USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 31
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Mr. Jones was married at Stanford, Kentucky, October 21, 1885, to Miss Frances Miller Reid and they became the parents of five children: Reid, Breckinridge, Jr., Frances Reid, Daniel W. and Mary D. The wife and mother passed away on the 13th of August, 1904. On the 21st of September. 1910, at Cazenovia, New York, Mr. Jones was married to Mrs. Sarah Brant Colwell, a representative of an old promi- nent St. Louis family. Three of the children of Mr. Jones also served in the World war. His eldest son, Reid Jones, was a captain in the Thirty-second Regiment of En- gineers in 1917 and 1918, while Frances Reid Jones served in vocational training work at the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C., in 1918 and Daniel W. Jones was an ensign in the United States navy. His two stepsons also served in the World war: John Charles Colwell was a captain in the United States regular army, belong-
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ing to the Fifty-eighth Infantry in 1917 and 1918; and Kent G. Colwell was a first lieutenant in the Intelligence Department of the United States army in 1917 and 1918.
Mr. Jones belongs to the Union Avenue Christian church. Politically he has always been a democrat and in 1882 was chosen to represent his district in the thirty- second general assembly of Missouri. He is a member of the St. Louis, Noonday, Country, Racquet, Florissant Valley, and Log Cabin Clubs. He is the treasurer of the Missouri Historical Society.
JOHN B. C. LUCAS.
The history of no country perhaps rests so largely upon the development of commercial and industrial enterprise as does that of the United States. This country has waged no wars for conquest, having since the establishment of the republic followed the most constructive lines in the upbuilding of the nation and the establishment of its policy. Into each state have gone men of resolute will, of broad vision and of high ideals who have become active factors in the upbuild- ing of a commonwealth, until the Union is formed of a galaxy of great states each with its paramount interests and activities, yet all contributing to the sum total of power and honor which are everywhere today associated with the name of America.
Prominent among the promoters and builders of Missouri are those of the Lucas family, of which family John B. C. Lucas was a prominent representative. He was born December 30, 1847, a son of James H. and Emilie (Desruisseaux) Lucas. His ancestral line can be traced back through seven generations to one of the Revolutionary war heroes. He was a great-grandson of Andrew Vanoy, who was captain of a company of militia in North Carolina attached to the regiment of Colonel Abraham Shepard. In 1777 he enlisted as a member of the Continental army and rendered valuable service to the cause on various battlefields until the victory was won by the colonial troops. In the Lucas line the ancestry is traced back to Nicholas Lucas who was born in 1572 and died at the age of seventy-eight years. His descendants in successive generations in the line down to John B. C. Lucas were Robert, James, Robert, Robert Joseph and Robert Joseph Edward Lucas, who was the great-grandfather of him whose name heads this memoir. He was born in 1725 and passed away in 1783. In 1760 he became a procureur du Roi, or king's prosecuting attorney, of Port Audemur, in Normandy, France. He married Mademoiselle de l'Arche, and to this union there were born seven chil- dren, of whom Jobn B. C. Lucas was the third child and second son and the grandfather of his namesake, whose name introduces this review. The grand- father was married in France to Mademoiselle Sebin. In the University of Caen, which was founded by Henry VI, king of England, he studied law with a view to becoming procureur du Roi. On the 17th of April, 1784, accompanied by his wife, he left Ostend. Belgium, for America, coming to Philadelphia. Soon afterward he purchased a large tract of land called Montpelier, situated at Coal Hill near the present site of Pittsburgh, where then stood Fort Pitt. There they lived until 1805. Mr. Lucas had brought with him to the United States a letter of introduction from Benjamin Franklin, then minister to France, recommending him to President Jef- ferson as an able jurist whose counsels would be valuable in framing the laws of a new-born republic. He became prominently identified with the history of Penn- sylvania. He served on the bench with Judge Addison and in 1795 was elected to the state legislature, while in 1803 he became a member of congress. Two years before he had been sent by President Jefferson to ascertain the temper of the French and Spanish residents of Louisiana respecting the Louisiana purchase. He traveled incognito to St. Louis, thence to Ste. Genevieve and on to New Orleans, under the name of Des Peiutreaux. The commission was ably and carefully exe- cuted and the president bestowed upon him further honors in 1803 by appointing him judge of the territorial court and commissioner of land claims of Upper Louis- iana, following the purchase. For two years he filled that office in a most credit- able and honorable manner and in 1805 came to St. Louis after resigning his position. The city was but a little French settlement but he recognized its advan- tageous position, believed in its future growth and made extensive investments in
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real estate which afterward brought him and his family large wealth. He was always most devoted to his family and the death of his five sons caused him to retire from public life, after which time he gave his supervision only to his estate. He enjoyed an extensive law practice and his profesional duties and the manage- ment of his property fully claimed his time. He was one of the first to herald the abolition movement which he did in a speech made in St. Louis, April 20, 1820, defining his views in consenting to allow his name to be used as a candidate for membership on the delegation to the constitutional convention of Missouri. At that time he strongly opposed the introduction of slavery into the state and the speech created a great sensation.
