USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 28
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Mr. Hummert was united in marriage in St. Louis, October 4, 1908, to Miss Anna Eymann, a native of this city and a daughter of Rudolph and Anna Eymann, both now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Hummert have been born two sons and a daughter: Fred, whose birth occurred August 2, 1909; Elveria, who was born November 23, 1914; and August H., Jr., born October 10, 1917. The three children are still under the parental roof at No. 938 Kings Highway Park.
Mr. Hummert is a life member of the National Society of American Florists, also a life member of the Missouri State Florists Club and in 1919 and 1920 was president of the St. Louis Florists Club. He is likewise a director of the Lutheran Hospital of St. Louis and has long been an active and earnest worker in the Lutheran church, serving as elder and treasurer of Emmaus church of St. Louis. In politics he is an independent republican, usually supporting the party yet not hesitating to exercise his own judgment in regard to political affairs. Mr. Hummert is a self-made man and whatever success he has achieved and enjoyed is attributable entirely to his own labors. Starting out in the world with a handicap of limited education and with no capital he has nevertheless worked his way steadily upward, broadening his knowledge, promoting his efficiency and gaining his objective in the business world.
EUGENE D. ANDREWS.
Eugene D. Andrews, an attorney of St. Louis, was born February 6, 1875, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and is a son of William H. and Fannie D. (Fortner) An- drews. The father was a wholesale merchant of Vicksburg, Mississippi, for about eighteen years, continuing in the business up to the time of his death which occurred in 1879. The family comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry and was founded in Kentucky prior to removal to Mississippi. In both states they took up their abode in pioneer times.
Eugene D. Andrews was educated in private schools of Petersburg, Virginia, and afterward pursued a law course in the University of Virginia from which he was graduated in 1899. At that time he came to St. Louis and entered upon the practice
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of law in which he continued for a few years. He then became assistant attorney for the the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company, which position he capably filled until July, 1918. He then became associated with E. W. Foristel whom he assisted in the general practice of law and on the 1st of May, 1920, he entered into partnership relations with Arthur Stahl, the firm now occupying a suite of rooms in the Federal Reserve Bank building of St. Louis. They have already gained many clients and are making steady progress as representatives of the bar. Mr. Andrews belongs to the St. Louis Bar Association, the Missouri State and the American Bar Associations. In 1903 he was tendered the position of assistant city attorney but his many other duties at that time prevented him from accepting the office. He has served on a number of occasions as judge of election.
On the 23d of April, 1919, Mr. Andrews was married to Miss Martha Hutchinson, a daughter of Randolph Hutchinson of St. Louis, who was president of the Mechanics American National Bank which has been absorbed by the First National Bank of St. Louis. He continued to act as president of the former until 1910, when he retired and his death occurred the following year. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have one son, Ran- dolph Hutchinson. Mr. Andrews belongs to a number of leading social organizations and clubs of the city and is likewise a consistent member of the Methodist church. He gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never sought nor desired office. He is a man of genial disposition who has formed a wide acquaintance and has many friends in St. Louis where he is rapidly galning a position of prom- inence at the city bar.
CHARLES FRANCIS HAANEL.
Charles Francis Haanel, writer on philosophical subjects, was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 22, 1866, a son of Hugo P. and Emeline C. (Fox) Haanel, who removed with him to St. Louis when he was in early childhood. He attended the high school of this city and started upon his business career as a clerk with the St. Louis Stamping Company, for which he worked for a period of fifteen years. At that time the vicinity of Tehuantepec, Mexico, was reputed as being especially adapted to the growth of sugar and coffee. He succeeded in convincing a number of capitalists of the feasibility of taking up land in that section of the country and working a plantation. The land was purchased and the company organized to engage in the raising of sugar and coffee. Of this company he was made president. The plantation was successful from the be- ginning and soon became an enterprise of considerable financial worth. This was organized in 1898 and in 1905 Mr. Haanel organized the Continental Commercial Com- pany, which was consolidated with the other company and also absorbed six additional companies. It operated under the name of the Continental Commercial Company, with Mr. Haanel as president but since the continued unrest in Mexico, like all other organi- ations there, has been inactive and will remain so until a stable government is put in power. Mr. Haanel has by no means confined his efforts to these lines, however, but has extended his labors to other enterprises with which he is associated in a prom- inent capacity. He was one of the organizers of the Sacramento Valley Improvement Company and for some time its president. He was likewise president of the Mexico Gold & Silver Mining Company, a company of some importance in developing the rich mineral resources of the southern republic.
