Christopher Latham Sholes

@Inventors, Birthday and Family

Christopher Latham Sholes was an American inventor

Feb 14, 1819

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Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: February 14, 1819
  • Died on: February 17, 1890
  • Nationality: American
  • Famous: Discoverers, Inventor of the Qwerty Keyboard, Inventors, Inventors & Discoverers
  • Spouses: Mary Jane McKinney
  • Birth Place: Mooresburg, Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Gender: Male

Christopher Latham Sholes born at

Mooresburg, Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States

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Birth Place

In 1840 he married Mary Jane McKinney. They had ten children.

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Personal Life

He suffered from tuberculosis from 1881 and finally succumbed to it on February 17, 1890. He was interred at Milwaukee’s ‘Forest Home Cemetery’.

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Personal Life

He was born on February 14, 1819, in Mooresburg, in Montour County, Pennsylvania, to Orrin Sholes and Catherine Sholes. His father received a reward in the form of a land in Pennsylvania for service in the war during 1812.

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Childhood & Early Life

In 1823 he moved with his family to Danville and attended the Danville School.

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Childhood & Early Life

After he finished school his father apprenticed him as a printer as his father did for all his sons.

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Childhood & Early Life

In 1837 at the age of eighteen he moved to Green Bay in Wisconsin and began working for his elder brothers, Charles and Henry who became publishers of the newspaper ‘Wisconsin Democrat’.

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Career

After two years he relocated to Madison in Wisconsin and started working as editor of the ‘Wisconsin Enquirer’ when his brother Charles bought shares of the newspaper.

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Career

Thereafter he relocated to Southport (presently Kenosha) in Wisconsin and set up a weekly newspaper called ‘Southport Telegraph’ becoming its editor. Around 1845 while working with the newspaper he came to know about ‘Voree Record’, that is three small brass plates that were found by James J. Strang, a prospective successor of the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Joseph Smith.

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Career

Strang’s insistence of his being the real prophet of God linking the incident of unearthing the plates and invitation to people at large to view them drew Sholes to meet the man and see the plates. Sholes wrote an article in this regard. Although he felt Stang to be "honest and earnest", he was unable to accept either the plates or prophetic claims of Strang.

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Career

He embarked into politics and from 1848 to 1849 served ‘Wisconsin State Senate’ as member of ‘Democratic Party’, one of the two main contemporary political parties in the US. His brother Charles was also into politics and served ‘Wisconsin State Legislature’. Charles also remained mayor of Kenosha.

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Career