USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 24
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Wilbert C. Shupp attended the public schools near Bucyrus and in 1899 com- pleted a language course in a theological seminary. For nine years be engaged in preaching the gospel, occupying several pulpits in Ohio, and in 1909 he came to Missouri, settling at Springfield, where he became district superintendent of the Missouri Anti-Saloon League, residing there until 1913 and then removed to St. Louis. Always a stalwart champion of the prohibition cause he became a most active worker in support of the dry issues and since 1908, has devoted practically his entire time to this work. He became state superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of Missouri in 1913 and is one of the best known temperance workers of the country. The purpose of the Anti-Saloon League is the overthrow of the liquor traffic and this necessitates large political activity. Under the leadership of the Anti-Saloon League the state of Missouri has largely changed from a wet régime to a dry one and politics have been largely divorced from the saloon element. The work of the Anti-Saloon League is conducted solely by religious bodies and Mr. Shupp has succeeded in enlisting the entire body of evangelical religious organiza- tions in the state in the work of eradicating the saloons. He speaks constantly in the interests of temperance reform, occupying the pulpits of the largest churches of all denominations, and is a very earnest and effective speaker. Moreover, he not only presents his cause with clearness, force and logic, but possesses that executive ability which has enabled him wisely to select leaders as his assistants in the work. Now that the prohibition amendment has gone into effect the Anti-Saloon League is directing its efforts not only to the enforcement of the law, but also to securing the election of such men as will not attempt its repeai. The temperance forces recognize that their work is by no means over, that the wets are determined if possible to secure legislation that will do away with the prohibition amendment. The Anti-Saloon League is proceeding with its usual energy to support candidates
REV. WILBERT C. SHUPP
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for Congress and the Legislature who will support the program for a dry America, and officials who will maintain in force what has already been accomplished through legislative enactment.
One of the strong elements in the work of Mr. Shupp and his associates is that they are looking ahead to meet not only the problems of the moment but the ex- igencies of the future. They are also cooperating in the great work to extend prohibition into other lands and Mr. Shupp is at all times thoroughly conversant with the temperance situation throughout not only this country but foreign lands as well.
On the 28th of December, 1892, was celebrated the marriage of Wilbert C. Shupp and Anna May McCracken, who is of Scotch-Irish descent. Three generations ago the McCracken family was founded in America by ancestors who came from Scotland and who were among the direct descendants of Mary, Queen of Scots. To Mr. and Mrs. Shupp have been born nine children, of whom eight are living, Ralph Talmage having died at the age of two and a half years. The others are Bessie, Howard, Raymond, Homer, Helen, Glenna, Lucile and Wilma. All of the family have been active supporters of war measures and the daughter Bessie has been a most earnest Red Cross worker. The religious faith of the family is that of the Presbyterian church, their local membership being in the King's Highway Presbyterian church.
Mr. Shupp is identified with the Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis and his political support is given the democratic party. When leisure permits, he enjoys going back to nature for his rest and recreation and is more or less interested in agricultural pursuits, having been reared on a farm. Through the war period he did everything possible to assist in raising funds through the sale of Liberty Bonds and in every possible way advancing the interests of the country and, moreover, instructed those who work under him in connection with the Anti-Saloon League to put forth their efforts in the same direction. He had three sons as well as a daughter actively engaged in war service, Raymond being a radio operator in the Navy, stationed at Plymouth, England, connected with the work of determining the U-boat activities, while Homer was a member of the Students Army Training Corps and Howard was at Camp Funston. The daughter Bessie, joining the Red Cross, was in the department of hospital canteen service at St. Louis, where the soldiers passing through the city were received and their needs met.
Such in brief is the history of Rev. Wilbert C. Shupp, but who can measure the extent of his influence and his labors? Regarding intemperance as one of the greatest evils of the country, the producer of crime, the handicap of industrial and economic interests as well as a blight on thousands of homes, he has sought to introduce higher standards through the instruction of the individual and through legislative enactment, upholding in his campaign work those men who have ever stood for law, order and civic righteousness. The results already achieved by the Anti-Saloon League are so tangible and beneficial that thousands have expressed their thanks to Mr. Shupp for what he is doing in this direction and from these results he and his associates have gained inspiration and encouragement for the labors which yet await them and which it is to be hoped will be crowned by the fullest success.
