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==Background==​

==Background==​

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Williams was the fourth child of Oscar Waldo Williams, a [[Harvard University]]-educated [[lattorney]] who would serve for a decade as the Pecos county judge, and the former Sallie Wheat, hence his middle name. Williams was born in an officers’ building of the former Fort Stockton [[United States Army|Army]] base, which had housed the Buffalo soldiers of the [[American West]] from 1867 to 1886.<ref>Mike Cochran, ''Claytie: The Roller-Coaster Life of a Texas Wildcatter'' (biography of Clayton Williams, Jr.) (College Station, Texas|College Station]]: [[Texas A&M University]] , 2007), pp. 30, 381; hereinafter cited as Claytie .</ref> O. W. Williams had prospected for [[gold]] and [[silver]] in Silver City, [[New Mexico|New Mexico Territory]], before he came to Fort Stockton. O.W. was in New Mexico during the heyday of [[Geronimo]] and [[Billy the Kid]]. He was also a suspect in the shotgun death of a "rogue" sheriff named A. J. Royal, but the killer was never apprehended, and Clayton Williams, Sr., insisted that his father was not the culprit.<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 15.</ref>​

Williams was the fourth child of Oscar Waldo Williams, a [[Harvard University]]-educated lattorney]] who would serve for a decade as the Pecos county judge, and the former Sallie Wheat, hence his middle name. Williams was born in an officers’ building of the former Fort Stockton [[United States Army|Army]] base, which had housed the Buffalo soldiers of the [[American West]] from 1867 to 1886.<ref>Mike Cochran, ''Claytie: The Roller-Coaster Life of a Texas Wildcatter'' (biography of Clayton Williams, Jr.) (College Station, Texas|College Station]]: [[Texas A&M University]], 2007), pp. 30, 381; hereinafter cited as Claytie.</ref> O. W. Williams had prospected for [[gold]] and [[silver]] in Silver City, [[New Mexico|New Mexico Territory]], before he came to Fort Stockton. O.W. was in New Mexico during the heyday of Chief Geronimo and [[Billy the Kid]]. He was also a suspect in the shotgun death of a "rogue" sheriff named A. J. Royal, but the killer was never apprehended, and Clayton Williams, Sr., insisted that his father was not the culprit.<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 15.</ref>​

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After attending Fort Stockton public schools, Williams enrolled in 1911 at [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]]. To reach TAMU, he travelled by [[stagecoach]] north to Monahans in Ward County (known for its sand dunes) and then took the [[railroad]] nort-east to [[Dallas]] and south to College Station. In 1915, Williams received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.<ref name=handbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi77|author=[[Ernest Wallace]]|title=Williams, Sr., Clayton W.|publisher=Texas State Historical Association: ''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=November 17, 2019}}</ref>​

After attending Fort Stockton public schools, Williams enrolled in 1911 at [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]], then an all-male institution with a military bent. To reach TAMU, he travelled by [[stagecoach]] north to Monahans in Ward County (known for its sand dunes) and then took the [[railroad]] nort-east to [[Dallas]] and south to College Station. In 1915, Williams received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.<ref name=handbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi77|author=[[Ernest Wallace]]|title=Williams, Sr., Clayton W.|publisher=Texas State Historical Association: ''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=November 17, 2019}}</ref>​

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He was then employed for two years in New Mexico as an electrician for a mining company. In 1917, he joined the officers’ training camp at Leon Springs near [[San Antonio]] and soon procured a commission as a second lieutenan] from the artillery school at Fortress Monroe, [[Virginia]]. He volunteered for duty in [[France]]. Until the end of the war, he was an instructor in military schools in Langres and Cleremont-Ferrand, France.<ref name=handbook/> In 1919, Williams was in [[Paris]], where he joined a group of veterans who formed the American Legion.<ref>''Claytie,'' pp. 30-31.</ref>​

He was then employed for two years in [[New Mexico]] as an electrician for a mining company. In 1917, he joined the officers’ training camp at Leon Springs near [[San Antonio]] and soon procured a commission as a second lieutenan] from the artillery school at Fortress Monroe, [[Virginia]]. He volunteered for duty in [[France]]. Until the end of the war, he was an instructor in military schools in Langres and Cleremont-Ferrand, France.<ref name=handbook/> In 1919, Williams was in [[Paris]], where he joined a group of veterans who formed the American Legion.<ref>''Claytie,'' pp. 30-31.</ref>​