James H. Lucas, father of John B. C. Lucas, entered upon the scene of earthly activities about the time of the opening of the nineteenth century. He was born November 12, 1800, and hecame a student in the College of St. Thomas, in Nelson county, Kentucky. In 1817 he left the south, going to New Hampshire, and later studied law in New York. In 1819 he made his way to St. Louis and thence started by boat for South America hut changed his plans and for a time remained at Arkansas Post and at Little Rock, in both of which places he devoted his attention to reading law at the same time supporting himself as a typesetter on the Arkansas Gazette and in operating the ferry. He afterward rode the circuit in the practice of his profssion and his developing powers won him a place of prominence, gaining him a wide and favorable acquaintance as a member of the bar and in other con- nections. In 1820 he was appointed major of the militia by Governor James Miller and later was made judge of the probate court. He was married May 10, 1832, to Emilie Desruisseaux and they became the parents of thirteen children. In October, 1837, James H. Lucas returned to St. Louis at the request of his father who was then well advanced in years and who passed away August 17, 1842, leaving his large estate to his two children, James H. and Mrs. Annie L. Hunt.
The son then assumed the management of the estate and as the years passed became recognized as one of the most prominent among the builders of Missouri through his promotion of many progressive movements and his organization of large business enterprises. He also rendered to his state valuable service of a political character and from 1844 until 1847 was a member of the state senate but was never ambitious to occupy public office. Nevertheless his aid could always be counted upon to further any plan or movement for the general good and in many private capacities he aided in public upbuilding. He subscribed one hundred thousand dollars for the construction of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and was twice elected to the presidency of the company. He assisted in organizing and acted as president of the Gas Company and was one of the promoters of the Boat- men's Savings Institution. For a long period he figured in financial circles, estab- lishing a bank in St. Louis in 1851, with a branch in San Francisco. The business was reorganized in 1853 and others became interested hut on the 21st of October of that year, owing to the widespread financial panic which engulfed the country,
both banks failed. Although Mr. Lucas was not legally bound he assumed the responsibility and paid the entire liabilities with ten per cent interest, at a clear loss to himself of a half million dollars but with business reputation and honor untarnished. Such was the character of the man. His high moral sense was ever one of his most pronounced traits and though he inherited and controlled an immense fortune he was never known to take advantage of the necessities of an- other and in fact would rather have met financial loss than to have compromised his commercial honor in any way. He built the Lucas Market and gave ten thou- sand dollars toward the erection of the Southern Hotel. He also made donation of an equal amount to the Missouri Historical Society and many movements for intellectual and moral progress received his strong endorsement and financial sup- port. His property was largely invested in real estate, his holdings including two hundred and twenty-five stores and dwellings in St. Louis which were divided among his eight living children when he passed away November 11, 1873. His wife survived him for about five years, her death occurring December 24, 1878.
Already the Lucas family has become established as one of the most prom- inent and influential in connection with the material progress of Missouri when John B. C. Lucas became an active factor in the world's work. He was born December 30, 1847, and throughout his entire life lived up to the high traditions and the noble example of his forebears. He attended Washington University of
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St. Louis after mastering the elementary branches of learning and also con- tinued his education in Seaton Hall College at South Orange, New Jersey. Later he accepted a clerkship in his father's office, in which he remained for two years, acquainting himself with his father's varied business interests of which he later assumed entire management. At the death of his father he was appointed one of the executors of the estate which he settled. In business affairs he evar dis- played keen discrimination and sagacity and his name, like that of his father, was ever an honored one, always above suspicion, his course at all times being such as would bear the closest investigation and scrutiny. In 1890 he was elected to the presidency of the Citizens Bank and thus continued to serve until 1898. He was also one of the chief promoters and seven original owners of the Planters Hotel.
