Thomas H. McCall. Because of his fine business qualifications and his upright character, Thomas H. McCall, of Beloit, Kansas, had been frequently chosen by his fellow citizens for offices of public trust and responsibility. For the past four years he had served with the greatest efficiency as county clerk of Mitchell County and previously in other important positions. It reflects credit on a community when men of Mr. McCall’s character and experience are selected for offices which in their operation closely concern the general public.
Thomas H. McCall was born in 1855, in Clinton County, Ohio, and is a son of David and Mary (Burrows) McCall. While Thomas was yet young his parents moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania. He was a schoolboy when they went to Iowa and but little beyond his majority when they came to Kansas in 1877. Here David McCall bought out a homesteader located on section 5, Center Township, Mitchell County, and this remained the family home. He had eight children, seven of whom survive, namely: Mrs. M. C. Buchanan, Mrs. H. L. Wiley, Mrs. A. O. Lisle, Mrs. Joseph White, Mrs. E. L. Leslie, Mrs. Sadie Smith, and J. W. and Thomas H., the last two being twins. By trade David McCall was a boot and shoemaker and because of that he was a great addition to the community in which he settled. He was a man of energy, and he also knew how to make his land productive, in the course of years becoming an extensive stock dealer and shipper. He became well known all over Mitchell County.
For many years after coming to Kansas, Thomas H. McCall was engaged in agricultural pursuits and resided on his well tilled farm. He then embarked in a general mercantile business at Beloit and was one of the leading and reliable businese men of the place for some years. A large amount of public business comes under the jurisdiction of the county clerk of Mitchell County, and during the four years of his incumbency Mr. McCall had handled it with care and efficiency and it is a subject to remark that courtesy always prevails in the office of the county clerk. Mr. McCall was elected to his third term in the office in 1916, being the only man ever elected the third time in the county.
Mr. McCall married in 1880 Miss Lucinda A. Barber, who is a daughter of Marcus Barber, and they have four children: Clarence, John, Eva and Thomas. For many years Mr. McCall had been prominently identified with the fraternal order of United Workmen, and is past worshipful workman of his local order and for seven years was financier in that body.