USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 16
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PAUL JONES
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trend was started on Washington Avenue. He negotiated the purchases for the three great commercial structures situated on the southeast, northeast and northwest corners of Twelfth street and Washington avenue. One particular residence subdivision which was exclusively handled and developed by Mr. Jones was Hortense Place, known as 'the gem of the city.' Other large and important real estate deals have been managed by him, his negotiations resulting in various realty transfers." Among the more recent subdivisions promoted by him was the Shaw tract, resulting in a million dollar sale. He has also made extensive sales in farm lands in Missouri and Arkanas and he has recently developed the Glen Echo Park, a new subdivision in St. Louis county. There are few men more thoroughly informed concerning property values in the city and state than Mr. Jones and in all that he has undertaken he has been actuated by a most progressive spirit that has brought splendid results in the development and adornment of the city as well as in the improvement of his individual fortunes.
On the 15th of April, 1895, in Chicago, was celebrated the marriage of Paul Jones and Margaret M. Humble, daughter of the late William Pickering Humble. They have four children: Paul, Jr., Margaret Cassandra, Virginia Lee and William Pickering. Paul Jones, Jr., married Miss Helen Moore Watts, daughter of Frank O. Watts, presi- dent of the First National Bank of St. Louis. The daughter, Margaret Cassandra, was married April 15, 1919, to Sherman Leland Whipple, Jr., son of Sherman L. Whipple, a very prominent and brilliant lawyer of Boston.
Mr. Jones is an earnest and active member of the Baptist church, taking an active and helpful part in the various phases of the church work. His political alleg- iance is given to the democratic party where national issues and questions are in- volved, but at local elections he casts an independent ballot. He finds much of his recreation in the game of golf and is a member of the Glen Echo Country Club. He was director of Glen Echo Country Club for many years. He has never made the attainment of wealth the sole end and aim of his life but has found time for coopera- tion in many of those forces which make for the uplift of the individual and the benefit of mankind. His life is actuated by a broad humanitarianism, based upon a belief in the brotherhood of mankind and the obligations thereby imposed.
He was one of the moving spirits in the "Men and Religion Movement" that had so much to do with the bringing together of the various religious denominations of the country.
PAUL JONES, JR.
Paul Jones, Jr., who is engaged in the real estate business in connection with his father in St. Louis, is one of the veterans of the World war, having been connected with the army for twenty-two months and during this period he spent one year on overseas duty in France. He was born in St. Louis, February 13, 1896, and is a son of Paul Jones, mentioned at length on another page of this work. In the acquire- ment of his education he attended Smith Academy from which he was graduated in 1914 and he was a student at Cornell University in 1914 and 1915. He became a mem- ber of the Psi Upsilon during his college days.
With his return to St. Louis Mr. Jones entered the real estate business in connec- tion with his father and has shown remarkable ability in all departments of the work. He has thoroughly informed himself concerning the marketable property and valua- tions and has displayed excellent powers of salesmanship in negotiating real estate transfers.
At America's entrance into the World war Mr. Jones enlisted on the 14th of June, 1917, and served from June 14, 1917, with the Fifth Missouri Infantry later the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Infantry until December, 1917, and then with the One Hun- dred and Tenth Field Signal Battalion of the Thirty-fifth Division. He was on duty in France for a year and was stationed on the Vosges sector in Alsace from the 2d of July until the 31st of August, 1918. He was then in the Meuse-Argonne drive from the 26th of September until the 1st of October and in the St. Mihiel offensive from September 12th to the 17th. On the 16th of October he was sent into the Verdun sector and was there engaged on active duty until the 5th of November. He was promoted to sergeant of the first class in the Signal Corps and was twice mentioned for promo- tion to commissioned rank. He saw much of the hardest fighting in which the Ameri-
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can troops engaged and there was no more brilliant nor more sanguinary engagement than that of the Meuse Argenne, in which he took part, thus aiding in writing a glory page into American history. He received his discharge May 9, 1919, after which he returned home and resumed his place in the business circles of St. Louis as associate of his father.
On the 16th of May, 1919, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Helen Moore Watts, a daughter of F. O. Watts, mentioned elsewhere in this work. He belongs to the Glen Echo Golf Club and he and his wife occupy an enviable position in the younger social circles of St. Louis.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON HANDLAN.
