BIOGRAPHY - H. RUDOLPH
Professor H. M. Rudolph, county superintendent of schools of Ford county and throughout his business career actively and successfully identified with educational interests in Illinois, was born in Champaign county, this state, on the 19th of March, 1863, his parents being Henry M. and Anna L. (Robbins) Rudolph. The father was born in Logan county, Illinois, of German parentage and died June 27, 1864, while serving in the Union army. His widow still survives him and now makes her home in Paxton.
In their family were eight children, of whom five are yet living: Frank V., of Paxton; Kansas F., who is a ranchman of Oklahoma; Fremont, who is engaged in the real-estate business in Kansas; William M., who makes his home in Fowler, Colorado; and H. M., of this review. Charles T. Rudolph, the oldest son, was a well known and respected man who was serving as a conductor on the Santa Fe Railroad when killed near Medicine Lodge, Kansas, in the spring of 1902. He left a widow and two children.
Under the parental roof Professor Rudolph spent the days of his boyhood and as a pupil in the district schools of Champaign county acquired his preliminary education. Later he attended the Collegiate Institute at Paxton and when eighteen years of age began teaching in order to acquire means to enable him to complete his own education. For a year he was a student in the Onarga (Ill.) Seminary, after which he followed teaching in Champaign and Ford counties for a few years. His careful expenditure during that time enabled him to acquire sufficient funds to continue his professional training and he entered the State Normal at Normal, Illinois. On leaving that institution he accepted the position of principal of the Elliott schools, acting in that capacity for three years. He then returned to Normal, where he took special work in the laboratory of Professor B. P. Colton, of the State University.
During the succeeding year he taught in the schools of Proctor, Illinois, after which he went to Gibson City, to accept the principalship of the high school there. He remained there for four years and in 1902 went to Melvin as principal of the schools of that place. The succeeding four years were there passed and during that time, in the summer of 1903, he pursued special work in sciences in the University of Chicago. In the spring of 1906 he announced himself as a candidate for the office of county superintendent of schools of Ford county and was elected. His previous excellent record as a teacher awakened public confidence in his ability to fill the position in which he is now serving.
In 1903 Professor Rudolph was married to Miss Jessie P. Hall, of Normal, Illinois, and to them have been born three children: Clithroe A.; Glenn F. , now deceased; and Chalmer F.
Professor Rudolph is a republican in his political views. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and is also a valued member of Hespin Lodge, No. 123, K. P., of Gibson City, and Paxton Camp, No. 259, M. W. A. His attention from early manhood has chiefly been given to educational work and in his present position he is closely studying the schools of the county with reference to their improvement through the adoption of measures and means that will promote their efficiency and render them of still greater value to the youth of the county as a preparation for life's work. He is thorough and conscientious in all that he does along this line and public education finds in him a stalwart champion, whose service has been far reaching and beneficial.
Extracted 17 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 2, pages 783-784.
