USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 74
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Mr. Patterson married July 19, 1891, Loretta Hurd, of Benton county, Arkansas. She died August 3, 1892, in early womanhood. Mr. Pat- terson married second, November 16, 1895, Cordelia Hobbs, of Nevada, Missouri, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Hobbs. Of the five chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson, three are living, namely: Kitty E., born in 1898; Vasco L., born in 1901; and Cecil, born in 1906.
MEDIE D. THUDIUM .- A long record of worthy and successful en- deavor in connection with the active work of the pedagogic profession stands to the credit of Medie D. Thudium, who has been engaged in teaching in the public schools since he was a lad of sixteen years and who is now incumbent of the position of instructor of German in the High School of Joplin, where he has served in this capacity since 1904. He is one of the valued and honored representatives of educational affairs in this section of the state and has been active in institute work here and
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elsewhere. ITis devotion to his profession has been on a parity with his marked success therein, and it is gratifying to be able to offer in this publication a brief review of his career.
Medie D. Thudium finds a due measure of satisfaction in reverting to the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity and early experi- ence in connection with the practical affairs of life. He was born at Nova. Ashland county, Ohio, on the 25th of December, 1865, and thus became a welcome Christmas guest in the home of his parents. Adam and Rosena (Berringer) Thudium, both of whom were born and reared in Germany, where their marriage was solemnized. They emigrated from the city of Berlin, Germany, to America when young folk and their voyage across the ocean was made on a sailing vessel of the type com- mon to that day. Forty-two days elapsed before they disembarked in the port of New York City, and they finally established their permanent home in Ashland county, Ohio, where the father became a prosperous farmer. He was the architect of his own fortunes and his success was the result of industry, indefatigable energy and good management. He and his wife were folk of sterling attributes of character, were zealous and consistent members of the German Lutheran church, and they ever commanded the high regard of all who knew them. They became the parents of eight sons and three daughters, and of the number eight sons and two daughters are now living. The father was seventy-seven years of age at the time of his death, and the devoted wife and mother was summoned to eternal rest when seventy-four years of age.
He whose name initiates this review was reared to the sturdy discipline of the old homestead farm in Ashland county, Ohio, and early began to contribute his quota to its work. In the meanwhile he duly availed him- self of the advantages of the local schools and his ambition was soon quickened to the point of determining to secure more advanced educa- tion. He began teaching when but sixteen years old, when he assumed a dignified position as presiding genius of a little district school in his native county. and through his own efforts along this line he largely de- frayed the expenses of a scientific course which he pursued in the Northwestern Ohio Normal School, at Ada, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1889, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Thereafter he completed a post-graduate classical course in his alma mater, which conferred upon him in 1891 the supplemental degree of Master of Arts. Mr. Thudium began his work as a teacher in the year 1881 and he has taught every year during the long intervening period. He taught in the country and village schools of his native state until 1897, when he came to Missouri, where he has since continued in the successful work of his profession and gained seeure vantage ground in popular con- fidence and esteem. For six years he was superintendent of the pubhe schools of Savannah, the judicial center and metropolis of Andrew county, and for the past six years he has held a similar position in the city of Joplin, where he has done much to maintain the public schools at a high standard of efficiency and to encourage the pupils to diligence and appreciative application. He has given his services as a teacher for four summers in teachers' institutes held at Savannah and Marysville, and he is an earnest student and reader, thoroughly en rapport with the work of his chosen profession. While a resident of Andrew county he served three years, from 1903 to 1906, as a member of the county board of school examiners, this being a state appointment.
In politics, with the practical activities of which he has had no desire to concern himself. Mr. Thudium holds himself independent of partisan lines and gives his support to the men and measures meeting the ap-
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proval of his judgment. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and both he and his wife hold membership in the German Lutheran church.
At Wathena, Kansas, on the 19th of August, 1896, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Thudium to Miss Jean Whitney, who was born and reared in that state, where her father, Oliver Whitney, was a representa- tive citizen of Doniphan county. He served many years in the office of justice of the peace and continued his residence in that county until his death. All of his daughters became popular teachers in the public schools of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Thudium have two children,-Thelma Marjorie and Adam Oliver Whitney, twins.