Alexander Hamilton Handlan, starting out to provide for his own support when a youth of seventeen years, has steadily worked his way upward through persistency of purpose, ready adaptability, a recognition and utilization of oppor- tunities, and above all through the most thoroughly reliable methods, his integ- rity in business affairs never being called into question. He is now the president of the Handlan-Buck Manufacturing Company and as such widely known in the commercial circles of St. Louis.
He was born in Wheeling, Virginia, April 25, 1844, and is a son of Alexander Hamilton Handlan, Sr., who was a native of Ohio and of English descent. He was a captain on steamboats on the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers and was also a veteran of the Civil war, having served in Missouri, where his duty was to select pilots for gunhoats during the Civil war. He resided in Cincinnati for many years and from 1886 until the time of his death, which occurred in 1893, when he was eighty-one years of age, he was a resident of Kirkwood, St. Louis county, Missouri. He married Catherine Kineon, who passed away in Ohio in 1895 at the age of seventy-seven years. Their family numbered three sons, all of whom are now living, the eldest being Eugene Young Handlan, who is retired and resides in Cincinnati, while John J. is a farmer of Bourbon, Missouri.
The third member of the family, Alexander H. Handlan, was educated in the public schools and also in Herron Seminary of Cincinnati, but when seventeen years of age ran away from home and made his way to the south. He was first employed as a messenger in a telegraph office at Memphis, Tennessee, at a wage of three dollars per week. He also spent some time in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1861 he removed to St. Louis. Later he returned to Cincinnati and there entered the quartermaster's department, with which he was connected for three years during the period of the Civil war. He was at the battles of Perryville, Kentucky, and Murphysboro, Tennessee. When the war was over he took up his abode in Memphis and there engaged in keeping books for his uncle, James T. Handlan, who was a wholesale and retail hat and shoe merchant, having a branch of the Jesse Arnold house of St. Louis. Mr. Handlan afterward became a resident of Washington county, Mississippi, where he had charge of a plantation for two years, after which he returned to St. Louis and was engaged in the railroad supply business, entering the employ of M. M. Buck in this connection in January, 1869. At that time the business of the house amounted to only about fifteen hundred dollars per month. During the first two months after Mr. Handlan's connection therewith the business increased to over forty thousand dollars and after the first year's service he made arrangements whereby he was to receive a certain per cent of the profits instead of a salary. He thus entered into partner- ship relations and from a humble beginning has been developed the largest rail- road supply house in the United States. In 1895 Mr. Handlan purchased Mr. Buck's interest and he and his family have since conducted the business alone, holding all of the stock. With the purchase of Mr. Buck's interest Mr. Handlan changed the name to the M. M. Buck Manufacturing Company, under which style he carried on the business until 1901, when his three sons, Eugene W., Alexander H., Jr., and Edward R., became partners in the enterprise, at which time the busi- ness was reincorporated under the name of the Handlan-Buck Manufacturing Com- pany, of which Mr. Handlan has since remained the president. The company
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manufactures signal lamps, lanterns, headlights, track drills, metal flags and in fact an entire line of railroad supplies for contractors, machine shops, mills, foundries and mines. Mr. Handlan is also the president of the Handlan Warehouse Company and a director of the Commonwealth Realty Company. He has thus extended his efforts into various fields and his cooperation has constituted an im- portant element in commercial progress in St. Louis.
On the 11th of September, 1866, Mr. Handlan was married in Nashville, Tennessee, to Miss Mollie A. De Prez, a native of Paris, France, and a daughter of Isadore and Francoise De Prez. To Mr. and Mrs. Handlan have been born seven children, four daughters and three sons, who are yet living. These are: Eugene W., who is the vice president and treasurer of the company; Alexander H., Jr., vice president and manager; and Edward R., secretary. The last named enlisted in the army in 1917 as a member of the Three Hundred and Forty-second Field Artillery of the Eighty-ninth Division and was acting colonel of the regiment at the close of the war.
