USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 2
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"General White was then introduced as a soldier who had served through the entire struggle. Many of the regiment seemed acquainted with that gentleman, and at the suggestion of someone in the ranks, three hearty cheers were given to him. General White also briefly addressed the regiment, complimenting the men and officers, as only a soldier can, on their military bearing and the proficiency they exhibited in their military acquirements. General McNeil was next introduced. Three cheers were accorded the General, whom all the regiment seemed to know. He also addressed the men and officers, praising the regiment for its appearance and the rapid proficiency it had shown, and expressing the belief that their expe- rience and training in the service would make every man in the regiment a wiser and better citizen in civil life. The visit was in every respect a pleasant one, afford- ing, as it did, independent of the parade, an interesting conversation with Colonel Bonneville; his reminiscences of St. Louis forty years ago were thrown in with great freshness and vivacity."
A letter from Colonel Bonneville reads:
St. Louis, Missouri, June 16, 1865.
Col. Blodgett,
48th Regiment, Mo. Vols. Inf.
Dear Sir:
I write this note to express my thanks for the cordial reception given me yester- day by the officers and men of your command.
I noted with pleasure their efficiency in the manual as well as in their Com- pany and Battalion movements.
Please say to Senator Henderson that his words were grateful to the ears of an old soldier ..
I am, sir.
Yours respectfully,
Bonneville, Comdr.
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Colonel Bonneville, the author of the foregoing letter, and who is mentioned in the foregoing article quoted from the Missouri Democrat, was the famous Cap- tain Bonneville of the regular army, whose thrilling adventures, at an early day in the far west, were so interestingly described by Washington Irving in his Volume entitled The Adventures of Captain Bonneville.
Following is the military record of Wells H. Blodgett:
(A)-April 17, 1861-Enlisted as private for three months in company com- manded by Captain C. C. Marsh.
(B)-July 18, 1861-Enlisted as private for three years in Company D, Thirty- seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteers.
(C)-August 1, 1861-Commissioned by Governor Yates as First Lieutenant, Company D, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteers.
(D)-January 1, 1863-Commissioned by Governor Yates as Captain, Com- pany D, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteers.
(E)-April 9, 1863-Commissioned by President Lincoln as Judge Advocate, Army of the Frontier, with rank of Major of Cavalry in Army of the United States. (F)-September 22, 1864-Commissioned by Governor Hall as Lieutenant Colonel Forty-eighth Regiment, Missouri Volunteers.
(G)-November 25, 1864-Commissioned by Governor Hall as Colonel Forty- eighth Regiment, Missouri Volunteers.
(H)-July 1, 1865-Honorably mustered out of military service at St. Louis. The esteem in which Colonel Blodgett was held by his regiment was clearly shown in the words they caused to be engraved upon the beautiful watch they pre- sented to him on the day of their discharge from the service. The words are: "Presented as a token of admiration to Col. Wells H. Blodgett, 48th Regt. Mo. Vols., by his Officers, July 1st, 1865."
