USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 10
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On the 2d of November, 1895, in. St. Louis, Mr. Hertenstein was married to Miss Ida Belle Grayson, a native of Indiana and a daughter of the late William Grayson, who was a representative of one of the old families of the Hoosier state. Mr. Hertenstein belongs to Keystone Lodge No. 243, A. F. & A. M .; Belle- fontaine Chapter, R. A. M .; and to Hope Lodge No. 186, K. P. He is likewise a member of the Century Boat Club and of the Riverview Club. He is most chari- table and is constantly extending a helping hand wherever it is needed. He makes a very convincing speech, being able to present his cause with clearness and force. He is essentially a diplomat, possessing sound common sense, and is a a tireless worker. He can meet any problem and work it out without confusion, is thoroughly reliable and has been successful in everything that he has undertaken.
H. EDMUND WIEDEMANN.
H. Edmund Wiedemann, consulting chemist of St. Louis, was born In Harrls- burg, Saline county, Illinois, April 1, 1882, a son of Edward W. and Sarah (Diet- rich) Wiedemann, the former a native of Germany who came to America in 1849, and first settled in Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Illinois in 1868, estab- lishing his home in Harrisburg where he resided to the time of his death, which occurred in 1919, he having reached the advanced age of eighty-two years. He was a merchant and successfully followed business for an extended period. His widow is a native of Pennsylvania and a representative of the old families of that state of German lineage, founded, however, in America prior to the Revolutionary war. The ancestry can be traced back to John Heiser, who was the great great grandfather of Mr. Wiedemann of this review, and who served as a soldier in the War for Independence, and Mrs. Wiedemann is still a resident of Harrisburg. By her marriage she became the mother of three sons and two daughters of whom H. Edmund of this review is the fourth in order of birth.
At the usual age he began his education in the public schools, passing through consecutive grades to the high school of Harrisburg, while later he became a student in Rose Polytechnic Institute at Terre Haute, Indiana, from which he was gradu- ated In 1903 with the degrees of Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Chemical Engineer. Following his graduation he entered upon the practice of his profession in St. Louis in 1905, the Interval having been spent as a chemist with the firm of Morris & Company of Chicago. Since coming to St. Louis he has continued in private practice and has been very successful. In 1912 he was employed as state chemist by the food and drug department of Missouri, and has since filled that position. He was also lecturer on chemistry in the manual training depart- ment in the Washington University from 1909 until 1911 inclusive, and since 1910
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has been the treasurer of the Academy of Science in St. Louis. He has contributed many articles to scientific journals having to do with his profession. At the time of the signing of the armistice he was manager of the explosive section of the St. Louis district of the ordnance department, his territory extending to the Pacific coast.
In East St. Louis, Illinois, on the 24th of November, 1910, Mr. Wiedemann was married to Miss Amy L. Buchanan, who was born in St. Louis a daughter of Sam- uel and Laura E. (Jacobs) Buchanan, representatives of one of the old familles of St. Louis. Mr. Wiedemann and his wife are members of the Second Presbyterian church. Politically he is a democrat when national questions and issues are in- volved but in local elections casts an independent ballot. He belongs to Uni- versity Lodge, A. F. & A. M., is also a member of the University Club of St. Louis, the Sons of the American Revolution, the American Chemical Society, and the Engineers' Club of St. Louis.
I. RAY L. WILES.
I. Ray L. Wiles, president of the Wiles-Chipman Lumber Company, belongs to that class of thorough-going and representative business men whose efforts have been a vital force in the upbuilding of St. Louis. He was born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, August 2, 1877, a son of Captain Isaac Wiles, who became a pioneer settler of Nebraska, where he followed farming and stock breeding, also engaged in importing thoroughbred cattle. He was first lieutenant of Company H, in Colonel Robert W. Furnas' Second Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry, organized in the fall of 1862 as a nine months' regiment which served about one year. During the greater part of the time it was attached to General Sully's command and participated in the campaigns of that general against the hostile Indians in western Nebraska and Dakota. At the battle of White Stone Hill, in Dakota, in September, 1863, the casualties in the Second Nebraska were seven men killed, fourteen wounded and ten missing, five horses killed, nine wounded and nine missing.