Mr. and Mrs. Handlan have celebrated their golden wedding, and on the 17th of January, 1919, his fiftieth year with the company of which he is now the head. There are thirty-four employes with the house whose service extends over a period of from twelve to fifty-two years.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church, and Mr. Handlan belongs to the Knights of Columbus. His political support is given to the democratic party and while he has never been an office seeker, he does active work in behalf of his city as a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is now one of the directors. He also belongs to the Old Mercantile Club, the Missouri Athletic Association and the Noonday Club. He has a very wide acquaint- ance in St. Louis, where he has now made his home for more than a half century, and throughout this period his record has been marked by a steady progress in business with the wise utilization of his time and opportunities, leading to notable success that may well serve to inspire and encourage others who must begin life as he did empty-handed.
NATHANIEL M. RICE.
While long connected with railroad interests, Nathaniel M. Rice is now the vice president of the Pierce Oil Corporation of St. Louis and in that connection is pro- moting a rapidly developing business. He was born in Rome City, Indiana, Decem- ber 28, 1863, and is a son of the Rev. Harvey D. and Violetta (Montgomery) Rice, the former a clergyman of the Methodist church. He was born in the state of New York and was a representative of one of the old families there of Welsh descent. The great-great-grandfather of Nathaniel M. Rice was the founder of the American branch of the family. The grandfather was also a clergyman and upon the work of the church Harvey D. Rice entered actively as a minister of the Methodist denom- ination. He resided in Missouri from 1875 until 1903, living at various points in the state as he accepted different pastorates. He was a soldier of the One Hun- dredth Indiana Regiment of the Union army during the Cvil war, going to the front as a private. He died in 1914 at the age of seventy-six years, and his wife, a native of Ohio, passed away in Trenton, Missouri, in 1895 at the age of fifty- four years. Their family numbered two sons and a daughter and one of the sons, Orin D., is now deceased. The daughter is Mrs. James Bagley, a resident of Trenton, Missouri.
The surviving son of the family, Nathaniel M. Rice, was educated in the public schools of his native city and when a youth of fourteen years started out to earn his own living. He was first employed on a farm, working in that way in Livingston and Carroll counties of Missouri. After devoting three years to the work of the fields he took up railroading in the employ of the Santa Fe Railroad and was a brakeman until 1886. He afterward became a yard clerk and assistant yard fore- man at Temple, Texas, where he continued for two years. He was then transferred to the stores department at Temple, Texas, where he occupied a clerical position for seven months, and subsequently he was made storekeeper for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, acting in the latter capacity until 1900. In that year he was
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promoted, on account of work done in connection with the Galveston flood, to the Chicago office as special representative of the operating department of the vice president and spent a year there in the store department work. In 1900 he was made general storekeeper, in charge of the coast line of the Santa Fe System, and when two years had passed was made general storekeeper of the entire Santa Fe System, holding this responsible position for a period of ten years, or until 1913, when he was made chief purchasing officer of the St. Louis & San Francisco Rail- road. In 1916 he was elected third vice president of the road and in 1917 was made second vice president of the Frisco System, which office he filled until the roads were taken over by the government. He then became assistant to the federal man- ager of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, and so continued until the close of the war, with headquarters at New Haven. He next accepted the vice presidency of the Pierce Oil Corporation of St. Louis on the 1st of January, 1919, and is now filling this position. His entire career has been marked by a steady progression that has resulted in the attainment of a position of prominence in the business circles of St. Louis, and he is now occupying an important executive posi- tion, bending his attention to constructive effort and administrative direction.
On the 8th of October, 1889, Mr. Rice was married at Temple, Texas, to Miss Mary S. Watson, a daughter of the late Judge George B. Watson, a prominent jurist, planter and at one time a slave-holder of Arkansas. His mother bore the maiden name of Harriet Caulk. To Mr. and Mrs. Rice have been born four chil- dren, of whom two are living, Anna Burr and Nathaniel M., Jr. The family resi- dence is at No. 5544 Cabanne avenue.
Mr. Rice has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party. Fraternally he is a Mason who has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tish Rite in the consistory and he also belongs to George Washington Lodge, No. 19, B. P. O. E. There is much of inspirational value in the life record of Mr. Rice. Starting out as a farm boy when in his teens, he has progressed steadily step by step and each forward step has brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. In the course of years he became a forceful factor in railway circles and is now actively connected with the development of oil interests as the vice president of the Pierce Oil Corporation.
JOHN H. GUNDLACH.