In July, 1865, after his regiment had been mustered out of the service, Colonel Blodgett married Miss Emma Dickson, of Dixon, Illinois, and immediately located at Warrensburg, Missouri, to begin the practice of his profession as a lawyer. In November, 1866, Colonel Blodgett was elected member of the Missouri legislature from Johnson county. In November, 1868, he was elected to the state senate for a term of four years, from the district composed of the counties of Johnson, Henry, Benton and St. Clair. In 1869 he prepared and on the 25th day of January of that year, he introduced in the Missouri senate the act providing for the establish- ment of two Normal schools in the state, one to be located north and the other south of the Missouri River. Under that act one Normal school was located at Kirksville and the other at Warrensburg. In 1873 he removed to St. Louis and became a member of the law firm of Blodgett & Dickson. During the year 1873 he was employed as an assistant attorney of the St. Louis-Kansas City and North- ern Railway Company, and in 1874 he was elected by its board of directors as the general attorney of the company. The last named company was soon after- wards consolidated with the Wabash Railway Company of Ohio, and the con- solidated corporation took the name of the Wabash-St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company. At that time David Dudley Field and General Wager Swayne were general counsel for the company in New York, and Blodgett was its general solici- tor with his office in St. Louis. As general solicitor he had supervision of all the litigation arising out of the operation of all the lines in the system. Under the advice and supervision of Mr. Jay Gould new lines were added until 1884, when there were, in round numbers, six thousand miles of road in the system. In the latter year the Wabash System fell into the hands of receivers, appointed by the federal courts, and the main lines remained in their hands until 1889 when they were reorganized under the name of The Wabash Railway Company. In December, 1911, the company again became insolvent, and on a bill filed in the federal courts by a general creditor, receivers (of all its property) were again appointed. The receivers so appointed were directed to take charge of all the property of the company without regard to mortgages, and by that order of the court, Wells H. Blodgett was appointed counsel for the receivers. Later on the trustees in the First Refunding and Extensions Mortgage filed their bill, in the federal court, to foreclose that mortgage. In that foreclosure proceeding the creditors, secured by the Refunding and Extensions Mortgage, were only entitled to the proceeds arising from a sale of the property therein described. And in order to ascertain
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exactly what property was covered by that mortgage, he (Blodgett), as counsel for the receivers under the creditors' bill, filed in said court a petition for an accounting, which is now (1920) pending before a special commissioner. In politics he is, and always has been, a republican. During the Civil war he was in favor of refusing the ballot to all who would not take an oath to support the federal constitution, but when Lee surrendered and the war was over, he was among the first to advocate a restoration of the ballot to every citizen.
Speaking of his early years with the St. Louis-Kansas City and Northern Railway Company, Colonel Blodgett recalled that among its directors were such men as James B. Eads, who designed and constructed the St. Louis Bridge and Tunnel Railroad, and who afterwards, by his skill as an engineer, gave to com- merce a channel at the mouth of the Mississippi river that now enables the ocean- going ships to receive and discharge their cargoes at the dock in New Orleans. On that same board was Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania System (commonly known as "Tom Scott") who, in his day, was thought to be without a peer in the science of railroad construction and operation. Again, in the operating department of the Kansas City and Northern Company, was William C. Van Horn, who after- wards constructed and operated the great Canadian Pacific System, and who, when knighted by King Edward, became known as Sir William Van Horn. On the Wabash board in those early days were such well known men as James F. Joy of Michigan, Solon Humphreys, Jay Gould, Russell Sage, Thomas H. Hubbard, O. D. Ashley and E. T. Jeffrey of New York, and among the younger men who grew up on that line was Charles M. Hays, who went from the Wabash to the Grand Trunk Company of Canada, and as its general manager constructed and operated the lines extending across the continent from Montreal to the Pacific ocean. It will be recalled that the wonderful career of Mr. Hays was suddenly ended when the Titanic, the great ocean liner, on her first voyage collided with an iceberg in mid- ocean. And speaking again of his forty years of service on the Wabash lines Colonel Blodgett said to the editor of this sketch that he could not recall a single instance in which, during all that time, he had received an unkind look or word from either an associate or superior.
, Colonel Blodgett has three children, one son and two daughters. His son, Henry W. Blodgett, was United States District Attorney at St. Louis, and is now a member of the state senate of Missouri, and his two daughters, Margaret and Edith, reside at the family home, 4449 West Pine Boulevard, St. Louis. He has membership in Blair Post, Grand Army; Missouri Commandery Loyal Legion; Society Army Tennessee; Society Army Cumberland; St. Louis Club; Noonday Club.
THOMAS BOULDIN CREWS.
