Montgomery Clift

William Brooks "Bill" Clift was born 18 Dec 1886 in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, [[Tennessee]], the son of [[#Moses Haney Clift|Moses Haney Clift]] by his second wife [[#Florence Virginia Parrot|Florence Virginia "Flo" Parrot]].  Bill was the second-youngest child of his father's children.  The youngest sibling was named Florence after their mother.  Bill went to Cornell University, New Jersey in 1908 and served four years as a captain in the infantry while going to college.  In 1910 while they were both at Cornell he met [[#Ethel Blair|Ethel "Sunny" Blair]].  He graduated in 1912 with a degree in engineering, while she stayed on to finish her own degree.  They kept in touch by letters and became engaged during her senior year at Cornell.  Sunny met his family that year, Bill's father had died in 1911.  Even though Bill's mother Flo disapproved of her, Sunny and Bill were married in October 1914. "They didn't have enough money for a honeymoon instead they went directly to the tiny hamlet of Saltillo, [[Mississippi]], where Bill had a job building dams". (''His Life'', pg 13)  Sunny encouraged Bill to leave engineering and become a banker. By 1917 he had become a bond salesman for National City Company of Chicago, [[Illinois]], and in June of that year, on his WW1 Draft Registration Card, he lists his residence as Nashville, Tennessee.  He had blue eyes, dark brown hair, was of medium height and slender.

William Brooks "Bill" Clift was born 18 Dec 1886 in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, [[Tennessee]], the son of [[#Moses Haney Clift|Moses Haney Clift]] by his second wife [[#Florence Virginia Parrot|Florence Virginia "Flo" Parrot]].  Bill was the second-youngest child of his father's children.  The youngest sibling was named Florence after their mother.  Bill went to Cornell University, New Jersey in 1908 and served four years as a captain in the infantry while going to college.  In 1910 while they were both at Cornell he met [[#Ethel Blair|Ethel "Sunny" Blair]].  He graduated in 1912 with a degree in engineering, while she stayed on to finish her own degree.  They kept in touch by letters and became engaged during her senior year at Cornell.  Sunny met his family that year, Bill's father had died in 1911.  Even though Bill's mother Flo disapproved of her, Sunny and Bill were married in October 1914. "They didn't have enough money for a honeymoon instead they went directly to the tiny hamlet of Saltillo, [[Mississippi]], where Bill had a job building dams". (''His Life'', pg 13)  Sunny encouraged Bill to leave engineering and become a banker. By 1917 he had become a bond salesman for National City Company of Chicago, [[Illinois]], and in June of that year, on his WW1 Draft Registration Card, he lists his residence as Nashville, Tennessee.  He had blue eyes, dark brown hair, was of medium height and slender.

One of Monty's obits states that "eight months [after his birth] the family moved to Chicago" but another source states that "in 1924, Bill obtained a more lucrative position as sales manager of Ames Emerich Investment Company" in Chicago.  The family moved to a large house in Highland Park and Bill began making a substanial amount of money.  During this period Sunny's restless nature kept her and the children on the move, traveling to New England, Bermuda, Europe and back to the United States.  The Winter of 1925 was spent in Somerset, Bermuda where Sunny learned that her mother Maria had just died and was buried at West Point next to her father Robert Anderson.  Since Bill's occupation kept him traveling to Manhattan often, to the New York Stock Exchange, they also took a house in Yorktown Heights, New York.  In 1926 and 1927, Ethel on her Ships Passenger Lists entries, lists her own residence as Yorktown Heights.  It was in 1925 or 1926 that Bill spent time in Virginia and Washington DC trying to track down Sophie Anderson and persuade her to make contact with her niece Ethel.  She finally did in 1926, at which time, in the Fall of that year, she told Ethel that Woodbury Blair didn't know she existed.

One of Monty's obits states that "eight months [after his birth] the family moved to Chicago" but another source states that "in 1924, Bill obtained a more lucrative position as sales manager of Ames Emerich Investment Company" in Chicago.  The family moved to a large house in Highland Park and Bill began making a substanial amount of money.  During this period Sunny's restless nature kept her and the children on the move, traveling to New England, Bermuda, Europe and back to the United States.  The Winter of 1925 was spent in Somerset, Bermuda where Sunny learned that her mother Maria had just died and was buried at West Point next to her father Robert Anderson.  Since Bill's occupation kept him traveling to Manhattan often, to the New York Stock Exchange, they also took a house in Yorktown Heights, New York.  In 1926 and 1927, Ethel on her Ships Passenger Lists entries, lists her own residence as Yorktown Heights.  It was in 1925 or 1926 that Bill spent time in Virginia and Washington DC trying to track down Sophie Anderson and persuade her to make contact with her niece Ethel.  She finally did in 1926, at which time, in the Fall of that year, she told Ethel that Woodbury Blair didn't know she existed.