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Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES:  MOORE, VALLIANT, GARRETT,
One of the leading bankers of Santa Clara County is W. T. Clements, the able and efficient cashier of the First National Bank of Los Altos. He was born in Platt County, Mo., September 15, 1867, a son of John R. and Eliza Jane (Moore) Clements, both natives of Kentucky, the father a successful farmer and stockman who enlisted in the Union army from Missouri and served for the duration of the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Clements are the parents of nine children, eight boys and one girl, and W. T. Clements is the only one in California.

W. T. Clements began his education in the public schools of Missouri and then entered the William Jewell College at Liberty, Mo., taking a four year classical course and was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1891; then he entered the University of Missouri at Columbia and in 1896 was graduated with the degree of L.L. B. After leaving school he entered politics and was appointed postmaster by President McKinley at Platte City, Mo., and served throughout his administration and that of Roosevelt, Taft and a part of the Wilson administration; he then removed to Raytown, a suburb of Kansas City, and purchased a controlling interest and took charge of the Raytown Bank in 1915. He remained there until 1919 when he sold his interest in the bank and removed to California; he traveled from place to place throughout California and decided to settle in Los Altos. At the earnest solicitation of Mr. Paul Shoup, the prominent railroad man, the First National Bank of Los Altos was organized with a capital of $25,000, with a surplus of $5,000; a building was obtained and converted into a modern banking house and the doors were thrown open ready for business on December 1, 1919.

Mr. Clements' marriage united him with Miss Laura M. Valliant, a native of Kansas City, Mo., and was educated at the Gaylord Institute in Platte City, Mo.; then went to Bishop Robertson Hall, an Episcopal school in St. Louis, and is a graduate of that institution. Mr. and Mrs. Clements are the parents of one child, Louise Elizabeth, now Mrs. S. C. Garrett. Mr. Garrett is now assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Los Altos and as such is associated very closely in a business way with Mr. Clements. Politically Mr. Clements is a Republican; and fraternally is a Mason, a member of Platte City Lodge. Since the organization of the First National Bank of Los Altos, Mr. Clements has been the efficient and popular cashier, and he can always be counted upon to give of his best for the advancement of the locality he has chosen for his permanent home.

From Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page  1191
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