Burton E. Clifford, one of the leading members of the Allen county bar, was born in Mercer county, Illinois, May 7, 1872, and is descended from fine old Welsh and Irish stock. His father, Edward Clifford, was born in Ireland, and accompanied his parents when they immigrated to America, in 1837. His mother, Gwendolin Jones, was born in Wales and came to this country with her parents when only three years of age. The Cliffords located in Harrison county, Ohio, soon after reaching the United States, but after a short time removed to Mercer county, Illinois, where Edward Clifford met and married Gwendolin Jones. Mr. Clifford bought a farm in the wilderness, cleared the land of trees, improved it and continued to live in Mercer county until his death, in 1888. Mrs. Clifford now resides at Aledo, Ill. She is a Baptist, but her husband attended the Presbyterian church, although not a member. Burton E. Clifford was the fourth in a family of five children. He attended the district schools near his home, the high school at Aledo, and the Aledo Academy, in which he graduated in 1892. For a year he was at Shurtleff College, Alton, Ill., and then matriculated at Burlington Uuiversity, Burlington, Iowa, in 1895. He then spent one year in the collegiate department of the University of Chicago. Entering the Kent Law School of that University, he graduated there, with the degree of LL. B., in 1898. Believing there were more opportunities for a young professional man in the west, Mr. Clifford came to Kansas and located in Iola, where he has carried on his professional work. He has built up a fine practice and is making a name for himself among men of the legal profession. Mr. Clifford is fond of his chosen calling and is never happier than when unraveling some knotted legal tangle. Since first settling in Allen county he has taken an active part in local affairs, and was elected county attorney in 1903 and reëlected in 1905. Mr. Clifford is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias. On March 29, 1899, he married Lucile Miller, of Mercer county, Illinois, a daughter of G. D. and Sophia (Everett) Miller.