USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 15
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In the educational field Dr. Chancellor has won distinction. In 1885 he became one of the founders of the Beaumont Hospital Medical College and filled the chalr of cutaneous and venereal ยท diseases for five years, when he resigned on account of his growing private practice. Throughout his professional career he has continued to write largely for the leading medical journals and is regarded as a clear, forceful and impressive lecturer. His utterances in the Kansas City, Missouri State and Ameri- can Medical Associations are always listened to with eagerness, the profession recog- nizing that his opinions are well worth while. He had been a resident of St. Louis for but four years when in 1884 the St. Louis University conferred upon him the hon- orary Master of Arts degree. Among his many valuable contributions to medical liter- ature are the following: Researches Upon the Treatment of Delirium Tremens, 1881; Successful Operations for the Deformity of Burnt Wrist, 1881; Treatment of Diabetes Insipidus, 1883; Gonorrheal Articular Rheumatism, 1883; Syphilis in Men, 1884; Causes of Social Depravity and a Remedy, 1885; Woman in her Social Sphere, 1885; Marriage Philosophy, 1886.
There is a most interesting military chapter in the life record of Dr. Chancellor, who in 1883 became a private of Company H, First Regiment of the Missouri National Guard. In 1886 he was advanced to the rank of captain of the medical department of the First Regiment and in 1891 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel as medical director of the First Brigade of the Missouri National Guard. In the same year he was one of the organizers and coworkers with Colonel Nicholas Senn and became a charter member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. He was chosen secretary and editor of the organization and continued to serve in the dual capacity until 1898. It was through his efforts that the first annual meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons was held in St. Louis in 1892 and on that occasion he was chairman of the entertainment committee. A recognition of the value of his contribution to the work of the National Guard is indicated in the fact that in 1893 he was made an honorary member of the Illinois organization. In 1895 he became a member of the Medico-Legal Society of New York. For an extended period Dr. Chancellor has been a member of the St. Louis Medical Society and in the decade of the '80s served for several years as. corresponding secretary thereof. It was also in that decade that he was chosen representative from the St. Louis Medical Society to the International Medical Congress, held in Washington, D. C. In November, 1896, he was made the delegate from the St. Louis Medical Society to the Pan American Medical Congress which met in the city of Mexico, being the only delegate from this part of the United States and not only was he accorded the honors due his position as a delegate to the convention but was also entertained by President Diaz when in that republic. In 1896 he spent almost a year visiting leading clinics in Europe and in that year was official delegate to the British Medical Association at London from the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. In 1902 he was Elected vice president of the American Congress of Tuberculosis and in 1903 was made a member of the American Electro-Therapeutic Association. In 1904 he served as chairman of the finance committee for the fourteenth annual meeting of the Associa- tion of Military Surgeons of the United States, held at St. Louis during the Louisiana
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Purchase Exposition. On the 9th of November, 1918, he received a commission in the United States Volunteer Medical Service Corps, No. 9895. It would be almost impossi- ble to say which branch of his professional service has brought to him greatest promi- nence. Of him it has been written: "Personally he is one of the most genial of men, possessed of a vast amount of personal magnetism, and as a gentleman, civilian-soldier and a physician, his werd is as good of his bond."
JOHN FELIX VALLE.
