T.J. Shelton left the Sentinel to start the Carterville Evening Record

 The Carterville Evening Record was founded on Jan. 25, 1900, by T.J. Shelton, former editor of the Webb City Sentinel.

Thomas Jefferson Shelton was born on July 3, 1848, in Meridian, Miss. He became a successful newspaperman and moved to Jasper County, Missouri, about 1887.

After arriving in Webb City, Shelton established the Carterville Journal and ran the paper for four years. He sold the Carterville Journal and accepted a position as editor on the Joplin News. Shelton held this position for a year and then returned to Webb City, where he purchased the Webb City Sentinel and acted as editor for four years.

He sold the Sentinel and in 1900 he founded the Carterville Evening Record, running the paper for four years until ill health forced him to give up the work.

T.J. Shelton’s step-daughter, Jessie McFain Moody. and her husband, Harry Ellsworth Moody, took over the operation of the newspaper.

T.J. “Jeff” Shelton died on Jan. 7, 1907, and is buried in Carterville Cemetery.

H.E. Moody was born Sept. 9, 1867, in Jerseyville, Ill., and Jessie Edna McFain was also born there on March 22, 1868.

The couple were married on Dec. 19, 1890, in Carterville, and their son, Ellsworth, was born on April 27, 1892.

The Moodys ran the Carterville Evening Record until 1920 and then turned it over to Alfred J. Schmidt. Schmidt operated the paper for a few months and then ceased publishing, stating lack of support from the city as the reason.

H.E. and Jessie Moody also operated several mining properties and after the sale of the newspaper, they moved to Joplin where they were active in their church and various organizations.

H.E. died on June 13, 1937, and buried in Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery. The Moodys’ son, Ellsworth, became a doctor in 1912 and established a medical practice in Joplin in 1916. When World War I broke out he enlisted as a medical doctor in the Navy and served from 1917 until 1919. After his service he returned to Joplin to reestablish his medical practice. Dr. Moody specialized in pediatrics and surgery for 26 years until he was tragically killed in a plane crash on June 9, 1945.

Jessie Moody lived to the age of 92, having lived in the Jasper County area for 77 years. She died on Nov. 17, 1960, and is buried alongside her husband and son at Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery in Joplin.