Clyde S. (Clyde Sinclair) Ford

Born in 1867, Clyde S. Ford was a physician who built a remarkably varied career in military medicine. Records from his grave memorial identify him as a colonel in the Medical Corps and a veteran of both the Spanish-American War and World War I.

An obituary reproduced on that memorial says he also commanded hospitals during two Balkan wars and later served with a U.S. military mission that accompanied the White Russian army in Crimea. After retiring because of a physical disability, he settled in Sarasota, Florida, where he was credited with introducing the swatow orange and some of the first lychee trees to the state.

He died in 1953 at age 86 and was buried in Wheeling, West Virginia. Although easily confirmed biographical details are limited, the surviving record suggests a life that moved between medicine, war service, and horticultural curiosity.