Worl Worden Thompson (1897-1961)

From the Caldwell Journal, June 25, 1953.

   December begins a month-long stay in Ohio to profile a number of unusually named Buckeye State politicians. The first of these individuals to be profiled is Worl Worden Thompson, an auto dealer and popular business figure in Noble County for forty years. The founder of one of the oldest automotive dealerships in Noble County, Thompson attained additional prominence through public service, being a two-term state representative and one-term mayor of Caldwell. A native of West Virginia, Worl Worden Thompson was born in the village of Silver Hill on August 18, 1897.

  Following his birth, Thompson and his family removed to Pleasant Valley in Marion County, where he attended "small country schools." Early in his life, Thompson entered into automotive sales in Moundsville, West Virginia, and continued in business in Woodsfield, where he was employed at a Maxwell dealership. Worl Thompson married Madge O. Laudin (1898-1954) in the 1910s and had three daughters, Etta V. (1918-2000), June (1920-1952), and Mary (1921-1998).

  In 1921 Thompson and his family removed to Noble County, Ohio.  Settling in Caldwell, he established a Dodge dealership and several years later expanded his business with his purchase of the John Beckett building, a former livery stable and skating rink. By the mid-1920s, Thompson's dealership had added Studebaker products to its inventory, and in 1929 he was elected as president of the Caldwell Businessmen's Club for a one year term. 

  With his name firmly established in the Noble County business sector by 1930, Worl Thompson entered local politics with his election to the Caldwell city council. In January 1930 he was named to the council committee on streets, and continued to serve as a councilman into May 1933, when he was named as mayor of Caldwell. This appointment was occasioned by the illness and resignation of Mayor George Stanley "G.S." Ullman, and Thompson served as acting mayor "until after the fall election."

From the Newark Advocate, May 27, 1933.

   Following his brief tenure as mayor Thompson set his sights on higher office, and in 1938 announced his candidacy for the Ohio House of Representatives. In the August Republican primary Thompson emerged victorious, besting three term incumbent Samuel M. Frakes by a vote of 1,088 to 895. He would win the general election in November and took his seat at the start of the 1939-41 session. He won a second term in 1940, and during the 1941-43 term backed the creation of an Ohio Air Forest Patrol that would combat forest fires that had occurred in 18 eastern Ohio counties. In 1942 Thompson emerged as a candidate for member of the Ohio Republican State Central Committee, but withdrew his candidacy that June. 

  During World War II Thompson aided in the ongoing war effort by closing his garage and entering into defense department work. In 1942 he closed his garage and traveled to Dayton to begin work with the Pratt-Whitney engine department at the Patterson Dayton Airfield (now called Wright Patterson Air Force Base). He would later return to his automive business in Caldwell, and from 1945-46 served as president of the Noble County Chamber of Commerce.

  An active club man in his region, Thompson was a member of the Noble Lodge No. 459 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Olive Grange,  and the Noble County Fish and Game Association. He and his family were members of the Caldwell First Methodist Church, and in November 1951 he was honored with a belated 25-year plaque at the regional meeting of Dodge and Plymouth Dealers held in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

From the Caldwell Journal, November 29, 1961.

  In 1952 Worl Thompson was beset by tragedy, suffering the deaths of his wife Madge and daughter June. He continued with his business interests in Caldwell through the 1950s, and in 1959 again served on the Caldwell city council. Thompson's final months were marred by impaired health, and on March 19, 1961, died at his home in Caldwell, aged 63. He was survived by his daughters Etta and Mary and was interred in the Thompson family plot at the Olive Cemetery in Caldwell.

From the Caldwell Journal, March 20, 1961.

Urcil Wilford Smoot (1899-1957)

From the Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, October 26, 1950.

   The "Show Me State" yields another strangely named political figure in one Urcil Wilford Smoot of Daviess County, Missouri! I'll admit that I got an immediate chuckle out of Smoot's unusual first name "Urcil", which bears a slight resemblance in spelling to "Uracil", an important chemical compound that is part of Ribonucleic acid, responsible for "hereditary characteristics". While his name is certainly funny, Mr. Smoot maintained a reputation as a prominent resident in Raytown, Missouri, where he owned and operated an auto dealership. In addition to his business activities, Smoot was a three-time candidate for the Missouri State Legislature, being defeated on all three occasions.