AMEDEE V. REYBURN.
Amedee V. Reyburn, safe deposit manager with the Mercantile Trust Company of St. Louis, is a representative of two old and well known families of this city. He was here born February 3, 1857, his parents being Thomas and Juliette (Valle) Rey- burn. The father, a practicing physician, was a son of Thomas G. Reyburn who came to St. Louis from Baltimore in 1844 and who had previously served as a soldier in the War of 1812. The mother, Juliette Valle, was born in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, a daughter of Francis B. Valle and a granddaughter of Francois Valle who came from Canada and was one of the five original settlers of Ste. Genevieve.
Amedee V. Reyburn completed his education in St. Louis University which con- ferred upon him the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts. He initiated his busi. ness experience as an employe of the Harrison Wire Company of St. Louis. He after-
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ward entered the employ of the Mercantile Trust Company of St. Louis at the time of its incorporation in 1899 and has since been connected therewith, covering a period of twenty-one years, having thus attained his majority in the service of the company which he is now representing as safe deposit manager.
Mr. Reyburn was married in St. Louis, May 23, 1878, to Henrietta L. Patterson, a daughter of Henry L. Patterson of this city. His wife died in less than a year and Mr. Reyburn afterward married Charlotte Mercer, daughter of Dr. William M. Mer- cer of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Their children are Amedee V., Jr., who passed away February 10, 1920; Charlotte M., Juliette K., Henrietta H. and Mary G., all yet at home.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Reyburn is a member of the Holy Name Society and also of St. Vincent de Paul So- ciety. In politics he is a democrat where national issues are involved but at local elections casts a non-partisan ballot. He belongs to the Knights of Columbus and was first territorial deputy west of the Mississippi river. He served as district deputy of district No. 1 for two years and was one of the charter members of St. Louis Council, which was the first council west of the Mississippi. His attention and activities have largely been concentrated upon the work of the church and upon his business and he has never sought to figure prominently in political or club circles. He is widely known among the representatives of the old and prominent families of St. Louis and has himself been a resident of the city for more than sixty-three years.
GUSTAV F. KELLER.
Gustav F. Keller is the president of the Kansas City Marble & Tile Company, a business formerly conducted by the Voska-Bremer Marble Company. He was born in Switzerland, November 10, 1874. His father was also a native of the land of the Alps, while his mother was of Canadian birth. The grandfather on the maternal side had come to the new world and here married but afterward returned to Switzerland.
Gustav F. Keller pursued his educaiton in his native country, attending the graded schools and afterward the high school at Rheineck. He was also a pupil in the technical school at St. Gall and in young manhood determined to try his fortune in the United States, crossing the Atlantic in 1892. He at once made his way to St. Louis and was first employed there by the Pickel Marble & Granite Company as a laborer, working on the Union Station. He afterward won promotion to the position of draftsman in the office and when thirteen years had passed he became the head of a department with the Andres Stone & Marble Company at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He continued with that firm for nine years and during that period was in charge of the marble work on the Missouri state capitol in Jefferson City. He also had charge of the marble work of the city hall in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Continental & Commercial National Bank in Chicago. In 1910 he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he has since engaged in the same line of business, in the course of which he had charge of the marble work in one hundred and fifty-five bank buildings, located in various parts of the United States. He did the marble work in the Cosden building of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and remodeled the Fidelity Na- tional Bank & Trust Company building in Kansas City, Missouri. He is now pres- ident of the Kansas City Marble & Tile Company, the successors of the Voska-Bremer Marble Company. This firm has an extensive patronage of a most important char- acter and its business is constantly increasing in scope. Large contracts are awarded them and the excellence of their work insures to them a liberal support.