John Felix Valle, secretary of the Desloge Consolidated Lead Company of St. Louis, was born on the 14th of December, 1861, in the city which is still his home, his parents being John B. and Lucie (Desloge) Valle, who were also natives of Missouri. The father was born in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, in 1820, and repre- sented one of the oldest and most prominent French families of the state. His parents were Francois B. and Catherine (Beauvais) Valle. The ancestry is traced back to Pierre La Vallee, the first of the name in America, who emigrated from Rouen, France, to Canada about the year 1660. He was born in 1645 and was the son of Pierre La Vallee and Madeleine Dumesnil, of the parish of St. Saens in the district of Rouen. Pierre La Vallee, the emigrant, was married at Quebec. January 12, 1665, to Marie Therese Le Blanc, who was born in 1651, a daughter of Leonard Le Blanc and Marie Riton. They had ten children, the seventh in order of birth being Charles La Vallee, who was born in 1679 and was married at Beauport, September 12; 1707, to Genevieve Marcou. He died February 22, 1753, at the age of seventy-five years, and his wife died May 9, 1756. They were parents of twelve children. The fifth in order of birth was Francois La Vallee, the ancestor of the Valle family of Missouri. He was brave and adventurous and left his family home at Beauport to seek his fortune in the Mississippi valley. Some time prior to 1748 he arrived at Kaskaskia, the commercial center of the Illinois country. In that year he married Marianne Billeron, dit Lafatigue, and not long afterward removed to Ste. Genevieve on the Missouri side of the Mississippi. There is a tradition in the family that when it became known that the Spanish authorities were to take possession of Upper Louisiana, many of the inhabitants of Ste. Genevieve wished to leave and in great excitement went to Francois Vallee and threatened to kill him if he would not accompany them. This he refused to do. A day or two later, when Don Pedro Piernas, Spanish officer in command, arrived, Francois Vallee met his request for food and supplies, although he could not help regarding the Spaniards as intruders. Piernas and Vallee, however, became friends and when the former assumed the governorship of Upper Louisiana at St. Louis, Francois Vallee was made commandant of the Post Ste. Genevieve and civil and military judge of the settlement, which office he held until his death in 1783. It is thought that it was about this time, 1770, that the second "e" in the name was dropped and thereafter Francois Valle thus signed all his official papers, although it is said that in his private letters he continued to use the double vowel. He was married January 7, 1748, to Marianne Billeron, who was born in 1729 and died in 1781. The Spanish census of Upper Louisiana for 1787 gives a record of the Valle families of Ste. Genevieve, including the following: "Don Francisco Valle, aged twenty-nine; Donna Maria, his wife, aged twenty- eight; Francisco, Marie and Juliana, their children; thirty-nine slaves; three houses on his place; products for the year were eight hundred and ninety minots of wheat, twelve hundred pounds of tobacco, two hundred pounds of salt, eleven hundred minots of corn. He was a lieutenant of militia; forty-seven persons dwelt in his establishment."
The fifth child of Francois and Marianne (Billeron) Valle was Jean Baptiste Valle, who was born September 25, 1760, and died August 3, 1849. He became the grandfather of John B. Valle. On the 7th of January, 1783, he married Jeanne Barbeau. After the death of Francois Valle, the founder of the family in Missouri, the position of commandant at Ste. Genevieve was filled by several others and eventually by Francois Valle, the brother of Jean Baptiste Valle, who succeeded to that office upon his brother's death in 1804 but served for less than a year, owing to the purchase of the Louisiana territory by the Americans. He was one
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of the most influential citizens of his section and was greatly beloved, being called Pere Valle by his relatives. In 1804 he was appointed justice of the general quar- ter sections of the peace by William Henry Harrison, then governor of Indiana. Territory and the district of Louisiana.
His second son, Francois B. Valle, was born in 1785 and died July 30, 1851. He married Catherine Beauvais, who died June 3, 1854, aged sixty-seven years. Their children were: Amedee, who married Marie Louise Sarrade and is now deceased; Mary, the wife of Anthony La Grave; Neree, who married Aglae Chou- teau, a daughter of Henry Chouteau; Clotilde, the wife of Adolf Rozier, of New Orleans; John B., father of John Felix Valle of this review; Francis, who is de- ceased; and Juliette, the wife of Dr. Thomas Reyburn.
John B. Valle removed to St. Louis in early manhood and here engaged in the commission business, meeting with very substantial success for several years. He then became interested in mining near Fredericktown, in Madison county, and was widely known as one of the foremost representatives of mining interests in the state. He likewise assisted in promoting various business enterprises of im- portance in St. Louis and his contribution to the city's development and upbuild- ing was a distinct and vital one. He passed away in St. Louis, August 22, 1869, at the age of forty-nine years. He was a democrat in politics and his opinions carried weight in party councils, but he was never an aspirant for office. His widow survived him for many years, passing away in 1918, at the age of eighty- two.
