USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 3
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William B. Kinealy after attending the public schools of St. Louis was gradu- ated from the Manual Training high school and then entered Washington Univer- sity at St. Louis. He read law in the office and under the direction of his father and in 1899 was admitted to practice at the St. Louis bar, where he has since con- tinued. He is associated with James R. Kinealy, his brother, under the firm style of Kinealy & Kinealy, and for many years they have occupied an enviable position among the lawyers of St. Louis. This is due to no unusual qualities but has resulted from that close application and earnest study which must always feature in legal success. His mind is naturally analytical, logical and inductive and his reasoning is always clear and convincing. He finds his recreation largely in the development and improvement of a ten acre farm near St. Louis and the joy in country life in him constitutes the balance to his professional activity.
In 1904 Mr. Kinealy was married to Miss Lily Marie Coale, of St. Louis. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church, his membership being with Corpus Christi parish. In politics he is a democrat, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him, as he has always preferred to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his professional interests.
JOHN F. RUCKER.
John F. Rucker, special deputy collector of customs for district No. 45, com- prising the ports of St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Joseph, Missouri, makes his home in St. Louis and is numbered among the native sons of the state, his birth having occurred in Randolph county, January 15, 1860. He is a son of the late Franklin Head Rucker, a native of Orange county, Virginia, and of French descent. The founder of the family in America came to the new world in the latter part of the seventeenth century, being one of the French Huguenots whom religious persecution drove out of their native land. Franklin H. Rucker was reared and educated in Missouri, attending the State University. He was a son of Minor Rucker, who came
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to this state in the early '20s and settled in Randolph county, where he entered large tracts of land near Huntsville, and engaged extensively in farming and stock raising to the time of his death. His son, Franklin H. Rucker, also took up the occupation of farming and stock raising. At the time of the Civil war he joined the Confederate army and served under General Price, who was his uncle, Mrs. Price having been a sister of his mother. The death of Franklin H. Rucker occurred in 1866. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Amanda Thomson, was a daughter of Asa Quarles Thomson, of Howard county, Missouri, who was among the pioneers of Missouri, having come originally from Virginia and later from Kentucky to this state. His daughter, Mrs. Rucker, was the mother of four children, John F., of this review, and three daughters. Two of the daughters died in infancy and the third in early womanhood.
John F. Rucker is therefore the only surviving member of the family. He acquired his early education in the public schools of his native county and qualified for the bar as a student in Washington University at St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1898. Prior to his graduation he was city clerk at Moberly, Missouri, and also engaged in mercantile lines in Moberly after com- pleting his college course. In 1894 he entered the customs service at St. Louis, being made a special deputy in August, 1914. He had previously served as city clerk of Moberly for ten years and his long connection with the office plainly indicated his capability and fidelity. He has been equally loyal in connection with the customs service, with which he has now been identified for twenty-seven years. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party.
In 1882 Mr. Rucker was married in Moberly, Missouri, to Miss Minnie Coates, a native of Randolph county, Missouri, and a daughter of Judge J. Tunstall and Amanda (Smith) Coates, the latter a daughter of Joel Smith, one of the early pioneers of Randolph county. Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rucker: J. Frank, a resident of Randolph county, where he is engaged in stock raising and farming; and Tunstall Coates, who is giving his attention to the raising of high grade Jersey cattle and other stock, having a valuable stock farm in Randolph county.
Mr. Rucker is connected with the Christian Science church and is regarded as a citizen who displays unqualified devotion to the public good and who in the dis- charge of his duties has ever manifested the utmost loyalty to the interests which he represents.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN GEPHART.