Thomas Bouldin Crews, a prominent member of the St. Louis bar, is a repre- sentative of one of the oldest and most honored Missouri families "representing its democratic aristocracy and its aristocratic democracy." He was born September 19, 1860, in the home of his maternal grandfather in Franklin county, Missouri, although his parents at that time were residing in Saline county, this state. His father, Colonel Thomas W. B. Crews, was a native of Henry county, Virginia, born in 1832, and was a youth of fourteen years when in 1846 he came to Missouri, settling in Howard county. He was graduated from Union College at Schenectady, New York, and afterward took up the study of law under Judge John C. Wright of Schenectady, and under Hon. W. B. Napton of Saline county, Missouri, who was later judge of the supreme court. In January, 1855, Colonel Crews entered upon the practice of law at Marshall, Missouri, and so continued until the outbreak of the Civil war when he raised a company for the Confederacy and entered the service. He participated in the battles of Boonville, Carthage, Wilson's creek, Fort Scott, Dry Wood and Lexington, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Second Cavalry "for bravery in action." In 1862 he was captured while on a sick bed at his home and sent to St. Louis as a prisoner of war. He was soon afterward paroled, how- ever, being the first paroled soldier of the state. Following the close of hostilities he took up his permanent abode in Franklin county, and there remained until his death in 1891. His long years of active practice brought him an enviable reputation as a lawyer, orator and citizen, and in 1875 he was called to represent his district
THOMAS B. CREWS
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in framing the constitutional convention of the state. His grandfather had served as a colonel in the Virginia militia when George III was king of England, and the family had long been connected with the history of the Old Dominion ere the re- moval was made from Virginia to Missouri. The mother of Thomas Bouldin Crews was in her maidenhood Virginia Jeffries, the daughter of C. S. Jeffries, one of the prominent citizens and pioneers from Franklin county, to which place he had re- moved from Virginia.
The youthful days of Thomas B. Crews to the age of eighteen years were spent on the home farm with the usual training and experience of farm bred boys, who represent the higher class of Missouri's agriculturists. He attended the public schools until he had mastered the branches of learning therein taught and afterward continued his education in an eastern academy. He started out in the business world in a clerical position in the office of the circuit clerk of Franklin county, and im- proved his leisure time by studying law privately until he was able to enter the St. Louis Law School. Following his graduation he practiced for a time in his home county and then removed to St. Louis. He has remained in the general practice of law and has accurate and comprehensive knowledge of many branches of the pro- fession. His mind is analytical, logical and inductive, and his clear reasoning is manifest in every case which he presents to the court. The precision and care with which he prepares his cases is always manifest and his defense of his position is well-nigh unassailable. It was the members of the bar of his own political party who nominated him to the office of judge of probate court of St. Louis in 1902 and his election followed. He served with great credit and distinction but met defeat in the landslide that involved his party for the succeeding election. He then re- sumed the private practice of law and has won a most creditable success. The court records bear testimony to many notable court victories he has gained especially in litigation relating to real estate
In 1889 Mr. Crews was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Moore of St. Louis, and they have one child, Thomas B., Jr., who was graduated from Cornell University in 1914. He volunteered for service in the World war in May, 1917, attended the officers' training camp at Fort Riley, Kansas, was commissioned first lieutenant of the Three Hundred and Forty-second Field Artillery, Eighty-ninth Division in August, 1917, and went overseas as such in March, 1918. He participated in the battles of St. Mihiel and the Argonne as acting captain in command of his battery and after the signing of the armistice continued in command of his battery in the Army of Occupation on the Rhine, during which time he was promoted to the rank of captain of A Battery, Three Hundred and Forty-second Field Artillery, Eighty- ninth Division, U. S. A., in recognition of his service during the campaign. He returned to the United States in June, 1919, and was honorably discharged at Camp Funston. He is now engaged in business in New York city.
Judge Crews has held no public office save that of probate judge except by the appointment of the supreme-court when he served as a member of the Board of Law Examiners of Missouri from 1907 until 1910. He has spent much time in travel having recently returned from a trip of several months in South America. Of him, one who knew him well said, "the title of judge is given him instinctively as he looks, acts and talks the part." Judicial in the simplest matters, but without pomposity or arrogance; weighty without heaviness, serious without solemnity, dig- nified but genial; knowing him is to admire and trust him. Respected by his pro- fession for his learning and power of analysis, he is one of its most popular mem- bers also, by reason of his courtesy, kindness and willingness to serve others.
RAYMOND J. DENYVEN.
Raymond J. Denyven is a well known stock broker of St. Louis, in which city he was born on the 24th of November, 1888. His father, Joseph M. Denyven, was of Scotch descent and was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. For many years he was general freight agent for the Mobile & Ohio Railroad at St. Louis and passed away December 16, 1919. He married Ida Forrest Griffith, a daughter of John C. and Susan (Haley) Griffith, who came of American ancestry represented in this country through four generations. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
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M. Denyven occurred in St. Louis, November 9, 1887, and they became the parents of five children, three daughters and two sons: Raymond J .; Howard; Lucille, who died at the age of sixteen years; Marlon; and Elizabeth. The living children are all residents of St. Louis.