John Felix Valle, who was one of a family of three children, was educated in the public schools of St. Louis and in the manual training school of the Wash- ington University at Eighteenth street and Washington avenue. He was a mem- ber of the first class graduated from this department, completing his course in 1883. For a short time thereafter he was associated with a grain commission house and then became identified with the lead industry, being made secretary of the old Desloge Lead Company. In 1886 the plant was destroyed by fire and they sold their properties. In 1889, however, they purchased other properties and organized the Desloge Consolidated Lead Company, of which John F. Valle became the secretary. Through much of his life therefore he has been connected with the development of the lead mines and the marketing of the product and his business is now one of gratifying and extensive proportions.
In 1912 John F. Valle was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Holland, of New York city. He and his wife are members of the New Cathedral Catholic church and Mr. Valle is also a member of the St. Louis Country Club. In poli- tics he maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment with little regard for party ties. He ranks with the leading and repre- sentative men of St. Louis and his entire record is a credit to that of an honored ancestry, his family having for several generations been one of the most dis- tinguished and represenattive French families of the state.
RAYMOND F. MCNALLY.
The strong and substantial banking concerns of St. Louis have drawn to them a coterie of capable business men who have thoroughly acquainted themselves with every phase of the banking business and have displayed initiative in the de- velopment of interests controlled by the banks and the activities over which they have a supervising interest. Well known in the financial circles of St. Louis is Raymond F. McNally, the vice president and cashier of the National Bank of Commerce. Missouri numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in Chillicothe, November 21, 1879. His father, Thomas McNally, came to the United States from Ireland in 1869, and made his way across the country to Missouri. For many years he was successfully engaged in the contracting business, furnishing ties to railroads. Settling in Chillicothe, he afterward became the organizer and was the president of the Citizens' National Bank of that place and remained a well known figure in financial circles until his death in 1899. His religious faith was that of the Roman Catholic church and his political belief that of the democratic party. He served for four years in the office of county
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treasurer and was active, prominent and influential in his community. He mar- ried Ida Fitzpatrick, who was born in Canada and now resides with one of her children at La Salle, Illinois. They had a family of two sons and three daughters, all of whom are yet living.
Raymond F. McNally, who was the first-born in the family, was educated in the parochial schools of Chillicothe and in the Christian Brothers College of St. Louis, from which he was graduated on the completion of the collegiate course with the class of 1898. Throughout his business connection he has been identi- fied with banking. He was first elected cashier of the Citizens' National Bank at Chillicothe, Missouri, in 1901 and remained in that position for fourteen years, contributing in large measure to the success and growth of the business. He was then elected vice president of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company of St. Louis and for two years remained with that corporation. He was next chosen vice president of the National Bank of Commerce in January, 1918, and in the following November was made both vice president and cashier, occupying the dual position at the present time. He has been the president of the clearing house section of the American Bankers Association and is now the president of the Mis- souri Bankers Association, connections that indicate his high standing among the leading financiers of the country.
In 1909 Mr. McNally was united in marriage to Miss Annabelle Quinn, daugh- ter of Joseph P. Quinn, of St. Louis, and they have three children: Raymond F., who is now nine years of age and is attending school; Mary Gray, eight years of age, also in school; and Gerald, a little lad of four years.
Mr. McNally belongs to the Cathedral parish of the Roman Catholic church and is a member of St. Louis Council of the Knights of Columbus, heing a past state deputy of the order. He is treasurer of the St. Louis Club and is connected also with the Missouri Athletic Association, the Bellerive Country Club, the Auto- moblle Club and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a democrat and keeps well informed on the vital questions and issues of the day. He has never sought nor desired political preferment but has done much important public work. He is treasurer of the St. Louis Convention Bureau, which has secured so many important conventions for the city, and is treasurer of the New Coustitution Association, while in many other ways he has contributed to the work of making known to the world the advantages and opportunities which St. Louis offers. He has been an extensive reader, especially on matters of finance, and is a man of strong and forceful character and of magnetic personality. He is quick of decision and his sterling worth has gained for him hosts of warm friends.
ERNEST JOHN RUSSELL.
