Scholten was born on 6 October 1819 in
Loenen. His father was a minister, but his grandfather was a rich farmer. He went to school until the age of 14. In 1836, he worked at a paint factory in Amsterdam, and wanted to establish his own factory. Potato starch factories already existed. The earliest was built in
Gouda in 1819, however all were small and limited to a specific purpose. In 1837, at the age of 17 he started experimenting at his uncle's farm, and in 1839 built a factory in
Warnsveld which burned down in 1840. In 1879, after disappointing results, he resigned from the company claiming that he was too old. However, he did invest in other shipping lines. In 1873, he was asked to participate in a
peat exploitation project in
Emmer-Compascuum in
Drenthe. He would end up acquiring the Smeulveen, and the Barger-Oosterveen. In 1903, his son Jan Evert renamed Smeulveen and the village its contained
Klazienaveen after his mother. It is one of the two villages in the Netherlands named after a non-royal woman. In 1882, Scholten built a residential home on the , the main square, opposite the
City Hall. On 6 October 1889, his 70th birthday, he donated a children's hospital to the city of Groningen. Scholten died on 1 May 1895 in Groningen, at the age of 75. He was buried in a monument in Zuiderbegraafplaats. == Scholtenhuis ==