Mr. Haanel is now devoting his time largely to scientific and philosophical writ- ing and is the founder of The Master Key System of Philosophy. His researches and investigations have been carried on broadly and he has evolved from the experiences of the activities of the ages the system of philosophy which he terms The Master Key, looking at life with broad vision and high purpose. He has in his possession many most interesting letters bearing testimony to the worth of his system of philosophy as a factor toward happiness, success and contentment in life. One writing to him, after losing two hundred thousand dollars as the result of heavy real estate investments, said: "I felt that nothing could make life worth living again; was filled with regrets, remorse, fear, and everything but joy, courage and hope. To make a long story short, after reading, studying and appropriating the practical, self-evident statements and logical, scientific plan of life as set forth in The Master Key, everything is changed and I have recovered my health completely, my courage as well, and I am again on
CHARLES F. HAANEL
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the road to financial independence with the great joy in sight of repaying every obli- gation, or I should say, of paying them. The scientific facts as set forth are real, the logic is perfect. It is as good as, yes, better in some respects than a college course so far as education is concerned, aside from giving the absolute knowledge which makes health and true happiness possible." Many letters of similar purport, with changes only as to detail, environment and condition, has Mr. Haanel received and today The Master Key System has thousands of students in every country on the globe.
In 1885 Mr. Haanel was united in marriage to Miss Esther M. Smith. Sixteen years later he was left a widower with one son and two daughters, and in July, 1908, he was married to Miss Margaret Nicholson of St. Louis, a daughter of W. A. Nichol- son. They have two children, Beverly and Charles F., Jr. While Mr. Haanel is a repub- lican, his pressing business interests have given him no time to take an active part in politics beyond that of casting his vote and using his influence for the election of the candidates of the party in whose principles he firmly believes. He is a member of Keystone Lodge, a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner.
EDGAR DE FOREST BELL.
Edgar De Forest Bell, the general manager of the Illinois Traction System was born in Hopewell, Indiana, May 6, 1875. His father, a prosperous farmer, was Jesse Bell, and his mother Elizabeth (Hood) Bell, both of whom were natives of that. town. Of the three boys and three girls born to them Edgar De Forest Bell was the third. He received his early education in the grade and high schools of Urbana, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1901 with the degree of Bachelor of Sci- ence and Engineering. He began work immediately with the Illinois Traction System and has advanced steadily to his present position as the general manager.
Mr. Bell is one of the stockholders of the University Bank of Urbana, Illinois, and is connected with three prominent building and loan associations in that city. He has participated actively in all Liberty loan drives.
A member of the Rock Springs Country Club of Alton, Illinois, and the Riverview Club of St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Bell is also a Mason who has achieved the Scottish Rites. His party affiliations are republican and his religious faith is that of the Quakers.
Mr. Bell was married in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1905, to Amelia Seifferman, daughter of Charles Seifferman of Urbana, Illinois, of the Transportation Department of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. They have one daughter, Mary Elizabeth Bell.
GEORGE J. WANSTRATH.
