Clifton Williams was born 1 July 1885 in Richmond, Indiana, and graduated from
Indiana University Law School in 1908. He worked as part of the legal staff of the
Wisconsin Central Railway and was transferred from Chicago to Milwaukee in 1910.
Shortly after he joined the staff of then-City Attorney Daniel Hoan and became City
Attorney himself in 1916 when Hoan became Mayor. He served as City Attorney for
Milwaukee from 1916-1922 but continued on as Special Assistant City Attorney on a
part time type basis until 1929, when the position was cut in the 1930 budget by the
Common Council. During his time as the Special Assistant City Attorney, he also
practiced law privately and remained involved in civic organizations. In 1911 he
joined the faculty at Marquette University’s Law school and became dean from
1917-1931. Williams also served as Uniform Law Commissioner of Wisconsin from
1927-1931. He retired from practice in 1933 and later moved to Santa Barbara,
California where he died on 24 September 1972.
