on the farm for twenty- two years with no other ambition than to be a good farmer and a faithful justice of the peace, in which office he served the people of his township (Lost Creek) for many years. In country school- house debating societies he had achieved quite a local fame and he had also won some reputation as an advocate in justice of the peace courts, in the petty lawsuits that come before a magistrate's court. In 1884 his name was presented by Lost Creek township to the Republican convention for the office of probate judge. He was nominated and elected, in November of that year. At the expiration of his first term he was renominated and elected to the second term. During his term of office, when forty-three years of age, he commenced the study of law and was afterward admitted to practice. In the political campaigns that followed he was sent out by the central committee, first to country school-house meetings, where his earnestness and ability to reach the people and command their confidence attracted attention. He soon established the reputation of being one of the best campaign speakers in the county. As probate judge he did not win the reputation of a profound lawyer, but the people had confidence in his honesty and the firmness with which he administered the law in the settlement of estates.

Upon the expiration of his second term as probate judge he formed a partnership for the practice of law with S. T. McPherson, a bright young lawyer, who is at this time assistant United States district attorney in the southern district of Ohio. The partnership was attended with success, and the firm obtained a large and lucrative practice. In the practice of law W.J.Clyde established the reputation of an able advocate and successful jury lawyer. In the campaign of 1896 his services were much in demand and in that exciting contest he took an active part, winning quite a reputation as an effective platform speaker. He was speaking constantly, night and day, and relying on his robust physical manhood, for he was a rugged, strong man, over six feet in height and built like an athlete, he was careless of exposure and contracted the germs of Bright's disease, that was the cause of his death, which occurred December 12, 1898. He served for a number of years as city councilman. In every position he filled he obtained the confidence of the people by his sound judgment and good business qualifications.

The secret of his success as a political speaker and a jury lawyer was found in the zeal, energy and singleness of purpose with which he engaged in any cause. He was not an able lawyer, but was an able advocate. He was not a statesman, but he was a shrewd, able politician, devoted to his party. His mind was so constituted that to him his party was never in the wrong, and his clients were always right. Had he lived, higher honors awaited him. His career is remarkable because living on the farm until past the prime of life, and with no education beyond that obtained at a country school, and with no reading beyond that of a newspaper, he went to the front as a political leader, and was a successful lawyer.

He had a strong, logical mind, tough and uncouth because of the defects of his education, yet quick to grasp the salient points of any question that interested him. The life of such a man has many incidents that would interest the public, but in the space of a brief biographical sketch the writer cannot go into detail, and the duty of writing fully the life of Judge W.J.Clyde must be left to the future. E.S.W.