A native of Ann Arbor, William L. Clements graduated from the University of Michigan in 1882 with a degree in engineering, and joined his father's firm, the Bay City Industrial Works, manufacturers of steam shovels and cranes. Clements' fortune was made supplying equipment for the construction of the Panama Canal and other major engineering projects at the turn of the century. In 1909, he was elected to the University of Michigan Board of Regents, where his knowledge of engineering and business made him a leader in rebuilding the central campus.

As his personal fortune grew, Clements cultivated a passion for history and rare books, concentrating on Americana, particularly books written contemporaneously with the events they describe -- the primary sources for early American history. Clements entered the rare book world at the end of a "golden age" for collectors. The decades from the 1880s through 1920s saw the break up of the British estate system, and the arrival at auction or sale of the contents of many aristocrats' great libraries. At the same time in the United States. a series of great private libraries were sold. With these fortuitous conditions in the rare book market, and with the advice of expert dealer/bibliographers, Clements made a series of major purchases, concentrating on two periods of American history -- the discovery, exploration, and colonization of America by Europeans from the 15th through 17th centuries, and late 18th century colonial and revolutionary America. By 1923, when he gave his collection to the University of Michigan, Clements had created an oustanding rare book library.

Clements then concentrated his collecting on manuscripts relating to the American Revolution. His interest had begun in 1920, when he bought the papers of William Petty, Lord Shelburne, the British Prime Minister who negotiated the peace ending the Revolutionary War. Between 1925 and 1930, he acquired the papers of British generals Thomas Gage and Sir Henry Clinton, Cabinet Minister Lord George Germain, and the Hessian General von Jungkenn, creating the largest archive in the United States of manuscripts and maps relating to British conduct of the American War. On the American side of the conflict, Clements purchased the papers of Continental Army General Nathanael Greene.

Clements suffered heavy financial losses during the early stages of the Great Depression of 1929-1932. His health declined, and he died at his home in Bay City in 1934.

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