The next “live wire” in the Live Wire series is William F. Bohne. A native of New Orleans, Bohne attended Cornell University, and arrived in Joplin in 1905. His primary business was pumps, a required apparatus of any zinc or lead mine in the Tri-State Mining District due to the ever present desire of the water table to flood the mines. Because of such, his company, W.F. Bohne Machinery Company, was considered one of the more successful enterprises of the district. The company also sold other machinery needed in mines, such as hoists (like the one pictured below). The company was located at 503 Virginia avenue.
By 1930, Bohne still called Joplin home and referred to himself in the 1930 census as a proprietor of machinery.
An ad from the W.F. Bohne Machinery Company from 1927