VIRGIL C. ERWIN .- Jasper county may indeed take pardonable pride in its agricultural element, some of the most valued members of society, some of the most progressive and altruistic of citizens being represented among the farmers. Daniel Webster once said : "Let us never forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. Man may be civilized in some degree without great progress in manufactures and with little commerce with his distant neighbors. But without the cultivation of the earth, he is, in all countries, a savage. Until he gives up the chase, fixes himself in some place and seeks a living from the earth, he is a roaming barbarian. When tillage begins other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization." It is true that the present is far removed from the primitive day to which this refers, but there is no denying that the farmers constitute one of the most in- dependent, wholesome and valued classes. A representative farmer of Jasper county is V. C. Erwin, who was born November 14, 1841, in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, the son of Andrew and Nancy Erwin, na- tives of the state of Virginia. They removed from the Old Dominion to Indiana as early as the fall of 1827. The father died in 1844, when his son was scarcely more than a baby and the mother reared the family of eight children, equally divided as to boys and girls. The names of the sons were Samuel, Dow, Andrew and Virgil C., the subject of this brief record.
The youth of Mr. Erwin was passed in a rural community in Indiana and he attended school until the age of sixteen years. As soon as he be- came of years and strength sufficient, he assisted in the work of the home place and remained under the home roof until 1867. The death of the mother, on March 6 of that year, whose bravery and dauntless courage in the face of apparently insurmountable difficulties, had made possible the maintenance of the home, separated the little eirele. Mr. Erwin sold the farm and the household goods and migrated to Jasper county, In- diana. He remained there for one year and then went to Kansas and after another year he returned to Indiana. Until 1870, he farmed in the Hoosier state, his location being in Fountain county, that state. In the year mentioned he came to Jasper county, Missouri, and took up his home on 235 acres in Lincoln township, this tract being his wife's inheritance.
On the 12th day of July, 1869, Mr. Erwin was married in Foun- tain county, Indiana, to Rosella Myers, daughter of Daniel and Naney (Myers) Myers, of Fountain county, Indiana. Three children were born to bless their union, one dying in infancy. A son, Andrew William, born June 12, 1870, is now located in Lincoln township; Nancy Caro- lina, wife of Charles T. Riddle, of Webb City, was born January 18, 1887, and is the mother of two children .- Loraine, born March 21, 1907; and Ernestine, born July 27, 1908.
Mr. Erwin has proved very successful in his life work; is widely known: is publie-spirited, taking an interest in the achievement and
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success of good government. The comfortable and attractive Erwin home is one of the popular gathering places in the neighborhood.
DAVID V. SHOLL .- The mining industry in southwestern Missouri has a wide awake representative in David V. Sholl, who as manager of large mining interests for others and also as mine owner, has been iden- tified with activities in this line for the past dozen years.
Mr. Sholl is a native of the "Buckeye State" and comes from German ancestry. He was born in Van Wert county, Ohio, July 19, 1866, son of David II. and Mary E. (Paisslar) Sholl, the former born in Pennsyl- vania of German parentage, the latter in Saxony, Germany. In his native county he spent his boyhood days and there received the usual publie schooling, after which he was sent to the Van Wert high school where he graduated in 1887.
The year following his graduation he was employed as teacher in the Van Wert schools; the next year he was associated with his father in the agricultural implement business, and in 1889 he went to Chicago. He had thirty-five dollars in his pocket when he landed in that city. While he looked about for work, the money in his pocket dwindled away, and was nearly exhausted when he finally landed a job with a railroad com- pany as yard man. He put into his work the very best service he could render and at the end of six months time was promoted to the passenger service, as conductor, which position he filled until 1895, and during the great strike of that year he resigned. A short time later he was made general yard master of the Grand Central Terminal station in Chicago. During the strike the yards were continually under military guard. From Chicago he returned to Ohio and took up his residence at Findlay. In the meantime he had been working on a very valuable in- vention, a gas engine for the oil industry, which he then perfected, and he was the first to make an insulation of a gas engine for the successful operation of pumps for oil wells. Another invention which he perfected was a clutch pulley. It has been tried a number of times but never proved successful until he took it in hand and developed it. Now it is in universal use in oil fields.