William Franklin Gephart, banker, educator and author, who is now vice presi- dent of the First National Bank in St. Louis, was born at Williamsport, Ohio, August 7, 1878, a son of George Wesley and Nancy (Busic) Gephart. The father was born in Circleville, Ohio, and is now a retired farmer. He belongs to the Masonic fra- ternity and has always been active in civic affairs. During the Civil war he served for three and a half years with the Union army and was wounded in the battle of Gettysburg. He still makes his home at Williamsport, Ohio, where he is enjoying well earned rest after many years of activity in the development and cultivation of farm land. He married Nancy Busic, of Circleville, Ohio, a daughter of William Busic, a pioneer of that state from Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Gephart are the parents of five children: Charles W., living at Delaware, Ohio; Edward E., also of Delaware, Ohio; Thomas B., of Williamsport, Ohio; George C .; and William Franklin.
The last named was educated in the Ohio State University from which he was graduated in 1900, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in Columbia University of New York, in which he won his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1903. He has devoted much of his life to educational work. In 1905 he became professor of economics in the Ohio State University, there continuing until 1913, when he became professor and head of the department of economics of the School of Com- merce and Finance of Washington University of St. Louis, of which he was made dean in 1916. He has become recognized throughout the country as an authority upon questions of commerce and finance and has written largely for publication. He has been a contributor to European economic and financial journals as well as those
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published in this country and he is the author of works entitled: Transportation and Industrial Development in the Middle West, published in 1905; Principles of Insur- ance, published in 1910; Insurance and the State, issued in 1913; and Principles of Life and Fire Insurance, published in two volumes in 1917. With the organiza- tion of the First National Bank in St. Louis, as a result of a merger of the Mechanics American National Bank, the St. Louis Union Bank and the Fourth National Bank, he was elected to the vice presidency and so continues. He is a man of exceptional working ability. He works at high pressure without conscious strain and has great powers of concentration. Week in and week out he makes a large score of hours and the results are of a most tangible and effective character. His success in high degree is based upon that quality which is termed common sense. His advice has been sought on several occasions when he has been summoned to New York for consultation on insurance and labor problems.
On the 2d of July, 1900, Mr. Gephart was married to Miss Theodosia Walston, of Williamsport, Ohio. He is not unmindful of the social amenities of life and in fact displays keen appreciation of warm friendship. He belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa and to the Masonic fraternity, is also a member of the Noonday, University, Round Table, Ridgedale Country and City Clubs. He turns to golf for recreation and diversion, but all these are incidental phases of an active life. His greatest public service thus far perhaps was the organization and management of food control in St. Louis during the war, his work in this connection being so effective as to secure many favorable comments not only through the city but throughout the country, and his advice was many times sought in Washington. He never with- holds his aid from matters of public interest, particularly where the betterment of social conditions is involved. He is an interesting speaker and his public addresses are characterized by directness, clearness and force. He seldom uses figures of speech, depending chiefly upon statement of facts and logical arrangement of thought.
LOIS CHRISTIAN HUMMEL.
Lois Christian Hummel, a St. Louis lawyer, was born at Humboldt, Nebraska, September 26, 1886, his parents being Christian L. and Josephine ( Behringer) Hummel, the former a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Wis- consin. The father was a son of Christian Hummel, who was the founder of the family in the new world, coming to this country from Germany, at which time he settled in Pennsylvania, while subsequently he removed to Illinois. He was an Evangelical minister and devoted his life to the work of the ministry, passing away in 1897, as the age of eighty-six years. His son, Christian L. Hummel, was married in Illinois to Josephine Behringer and to them were born six children, five sons and a daughter, all of whom are yet living.
Lois Christian Hummel, the fifth child, was educated in the country schools of Richardson county, Nebraska, and in the high school at Humboldt, that state, where he was graduated with the class of 1903. He pursued his academical course in the University of Nebraska, completing it in 1909, and then entered upon the study of law, winning his LL. B. degree in 1915. The same year he was admitted to practice and entered upon the active work of the profession in St. Louis, passing the required bar examination in this state on the 1st of December, 1915. He has since continued in general practice, his labors being uninterrupted until June, 1918, when he enlisted in the infantry of the regular army and was later transferred to Camp Taylor in the Field Artillery Central Officers Training School. Subsequently he was transferred to Camp Jackson, where he remained until the close of the war and was commissioned first lieutenant. With the exception of the period of his absence in connection with the army he has continuously given his attention to his law practice and he is a member of the St. Louis and Missouri State Bar Associations.
