Christopher Latham Sholes

C. Latham Sholes
Christopher Latham Sholes
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 8th district
In office January 7, 1856 – January 4, 1858
Preceded by	Francis Paddock
Succeeded by	Samuel R. McClellan
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 16th district
In office June 5, 1848 – January 7, 1850
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Elijah Steele
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Kenosha 1st district
In office January 5, 1852 – January 2, 1854
Preceded by	Henry Johnson
Succeeded by	Samuel Hale Jr.
Personal details
Born	Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-02-14)February 14, 1819 Mooresburg, Penn., U.S.
Died	February 17, 1890(1890-02-17) (aged 71) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin[1]
Political party	Republican Free Soil (before 1856) Democratic (before 1849)
Spouse	Mary Jane McKinney (died 1888)
Children	Charles Latham Sholes (1843–1902) Clarence Gordon Sholes (1845–1926) Mary Katherine (Tyrrell) (1847–1896) Frederick Sholes (1847–1933) Louis C. Sholes (1849–1914) Elizabeth (Gilmore) (1852–1937) Lillian (Fortier) (1856–1941) George Orrin Sholes (1859–1894) Jessie Sholes (1861–1898) Zalmon Gilbert Sholes (1864–1917)
Parents	Orrin Sholes (father) Catherine (Cook) Sholes (mother)
Relatives	Charles Sholes (brother)
Occupation	Printer, inventor, legislator
Known for	"The Father of the typewriter,"[1] inventor of the QWERTY keyboard
Signature

Christopher Latham Sholes (February 14, 1819 – February 17, 1890) was an American inventor who invented the QWERTY keyboard,^[2] and, along with Samuel W. Soule, Carlos Glidden and John Pratt, has been contended to be one of the inventors of the first typewriter in the United States.^[3][4][5] He was also a newspaper publisher and Wisconsin politician. In his time, Sholes went by the names C. Latham Sholes, Latham Sholes, or C. L. Sholes, but never "Christopher Sholes" or "Christopher L. Sholes".