William Clifford Faulkner was born on October 8, 1900 in Sequoyah District, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory to George Alfred Faulkner and Maude May Weatherly.

He married Mamie Belle Kidd on August 1, 1927 in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

They were the parents of Willie Mae Faulkner, William Ray Faulkner, Mildred Louise Faulkner, Maudie Irene Faulkner, and Bobby George Faulkner.

He died on August 9, 1967 in Calexico, California.

Delayed Birth Certificate of William Clifford Faulkner

On August 1, 1927 he took his fiance’, Mamie Belle Kidd, across the state border to Fort Smith, Arkansas to get married. Fort Smith, Arkansas was the closest town to where William Clifford Faulkner lived in 1927. In 1920 Fort Smith had a population of 28,870 which was more then the entire population of Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.

Marriage Certificate of William Clifford Faulkner and Mamie Belle Kidd from Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas Marriage Book Z, Page 594.

The first of Clifford and Mamie’s five children was born one year after they got married. They continued to build their family and live happily in the Paw Paw area, also known as Lone Oak, between Roland and Muldrow, Oklahoma. Life was not easy on the Faulkners after the 1927 wrecked havoc on the Paw Paw Bottoms.

Here is some fascinating information about the community of Paw Paw from “The History of Sequoyah County 1828-1975″ written by the Sequoyah County Historical Society and published in 1976.

William Clifford Faulkner family picture taken about 1943.

The next major flood to hit Paw Paw occurred in 1943. This was about the time that William Clifford Faulkner packed up his family and moved to California. There has been much speculation on why a family from Oklahoma ended up in southern California, and many want to blame the Dust Bowl. There is no evidence that the Dust Bowl actually impacted this area of Oklahoma, but there is also evidence that the widespread publicity of a better life for burnt out farmers was available in California.

Clifford’s sister, Nettie Higginbottom, had moved to the Imperial Valley of California before 1940. Clifford and Mamie and their five children took up residency in Holtville, California and Clifford soon became a hay cutting tractor driver.

William Clifford Faulkner died on August 9, 1967 as a resident of Holtville. His body was sent to Muldrow, Oklahoma to be buried at Cottonwood Cemetery.

Death Certificate of William Clifford Faulkner