Mr. Keller was married in St. Louis, in 1898, to Miss Frieda C. Walter, who was born in Germany, and they have become parents of four children: Virginia, Walter T., Thalia and Marion.
Mr. Keller belongs to the College Avenue Baptist church and is a Mason of high rank, having become a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Cham- ber of Commerce and is a member of the Builders' Association. His life has been one of intense and intelligently directed activity. He was a youth of eighteen when he left his native land and sailed for the United States and he has never had occasion to regret his determination to try his fortune on this side of the Atlantic.
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Here he has found the opportunities which he sought and has steadily worked his way upward until his position is one of prominence as a representative of indus- trial activity in Kansas City.
REV. JOSEPH R. WATSON.
Rev. Joseph R. Watson, pastor of the Catholic church of Our Lady of Good Counsel at Eleventh and Destrehan streets in St. Louis, was born March 20, 1866, in the city which is still his place of residence, his parents being Henry R. and Mary (Murray) Watson, both of whom were natives of Ireland whence they came to the United States in young manhood and womanhood. For a time after crossing the Atlantic Mrs. Watson was a resident of New Orleans but Mr. Watson came direct to St. Louis, being a member of the Watson family that is numbered among the early settlers of this city, taking up their abode on what was known as Wat- son's Fruit Hill. The first brick house in St. Louis county was built by John Wat- son, a cousin of Henry R. Watson. The latter was a practical miller and was em- ployed as head miller at Tolle's mill on Cherry and Collins streets for many years. He was drafted into the service during the Civi war but was exempted on account of the need of the government for expert millers.
Joseph R. Watson began his education in the St. Lawrence O'Toole's parish school and subsequently attended the Jesuit school and afterward St. Vincent's College and Seminary at Cape Girardeau, where he completed his studies and on the 25th of April, 1891, was ordained to the priesthood in St. Anthony's church of St. Louis by Archbishop Kenrick.
Father Watson served as assistant priest at the Holy Name church for a short time and was then transferred to St. Lawrence O'Toole's church. Later he was made assistant at the old cathedral and from there was transferred to St. Matthew's church as assistant. In 1906 he was appointed pastor of St. Columbkill's church at Byrnesville, Missouri, and also had charge of St. Philomena's church at House Springs, Missouri, where he remained for three years. In May, 1909, he was made pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel at St. Louis, over which he has since presided. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and keeps in close touch with the interests of his parish and his people, doing everything in his power to advance the spiritual growth of the latter and the needs of the former as a factor in the religious upbuilding of the community.
J. A. BECKER.
J. A. Becker, bishop of the stake of the Latter-day Saints at Independence, Missouri, was born October 5, 1874, in Port Washington, Ohio, his parents being Adam and Charlotte (Miller) Becker. The father was a native of Ohio, while the mother's birth occurred in Germany and they were married in the former state. The father, while interested in all matters of public welfare, was a man of retiring nature but a very patriotic and loyal citizen who during the Civil war served as a volunteer in the One Hundred and Eighty-ninth Ohio Infantry. He had been at the front for nine months when he contracted measles and as a result became incapaci- tated for further military duty and was honorably discharged.
J. A. Becker was educated in the public schools of Port Washington and in the State Normal School at Ada, Ohio, after which he attended the Northwestern Uni- versity at Defiance, Ohio, though he did not graduate there but pursued a special course preparatory to teaching. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for about five years in Port Washington, Ohio. He then turned his attention to mercantile pursuits in which he engaged until 1903, when he took up active church work as a missionary. He was for two years pastor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 1905 was sent to the church mission in Germany, making his headquarters at Hamburg. His duty there was to put new life into the work of the church in Germany. He reorganized the church, which was in very bad condition because of the erroneous belief that the Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
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day Saints which he represented was the same as the Mormon church of Utah. Mr. Becker was very successful in convincing the people of Germany that the church had nothing to do with the religious organization in Utah. After completing his mission there he returned to Kirtland, Ohio, where he was ordained a hishop in April, 1908. He then took charge of the Kirtland district, which embraced Ohio, West Pennsyl- vania and the panhandle of West Virginia. He remained at Kirtland until Septem- ber, 1918, or for a period of ten years, when he was transferred to Independence, Missouri, and he is now bishop of the Independence stake where are located the general offices of the church.