Isaac Wiles was also commissioned captain of Company B of the First Regiment, Second Brigade, mustered into service August 13, 1864, and served six months of similar warfare. His prominence in the public life of the community was manifest in the fact that he served in the seventh and twelfth territorial and second, third and fourth state sessions of the legislature of Nebraska. Among other things of which he and his family may be proud, he entered the bill which provided for the Great Seal of Nebraska, of the design and device following: "The eastern part of the circle to be represented by a steamboat ascending the Missouri River, the mechanic arts to be represented by a smith with hammer and anvil in the foreground, agriculture to be represented by a settler's cabin, sheaves of wheat and stalks of growing corn; in the background a train of cars heading toward the Rocky Mountains and on the extreme west the Rocky Moun- tains to be plainly in view; around the top of the circle to be in capital letters the motto 'Equality before the Law' and the circle to be surrounded with the words 'Great Seal of the State of Nebraska, March 1, 1867.'"
Session Laws of the State of Nebraska, 1867, Page 57.
House Journal of State Legislature of Nebraska, Friday, May 31, 1867, Page 123: "Mr. Wiles introduced House Roll No. 41, an act to provide for the seal for the State of Nebraska, read the first time." He was also very active in framing the state constitu- tion and in many ways he left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the new commonwealth taking active part in shaping its destiny and directing its progress. He married Nancy Elizabeth Linville, a native of Missouri, born at Robideaux Landing and a representative of one of the pioneer families of the state. She died in 1918, at the age of seventy-eight years.
I. R. L. Wiles was the youngest in a family of five sons and five daughters. He pursued his education in the public schools of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and his early life to the age of twenty years was spent upon a farm. with the usual experi- ences of a farm bred boy. He then started out in the world on his own account, and was first employed in the supply department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company at Plattsmouth. He continued in railroad service for twelve years and during a part of this time was with the Chicago, Burlington &
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Quincy, with the Wabash and with the Missouri Pacific Railroads, and when with the last named he was supply agent continuing in the position for a year. He then returned to St. Louis and became a stockholder of the O'Neil Lumber Company, while subsequently he was elected to the position of vice president. In 1916 a change occurred in the organization of the business, leading to the adoption of the name of the O'Neil-Wiles Lumber Company, in which Mr. Wiles was retained in the office of vice president. Another change in the personnel of the house led to the adoption in February, 1918, of the firm name of the Wiles- Chipman Lumber Company, at which time Mr. Wiles became the president. This is today the largest capitalized lumber business of St. Louis and its volume of trade exceeds that of any other lumber firm of the city. The development of the trade is attributable in no small measure to the efforts of Mr. Wiles. When he became connected with the lumber industry he studied it from every possible standpoint and his enterprise, sound judgment and careful management have been dominant factors in the continued growth of the business and its constantly expanding success.
Mr. Wiles was married in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, on the 1st of September, 1899, to Miss Grace Ethel Kew, a native of Michigan, and a daughter of William and Sarah D. (Place) Kew. To them has been born a daughter, Thelma Delphine, whose birth occurred at Plattsmouth, May 26, 1901.
Mr. Wiles was very active in support of the various Liberty Loan drives during the war, and also engaged in the manufacture of material for the government. Politically he has always been a republican. He belongs to the Algonquin Club, to the Missouri Athletic Association, and to the Christian church, associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules which have gov- erned his conduct. His life record is that of notable advancement from a humble position, for he started out as waterboy on the railroad, in connection with railroad construction work, between Union, Nebraska, and Omaha. Along the lines of steady progression he has reached his present place of prominence as the head of the Wiles-Chipman Lumber Company, the leading lumber concern of the city, and in 1919 he was honored with the presidency of the St. Louis Lumber Trade Exchange. There is no man in St. Louis who is more familiar with the lumber industry nor - has done more in recent years to promote progress in this field of business than has I. R. L. Wiles, whose opinions are accepted as expert and whose activity has done much to make St. Louis an important lumber center.