In his college days Mr. Hummel was much interested in athletics, especially in high jumping, in which he excelled. Politically he is a republican but has never been an office seeker. He belongs to Sigma Nu, a college fraternity, is a member of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and he helongs also to the Shaw Avenue
LOIS C. HUMMEL
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Methodist church. He has been much interested in Sunday school work, taking an active part therein prior to the time when he joined the army. Those who know him well speak of him as a man who is generous to a fault, who as a lawyer is keen and conservative and who at all times is conscientious and displays sound judgment.
GEORGE KINGSLAND.
George Kingsland, real estate officer of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company, was born in St. Louis, March 31, 1857. His father, George Kingsland, was a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the son of Laurence Kingsland, who built and operated the first iron foundry in Pittsburgh. George Kingsland, Sr., came to St. Louis in 1834 and represented his father's interests here. Later he founded the firm of Kingsland & Ferguson in 1844, thus establishing a business which was successfully maintained until 1900. The father, however, passed away in 1874. He was not only prominent in the business development of St. Louis but also was an active and influential member of the Presbyterian church. He married Eliza A. Ferguson, a daughter of David Fergu- son. Mrs. Kingsland became the mother of eleven children but only three are now living, the son George being the tenth in order of birth. The mother passed away March 12, 1898.
At the usual age George Kingsland became a public school pupil in St. Louis and afterward attended the Morton University. He started out in the business world with the Graff-Bennett Company, owners of iron mills, and thus continued until 1882. He then organized and established the Central Union Brass Company and successfully operated under that name until the time when he entered upon active association with the Mississippi Valley Trust Company in 1907. His position as real estate officer is a very important one, as he passes upon all loans made by the company and also has supervision of much real estate for non-resident patrons of the bank. He travels widely in connection with this work in all parts of the United States and has thus become thoroughly familiar with real estate conditions in various sections of the country.
In 1882 Mr. Kingsland was married to Miss Martha A. Chappell, a daughter of John T. and Martha (Alexander) Chappell, the former a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and the latter of Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Kingsland have three children: Law- rence C., an attorney of St. Louis; George Dudley, a member of Kingsland-Rawlings, Incorporated, of St. Louis; and Martha, who is at home. The religious faith of the family is indicated in their membership in the Kingsland Memorial Presbyterian church. Mr. Kingsland is very fond of reading and keeps always in close touch with current events and vital questions and issues of the day. He was formerly a member of a number of leading clubs of St. Louis but has neither time nor inclination for club life at present, devoting his leisure to the interests of his family. He is a man of most courteous demeanor, approachable and at all times having the faculty of placing those in his presence at ease. He has become recognized as an expert on realty and loan values and his life of intense and intelligently directed activity has brought him to a place of prominence in business circles.
HON. VICTOR H. FALKENHAINER.
Hon. Victor H. Falkenhainer is judge of the circuit court of St. Louis, in which city he was born July 4, 1868, and is a son of Henry Falkenhainer of Worms Hesse, Germany. Crossing the Atlantic in 1856 he came at once to St. Louis, where he resided until his death at the age of seventy-eight years. He served his adopted country as a member of the Missouri Light Artillery during the Civil war and was wounded at the battle of Wilson Creek. He afterward became a successful grocery merchant and was regarded as one of the substantial residents of St. Louis. In politics he was a stanch republican and in religious belief was a Protestant. He married Rosa E. Stupp, who was born in Cologne, Germany, and came to St. Louis in 1867 with her husband on their wedding tour, Mr. Falk- enhainer having returned to Germany for his bride. They were married by the
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American Consul at Frankfort, Germany, and later had a second ceremony by a clergyman. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Falkenhainer were born eight children, four sons and four daughters. The mother is still living and makes her home in St. Louis.