Mr. Becker was married in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1899, to Miss Anna Young, a daughter of James and Chloe (Notman) Young, the former a native of Scotland while the latter was born in Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Becker were born three children: Pauline Mildred, Diana Charlotte and John Adam.
Mr. Becker has always been a lover of music and is a director of music in his church, also a member of the band and has been active in chorus work. He is a man of rare ability, of strong personality, very magnetic and at all times actuated by the highest ideals.
WALTER N. DAVIS.
Walter N. Davis, attorney at law practicing in the courts which convene in St. Louis, his native city, was horn November 29, 1876. He is descended from Welsh ancestry, the family having been founded in America by four brothers who came to the new world in 1700, Nicholas Davis being the progenitor of the branch to which Walter N. Davis belongs. He settled in Cecil county, Maryland, and among his descendants were those who participated in the struggle for American liberty as Colonial soldiers in the Revolutionary war. The grandfather, George N. Davis, served in the War of 1812. The father, Alexander Davis, was a native of Kentucky, his people having heen early settlers of Carter county, that state. He was reared and educated in the Blue Grass state and in 1850 came to Missouri, settling first in St. Joseph. In 1851 he crossed the plains with an organized com- pany from St. Joseph. They traveled over the Santa Fe Trail to California and returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1867 he was married in Jefferson City, Missouri, and after his marriage took his bride to Montana, a hard and hazardous journey for a woman, but she cheerfully endured the trials and difficulties in order to be with her husband. In fact hoth displayed a most earnest and cour- ageous spirit in meeting the conditions of frontier life, their strong purpose and good cheer carrying them over the hard places which brought discouragement to .so many of the early settlers. In 1869 he removed to St. Louis, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1896, when he was sixty-four years of age. He was a lawyer by profession and was a graduate of Jefferson College. From 1869 until 1876 he was connected with the law department of the Missouri Pacific Rail- road and was widely known as a prominent representative of the profession. Dur- ing the Civil war he served with Steen's Division under General Price and was taken prisoner west of Jefferson City, Missouri. Later he was paroled and subsequent to that time removed to Montana, becoming one of the pioneers of that state and the first judge, holding court at Virginia City during the Vigilantes days. A stanch democrat, he was active in politics both in Montana and Missouri. He served as a member of the Missouri state legislature from St. Joseph for two terms before the Civil war period. His religious faith was that of the Methodist church and he was a Knight Templar Mason. He married Alice Edwards, who was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, a daughter of John Henry and Mary (Chappell) Edwards. Her maternal grandfather was from Roxborough, North Carolina, and his wife from Danville, Virginia. The first maternal ancestor who came to America was John Chappell. He was captain of the Speedwell, a vessel that brought the emigrants to Virginia in 1630, and after abandoning a sea-faring life he settled on the James river. To Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Davis were born six children, three sons and three daughters.
Walter N. Davis, who was the fourth in order of birth, was educated in Smith Academy of St. Louis and in the Vanderbilt University, from which he was gradu-
WALTER N. DAVIS
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ated in 1898, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree. He then entered the St. Louis Law School and won his LL. B. degree upon graduating in 1900. The same year he was admitted to the bar and entered upon practice in St. Louis, since which time he has been a faithful and active follower of his profession. He continues in gen- eral practice, trying all kinds of cases and trying them well. He is a member of the St. Louis and Missouri State Bar Associations. In politics he is a democrat and the official positions which he has filled have been along the strict path of his pro- fession. He was special assistant United States attorney in charge of war work from September, 1917, until October, 1918, and handled on an average more than one hundred persons per day. He was the democratic nominee for circuit judge in 1916 and received the hearty support of the local bar, but was defeated in the republican stronghold.
