General Clyde, nicknamed "Uncle", was born and reared in Becker, Mississippi, and was a graduate of Becker School.
He worked in the Kentucky coal mines for several years before returning home and worked the next thirty-five years of his life as a heavy equipment operator for Scribner Equipment Company of Amory, retiring in 1980.
“Uncle” was an active member of the First United Methodist Church and was Mason with the J. A. Mayfield No. 165 Masonic Lodge in Amory.