Judge Falkenhainer, the oldest of the family, attended the public schools of St. Louis, and started out in the business world as a clerk in his father's store. He afterward entered the office of the city assessor and subsequently occupied a posi- tion in the office of the court of deeds. While employed in the latter connection he took up the study of law in the St. Louis Law School, which later became the law department of Washington University, and was graduated therefrom in 1902 with the LL. B. degree. On the 1st of January, 1903, he entered upon private practice in which he continued successfully until 1906 when he was elected assist- ant prosecuting attorney and filled that office for four years. He was then elected judge of the criminal court of correction, division No. 2, and served upon the bench for two years, after which he resumed the general practice of law and devoted his attentions to the interest of his clients until 1916 when he was elected circuit judge and has since remained upon the bench. His decisions are strictly fair and impartial and he is recognized as an able jurist who is capable of sub- merging all personal opinions or prejudice and fully sustains the dignity and the high purposes of judicial service.
On the 21st of June, 1894, Judge Falkenhainer was united in marriage to Miss Lulu Schirr, a native of St. Louis and a daughter of August Schirr. They have one son, August H. Falkenhainer, who was born May 18, 1895, and who became connected with the medical corps during the World war but did not go overseas.
Judge Falkenhainer is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, belong- ing to Cosmos Lodge No. 282, A. F. & A. M .; St. Louis Chapter, No. 8, R. A. M; Hiram Council, No. 1, R. & S. M .; Ascalon Commandery No. 16, K. T .; and has also taken the Scottish Rite degrees and has been honored with the thirty-third degree and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose. He is a republican, very active in politics, and never falters in sup- port of any cause which he espouses. His life has been characterized by a steadfast purpose and by high professional ideals. Since entering upon the work of the bar he has been most careful to conform his practice to advanced ethical standards of the profession and has long maintained a most creditable position as a represen- tative of the bar of St. Louis.
COLONEL F. WARNER KARLING.
Colonel F. Warner Karling, a veteran of two wars, a prominent furniture dealer of Kansas City and a citizen who in days of peace is an untiring worker in behalf of progress in community, commonwealth and country, was born in Upsala, Sweden, July 30, 1879, his parents being August and Emma Sophia (Wedding) Karling. The father was horn near Stockholm, Sweden, while the mother's birth occurred in Vermland. They came to the United States with their family when their son, Colonel Karling, was but three months old, crossing the Atlantic in 1879 and settling in Boston, Massachusetts, where the father engaged in business as a cabinetmaker. In 1881 he went with his family to Chicago, where he resided for about five years and in 1886 removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he conducted a cabinet shop, turn- ing out handmade furniture of high grade. There he remained in business until 1898, when he came to Kansas City, Missouri, and is now assisting his son in the store of the F. Warner Karling Furniture Company.
Colonel Karling obtained a common school education, which he supplemented by study alone in the evening hours. In 1891, when but twelve years of age, he became an elevator boy, working at a wage of two dollars per week for the Charles Shiverick Furniture Company of Omaha. He was steady and faithful, however, and soon gained advancement, working his way upward until he became stock keeper. Patriotic devotion to his country, however, has ever been one of his para- mount characteristics and on the 23d of May, 1898, he put aside all business and personal considerations in order to enlist as a member of Troop G of the Second United States cavalry. He became a private of that command and was bugler of
M
LLLX'
COLONEL F. WARNER KARLING
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the regiment. He was mustered out in October, 1898, but reenlisted as a member of Battery O, Third Heavy Field Artillery, and later was transferred to the Thirty- sixth Coast Artillery Company. He served as corporal, sergeant and first sergeant, was with the China relief expedition of 1900 and was on active duty throughout the Philippine insurrection. Receiving his discharge on the 28th of June, 1903, he then came to Kansas City, where he has since made his home. He has a most wonderful and interesting collection of flags and souvenirs from the Philippines and from China and his retentive memory enables him to relate many an interesting tale concerning his possessions of this character. Upon taking up his abode in Kansas City, Colonel Karling accepted a position as salesman with the George B. Peck Dry Goods Company and later was employed at the Household Fair and subsequently by the Emery Bird Thayer Dry Goods Company as a furniture salesman, occupying the latter position until February, 1912, when he engaged in the furniture business on his own account, opening a store in a little room nineteen by fifty feet, at which time his cash capital consisted of seventy-five dollars and twelve cents. He possessed courage, determination, good credit and a well merited reputation as a reliable business man and successful furniture salesman. Square dealing, indefatigable energy and persistency of purpose have been the salient features in his growing success. Today he is at the head of one of the important furniture houses of Kansas City as president, treasurer and general manager of the F. Warner Karling Furniture Company, which has its sales and showrooms at 2401-2411 East Fifteenth street. He there has forty thousand square feet of floor space, with one hundred and sixty feet of plate glass front, permitting of a splendid window display of furniture. In addition the company has a large warehouse on Chestnut street, with ten thousand square feet of floor space. The business, which was established February 2, 1912, was incorporated June 1, 1913, with a capital stock of forty thousand dollars. The company engages in a retail trade in furniture, stoves, carpets, rugs and office fixtures and has built up an extensive business among the best people of Kansas City.