Ernest John Russell, a national figure in architectural circles and member of the firm of Mauran, Russell & Crowell of St. Louis, was born in London, England, March 5, 1870, his parents being John Stokes and Mary J. (Mayhew) Russell, the former now deceased. Early in the '70s the parents came with their family to the new world and after six months spent in Chicago proceeded to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for it was the condition of his health that caused the father to seek a change of climate in the United States. There he largely lived retired, although he devoted some attention to ranching to the time of his death, which occurred in 1880, when he was forty-six years of age. The mother yet makes her home at Colorado Springs. The family numbered nine children, five sons and four daughters.
Ernest John Russell, the eldest of the family, after completing his public school education at Colorado Springs began providing for his own support when a youth of fifteen years by serving as a messenger boy with the Western Union. His service in that connection, however, covered but twenty-four hours. He quit hecause the man- ager would not allow him to go home for dinner and soon afterward he secured a position as office boy with Frank T. Lent, of Colorado Springs, a prominent architect, under whom he studied. Developing his powers along that line, he made rapid prog- ress and from 1896 to 1900 was connected with Shipley, Ristaue & Collidge who dis- continued in 1900 when he entered upon the practice of the profession on his own account as a member of the firm of Mauran, Russell & Garden in St. Louis. Fol-
ERNEST J. RUSSELL
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lowing the withdrawal of Mr. Garden, the other partners were joined by Mr. Crowell, forming the present firm of Mauran, Russell & Crowell, a connection which has been maintained since 1911. Evidence of their superior ability is found in the many fine buildings for which they have made the plans. They were the architects of the Railway Exchange building, the Laclede Gas Light building, the Second Baptist church, the First Church of Christ, Scientist, the Federal Reserve Bank building, all of St. Louis; the Rice Hotel and municipal auditorium at Houston, Texas; the Galvez Hotel at Galveston; the Gunter Hotel of San Antonio; the Lee Huckins Hotel of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and many other prominent structures at various points in the country. Not only does this firm rank with the leading architects of St. Louis but enjoys a wide reputation in other sections of the country, Mr. Russell being regarded as one of America's leading architects and he is undoubtedly the best engineer in St. Louis. He was a national delegate to the international meeting of architects in London and he is consulted upon all national architectural problems. Thoroughly grounded in the essentials of his profession, his resourcefulness inspires confidence and his indefatigable energy retains it. In the local chapter of the Amer- ican Institute of Architects as well as in the conventions and councils of the insti- tute itself he has always been a leader of thought and action. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and has been president of the St. Louis chapter, while in the national organization he has been made chairman of the jurisdictional disputes committee and chairman of the sub-committee on cooperation with related interests.
On the 25th of September, 1895, at Springfield, Ohio, Mr. Russell was married to Miss Elizabeth B. Dunlap, a native of the Buckeye state and a daughter of Dr. Charles and Frances Warder (Bacon) Dunlap. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have two chil- dren, Mary Dunlap and Elizabeth Bacon.
An Episcopalian in religious faith, Mr. Russell has membership in St. Peter's Episcopal church and he is keenly interested in the questions which are of vital importance to the city in connection with its material, intellectual, social, economic and moral problems. He has been an earnest supporter of such activities as social centers and playgrounds and was a member of the St. Louis Public Recreation Com- mission from 1908 until 1909 and again in 1911. He was a member of the St. Louis house of delegates in 1909 and 1911. In the latter year he was made a member of the board of appeals, filling the position for two years. He has served as chairman of the St. Louis City Plans Commission, is a member of the American Society for Testing Materials, a member of the National Housing Conference, the American Town Planning Institute, the National City Planning Conference and of the Civic League. During the World war he served on the United States Shipping Board and was assistant chief of production and of the housing division of the board.
Mr. Russell's interests center in St. Louis, where he has been admitted to mem- bership in practically every social club of importance in the city, including the Uni- versity, St. Louis, Racquet, Noonday and Bellerive Country Clubs. In this connec- tion one who has long known him said; "He is one of the most lovable and beloved men in St. Louis. * * * He is noted for his poise at the speaker's table, making no attempt at rhetorical show, but recognized as a forceful speaker on account of his direct and concise treatment of any subject undertaken. He goes straight to the point briefly and leaves nothing misunderstood." He is a reader of the best litera- ture, attends the best plays and the best operas. In a word, Mr. Russell is never content with the second best, whether in the line of recreation or entertainment, .
in the promotion of great civic interests or in the exercise of his professional activity.