Mr. Sholl remained in Findlay until 1897, and he then removed to Toledo, Ohio, where he became associated with Mr. S. M. Jones in the manufacture of specialties. They developed his gas engine for the Ohio oil fields, and also manufactured and sold his clutch pulley, and with these two devices they did an extensive business in the oil regions.
Early in 1899 Mr. Sholl made a trip to Joplin, Missouri. Ile pur- chased some property there and went back to Toledo, but on May 5th of that year, he landed here again, and here he has since made his home. He had given Mr. Jones the right to manufacture his inventions on a royalty basis, and after he became identified with Missouri, he devoted his whole time and attention to mining interests,-lead and zine. Here he has owned and controlled a number of valuable properties. The first mine in which he was interested was the Glace, on the Granby land, at Chitwood, which was managed and partly owned by him, he having as partners Messrs. Priddy and Kirkbride of Findlay. In 1902 he assumed the general management of a number of properties for the Bay State Zinc and Mining Company of Boston, Massachusetts, one being the Blackberry Mine, near Smelter Hill. He has at different times been interested in other valuable mining properties which have been sold at handsome profits, and he still has holdings in other valuable mines.
November 25, 1893, at Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Sholl and Miss Flor- ence M. Hubbard were united in marriage, and to them have been born two children: Vinton H., born at Findlay, Ohio, July 15, 1895, and
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Louis P., at Joplin, Missouri, June 1, 1903. Mrs. Sholl is a daughter of Emery O. and Julia A (Hardy) Hubbard, of Chicago.
Of Mr. Sholl's maternal ancestors, the Paisslars, it is recorded that they were prominent weavers in Germany, and took an active and con- spicuous part in the Franco-German war. His paternal grandparents were emigrants from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania at an early day. There his father, David H. Sholl, was born and reared, and from thence, later in life, moved to northwestern Ohio, when that section of country was heavily timbered. He furnished railroad companies with ties and other material for construction purposes, and was engaged in contract work of this kind until 1874, when, as the timber was almost exhausted, he turned his attention to mercantile business in Van Wert, Ohio, where he was thus occupied for a period of ten years. Subse- quently, in company with his son, he was interested in the agricultural implement business which he continued until 1892. Since that time he has been retired and has made his home with his daughter in Chicago.
While never actively affiliating with the politics of the communities in which he has lived, Mr. David V. Sholl has always cast his vote with the Republican party. He is fraternally identified with the Elks Lodge. He takes keen pleasure in out-door life, especially automobiling, and among his large circle of friends is a social favorite. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist church, and Mrs. Sholl has member- ship also in the Daughters of the American Revolution and in the Emerson Club.
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LESLIE W. WINTER .- Standing forth distinctively as one of the rep- resentative and honored citizens of Joplin, Leslie W. Winter, head of the Winter Construction Company, has been a conspicuous figure in developing the mineral resources of this section of the state, and is now busy fulfilling contracts with several large railway corporations, his wisdom and discrimination in the conduct of extensive operations giv- ing him high prestige as a man of affairs. He was born, February 13, 1868, at Cleveland, Ohio, in Cuyahoga county, which was also the birth- place of his father, Malitus C. Winter, and of his Grandfather Winter. He is of thrifty New England ancestry, the branch of the Winter fam- ily from which he is descended having been prominent in Massachusetts in colonial times.