Throughout his entire life Colonel Karling has been keenly interested in mili- tary affairs and has continuously been active in military organizations. In 1906 he became a captain of the Missouri National Guard in Company B of the Third Regiment, was afterward promoted to the rank of major and from 1908 until 1912 served on Governor Hadley's staff with the rank of colonel. When America entered the World war he was again ready for duty and in July, 1917, was com- missioned captain. He became commanding officer of Company B, Fifth Separate Battalion of the Motor Transport Corps, and was promoted to the rank of major in August, 1917, serving until July, 1919, when he resigned. He has long been a prominent figure in the organizations among military men and in May, 1904, was instrumental in founding Louis A. Craig Post, No. 18, of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, of which he served as commander for six and a half years and as adjutant for one year. He has attended every national encampment of the organization save three since 1901. He was made adjutant general of the national organiza- tion under Commander in Chief General Wilder S. Metcalf, thus serving in 19.04 and 1905, and in 1907 he became junior vice commander in chief. In 1909 he was elected quartermaster general and in 1911 he was elected commander in chief, of the Army of the Philippines at Detroit, while in 1912 he was unanimously re- elected at Lincoln, Nebraska. He was responsible for the consolidation and amal- gamation that was brought about at Denver when the Army of the Philippines and the American Veterans of Foreign Service merged and became the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He acted on the council of administration several terms and in 1918 was elected commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, to which position he was reelected in 1919 but refused to again accept an election in 1920. He was presented with a diamond studded past commander in chief badge and a gold inlaid sword by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which has a membership of a quarter of a million men who have seen foreign service, from Mexico in 1846 to the World war. He is now senior member of the council of administration of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. When America was active with the allied forces in the successful effort to suppress German mili- tarism and promote world democracy, Colonel Karling took a most active part in advancing all Liberty loans and other phases of war work. He was one of the five men who acted as personal escort to General Pershing when he was presented
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a ten thousand dollar sword at the Convention Hall in Kansas City. He is a mem- ber of the Army & Navy Club of Chicago and has been an honorary member of Battery B, Missouri National Guard, since 1908. He belongs to the Imperial Order of the Dragon, a Chinese organization, through reason of his service in the Chinese Boxer campaign, and he has membership as well with the United States Spanish- America War Veterans. He is a member of the Kansas City Liberty Memorial Committee and his was the original suggestion printed in the Kansas City Star, February 15, 1919, proposing a building to be used as a meeting place for military organizations as a memorial to both the living and the fallen heroes rather than the erection of a monument to only those who made the supreme sacrifice. The plan was accepted because of its feasibility and at his suggestion the Station Plaza was chosen as the location. The Chamber of Commerce made him its chair- man of the committee which represented the organization at the burial of overseas returned dead and a member of its reception committee to meet all returning troops passing through Kansas City, in which connection he had charge of all parades.
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