JOHN R. LIONBERGER.
In the annals of St. Louis the name of John R. Lionberger figures prominently, for as merchant and banker he left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the history of city and state. He was born in Luray, Page county, Virginia, August 20, 1829, and was in the sixty-fifth year of his age when death ended his labors on the 20th of May, 1894. His ancestral history was one of close connec- tion with a most picturesque and romantic epoch in the development of the new world. The Lionberger ancestors were of French Huguenot stock and came to the new world with William Penn. The great-grandmother of John R. Lionberger was killed in the Indian massacre at Luray Cave and the history of that cave is closely interwoven with the history of the family. It was toward the close of the eighteenth century that representatives of the name established their home in Page county, Virginia, where Isaac Lionberger, father of John R. Lionberger, was born and reared. In early manhood he sought the opportunities of the growing west and became one of the pioneer residents of Missouri in 1836, establishing his home in Boonville, Cooper county. There he followed general mercantile pursuits and was widely recognized as a man of affairs in that section of the state for many years. His fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth and ability, called him to the office of sheriff and he also served as judge of the county court, while he was also a local director of the old State Bank of Missouri, which at that period was the most important banking house west of the Mississippi. Isaac Lionberger wedded Miss Mary Tutt, daughter of Philip and Elizabeth (Ashby) Tutt, who were also natives of Virginia and were of Scotch-Irish descent. The grandfather in the ma-
JOHN R. LIONBERGER
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ternal line was Captain John Ashby, while the grandfather in the paternal line was Lieutenant Charles Tutt, both of whom were soldiers of the Revolutionary war, entering the army as representatives of the Virginia line.
Physical and intellectual vigor came to John R. Lionberger as a legitimate in- heritance from worthy ancestors. Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished and happy is he if his lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. John R. Lionherger was a worthy scion of his race in per- son, in talents and in character. Superior educational advantages were accorded him and after attending the Kemper Academy of Boonville, Missouri, he matricu- lated in the State University at Columbia, when a youth of sixteen years. There he pursued a classical course and on its completion became actively engaged in commercial pursuits, conducting a store at Boonville for some time.
The year 1855 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Lionberger in St. Louis. He was well equipped and well trained for life's practical and responsible duties and the field of commerce offered in the growing Missouri metropolis was to him an entic- ing one. Here he established, under the firm style of Lionberger & Shields, a wholesale boot and shoe business and almost immediately became recognized as one of the alert, wide-awake and progressive merchants of the city. After two years he purchased his partner's interest and for a time carried on business alone but afterward was joined by junior partners under the firm style of J. R. Lionberger & Company. The house won a wide reputation, enjoying an extensive trade dur- ing the middle portion of the nineteenth century, Mr. Lionberger remaining an active factor in its control until 1868, when he sold his interest and retired from the mercantile field, in which he had won a well merited reputation for high character and integrity of purpose as well as for successful management. Soon afterward he became actively identified with various enterprises which featured prominently in the growth and development of St. Louis and some of which were of a semi-public nature. He took helpful part in developing the transportation system of St. Louis and in promoting its banking interests and was a leading spirit in bringing about the construction of the Eads bridge, serving as one of the directors of the bridge company from the inception of the enterprise and also as a member of the executive and construction committees. Later he became inter- ested in the building of the North Missouri Railroad and its completion to Kansas City and the Iowa state line, and for an extended period he was president of the St. Joseph & St. Louis Railroad Company. He entered banking circles in 1857 as one of the organizers of the old Southern Bank, of which he served as a director and as vice president. Upon the reorganization of the bank in 1864 under the national banking law, and the adoption of the name of the Third National Bank of St. Louis, Mr. Lionberger continued to be a large shareholder and in 1867 was elected to the presidency, thus serving until 1876, when he resigned for the purpose of making an extended trip abroad. Upon his return to America Mr. Lionberger was elected vice president of the hank and he also became one of the founders of the St. Louis Clearing House Association, serving on its first committee of management, of which he was made chairman. He was likewise a member and director of the Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the building commit- tee which had in charge the erection of the Merchants Exchange. He was promi- nently known as a representative of the Board of Trade and was twice sent as its local delegate to the National Board of Trade. In the later years of his life he became associated with the Union Depot Storage & Shipping Company, which in 1881 erected an elevator with a capacity of seven hundred and sixty thousand bushels of grain. Mr. Lionberger was likewise one of the organizers of the St. Louis Safe Deposit Company and he was also interested in the earlier development of the street railway system of St. Louis and owned a large block of its stock.
