My Genealogy Hound

Prof. William W. Thomas, superintendent of the Marshfield Public Schools, and one of the leading educators of this part of Missouri, is a native of Hastings, Mich., born April 22, 1861, being the eldest of three children born to the union of Edgar M. and Marietta (Fifield) Thomas. Edgar M. Thomas was born near Detroit, Mich., in 1834, and died in his native State in 1875. He was a farmer by occupation, and for some time was a resident of Grand Rapids, where he was engaged in the manufacture of pumps, but later he carried on the general insurance business. The mother, Mrs. Marietta (Fifield) Thomas, was born in New York State in 1844, and is now a resident of Webster County, Mo. Prof. William W. Thomas began life for himself at thirteen years of age. He first attended the public schools of Michigan, and after coming to Missouri he attended Henderson Academy. In 1888 he graduated at the Delaware (Ohio) Commercial College. In 1880 he began teaching school in Christian County, Mo., and in 1885 and 1886 he was associate principal of Henderson Academy. He came to Marshfield in the fall of 1887, took charge of the Marshfield schools and is doing good work. He is a self-made man in every sense, and is a successful and practical teacher. He was married December 25, 1886, to Miss Mary E. Langston, daughter of J. W. and Mary (Cargill) Langston, and a native of Greene County, Mo., born in 1864. One child, Edgar, who was born November 12, 1887, is the result of this union. Prof. Thomas is an earnest Republican in his political views, is a member of the I. O. O. F., and he and Mrs. Thomas are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.