George J. Wanstrath, president and treasurer of the George J. Wanstrath Real Estate Company and also of the Wanstrath Investment Company, is a self-made man of St. Louis whose record should serve as a source of encouragement and inspiration to others, for when he arrived in America as a young man of twenty-one years his cash capital consisted of but five dollars. Since then he has steadily worked his way upward until he is now at the head of business enterprises the capitalization of which is four hundred thousand dollars. He was born January 29, 1866, at Bersenbruck, Hanover, Germany, and is the son of Henry and Minnie (Budke) Wanstrath. His youthful days were spent in his native country and on attaining his majority he sought the opportunities of the new world and made his way across the country to Kansas where he arrived practically empty-handed. For a time he was employed by others but was ever ambitious to engage in business on his own account and carefully saved his earnings until in 1888 he was able to establish a restaurant in Topeka, Kansas, which he conducted for about a year. In 1889 he removed to St. Louis where he again engaged in the restaurant business for three years and then established a grocery store of which he was proprietor until 1901. Every business enterprise with which he has been associated has been wisely and carefully managed and his enter- prise, economy and progressiveness have constituted salient features in his growing
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success. After withdrawing from the grocery trade he turned his attention to the real estate business and in this field has made notable progress, having developed ex- tensive business interests under the name of the George J. Wanstrath Real Estate Company of which he is the president and treasurer and the Wanstrath Investment Company. These two organizations have an aggregate capitalization of four hundred thousand dollars and conduct business of extensive proportions. They have handled many of the large real estate transfers of the city and Mr. Wanstrath is prominently known in this connection. He is a member of the St. Louis Real Estate Exchange, of the North St. Louis Business Men's Association, and an old time member of the City Club. In 1907 Mr. Wanstrath subdivided six city blocks in the O'Fallon Park dis- trict in North St. Louis, which community is now known as Wanstrath Place.
On the 16th of April, 1891, in St. Louis, Mr. Wanstrath was married to Carrie Alfeld and they have two children, George B. and Minnie. George B., the son, is a progressive young man, engaged in the real estate business for himself. He was mar- ried June 12, 1918, in St. Louis to Alma Naber, a daughter of Henry Naber, of the Naber Lumber Company. Her grandfather in the maternal line was president of the Bremen Bank for forty-eight years. Immediately after his marriage George B. Wanstrath joined the army and on the 24th of July, 1918, was sent to Camp Funston, where he was assigned to the Tenth Division. He was discharged December 23, 1918, as a sergeant of the Headquarters Company of the Tenth Sanitary Train.
In politics Mr. Wanstrath is a republican. He belongs to the Perpetual Help Catholic church and is a member and trustee of fourth degree assembly of the Knights of Columbus and member of Marquette Council of the Knights of Columbus and for many years has been trustee and later vice president of St. Vincent Orphans' Home. His business record is indeed enviable and he is today one of the prominent real estate dealers of the city.
FOUNTAIN ROTHWELL.
Fountain Rothwell, United States collector of customs in St. Louis, was born in Callaway county, Missouri, February 1, 1868, and is a son of Alexander McKee Rothwell. He comes of a family of early pioneers who removed from Virginia to Kentucky and thence to Missouri and who aided in building the bridges, the schools, the homes and the churches which transformed the wilderness into the beautiful state of today.
Fountain Rothwell was educated in the country schools of Callaway county and in the high school of Ashland, Missouri, to which place the family removed in Octo- ber, 1881. When sixteen years of age he started out to provide for his own support and was first employed by G. A. Gans, owner of a sawmill at Ashland, his initial salary being ten dollars per month. He there remained for two months and then entered the service of Jack C. Conely who conducted a large ranch and sawmill and with whom he remained for a period of ten years, a fact indicative of his faithfulness and capability. During the last four years of that period he was foreman of the busi- ness. He began working at seventy-five cents per day and from a minor position worked his way steadily upward to the foremanship. In 1893 he was married and at that time began farming and stock raising on his own account, thus being identified with agri- cultural interests until 1896 when practically in a spirit of fun he permitted his name to be entered for the election of constable of Cedar township and to his surprise he was elected by a handsome majority. He served for two years and was then re-elected for a second term. Soon afterward, however, he resigned to accept the position of deputy sheriff at Columbia, Missouri, and removed to that city, taking up the duties of the office on the 1st of January, 1900, and so serving for two years under W. R. Baldwin. The latter was defeated for re-election and as the result Mr. Rothwell was left out of office. During the next four years he served as assistant chief of police and on the expiration of Mayor Parker's term F. W. Niedemeyer, a republican, was elected, he being the first and last republican to fill the office. Mr. Rothwell was requested to continue in his position, which he did through the succeeding two years. He was then induced to become a candidate for sheriff and was elected by a large majority, taking the office January 1, 1905, and acceptably serving for a four years' term. On his retirement from the position of sheriff he engaged in the livery busi-
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ness which he followed successfully for a period of five years and was then appointed to his present office, that of collector of United States customs at St. Louis, on the 1st of August, 1914. After four years he was reappointed on the 1st of November, 1918, and is now serving for the second term. Since 1896 he has been very active in local, state and national politics as a supporter of the democratic party, being one of the influential representatives thereof in the state of Missouri. He has always been a man of positive convictions, thoroughly loyal to his friends, and of him it can be said he never placated an enemy nor went back on a friend. He is held in the highest esteem wherever known by reason of his good judgment, his ability to judge character and his loyalty to those with whom he is associated and one of his marked characteristics is his charity in dealing with the faults of others. He is of a social and kindly nature, seeing the good in others and at all times seeking to bring out the best in those with whom he comes in contact.
