William Jefferson Blythe Jr. lost control of his 1942 Buick on U.S. Route 60 outside of Sikeston, Missouri, after one of his car's tires blew out. He survived the accident after being thrown from the car, but drowned in a drainage ditch as he tried to pull his way out of the three feet (1 meter) of water in the ditch. Three months later, Blythe's widow, Virginia, gave birth to their son, whom she named William Jefferson Blythe III in honor of his father and grandfather. In 1950, Blythe's widow married Roger Clinton Sr.; 12 years later, Blythe's posthumous son legally adopted his stepfather's
William L. Alden William L. Alden William Livingston Alden (1837–1908) was a prominent American journalist, fiction writer, humorist and canoe enthusiast. He was a US diplomat in Rome from 1885 to 1890 and thereafter lived in Europe until shortly before his death. William Livingston Alden was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts on October 9, 1837. He attended Lafayette College and transferred to Jefferson College after his father, Joseph Alden, was elected president. He graduated from Jefferson in 1858 and read law in New York City with William M. Evarts, joining the bar in 1860. He practiced law until 1866. He then became a journalist,