In 1876 John B. C. Lucas was united in marriage to Miss Mollie C. Morton, of Little Rock, Arkansas, and they became the parents of two daughters, Isabel and Francine. The mother passed away in Colorado and Mr. Lucas afterward married Isabel Lee Morton, a descendant of the Notrebe, a very prominent French family of Arkansas. There is but one child living of the first marriage, Isabel, who is now the wife of Frank K. Sawyer, of Alexandria, Indiana, and they have two children, Mary M. and Lucas. The children of the father's second marriage who still sur- vive are three in number: Mary L., the wife of John A. Hart, of 19 Portland place, St. Louis, by whom she has two children, Mary L. and John A., Jr .; Charles Lucas, living at home; and Morton J., who wedded Marion Cronk and has a daughter, Isabel Morton Lucas. Since her husband's death Mrs. Lucas has spent much time in travel but maintains a handsome home at No. 4495 West Pine boulevard. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and for a number of years Mr. Lucas was acting president of Calvary cemetery. Death called him on the 16th of September, 1908, and thus he passed on to join his father and another name was added to the list of Missouri's honored dead, for he had been a most progressive citizen and one whose life counted for good in the world's work.
SAMUEL KOBER.
Samuel Kober, vice president and secretary of the Harris-Kober Diamond Import- ing Company of St. Louis, was born August 28, 1877, in the city which is still his home, his parents being Louis and Minnie (Seelig) Kober. The father was a resident of St. Louis during the greater part of his life, having come to this city when a mere lad from Breslau, Germany, during an early emigration of people of his nationality to the new world and never did he have desire to return. He was engaged in the cigar business and for a number of years was with the F. R. Rice Cigar Company of St. Louis, remaining with that house for about two decades or up to the time of his demise. To him and his wife were born four children.
Samuel Kober, the eldest of the family, was educated in the public schools of St. Louis and was graduated from the high school with the class of 1896. After his textbooks were put aside he made his first step in the business world in connection with dairying and won a reputation for furnishing good milk to his fellow townsmen. He was for several years with the well known Hopson Dairy Company, a business that was afterward taken over by the City Dairy Company. The Grafeman Dairy Company was also consolidated with the Hopson Dairy Company. Mr. Kober continued his connection with this business for about six years and then accepted an appoint- ment in the St. Louis post office as one of the distributing clerks. There he continued for five years, at the end of which time he formed a partnership with E. F. Maritz for the conduct of a wholesale jewelry business. This association was maintained for five years, in which period Mr. Kober learned all the practical phases of the jewelry trade. He has now been associated for ten years with L. K. Harris with whom he has been close friends since early childhood, under the firm style of the Harris-Kober Diamond Importing Company, of which he is the vice president and secretary. They handle unset diamonds and are the largest exclusive diamond dealers of the middle west. Their trade covers the entire west and middle west and they do an extensive business. They are most progressive merchants and one of Mr. Kober's unique methods of advertising is to employ what appears to be a playing card the reverse
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side of which shows the king of diamonds, the face of the "king," however, being that of Mr. Kober. He is continually putting forth original methods in behalf of the development of the trade and the house has enjoyed substantial success from the · beginning.
In St. Louis, in 1907, Mr. Kober was married to Miss Myra Arnold, a daughter of S. J. Arnold, one of the oldest residents of St. Louis, who was connected for a number of years with municipal affairs as tax collector and who became one of the best known men of the city. He arrived here from Reading, Pennsylvania, during the Civil war. He was a member of the federal army and participated in a number of battles before being wounded in the hotly contested engagement at Gettysburg. Mr. and Mrs. Kober reside at No. 5789 Westminster place in St. Louis. He belongs to the Masonic order, St. Louis Lodge, No. 20, A. F. & A. M., and Missouri Chapter, No. 1, and his membership relations extend to both lodge and chapter. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, No. 9, of St. Louis. His interests are wide and varied but center in his business affairs, and progressiveness, determina- tion and thorough reliability have been the salient features in making the Harris- Kober Diamond Importing Company one of the leading concerns in this field in the entire country.
REV. JOSEPH C. EI, S. M.