On the 29th of November, 1893, Mr. Rothwell was married to Miss Anna Harring- ton, of Ashland, Missouri, a native of Boone county and a daughter of the late Allen G. Harrington and his wife, both representatives of old Boone county families. To Mr. and Mrs. Rothwell have been born three children: Mary McKee, Jack and Allen Harrington, the last named, however, being always called Harry by his family and friends. Jack Rothwell was a member of the Thirty-fifth Division of the One Hun- dred and Twenty-eighth Field Artillery. He volunteered at the age of eighteen years, joining the army as a private and coming out as sergeant. With his division he was in the battle of Chateau Thierry and in the Argonne offensive, thus participating in some of the hottest fighting in which the American troops engaged.
Fraternally Mr. Rothwell is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of the Maccabees and is quite prominent in these organizations. Through- out his entire life he has held friendship inviolable and his career has proven the truth of the Emersonian philosophy that the way to win a friend is to be one.
WILLIAM L. ALLEN.
William L. Allen is the vice president of the Laclede Steel Company and as such is prominently connected with one of the important productive industries of St. Louis. A native of Glenwood, Minnesota, he pursued his early education in the public schools of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and his preparatory course at Mercersburg Academy. He then entered the Pennsylvania State College and afterward continued his studies in the University of Pittsburgh, where he specialized In metallurgy of iron and steel. After leaving college he went to work as a common laborer in the mills of the Jones-Laughlin and Carnegie Steel Companies for the purpose of gaining first- hand practical experience. From the position of laborer he progressed through the various departments, later making his way to Moline, Illinois, where he worked for a time in the mill of the Republic Iron & Steel Company. Subsequently he returned to the Carnegie Steel Company where he was associated as metallurgist in the in- vestigation of gas producers, open-hearth furnaces and rolling mill power tests. This was followed by his connection with the armor plate department where he specialized as metallurgical sales engineer in the promoting of the sale and the proper use of the then new alloy chrome vanadium steel, which work involved the installing and organiz- ing of heat treating plants throughout the United States and Canada. In 1916 he went to East St. Louis where he organized the Valley Steel Company, capitalized at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, of which he was president. This company engaged in the manufacture of ship and locomotive forges and car axles. In 1918 this company was absorbed by the Laclede Steel Company and Mr. Allen was elected to the vice presidency of same. The Laclede Steel Company has three plants-one in East St. Louis, one in Alton and the other in Madison, Illinois. The company is a Missouri corporation and is capitalized for two million two hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Allen was married to Miss Helen Armstrong, a daughter of S. C. Armstrong, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and they reside at No. 7 Beverly place, St. Louis. They have two sons, William L. Allen, Jr., and Robert Armstrong Allen. Mr. Allen is well known in the club circles of St. Louis, belonging to the St. Louis, Missouri Athletic, University, City, and Bellerive Country Clubs. He has won a notable place in manu-
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facturing circles, his thorough technical training and broad experience constituting the basis upon which he has built his later success. As the years have passed his progress has been continuous and his position is now in the front ranks of the indus- trial interests in the Mississippi valley.