   This lifelong resident of Missouri was born in the small town of Nelsonville on November 7, 1899, a son of Sobeska Taylor and Lillian Samuel Smoot. No information could be located on Urcil's early life in Nelsonville or the extent of his education. A veteran of the First World War, Urcil Smoot served in the U.S. Navy during that conflict, being recruited at Peoria, Illinois. From May-October 1917 he served as a Hospital Apprentice Second Class at Great Lakes Training Station, and after a short stint at the Naval Hospital in Annapolis went aboard the USS Columbia as a Pharmacist Second Class, serving on this ship from December 1917 to November 11, 1918. 

   After being discharged from service in 1919 Smoot returned stateside and married in Bexar County, Texas in 1921 to Ruth Elizabeth Williams (1900-1988), later having two children, William Taylor Smoot (1923-2007) and Elizabeth May Smoot (birth-date unavailable.) Following his marriage, Urcil Smoot was affiliated with the "Dahl and Dewitt" Chevrolet dealerships in Kansas City, and from 1928-36 owned and operated the "Smoot Chevrolet agency" in the city of Raytown. Beginning in the early 1930s he began a stint as President of the Raytown Chamber of Commerce, and after retiring from auto sales in 1936 was the owner of a farm located in the village of Lock Springs, Missouri.

   In 1942 Smoot made his first run for public office, launching a candidacy for the Missouri House of Representatives from Daviess County. Smoot's opponent in that year's election was another oddly named Daviess County resident, Urlin Eldreth Salmon (1870-1953), profiled here back in February of 2013. In a truly unique contest that pitted a man named Urlin against a man named Urcil, it was Urlin E. Salmon who claimed victory, defeating Smoot by a narrow vote margin, 2, 578 to 1, 892.

   Two years following his defeat Urcil Smoot was again the Democratic candidate for a seat in the state legislature from Daviess County, this time facing off against Republican Charles H. Bryant. He was dealt another loss on November 7th, 1944, losing to Bryant by a vote of 3, 541 to 2, 583. With two losing candidacies behind him, Smoot turned his attention to other aspects of public service in the late 1940s, serving as the Commander for the Department of Missouri Veterans of Foreign Wars for a one-year term in 1946. Smoot's obituary (published in the May 29, 1950, Kansas City Star) notes that while he may have been an unsuccessful aspirant for public office, he was "active in the promotion of legislation designed to benefit veterans and their dependents."

   In 1950 Urcil Smoot once again entered the political field, announcing his candidacy for the Missouri State Senate from the 16th district. As the Democratic senatorial candidate, Smoot's opponent in that year's contest was incumbent Republican W.R. "Fred" Walker, who had served in the senate since 1942. Despite having run two previous losing candidacies for the legislature, Smoot's campaign was highlighted in the October 26, 1950 edition of the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, which ran a large ad on his candidacy. This ad (shown below) touted his potential legislative agenda if he was elected, noting that:

• He would sponsor legislation to promote "economy in government" whenever possible.
• To build more roads in rural Missouri.
• Improve the school system of every area in the state.
• To stimulate progress for Missouri and all Missourians.

                                                    The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, October 26, 1950.

   Despite a campaign promise to have his voting record guided by the welfare of "labor, veterans, farmers, and the small business man"  it was W.R. Walker who emerged victorious, besting Smoot that November by a 2,099 vote margin, 19,663 to 17, 564. Following this defeat, he retired to private life in Lock Springs, and from 1952-54 was a member of the Daviess County Democratic Committee. Urcil Wilford Smoot died at age 57 on May 28, 1957, and was survived by his wife and two children. Following her death in 1988, Ruth E. Smoot was interred alongside her husband at the Jamesport Masonic Cemetery in Jamesport, Missouri.