Rev. Joseph C. Ei, S. M., president of the Chaminade College of St. Louis county, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1875, a son of Casper Joseph and Josephine (Tittlebach) Ei, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania and were of German descent. The father was a stationary engineer and resided in Pittsburgh for many years, or to the time of his death.
Rev. Mr. Ei was educated in St. Mary's College at Dayton, Ohio, where he pursued his high school course and his junior college studies. Subsequently he went to France and studied at the University of Besançon, while later he was a student in Paris, completing his studies at the University of Fribourg, in Fribourg, Switzerland. He was ordained to the priesthood on the 30th of July, 1905, and with his return to America hecame a teacher in St. Mary's University at Dayton, Ohio, there remaining for two years. Subsequently he was chaplain and teacher in the St. Louis College at San Antonio, Texas, where he remained for five years, and for four years was president of St. Mary's College at San Antonio, Texas. In 1916 he came to St. Louis county, Missouri, and was appointed to the presidency of Chaminade College and has since been at the head of this institution.
Professor Ei is a member of the Society of Mary. Since his ordination to the priesthood he has devoted his life to educational work and is particularly capable and successful in this field.
JOHN EDMOND BISHOP.
John Edmond Bishop, who is engaged in the practice of law in St. Louis as a member of the firm of Bishop & Claiborne, was born in Rocheport, Boone county, Missouri, August 6, 1869, a son of David and Ann Eliza (Stice) Bishop. It was in the. year 1844 that the father removed from Clark county, Kentucky, to Boone county, Missouri, where he successfully carried on farming, while subsequently he engaged in merchandising at California, Moniteau county, Missouri. He passed away in 1908 at the ripe old age of eighty-four years, his birth having occurred in 1824. His widow is still living.
John Edmond Bishop was educated in this state, completing a high school course at California, Missouri, with the class of 1889, after which he pursued his academic studies in the Missouri State University. He became a law student at. Yale and was there graduated in 1895 with the degree of LL. B. In the meantime Mr. Bishop had taken up the profession of teaching and was assistant superintendent of the public schools of California, Missouri, in 1892 and 1893 and also through the ensuing term. In September, 1895, he came to St. Louis and entered alone upon
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the practice of law, thus continuing until January 1, 1901, when he formed a partnership with Thomas H. Cobhs under the firm style of Bishop & Cobbs. Today he is the senior partner of the firm of Bishop & Claiborne, which was organized in the fall of 1918. He has always concentrated his efforts and attention upon general civil practice save that he filled the office of city attorney at California, Missouri, from 1892 until 1894. His law practice is now extensive and important and he is also a director of a number of corporations.
On the 11th of March, 1916, Mr. Bishop was married to Miss Maria Claiborne, of St. Louis, daughter of Judge James R. Claihorne, a prominent jurist and the present partner of her husband in the practice of law.
Mr. Bishop is well known in club circles. He is the secretary of the St. Louis Club and a member of the Noonday, the Bellerive Country and the Sunset Hill Country Clubs. He is very prominent in Masonic circles, belonging to Tuscan Lodge No. 60, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master, while in the consistory he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is likewise a mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine and in 1920 was elected potentate of Moolah Temple. He belongs to the Christian church and the active forces of his life have always been such as have made him a highly esteemed and valued resident of St. Louis.
WILBUR TYSON TRUEBLOOD.
Wilbur Tyson Trueblood, a St. Louis architect of high professional standing, was born January 4, 1874, in the city which is still his home.
His father, E. T. Trueblood, was born in Indiana and is of English descent. For many years he served as statistician for the Kennard Carpet Company of St. Louis, Missouri, but is now living retired from business life. During the Civil war he served as a soldier of the Union army and is now a member of a Grand Army post, thus maintaining pleasant relations with his old military comrades. In days of peace he has been as true and loyal to the interests of his country as when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battle fields of the south. He wedded Mary Cooper, a daughter of William Cooper and a representative of one of the old American families. By this marriage there were born two sons and three daughters: Mary Ada; Stella; Elizabeth, the deceased wife of Charles W. Thatcher, president of the Thatcher-Kerwin Glass Company of St. Louis; Wilbur T., of this review; and Alva C., who is an attorney of the firm of Wilson & Trueblood, with offices in the Federal Reserve Bank building in St. Louis, and who married Leona Wahlert.