In 1851 occurred the marriage of Mr. Lionherger and Miss Margaret Clark- son, daughter of Dr. Henry Clarkson, of Columbia, curator of the State University . of Missouri. The children born of this union were: Marion, who became the wife of John D. Davis and is now deceased; Isaac H .; Margaret, who married Henry S. Potter and has passed away; and Mary, who completes the family.
In political belief Mr. Lionberger was a democrat, stanchly upholding Jef- fersonian principles. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church and he closely followed its teachings. He was constantly extending a helping hand where aid was needed and his life was indeed blessed by reason of the "little
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ministries that filled the long years." A believer in the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God, he did everything in his power to ameliorate hard conditions of life for the unfortunate and his life was at all times a stimulating influence for good among those with whom he was associated. While he has passed on, his memory remains as a blessed benediction to all who knew him and is cherished in the hearts of all who were associated with him.
FRANK HERBERT HASKINS.
Frank Herbert Haskins, specializing in corporation and commercial law, who entered upon general practice in St. Louis in 1892, was born in Peoria, Illi- nois, January 10, 1867, his parents being L. F. and Juliet S. Haskins. The father passed away in 1885 and the mother is now living in Los Angeles, California.
Frank Herbert Haskins has been a resident of St. Louis since 1874. His father had engaged in the wholesale grocery business in Peoria and after re- moving to St. Louis devoted his attention to the brokerage business. The mother comes from an old pioneer family of Illinois well known in Springfield. In the family were but two children, the brother being Archie F., who died in 1899.
Frank H. Haskins was a lad of but seven years when the family came to St. Louis, where he remained a public school student until seventeen years of age and afterward devoted five years to a law course at Washington University, from which he was graduated in 1893 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He had been admitted to the bar in 1892. His first business experience had come to him through seven years' connection with George D. Capen, a well known figure in insurance circles in St. Louis. With his admission to the bar Mr. Haskins entered upon the general practice of law and is now giving his attention largely to cor- poration and commercial law, being also widely known as a most able counselor. He is a deep thinker, a clear reasoner and prepares his cases with the utmost thoroughness and care, while his devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial.
Mr. Haskins is a member of the Episcopal church and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He resides at the Missouri Athletic Club, is also a member of the Algonquin Golf Club and Automobile Club and has always manifested a keen interest in those things which have to do with 'progress and improvement in the city. During the war period he was a government appeals attorney and a member of the Home Guard, the age limit preventing him from being accepted for active service. He is a 32d degree Mason, a Knight Templar, and a member of the Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
GEORGE SIBLEY JOHNS.
George Sibley Johns, editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was born in St. Charles, Missouri, on the 27th of December, 1857, his parents being John J. and Jane A. (Durfee) Johns. In the acquirement of his education he attended private grammar schools in St. Charles and later was a student in Kemper's family school at Boonville, Missouri. He then entered Princeton University from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1880 and after completing his course there devoted some time to the study of law, with a brief service on the Evening News of Philadelphia. In 1882 he turned his attention to journalism, establishing the St. Charles Journal which he conducted as editor and proprietor until 1883. He then became a representative of newspaper interests in St. Louis by joining the reportorial staff of the Post-Dispatch. Through the intervening period of thirty-eight years he has been identified with this paper, and two short periods with the New York World, advancing steadily through the positions of city editor, dramatic critic and managing editor to that of editor, reaching the last named position in 1898 and so continuing to the present time. The Post-Dis- patch ranks as one of the leading papers of the Mississippi valley, its wide circula- tion being due in large measure to the interest in the editorials from the pen of
Fios Photo
FRANK H. HASKINS
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Mr. Johns. Under his direction the editorial page through its independent policies became a powerful influence.
