Pueblo County Biographies

Pueblo County, Colorado
JOHN WESLEY McCLINTON

Contributed by Karen Mitchell.

John Wesley McClinton is superintendent of the Pueblo School District No. 1 and in following his profession he has ever recognized the fact that the purpose of teaching is to develop capacity. He has therefore put forth earnest effort in school training to give the pupil a foundation for further development in later life and his labors have been most beneficially resultant. His identification with Pueblo dates from 1917, when he came to this state to accept the superintendency of the Centennial high school, but previously he had gradually worked his way westward after leaving Chicago, where he had pursued his studies as a public school and college student. He had become a resident of that city in early boyhood, although he is a native of Canada, his birth having occurred in Ontario on the 4th of January, 1878, his parents being John and Margaret (McKitrick) McClinton. The father was a farmer by occupation and has now passed away, but the mother is still living. They had a family of two sons and two daughters. John Wesley McClinton, who was the third child in that family, pursued his early education in Northwestern Academy of Evanston near Chicago and later attended Northwestern University, in which he won the Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1903. He next went to Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he was engaged in teaching in the high school, there spending two years. He afterward devoted five years to educational work at Redfield, South Dakota, and on the expiration of that period went to Minneapolis, where for one year he was a teacher in the Central high school and during that period studied law at night. He then accepted the position of superintendent of the schools of Mitchell. South Dakota, where he remained for six years, and in 1917 he was called to the superintendency of the Centennial high school of Pueblo. His entire professional record has been marked hy steady advancement and by close conformity to the highest professional ideals. He has taken special work at Columbia University and throughout his life has remained a close and discriminating student, constantly broadening his knowledge by wide reading and investigation. In 1903 Mr. McClinton was united in marriage to Miss Frances Lemery and they now have one daughter, Margaret Elene. The parents have made many friends during the period of their residence in Pueblo and to them is extended the warm-hearted hospitality of the best homes, in which intelligence and true worth are accepted as passports to good society. Professor McClinton is a member of the Monday Evening Club, a literary organization, and he also belongs to the Commerce Club of Pueblo. He was likewise a member of the Chamber of Commerce while in Mitchell, South Dakota, and served as its president. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, having taken the three degrees of the blue lodge. His political endorsement is given to the republican party. He is interested in hunting, which constitutes a source of rest and recreation to him when it is possible for him to put aside his professional activity. He is leaving the impress of his individuality and ability upon the school system of Pueblo, holding to the highest possible standards in his work, and he inspires teachers and pupils under him with much of his own zeal. History Of Colorado Illustrated Volume III Chicago The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1918

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