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Byrd was born to John Thomas Byrd (1828-1912) and the former Sarah Rebecca McClintic (1833-1896) in Williamsville in Bath County in western [[Virginia]], near the [[West Virginia]] state line. He was unrelated to the Byrd political family of Virginia headed by former [[Governor]] and [[U.S. Senator]] [[Harry F. Byrd|Harry Flood Byrd, Sr.]]  He attended local schools, the since defunct Augusta Military Academy at Fort Defiance near Staunton, Virginia, and the [[University of Virginia]] at Charlottesville from 1882 to 1883. He taught school in Front Royal in Warren County in northern Virginia from 1883 to 1889, when he accepted a school principalship in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-b/|title=Byrd, Clifton Ellis|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''|accessdate=September 8, 2020}}</ref>

Byrd was born to John Thomas Byrd (1828-1912) and the former Sarah Rebecca McClintic (1833-1896) in Williamsville in Bath County in western [[Virginia]], near the [[West Virginia]] state line. He was unrelated to the Byrd political family of Virginia headed by former [[Governor]] and [[U.S. Senator]] [[Harry F. Byrd|Harry Flood Byrd, Sr.]]  He attended local schools, the since defunct Augusta Military Academy at Fort Defiance near Staunton, Virginia, and the [[University of Virginia]] at Charlottesville from 1882 to 1883. He taught school in Front Royal in Warren County in northern Virginia from 1883 to 1889, when he accepted a school principalship in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-b/|title=Byrd, Clifton Ellis|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''|accessdate=September 8, 2020}}</ref>

In 1892, he left Monroe to become the principal of the first public high school in Shreveport, which then occupied two rented rooms in the [[YMCA]] building. His salary was $70 per month. One of his pupils was [[Thornton F. Bell]], later judge of the 1st Judicial District Court in Caddo Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=129355774|title=Judge T. F. Bell Dies; Funeral Service Today – District Jurist and Son of Shreveport Pioneer Succumbs Friday|publisher=''The Shreveport Times'' (through Findagrave.com)|date=October 29, 1938|page=1 and 3|accessdate=September 8, 2020}}</ref> In 1899, Byrd became the school superintendent. In 1905, he accepted the presidency of [[Louisiana Tech University]] (then '''Louisiana Industrial Institute''') in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] in Lincoln Parish, where he served for only one year. In 1907, at the age of forty-eight, he returned to Shreveport to become superintendent of the Caddo Parish public achools,  a position which he filled until his death. A member of the Louisiana Teachers Association, Byrd In 1913 was a delegate to the Council of Education in Louisiana.<ref name=bio/>

In 1892, he left Monroe to become the principal of the first public high school in Shreveport, which then occupied two rented rooms in the [[YMCA]] building. His salary was $70 per month. One of his pupils was [[Thornton F. Bell]], later judge of the 1st Judicial District Court in Caddo Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=129355774|title=Judge T. F. Bell Dies; Funeral Service Today – District Jurist and Son of Shreveport Pioneer Succumbs Friday|publisher=''The Shreveport Times'' (through Findagrave.com)|date=October 29, 1938|page=1 and 3|accessdate=September 8, 2020}}</ref> In 1899, Byrd became the school superintendent. In 1905, he accepted the presidency of [[Louisiana Tech University]] (then '''Louisiana Industrial Institute''') in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] in Lincoln Parish, where he served for only one year. In 1907, at the age of forty-eight, he returned to Shreveport to become superintendent of the Caddo Parish public schools,  a position which he filled until his death. A member of the Louisiana Teachers Association, Byrd In 1913 was a delegate to the Council of Education in Louisiana.<ref name=bio/>

Byrd was a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] at a time when virtually every elected official and most appointed officials as well were members of the state's overwhelmingly majority party. He was a member of the [[Presbyterian]] Church, the Masonic lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Rotary International, and Sigma Nu college fraternity.<ref name=bio/>

Byrd was a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] at a time when virtually every elected official and most appointed officials as well were members of the state's overwhelmingly majority party. He was a member of the [[Presbyterian]] Church, the Masonic lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Rotary International, and Sigma Nu college fraternity.<ref name=bio/>