Raymond J. Denyven was educated in his native city, attending the Crow school and also the Central high school, from which he was graduated on the 24th of January, 1908. He Immediately afterward entered the employ of A. G. Edwards & Company, stock brokers of St. Louis, as board room boy and has con- tinued in their employ to the present day, being now in charge of the St. Louis stock department. Thus gradually he has worked his way upward to a place of responsibility and prominence in connection with the stock brokerage business of the city and is widely and favorably known in financial circles. During the period of the World war he spent considerable time on the bond drives, securing sub- scriptions to the Liberty loans, and he never hesitated in supporting any of the necessary war activities.
In St. Louis on the 4th of February, 1913, Mr. Denyven was married to Miss Margaret Winter, a daughter of Ruffin S. Winter and a representative of a family that has been in America through four generations. Mr. and Mrs. Denyven have two daughters: Isabelle Ray, six years of age; and Mary Margaret, three years.
In his political views Mr. Denyven is an independent republican. He belongs to the Kings Highway Presbyterian church and gives a helpful assistance to all those forces which make for public progress and improvement. He is also a member of the St. Louis Stock Exchange and of the Missouri Athletic Association and has qualities which make for personal popularity in club circies.
WILLIAM LOUIS NIEKAMP.
For twenty-eight years William L. Niekamp has been identified with the busi- ness of which he is now the president. Various changes, however, have occurred in the organization of the house and in the personnel of the firm, leading eventually to the adoption of the style of the Beck & Corbitt Iron Company. Mr. Niekamp Is a native son of St. Louis. He was born June 21, 1877, and is a son of Charles Henry Niekamp, who was born in Osnabruck, Hanover, Germany, in 1851, and who came to America in 1854 with his parents, the family settling in St. Louis. There Charles H. Niekamp established a file business in 1877, becoming senior partner in the firm of Niekamp & Baker. The business was steadily developed along substantial lines and in 1891 was reorganized under the name of the Globe File & Hardware Com- pany. In 1895 this became the Globe File & Iron Company and in 1901 the busi- ness was consolidated with that of the Beck & Corbitt Iron Company, of which Charles H. Niekamp remained a member until his death in 1913. He had made for himself a very creditable position in the business circles of the city and had steadily. progressed since starting out on his own account. He married Sophia Miller, who was born in St. Louis in 1853 and was a daughter of Orlando Miller, who was engaged in the cooperage business. Their marriage was celebrated in St. Louis in May, 1874, and they became the parents of three sons and six daughters, William Louis being the third son.
Educated in the public schools of St. Louis, William Louis Nlekamp passed through successive grades to the high school and in 1892 entered the employ of the Globe File & Hardware Company, with which he has since been associated, although various changes in the firm have occurred during the intervening period. Today he is the president of the Beck & Corbitt Iron Company, to which position he was elected in 1914, so that he has now been the chief executive of the concern for six years. A very large and substantial business has been developed and in its control Mr. Niekamp displays marked executive ability and wise administrative direction. He has also become associated with a number of other important industrial and com- mercial concerns, being now a director of the St. Louis Screw Company, of the Stiles Manufacturing Company, of the Chipley Underwriting Company and the United States Bank. Moreover, he has been a close student of questions affecting the development of trade and of all labor conditions and is connected with many interests which are proving effective forces in business advancement. He is a member of the Employers
WILLIAM L. NIEKAMP
Vol. V-2
1
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Association; also of the Associated Industries of Missouri; the American Iron & Steel Institute; the American Iron, Steel & Heavy Hardware Association, of which he is the vice president; the Society of Mining & Metallurgy Engineers; the Railway Busi- ness Association and others. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis and is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States.
Mr. Niekamp was united in marriage to Miss Engie Marie Schultz, who was born in St. Louis, October 18, 1877, a daughter of Christian Schultz, a general mer- chant of St. Louis. They have one child, William Stacey.