Born January 10, 1841, near Cleveland, Malitus C. Winter grew to man's estate in that vicinity, and subsequently served four years in the Civil war, belonging to an Ohio regiment. He was afterwards there engaged in tilling the soil until 1870, when he moved to Elk Falls, Kan- sas, and having acquired title to large tracts of valuable land engaged in farming on an extensive scale. Accumulating considerable wealth as a farmer and stock-raiser, he came with his family to Jasper county, Missouri, and has since lived retired from active business in Joplin, be- ing a highly respected citizen of his community. He married Nettie Johnson, who was born at Rock Island, Illinois, where her parents were pioneer settlers.
Brought up in Kansas, Leslie W. Winter was educated in the pub- lic schools of Douglass. Making his first appearance in Joplin, Mis- souri, in 1884, then a beardless boy of sixteen years, he began min- ing on his own account, the mineral deposits of lead and zine giving him a rich field of labor, and in addition to looking after his own affairs, he soon began managing mines for others. He opened several good mines, in the meantime establishing a good reputation for expert work and accurate knowledge concerning the location and value of minerals. Sub- sequently, having obtained recognition as a dominant power in the opera-
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tion of large holdings, Mr. Winter was made superintendent of the Old Colony Zine & Smelting Company properties, which was organized in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1899, by some of the most conservative and reliable business men of that and neighboring cities for the purpose of developing the mineral resources of southeastern Missouri. These men gave their personal attention to the affairs of the company, which included among its officers and directors Col. Albert Clarke, Elias J. Bliss, and George W. Parker, of Boston, Hon. P. C. Cheney, of Man- chester, New Hampshire, Hon. D. Russell Brown, of Providence, Rhode Island, and other men of prominence in mining circles. Among other properties owned by this company was the Yale mine, at Webb City, Missouri, the White Rose, at Galena, Kansas, the Black Jack, and it also had a fee to two hundred and thirty-seven and a half aeres upon which it had ereeted four mills, Mr. Winter having been largely instrumental in securing these mines and mills from the Old Colony Zinc & Smelting Company.
Mr. Winter was not only general manager of these extensive mining properties, but a director, and the secretary of the company. He was likewise secretary of the Joplin Improvement & Construction Company. of which Mr. E. J. Overly was president. Since the formation of the Winter Construction Company, Mr. Winter has carried out some very valuable contraets, and has just now elosed a contract with the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, the Atehison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail- way Company, and with the Missouri Pacific Railway Company for a large amount of construction work. In addition to holding the presi- dency of the Winter Construction Company, of Joplin, Mr. Winter is president of a coal and coke company, of Arkansas, and a director of the Federal Trust Company, of St. Louis. He is a sound Republican in polities, ever willing to do all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party, and has served as constable of Joplin, and was deputy sheriff one term. Fraternally he is a member of the .Joplin Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Joplin Lodge, Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Winter married, August 7, 1892, in Joplin, Ella Coleman, a daughter of William H. Coleman. Mr. Coleman was born and bred in New York City, and as a young man migrated to Kansas. Joining the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil war, he served as captain of a Kansas company, and at the Battle of Shiloh was severely wounded. After the war, and his recovery from his wound, he served as a member of the Kansas Senate two terms, and was very prominent in public af- fairs, his ability making him a fit leader for the people of his state. Mr. and Mrs. Winter have one child, Nera, born September 10, 1893, is now attending the Joplin High School.
A man of sterling integrity and worth, conducting all of his transac- tions by the strictest principles of honor, Mr. Winter has gained the trust and confidence of the business world, and the esteem and good will of his fellowmen. He is fond of all out-door sports, his particular hobby being base ball. He is a lover of good horses, of which he has several. and he and his wife, who is an expert horsewoman, and an easy, graceful rider, take long rides in and around Joplin. Both have hosts of friends. and their beautiful home is a center of social activity.
HERMAN C. COLE .- One of the most popular residents of Jasper county is Herman C. Cole, who owns and operates the well known Herman C. Cole Machinery Company and who is financially interested in a number of important business projects at Joplin. His life history dis- plays many elements worthy of emulation and in the state where prac-
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tically his entire life has been passed he has many friends, a fact which indicates that his career has ever been honorable and straightforward.