A. SAMUEL BENDER.
A. Samuel Bender, attorney at law, is one of the representatives of the St. Louis bar of Russian birth. Brought to the new world in early life he is a product of the educational institutions of St. Louis and his course has been a credit to his adopted city. He was born at Odessa, Russia, January 31, 1893. His father, Isadore Bender, is also a native of Odessa and engaged in commercial pursuits in St. Louis as a dealer in groceries and sundries. He came to the United States in 1900, mak- ing his way direct to this city, where he has since resided and has successfully en- gaged in the line of business indicated. He married Bessie Swerdlich, who was also born in Russia and who passed away March 7, 1910, at the age of forty-eight years. In the family were seven children, five of whom have passed away, Louis and A. Samuel, both of St. Louis, being the surviving members of the family.
The latter was the youngest of the family and was educated in the public and high schools of St. Louis and also in the Washington University, in which he pursued his professional course, being graduated in 1914 with the LL. B. degree. He had started out to earn his living as a newsboy when but eight years of age and he continued to sell papers to the time that he entered the university, and from his earnings he paid his way while pursuing his legal course. In fact he continued to sell papers until January 15, 1915, and it was in that month he was admitted to practice. He then entered upon the active work of the profession, and although advancement at the bar is proverbially slow he has steadily progressed and already has won a large clientage of considerable importance. He prepares his cases with thoroughness and care and his ability and skill are manifest in the many favorable verdicts he has won for his clients.
On the 13th of June, 1920, Mr. Bender was married in St. Louis to Miss Ruth Reichman, a native of this city and a daughter of David and Minnie Reichman. Mr. Bender is a member of the orthodox Hebrew church. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and along professional lines has connection with the St. Louis Bar Association. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is interested in all that pertains to the progress and welfare of city and state. During the period when America was at war with Germany he was active in all Liberty Loan campaigns, frequently addressed public gatherings upon the vital questions of the hour and he served in the bureau of air-craft production and later was discharged at Camp Hancock, where he was attending the Machine Gun Officers' Training School, having been connected with the army for ten months. Though born across the water he has spent all but the first seven years of his life in St. Louis and is thoroughly imbued with American spirit and ideals, while in his profession he is steadily forging to the front by reason of those qualities which show him to be imbued with a high sense of professional honor.
CLYDE HENRY SMITH.
Clyde Henry Smith, a member of the firm of Smith and Smith Advertising Company, 221-222 Dwight building, Kansas City, Missouri, was born near Long Island, Phillips county, Kansas, May 9, 1881, his parents being Daniel L. and Mary E. (Pickel) Smith. The father was a native of Genesee, New York, and the mother was born in Michigan and is now living in Kansas City. The father learned the trade of a carpenter and millwright and in young manhood went to Michigan, where, after the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a member of Company B, Fifth Michigan Infantry. Following his active service in defense of the Union on the battle fields of the south he went to Hancock, Iowa, but soon afterward re-
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moved to Kansas, making the trip by team and wagon, Mr. Smith furnishing the wagon while his friend George W. Young furnished the team, and thus they trav- eled across the country to Kansas. Mr. Smith took up a homestead claim, at which time Fort Kearney, ninety miles distant, was the nearest town. His experiences were those which usually fell to the lot of the pioneer on the western plains. He lived in a sod house and he met all of the hardships and privations of frontier life. He was married in Kansas in 1879 and as the years passed prosperity came to him and his wife. He was very active in public affairs, assisting in organizing Phillips county and serving as county treasurer from 1882 until 1884. In 1889 he was elected a member of the house of representatives, although he was not present at the convention, nor did he take active part in campaign work for he was too busy with his milling interests. Nevertheless his personal popularity and his rec- ognized capability won him promotion to the office and as a member of the general assembly he gave thoughtful and earnest consideration to all the vital questions which came up for settlement. He was long a recognized leader in republican cir- cles in Kansas. His religious faith was that of the Methodist church and he was throughout his entire life most loyal to any cause which he espoused. He occupied a prominent position in business circles and built in 1883 the first roller mill in Phillips county. He was also one of the first to grow hard wheat and he introduced alfalfa in Phillips county. When the farmers were burned out he acted as govern- ment agent in his district distributing food, clothing and other necessaries and per- sonally he gave flour to many a needy man. He continued in the milling business to the time of his death, which occurred in 1895, and as the years passed he pros- pered in his undertaking. He was long recognized as a leading citizen by reason of his activity in business, in politics and in the church. He was a charter member of the first Masonic lodge in Phillips county, which was organized in 1882.
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