J. HOWARD TOMPKINS.
For twenty-three years J. Howard Tompkins has been connected with the paper trade and throughout the entire period has been associated with one firm. His operations are now carried on as the vice president of the Mississippi Valley Paper Company of St. Louis and he has here been largely instrumental in the building up of a very substantial business. He was born in Chippewa Falls, Wis- consin, December 4, 1875, and is a son of Ira Gale and Demaris (Ide) Tompkins,
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the former a native of New York while the latter was born in Vermont, the marriage, however, being celebrated in the Empire state.
J. Howard Tompkins obtained a public school education in Chicago and also attended the Lake Forest University, at Lake Forest, Illinois, just outside of Chi- cago. He started out in the business world in 1897 as an employe of the J. W. But- ler Paper Company of Chicago and held several positions with the parent com- pany in that city, gaining steadily a more comprehensive knowledge of the trade until now he is the vice president of the Mississippi Valley Paper Company of St. Louis which is a suhsiduary company of the Chicago house with which he started upon his business career. There is today no phase of the paper trade with which Mr. Tompkins is not thoroughly familiar and his progressiveness and his enterprise have been dominant factors in the extension of the trade through the St. Louis territory.
In Chicago, in June, 1905, Mr. Tompkins was married to Miss Lorena, who passed away in 1911. He belongs to the Christian Science church, is a member of the Algon- quin Club, the Missouri Athletic Association, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the St. Louis Art League, the Chamber of Commerce and the National Paper Trade Association. These various membership relations indicate the trend of his interests and activities and, moreover, he is identified with the Masonic fraternity, having membership in Tuscan Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; St. Louis Chapter, R. A. M .; and Ascalon Commandery, K. T. His political allegiance is given to the republican party which receives his stalwart support although he has never been an aspirant for office. The firm with which he has so long heen connected has claimed his undivided allegi- ance and he has made for himself a creditable name and position in the business world.
PAUL JONES.
The possibility for contributing to the welfare and improvement of a city through real estate operations has been recognized by Paul Jones from the outset of his career in this field of business and he takes a justifiable pride in putting upon the market some of the most attractive residence subdivisions of St. Louis. His lahors have indeed been a potent element in adding to the beauty of St. Louis and the Paul Jones Realty Company has long figured prominently in the business circles of Missouri's metropolis. Mr. Jones was born in Huntingdon, Carroll County, Tennessee, January 31, 1861. His father, Le Grande Michaux Jones, was a distinguished lawyer of western Tennessee and a soldier of the Mexican war who served as sergeant major under Colonel William T. Haskell. His mother's maiden name was Cassandra Harris Woods. She was a great-granddaughter of James Dinwiddie, a nephew of Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia. In the paternal line Mr. Jones is of Welsh and French descent, and the Le Grand and Michaux families were French Huguenots who were driven to this country by the fierce persecution during the reign of Louis XIV. His maternal ancestors were Scotch and Irish. Both lines were represented in the Colonial army during the Revolutionary war.
Paul Jones attended the public schools of his native city and afterward became a student in the Peabody high school of Trenton, Tennessee. Later he was for two years a student in the Southwestern Baptist University at Jackson, Tennessee, and then entered upon the study of law in the office of his father at Trenton. At the age of twenty-three years he became clerk and master of the chancery court of the ninth judicial district of Tennessee and served in that capacity most acceptably for several years. In October, 1887, he came to St. Louis, where he entered the law office of his brother, Silas B. Jones, a leading member of the bar of this city. Ill health forced Paul Jones to abandon professional work after a year and a half and for some time thereafter he gave his attention to the fire insurance business. In September, 1890, however, he entered the real estate field, becoming senior member of the firm of Paul Jones & Company, operations being carried on under that firm name until 1911, when the business was incorporated as the Paul Jones Realty Com- pany. A contemporary writer has said: "Mr. Jones has aided very largely in the material development of the business centers of the city and also in the developing of the beautiful residence districts of St. Louis. Through his efforts the westward
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