Mr. Cole was born in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, on the 24th of May, 1871, and he is a son of Nathan Cole, one of the most distinguished citizens that ever resided in St. Louis, where he likewise was born. As a youth Nathan Cole entered the employ of W. S. Ewing & Company, a prominent wholesale grocery concern at St. Louis, but later he launched out into the business world on his own account, forming the Cole Brothers Grain Company and the Nathan Cole Investment Company, in the latter of which he was incumbent of the office of president until his death. In 1868 he was elected mayor of St. Louis and he was a mem- ber of Congress during the years 1876-78, acquitting himself with honor and distinction in both capacities. For a number of years he was president of the Merchants Exchange Bank of St. Louis and for forty-three years was a director in the Bank of Commerce, being vice- president of the latter institution during most of that period. In his re- ligious faith he was a consistent member of the Baptist church and he was decidedly prominent in connection with charitable and philan- thropical work in his home city during his life time. The founder of the Cole family in America was a native of England, who immigrated to this country in the seventeenth century.
In the excellent public schools of St. Louis Herman C. Cole received his preliminary educational training, the same including courses in the St. Louis high school, Smith Academy and a manual training school. Subsequently he attended the Missouri Military Academy, and thereafter he was with the Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company for a number of years. In 1897 he entered the office of the city collector of St. Louis, remain- ing therein for a period of three years, at the expiration of which, in 1900, he went to Galena, Kansas, where he turned his attention to mining operations for the ensuing three years. He then, in 1903, came to Jasper county, Missouri, engaging in the machinery business at Carter- ville, where he remained until 1910, coming then to Joplin, where he now conducts the Herman C. Cole Machinery Company. Shortly after launching into the machinery business Mr. Cole put through the largest deal in second hand machinery business ever made in the district. This consisted of the purchase of the plant of the Missouri Blanket Vein Company. He devotes practically all his time to his extensive machinery business although he also has a number of mining and other important interests in this section of the state. His business has grown steadily until it has now assumed gigantic proportions. Mr. Cole is vice-presi- dent of the Nathan Cole Investment Company, in which important con- cern he and his brothers are the officers and directors.
In politics Mr. Cole is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies promulgated by the Republican party and while he has frequently been requested to become a candidate for various public offices of trust and responsibility he has always declined to enter politics. Although un- doubtedly he has not been without that honorable ambition which is so powerful and useful as an incentive to activity in public affairs, he re- gards the pursuits of private life as being in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. In community affairs he is active and in- fluential and his support is readily and generously given to many meas- ures for the general progress and improvement. He is a prominent Mason in Jasper county and was initiated into Rosehill Lodge, No. 550, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, on his twenty-first birthday. At the present time he is a member of Joplin Consistory, in the Scottish Rite branch, having attained to the thirty-second degree, and in the York Rite branch he is a valued and appreciative member of Webb
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City Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Joplin Commandery, Knights Templars. In the ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he is affiliated with Abou Ben Adhem Temple, of Springfield, Missouri. In connection with the business activities of Joplin he is a member of the Commercial Club. On the 10th of August, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cole to Miss Matilda Lawson, who was born in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.
DAN BOLTON, senior partner of the firm of the Bolton Plumbing Com- pany, has had a noteworthy career. He is still a young man, but has made himself a prominent factor in Carthage life. Thoroughness is his motto in business as well as everywhere else. There is nothing too trifling for his attention in his work. Perfection is made up of trifles and per- fection is what he aims for. The man who performs each piece of work as if his destiny hung on the satisfactory accomplishment of that and that alone, is sure to make a success in the world. Such is the rec- ord of Dan Bolton.
Ile was born in Morgan county, Missouri, February 6, 1871. His father was Charles D. Bolton, a native of the state of Virginia. When quite a young man Charles D. came to St. Louis and later to Morgan county, in the central part of the state. There he farmed until the time of his death in 1905. Mrs. Charles D. Bolton, Dan's mother, was formerly Eliza Wray. She was a southerner also and she is still living, making her home in Colorado.
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