William J Clinton

William Blythe, was born the sixth of nine children on [[Feb 27]], 1918 in Sherman, Grayson County, [[Texas]] to [[#William Jefferson Blythe|William Jefferson "Willie" Blythe]] and his wife [[#Lou Birchie Ayers|Lou Birchie Ayers]].

<table><tr><td>http://www.anusha.com/billsdad.jpg</td><td>He was married four to five times, one being questionable. He first married seventeen-year-old Virginia Adele Gash Dec 1935 in Medill, Oklahoma. Divorce papers were filed a year later in Dallas "...after Adele had left the Sherman farmhouse and W.J. had sent her clothes on in a suitcase." (Maraniss, p26) On [[Jan 17]], 1938 Adele gave birth, in Austin, Texas to a son Henry Leon Blythe, listing W.J. as the father.  Adele later stated that she visited W.J. at times, and one of these times became pregnant by him.  Adele married secondly, shortly after 1939, to a Mr Ritzenthaler some-time police chief of Brawley California, and he adopted Henry Leon.  He died about 1969/70. She married thirdly or perhaps lastly to a Mr Coffelt

William Blythe's second marriage took place [[Aug 11]], 1938 in Ardmore, Oklahoma to twenty-year-old Maxine Hamilton.  They were divorced nine months later after after, according to the divorce papers, he had abandoned her in Los Angeles.

His third marriage was to Adele Gash's younger sister Faye in 1940.  They divorced after a few months.  His fourth marriage is mentioned in an article in the New York Times: "The President's father, William Jefferson Blythe 3d, was married in 1941 in Jackson County, Missouri, to a Kansas City woman, Wanetta Ellen Alexander, The Kansas City Star and The New York Daily News reported. Court records show that Mrs. Alexander was not granted a divorce until April 13, 1944, seven months after Mr. Blythe married Virginia Cassidy, the President's mother, in Arkansas, the newspapers said."  His article at Wikipedia, is more specific stating that this marriage took place: "On 3 May 1941..."

On [[Apr 24]], 1943, he enlisted or re-enlisted in the Army.  Around this same time, Virginia Dell "Ginger" Cassidy was at Tri-State Hospital in Shreveport studying to be a nurse. He then married her, as his fifth wife on 3 Sep 1943 in Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas.  In mid-October, he went for a tour of duty overseas for World War II.  David Maraniss reports that "...his military records indicate that Blythe did not arrive home from Italy until December 1 and was honorably discharged at Camp Shelby, Mississippi on 7 Dec 1945". (Maraniss, pg 27-8)  He and Virginia went to live in Chicago, Cook County, [[Illinois]] for a short time, where "... he got back his old job as a salesman for the Manbee Equipment Company." (see [http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/clinton/excerpt.html excerpt] from ''My Life'', by Bill Clinton)  His mother died Feb 1946 and her obituary calls him "...W.J. Blythe of Chicago...."

In Bill Clinton's autobiography, he states that his father and Ginger had just bought a house in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park but couldn't move in for a few months.  Since Ginger was pregnant, they decided she should go back to Hope to wait until they could move in.  It was while he was coming to Hope that he died in a car accident on [[May 17]], 1946 near Sikeston, Scott County, Missouri.  He was driving too fast for the conditions, and his car overturned.  He was either thrown or got out of his car, and was eventually found hours later, some distance away, drowned in a drainage ditch.

He is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Hope, Hempstead County, Arkansas.  Virginia was pregnant and gave birth to William Jefferson Blythe III (now known as President Bill Clinton) on [[Aug 19]], 1946.