On the 6th of September, 1911, Mr. Davis was married in St. Louis to Miss Roberta Randolph Morrison, a native of Missouri and a daughter of T. Ellis and Margaret P. (Guy) Morrison, the former now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis has been born a son, Robert Morrison, whose birth occurred in St. Louis, July 17, 1915. The family resides at No. 5567 Pershing avenue.
Mr. Davis is a member of Rose Hill Lodge, No. 550, A. F. & A. M. He also belongs to the Normandie Golf Club and he is a member of Sterling Price Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He is likewise a member of St. John's Metho- dist Episcopal church, South, and high and honorable principles have ever guided him in all of the relations of life. He has manifested many of those sterling char- acteristics which enabled his honored father to meet difficult conditions as a Cali- fornia Argonaut of 1851 and as a pioneer settler of Montana at a period when the work of the Vigilantes was the only thing that prevented an era of unbridled crime. Under different conditions Walter N. Davis has displayed the same substantial qualities and as a lawyer he has been most loyal in upholding the highest standards of the profession, exemplifying in his career its most advanced ethics.
LOUIS P. ALOE.
Louis P. Aloe, born in St. Louis, July 20, 1867, educated in the Stoddard School, the Wyman Institute of Alton and in Washington University, has achieved success in his business career and made that steady progress which results from capability intelligently applied. To those who are at all familiar with the commercial history of St. Louis it is unnecessary to say that the Aloe Optical Company, of which he is president, with stores and offices in its own exclusive building at 513 Olive street, occupies a prominent position in its department of commerce.
For a number of years Mr. Aloe has been a leading figure in civic affairs. Nature has well qualified him for leadership by reason of qualities of professional magnetism, executive ability and keen discrimination. When but twenty-nine years of age he was president of the Merchants League Club of St. Louis, an organization of over eight thousand members.
For four years he was a member at large of the republican state committee and from 1891 to 1894 served as a member of the board of election commissioners of the city of St. Louis. He has twice been elected a delegate to the national republican convention and participated in the naming of both Mckinley and Roosevelt for the presidency.
In all progressive civic affairs Mr. Aloe has taken an active part and shown rare initiative and ability. As a member of the board of freeholders he took a leading part in the writing of the present city charter, a monumental undertaking that made possible the unprecedented rapid yet solid growth of the city of St. Louis. Through his initiative the city obtained without cost a six mile levee railroad when the franchise of the Terminal Railroad Association expired and this road, now munici- pally owned and controlled, produces a revenue of over thirty thousand dollars an- nually. Likewise the Rankin tract, once famous as a cow pasture in the heart of the city, has been converted into a terminal district having more than thirty tracks with mileage for several hundred cars.
As a member of the City Plan Commission, in the face of popular misunder- standings and even organized opposition, he helped in the formulation and adoption of
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the zoning ordinance, a legislative enactment which protects the home from encroach- ment of industrial structures and protects industrial property by stabilizing values in ample districts set out for such development.
Mr. Aloe was elected president of the board of aldermen of St. Louis in November, 1916. That term of office was so characterized by his great personal initiative, his wonderful capacity for organization and his whole-hearted energy that he was again elected in April, 1919, to fill the position for the full term of four years. In this posi- tion he now ably serves the people and from time to time is called upon to act as mayor of the city, wherein he has an even broader field for his energy and ability. While so acting he has shown added ability to grasp quickly and comprehensively to understand suddenly arising situations and promptly to take thorough action, as an example of which might be cited his protection of the city of St. Louis when it was threatened by an epidemic of smallpox through the great influx of negro refugees from East St. Louis during the city's race riots.
In his work during the World war he displayed the same qualities and gained the same success as in civic affairs. As acting mayor in April, 1917, he received the distin- guished soldier-statesman General Joffre and Premier Viviani of France. He appointed the local boards to conduct the draft and his record and the records of those whom he selected to conduct the draft was such-a record free from all scandal or criticism- that he was later appointed by President Wilson to act as chairman of the district board of appeals.
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