Mr. Niekamp is well known in social relations, belonging to the Missouri Ath- letic Association, the Normandie Golf Club, the Sunset Hill Golf Club and the River- side Club. Fraternally he is a Mason and has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite and also of the Mystic Shrine. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, but honors and emoluments have not attracted him into the political field as s seeker after office, as he has ever preferred to concentrate his energies and attention upon his business affairs, where he has gained for himself a most enviable place as well as a substantial measure of prosperity.
JERRE B. MOBERLY.
Jerre B. Moberly, one of the officers and directors of the Mercantile Trust Company of St. Louis, having charge of the real estate loan department, was born in Saline county, Missouri, December 3, 1874, and is a son of James B. and Rebecca (Barling) Moberly. He attended the public schools of St. Louis and on the 1st of January, 1890, was graduated from the Stoddard school. He started upon his business career at office work with the firm of Hammett & Morrison, tie and timber contractors, in April, 1890. Through the intervening period he has made steady advancement, the steps in his orderly progression being easily discernible. Today he is at the head of the real estate loan department of the Mercantile Trust Company, with offices at Eighth and Locust streets. He is regarded as an expert valuator of property, possessing detailed knowledge of city real estate, and in building up the department has surrounded himself with a corps of competent men who for many years have specialized in real estate matters. They handle only first mortgage loans and thus render the investor absolutely secure. Mr. Moberly has been a most important factor in the development of the large business now controlled by this department.
Mr. Moberly was married to Miss Alice Muriel Babcock, a daughter of W. H. Babcock. Mrs. Moberly, who is now deceased, became the mother of one child, a son, Milton Dwight. Mr. Moberly has never allied himself with either political party, but casts his ballot according to the dictates of his judgment. He belongs to the Algonquin Golf Club, which indicates much concerning the nature of his recreation.
OWEN D. TILLAY.
Owen D. Tillay, a representative of municipal interests in St. Louis, being secretary of the department of public utilities, with office in the City Hall, was born February 2, 1880, in the city which is still his home, and is a son of John T. and Margaret Anna (Owen) Tillay, the former a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and the latter of Remsen, New York. The Tillay family has long been represented in Kentucky and at an early period the Owen family was established in the Empire state, being of Welsh descent. The great-grandfather in the Owen line was the founder of the American branch of the family. John T. Tillay was reared and educated in Louisville, Kentucky, and about 1850 came to St. Louis, where he spent the remainder of his days, the family occupying a prominent place in the social circles of the city. Mr. Tillay was a successful coal dealer, conducting business along that line until his death in 1901. His widow survives and is yet a resident of St. Louis.
Owen D. Tillay is the only living one of their four children, three sons and a daughter. After attending Smith Academy to the age of sixteen years he started
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out to earn his own livelihood and secured a clerical position with the Travelers Protective Association. Later he became chief clerk for the company at national headquarters where he remained until 1909, serving altogether for about thirteen years. During the succeeding two years he filled the office of assistant clerk of the house of delegates, to which position he had been elected, and in 1911 was appointed chief clerk of the lighting department, and in 1908 was appointed secre- tary of the department of public utilities. He has good business qualifications, is always on the alert and is rendering excellent service in his present position.
During the war Mr. Tillay aided largely in the sale of Liberty bonds and as far as possible promoted war activities. In politics he is a republican and has been a most loyal supporter of and worker for the party during the past nineteen years. Fraternally he is connected with the Royal League and is well known in club circles as a member of the City Club and the Forest Park Golf Club. In re- ligious faith he is an Episcopalian, having membership in the Church of the Ascen- sion.
WILLIAM BRISCOE KINEALY.
William Briscoe Kinealy, enjoying high standing as a member of the St. Louis bar, practicing as a partner in the firm of Kinealy & Kinealy, with offices in the Central National Bank building, was born in St. Louis, November 15, 1871, in the house which is still his place of residence. His father, Michael Kinealy, was a native of Ireland and when twenty-three years of age came to the United States. He was a man of liberal education who was graduated from Queen's University as a civil engineer, while later he took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar and for many years successfully engaged in practice in St. Louis, where he passed away in 1911. In early manhood he had wedded Sarah Jane Briscoe, a native of Missouri, who survived him for about seven years, her death occurring in 1918. In the family were five children, of whom three are' living.
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