The business career of John H. Gundlach has been marked by steady advance- ment, resulting from the wise ultilization of his time, talents and opportunities. Since 1892 he has been connected with real estate interests in St. Louis and has developed a business of extensive and gratifying proportions in connection with the handling of residence property. Mr. Gundlach was born in St. Louis county, October 6, 1861, and is a son of Peter and Elizabeth ( Reiff) Gundlach. The father was born in Germany in 1834 and came to the new world in 1849, settling in St. Louis, where he engaged in the manufacture and sale of shoes. He also served in the Civil war and was a member of the municipal assembly for twelve years.
John H. Gundlach pursued his education in the public schools of St. Louis, where he was a high school pupil in 1876 and 1877. He started upon his business career as an employe of Boehl & Koenig, photographers, with whom he continued for three years. He then went to Chicago, Illinois, where he engaged in the whole- sale tobacco and cigar business for about eighteen months, on the expiration of which period he returned to St. Louis and became chief clerk in the local freight office of the Wabash Railroad, with which he continued until 1892. Desirous of engaging in business on his own account, he then entered the real estate field, in which he has met with notable success, being regarded as one of the leaders in this line in St. Louis at the present time. He was at one time on the board of the Real Estate Exchange of the city. He has largely specialized in the handling of resi- dence property and close application and undaunted energy have been potent fac- tors in the continued growth of his business.
In April, 1884, Mr. Gundlach was united in marriage to Miss Emma C. Dreyer, of this city, whose father was one of the early furniture dealers in the City Store on Market street. They now have two daughters: Alice, the wife of Arthur Leschen,
JOHN H. GUNDLACH
Vol. V-10
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who is superintendent of the Leschen Rope Company; and Ruth, now the wife of Armin Hampeter.
Mr. Gundlach has long been keenly interested in civic problems and municipal affairs and from 1909 until 1913 inclusive was president of the city council; during. which time he initiated a number of physical improvements looking to the city's betterment and also inspired the ordinance creating a city plan commission. He holds to high ideals in regard to interests affecting the welfare and upbuilding of the city and in 1914 he was president of the St. Louis Pageant-Masque, which pre- sented the most splendid community pageant that has ever been produced. The same organization also produced the remarkable performance of "As You Like It" on the occasion of the Shakespearean tercentenary in Forest Park in June, 1916, at which time the Municipal Theatre was constructed with funds furnished by the Pageant Association. Mr. Gundlach has served for two terms as president of the Civic League, which has been so potential a force in the progressive development of the city's recent history.
He is serving on the board of the Historic Society and during the period of the World war was chairman of the war camp community service. He is also a mem- ber of the board of the Masonic Home and is a past president of the North End St. Louis Business Men's Association. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party where national questions and issues are involved, but at local elections he casts an independent ballot. Fraternally he has become a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine and belongs to the City Club of St. Louis and the Sunset Hill Country Club. His worth is widely acknowledged. Because of his public spirit he is a recognized leader among men who are interested in the welfare and progress of the city without de- sire for personal aggrandizement. His judgment is sound and when he addresses the public upon a subject in which he is deeply interested, he displays considerable oratorical ability. His religious activities have been chiefly confined to Y. M. C. A. work and his philanthropic spirit has found expression in his aid of individual needs. His has ever been a nature that is not content to choose the second best. He strives ever toward the highest and his idealism has been an inspiring force in the efforts of others.
THE BROWN SHOE COMPANY.