Wilbur T. Trueblood was educated in the public schools and in the Manual Training School of St. Louis, being graduated from the latter in June, 1892. He then entered the office of Isaac S. Taylor, a well known architect, with whom he remained until 1896, during which time he was studying the various phases of the business and thus constantly promoting his skill and efficiency. In 1900 he at- tended Columbia University in New York for a year, making a special study of architecture. The years from 1901 to 1905 he spent in the offices of architects, McKim, Mead, and White, of New York, and Mauran, Russell & Garden and Wil- liam B. Ittner, of St. Louis. From 1905 until 1908 he engaged in the practice of his profession independently during which period, for two years, he acted as in- structor in architecture in Washington University of St. Louis. In 1908 he went abroad to study architecture, entering the atelier of M. Duquesne in Paris, France, a connection of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. During his stay in Europe, which covered a year, he traveled through Spain, England and Italy, studying the archi- tecture of these various countries in addition to his work in Paris. Upon his return to St. Louis he again became instructor in architecture in Washington University, continuing his educational work there from 1909 until 1911. In the latter year he resumed husiness on his own account and was thus engaged until 1915 when he formed a partnership with Theodore C. Link, a connection that has since been maintained under the firm name of Link & Trueblood. They engage in the gen- eral practice of architecture and have a large clientele.
Mr. Trueblood has acquainted himself with the highest architectural standards and designs of Europe and in the practice of his profession has shown initiative
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and originality in meeting the demands of present-day life and business conditions. During the World war he had charge of construction work for the Red Cross in the Southwestern Division.
On the 4th of November, 1913, in St. Louis, Mr. Trueblood was married to Miss Kate C. Lee, a daughter of James W. Lee, now deceased, who was chaplain of the Barnes Hospital and for a number of years minister of St. John's Methodist Epis- copal church, South, in St. Louis. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Trueblood has been born one son, Wilbur Tyson, Jr., who is with his parents in an attractive home at No. 5043 Washington avenue.
Politically Mr. Trueblood is a republican and his religious faith is evidenced in his membership in the Second Baptist church at Kings Highway and Washington avenue. He has been president since 1918 of the Municipal Art Commission of St. Louis. He is a member of the St. Louis Artists Guild and the American Insti- tute of Architects. From 1918 to 1921 he filled the position of secretary of the St. Louis Chapter in this latter organization. He has ever been active in promoting and maintaining the highest professional standards and has gained a place in the foremost rank of the architects of his native city.
EDWIN S. PILLSBURY.
Edwin S. Pillsbury, president of the Century Electric Company of St. Louis, was born in Riley county, Kansas, January 12, 1867, his parents being Leonard H. and Evelyn S. (Sanborn) Pillsbury, both of whom were representatives of old and well known New England families. The ancestry of the Pillsbury family can be traced back to about 1638, when representatives of the name came from England to the new world. The Sanborn family is also of English lineage, Evelyn Sanborn being a daughter of Captain Frederick Sanborn. Leonard H. Pillsbury, the father, was born In New Hampshire and was educated at the Phillips Exeter Academy at Exeter, that state. He later went to Kansas with the earliest settlers and passed through the usual ex- periences and hardships of frontier life for several years. Realizing that there was limitless opportunity in the legal profession he determined to study law and returned to Exeter where he began preparation for the bar. It was in 1862 that he wedded Evelyn S. Sanborn, the marriage being celebrated on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning, a week later, Mr. Pillsbury participated in the battle of South Mountain. He had recruited a company, of which he became captain, his command being mustered in as Company A of the Ninth New Hampshire Volunteers. He also participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Antietam and Vicksburg and after the latter campaign only nine men out of his original company of one hundred and twelve responded to the roll-call. After the close of the war Leonard H. Pillsbury returned to Riley county, Kansas, where he conducted a newspaper and was also engaged in surveying for several years. From there he removed to Memphis, Tennessee, where for about five years he was an officer in the United States court. He then returned to New Hampshire where he engaged in general merchandising at Derry in connection with his brother and has since been a resident of that place. An interesting fact of his long and honorable career is that thirty years ago he served in the state legislature and during the year 1920, at the ripe old age of eighty-five, his fellow citizens again called him to the same position and he is now a member of the general assembly of the old Granite state. His wife has passed away, survived by the following sons and daughter: Frederick S., Ambrose Burnside, Edwin S., William S., and Grace.
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