Mr. Johns has been identified with a number of interests and organizations out- side of his special newspaper work. He helped to promote and made the first address at the school of journalism at the State University. He has been a member of the St. Louis Artists Guild since its inception; has served for many years on its board of directors and was for several years its president. He is a member of the American Federation of Arts. He was chairman of the executive committee and supervised the St. Louis exposition of arts and crafts here in November, 1919- the first general exposition of its kind held in America. He served two terms as president of the Princeton Alumni Association and was a director of the Western Association of Princeton Clubs. Under his presidency and through his efforts the building of the Artists Guild was erected. He was one of the founders and the first vice president of the St. Louis Art League and has been a member of the board of governors continuously. He was one of the organizers and a member of the board of directors of the Burns Cottage Association which erected a replica of the Burns cottage at the World's Fair with an exhibition of Burns manuscripts and relics, out of which subsequently grew the Burns Club with a permanent room in the St. Louis Artists Guild. He is vice president of the club. He has been a member of the advisory committee of the Pulitzer College of Journalism at Columbia Uni- versity, New York, since the foundation of the college.
He is a member of the University, City, and Sunset Hill Golf clubs. He has a country place near St. Louis where he spends most of his leisure time, dividing his interest between amateur farming and golf.
THEODORE J. HARDER.
Theodore J. Harder, chief rater with the insurance firm of W. H. Markham & Company of St. Louis, is a native son of the city in which he resides, his birth hav- ing here occurred July 20, 1877. His father, Adam Harder, was born in Germany and came to America in 1870. He engaged in the furnace and range business under the name of O'Connor & Harder, this being one of the first firms to carry on a business of that character in St. Louis. They were located at No. 615 Olive street, where the Railway Exchange building now stands. Mr. Harder won a substantial measure of success in his business in which he continued active to the time of his death, which occurred in 1886. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Emma Hennemann, « was born in St. Louis, and was a daughter of Theodore F. and Emma (Dieckmann) Hennemann. Her father was one of the first locksmiths in St. Louis doing business at No. 218 Locust street. To Mr. and Mrs. Harder were born five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom Theodore J. is the eldest. The others are Clara, the wife of Francis H. Miller, who is an accountant with W. H. Markham & Com- pany; Ida, a sister of the Holy Cross at Notre Dame, Indiana; Robert C., a Jesuit priest of the St. Louis University; and Albert M.
Theodore J. Harder was educated in St. Joseph's school and in the St. Louis University, in which he continued his studies for three years. From 1893 until 1912 he was with the St. Louis Board of Fire Underwriters, beginning as a clerk and rising to the position of chief rater. On the 1st of October, 1912, he became connected with W. H. Markham & Company, entering their employ as chief rater and continuing with them to the present time in that position, which is one of large responsibility. His thoroughness and broad experience have weli qualified him for the important duties that devolve upon him.
On the 23d of September, 1903, in St. Louis, Mr. Harder was married to Miss Isabel Gorla, a daughter of John and Pauline (Valette) Gorla, the former a representative of an Italian family while the latter is of French descent. The mar- riage of Mr. and Mrs. Harder was celebrated in the Visitation Catholic church. They have become parents of three daughters: Genevieve, born January 23, 1906; Marie, December 10, 1907; and Clare, June 17, 1915.
During the World war Mr. Harder spent much of his time in securing sub- scriptions for the various war activities and made an inspection for the government of the packing plants and grain elevators. In politics he has maintained an inde-
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