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==Marriage to Chicora Graham==​

==Marriage to Chicora Graham==​

On September 10, 1928, Williams married the former Chicora Lee Graham (December 17, 1905 &ndash;  April 13, 1998)<ref name=ssdi/> of Sterling City near [[San Angelo, Texas]|San Angelo]], Texas. Chicora, known as "Chic," was the daughter of Oscar H. Graham (died 1949) and Evie Lee "Mernie" Graham<ref>''Claytie'', p. 32.</ref> (1878–1972).<ref name=ssdi/> Chicora attended Trinity University, then in[Waxahachie in Ellis County, and graduated from  Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. She taught school in tiny Gail in Borden County on the South Plains  even before she obtained her degree. Chicora was named for an [[Native American]]girl, who slipped food to Chicora’s paternal grandfather, Captain Joe Graham of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army, while he was a Union [[prisoner of war]]. Chicora’s aunt was the first to bear the name, and Chicora’s granddaughter, known as "Chim," is the third Chicora in three generations of the Williams family.<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 33.</ref>​

On September 10, 1928, Williams married the former Chicora Lee Graham (December 17, 1905 &ndash;  April 13, 1998)<ref name=ssdi/> of Sterling City near [[San Angelo, Texas]|San Angelo]], Texas. Chicora, known as "Chic," was the daughter of Oscar H. Graham (died 1949) and Evie Lee "Mernie" Graham<ref>''Claytie'', p. 32.</ref> (1878–1972).<ref name=ssdi/> Chicora attended Trinity University, then in[Waxahachie in Ellis County, and graduated from  Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. She taught school in tiny Gail in Borden County on the South Plains  even before she obtained her degree. Chicora was named for an [[Native American]]girl, who slipped food to Chicora’s paternal grandfather, Captain Joe Graham of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army, while he was a Union [[prisoner of war]]. Chicora’s aunt was the first to bear the name, and Chicora’s granddaughter, known as "Chim," is the third Chicora in three generations of the Williams family.<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 33.</ref>​

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Clayton and Chicora married immediately after her graduation from Sul Ross, and the couple honeymooned in the [[Grand Canyon]] of [[Arizona]], with Chicora’s mother, "Mernie," accompanying them. Mernie lived with the Williamses after her husband's death and later with their only son,  Clayton Wheat Williams, Jr., an oilman who was the 1990 Texas [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor|gubernatorial]] nominee. lost to [[liberal]] [[Ann Richards]]. Clayton, Jr., is wed to the former Modesta Simpson, and he has five children from two marriages. Clayton and Chicora also had a daughter, Janet W. Pollard (born 1935), the widow of [[Midland]] oilman Robert W. “Bob” Pollard (1935–2004),<ref name=ssdi/> and the mother of four sons.<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 16.</ref>​

Clayton and Chicora married immediately after her graduation from Sul Ross, and the couple honeymooned in the [[Grand Canyon]] of [[Arizona]], with Chicora’s mother, "Mernie," accompanying them. Mernie lived with the Williamses after her husband's death and later with their only son,  Clayton Wheat Williams, Jr., an oilman who was the 1990 Texas [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor|gubernatorial]] nominee; he lost to [[liberal]] [[Ann Richards]]. Clayton, Jr., is wed to the former Modesta Simpson, and he has five children from two marriages. Clayton and Chicora also had a daughter, Janet W. Pollard (born 1935), the widow of [[Midland]] oilman Robert W. “Bob” Pollard (1935–2004),<ref name=ssdi/> and the mother of four sons.<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 16.</ref>​

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==Business ventures==​

==Business ventures==​

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Clayton Williams, Jr., summed up his father's philosophy of life: "Heights one day, depths the next."<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 378.</ref>​

Clayton Williams, Jr., summed up his father's philosophy of life: "Heights one day, depths the next."<ref>''Claytie,'' p. 378.</ref>​

 

==References==​

==References==

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