The Brown Shoe Company, one of the most important manufacturing interests not only of St. Louis but also in connection with the shoe trade of the country, had its origin in November, 1878, being organized by George Warren Brown, who associated with him A. L. Bryan and J. B. Desnoyers. The business was organized under the name of Bryan-Brown & Company in November, 1878. Mr. Brown had already become thoroughly familiar with the shoe trade, serving as shipping clerk with Hamilton-Brown & Company, of which his brother was a partner, and after- ward representing that company as a traveling salesman upon the road. The busi- ness was capitalized for twelve thousand dollars, of which about one-third was invested in shoe machinery, lasts, patterns and other equipment. The first em- ployes of the company were five expert shoe workers from Rochester, New York, and in order to persuade these men to remove to St. Louis it was necessary to furnish railroad fare. Soon thereafter real "Rochester finish" fine shoes were being made for the first time in St. Louis. The growth of the business was remarkable from the beginning. Within less than a year the factory was removed from its first loca- tion at 104 South Eighth street to larger quarters in the Cupples building at Eighth and Walnut streets, where the company occupied the top floor of the building but not long afterward secured the next floor below, while still later a third floor was required to meet the demands of this growing concern, and the owner of the build- ing, Samuel Cupples, erected an additional story for the use of the firm of Bryan- Brown & Company. The success of this company constituted the influence that caused the second successful concern to establish shoe manufacturing in St. Louis and from time to time other shoe manufacturing enterprises have been added until in the present year (1920) shoe manufacturing is not only the largest industry of the city but "St. Louis make shoes" are known and sold
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throughout the entire United States and are being sent in ever increasing volume to all parts of the world. Thus this pioneer company in a more pronounced way than any other had to do with creating the great shoe industry of which St. Louis is now so justly proud. In 1878 the St. Louis shoe market consisted of a number of wholesale shoe houses selling eastern made goods. In the decade preceding several small shoe manufacturing ventures had been established but for want of capital or business management, or perhaps of both, most of them had passed out of existence and in 1878 St. Louis contained three or four small factories using the shoe making machinery of that day. All of these, however, within a few years had gone the way of their predecessors. In 1880 the business established by Mr. Brown was incorporated as a stock company, thus making it possible for employes to become interested in the earnings of the business. Theirs was the first St. Louis shoe concern to incorporate, which plan of organization proved so popular as to become practically universal within a short time. The company also adopted the open shop plan of operation, which it has adhered to since. Soon after this the company's warerooms and offices were moved to the southwest corner of Seventh and St. Charles streets, there occupying a new seven-story building.
In 1885 A. L. Bryan, then vice president of the company, retired on account of ill health and soon thereafter the name was changed to Brown-Desnoyers Shoe Company. In 1886 the growth of the business again demanded larger quarters and another removal was then made to 805 Washington avenue. By 1890 the business had grown to such an extent that it was again necessary to secure larger accommodations and the company leased the southwest corner of Eleventh and Washington avenue, occupying one-third of the block now utilized by the Rice-Stix Dry Goods Company. For several years the upper floors were utilized for manu- facturing purposes and the lower floors for warehouse and offices. Later, however, the entire building was required for warehouse and offices, at which time The President plant at the southeast corner of Eighteenth and Washington streets was built and the upper half occupied by The Capital factory, making high grade shoes for women. The lower half was given over to The President factory, making high grade shoes for men. A little later the Homestake plant at Twelfth and Russell avenue was built and this was followed by the Blue Ribbon plant at Jefferson and Mullanphy, while others were added as the business of the company increased.
In 1893 J. B. Desnoyers, then vice president, retired from the company, which was reorganized under the name of The Brown Shoe Company. The business there- after grew with rapid strides and during the last year of the occupancy of the build- ing at Eleventh and Washington avenue the trade amounted to more than eight million dollars. In 1905 it became apparent that the requirements of the com- pany's growing trade made it necessary to provide a new building. Accordingly during that year negotiations were consummated for erecting the White House block on Washington avenue, Seventeenth and St. Charles streets and Robhins Lane. Two- thirds of this block was taken over as the original White House building of the Brown Shoe Company, providing more than three and one-half acres of floor space. On the 1st of January, 1907, the company opened to their customers and friends the White House, the occasion being made a memorable one. The large lobby of the first floor was beautifully decorated with palms and cut flowers, many of which were contributed by competitors and other wholesale houses of St. Louis. A recep- tion was held and refreshments served, and the guests of that occasion numbered many foremost citizens, while addresses were made by Ex-Governor D. R. Francis, E. C. Simmons, Colonel George W. Parker, Rev. Dr. Napthali Luccock, Hon. C. V. Anderson and A. B. Groves, the architect. The guests were then shown over the building and thus was dedicated to commerce the White House building of St. Louis, used for the sales headquarters, general and executive offices of the company and for the assembling and distributing of shoes produced in all the factories of the company. This building was then the largest and finest occupied by any shoe house for the same purpose in America. It is strictly fireproof and contains labor- saving equipments which produce both economies and rapid execution, these being unique features of the White House alone. The architectural beauties of this building both within and without, with the ivory white tile exterior, make it the most complete and impressive shoe building in the world.
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