USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 51
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FREDERICK N. JUDSON
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fact that Paul Morton, secretary of the navy and a former head of the Santa Fe Rail- road, was alleged to have been involved in the rehating. In 1910 he was again con- nected with railroad interests of the greatest importance when the United States issued an injunction against increased rates by western railroads. In 1912 he was a member of the board of arbitration to settle differences between fifty-two rail- roads and locomotive engineers of the east. In 1913 he was called to the Yale Law School as Storrs lecturer. He had become widely known as the author of many valuable works involving Important problems of law and other questions vital to the country's welfare. In 1900 he published a work entitled "Law and Practice of Taxation in Missouri" and in 1902 issued "The Taxing Power, State and Federal, in the United States," which came out in its second edition in 1917. In 1905 he issued "The Law of Interstate Commerce," which was brought out in its third edi- tion in 1916. He was also a contributor of various articles on taxation and economic and legal subjects to journals of the country and he delivered many public addresses upon the vital questions confronting the nation. He took the keenest interest in the question of taxation, came to be regarded as an authority upon the subject and thus it was that he was called to serve on boards and commissions relating to ques- tions of taxation, being chairman of the national conference on taxation, which was held in Buffalo in 1901. He regarded the Missouri system of personal property tax- ation as "immoral" in that it encouraged owners to conceal their property or mini- mize its value. He believed that tangible property should be the basis of taxation and he advocated a mortgage-recording tax and other measures which would be based on public records and on assets not capable of being concealed. He advo- cated the present state income tax measure and gave assistance to the attorney- general of Missouri in defending it against legal attacks. Mr. Judson was ever a most thorough and discriminating student. He saw possibilities for advancement and improvement, recognized the weak points in situations of public import and was always arrayed on the side of reform and advancement. He repeatedly urged reforms in court procedure and in 1913 he delivered before the law school of Yale University an address on "The Judiciary and the People," which was later printed by the University Press. He advocated better remuneration for judges, avoidance of delays in judicial processes, disregard of technicalities in the conduct of cases and urged that the disposition of courts to nullify statute laws on grounds of alleged unconstitutionality should be checked. His private practice was long conducted as a member of the firm of Judson & Green, which for many years acted as counsel for the Post-Dispatch, and Mr. Judson was at one time the president of the Pulitzer Publishing Company, owning and publishing the Post-Dispatch, but his activities never extended beyond its legal affairs. He was made one of the executors of the estate of Joseph Pulitzer, who died in 1911.
In the Panama Canal tolls controversy, which was an issue of prime importance in the early part of President Wilson's first administration, he was asked officially hy Senator O'Gorman of New York for an opinion on the merits of the question and in his reply upheld President Wilson in urging the repeal of the act of 1912, which had exempted from the payment of canal tolls all American coastwise vessels. He claimed that exemption was a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of treaty contract provisions and his opinion prevailed.
On the 8th of February, 1872, Mr. Judson was married to Miss Jennie W. Eakin, of Nashville, Tennessee, who passed away on the 10th of February, 1914, survived by a daughter, Mrs. Felicia Calhoun, the widow of Gouverneur Calhoun. Mr. Judson was a member of the Episcopal church and was a lay delegate from the diocese of eastern Missouri to several of the triennial general conventions, includ- ing the one held in St. Louis in 1916. He was identified with many social and scien- tific organizations. He had membership with the American Bar Association, the American Economic Association, of which he was vice president in 1910 and 1911, the National Civic Federation, of which he served as a member of the executive com- mittee in 1911, and of a special committee on state and national regulation of combi- nations. He was also identified with the American Political Science Association and was its honored president in 1907 and 1908. He helonged to the National Municipal League, was president in 1908 and 1909 of the Missouri Bar Association and from 1907 until 1910 was chairman of the Yale Alumni Advisory Council. In 1905 he was elected the president of the Western Federation of Yale Clubs and occupied that position for two years. He was also governor of the Missouri Society of Colonial
Vol. V-30
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Wars, was a member of the Freeholders' Charter Commission of St. Louis in 1913, which gave to the city its present charter, and in 1914 was a member of the Missouri Code Commission. He became state chairman of the Missouri Branch League to Enforce Peace and was one of Missouri's two delegates to the league's first conven- tion in Washington continuing to be an active supporter of the idea of a definite international agreement for the settlement of differences which might lead to war. When America declared a state of war existing between this country and Germany he joined with every effort of the United States to further the cause of the allies, was made a member of the exemption board of the seventeenth ward of St. Louis in 1917 and was also made a member of the national war labor board, which was created in the spring of 1918 by executive action, being composed of five rep- resentatives of organized labor and five representatives of the employers, while each group of five chose a chairman. The employers chose former President Taft, who named Mr. Judson as his alternate, and when in June, 1918, Mr. Taft virtually with- drew from active work of the board, Mr. Judson thereafter acted as one of the joint chairmen, his associates being Frank P. Walsh, who represented the labor unions, and later his successor, Basil Manley. The board had jurisdiction over wartime industries and others indirectly involved in war production. The object of the board was to make possible the enormous increase in production which the necessities of war demanded and to maintain harmony in industry. It ruled that strikes and lock- outs were inadmissible and refused to entertain any complaint from workers on strike, or from employers who had locked out their employes. It passed over nearly one thousand cases involving wages, working hours and the employment of women, and Mr. Judson's efforts in this direction were of immeasurable benefit. This was his last great important public service-regarded by many as the most important of his entire career. His was a masterful mind and no activity which he touched failed to bear the impress of his ability and his judgment. His name is high on the list of St. Louis' most honored citizens, who by reason of their inherent and cul- tivated powers became national figures.
ROBERT DAVID LEWIS.
Robert David Lewis, of St. Louis, whose sound business judgment, keen intui- tion, well formulated plans and powers of organization made him one of the fore- most manufacturers in connection with the tobacco trade of the country, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, April 3, 1847, his parents being James A. W. and Mary (Newman) Lewis. He was a descendant of one of the old families of Virginia, founded in 1732 by John Lewis, who was a native of Donegal, Ireland, and of Huguenot descent and who came to the colony of Virginia accompanied by his wife and children. A branch of the Lewis family now in Pittsylvania county, Vir- ginia, has in its possession the coat of arms and the family tree, which traces the ancestral line down to the present time. Robert David Lewis was a member of the Loyal Lewis Legion of Virginia. General Andrew Lewis, son of John Lewis, the American progenitor, achieved distinction by service in the French and Indian wars and also in the Revolutionary war. Another son was Thomas Lewis, who served as a member of the Virginia house of burgesses and faithfully supported the rights of the colonies, advocating the resolutions of Patrick Henry in the session of 1765. He served as a member of the colonial conventions of 1775 and 1776 and also of the state conventions that ratified the federal constitution. Two other sons of John Lewis were William and Charles Lewis, both of whom served in the American army during the war for independence with the rank of colonel. Still another son, John Lewis, was the great-grandfather of Robert D. Lewis and became one of the earliest settlers of Pittsylvania county, Virginia. He was the father of Littleberry Lewis, who for many years was a manufacturer of plug tobaccos and a shipper of tobacco strips at Lynchburg. His son, James A. W. Lewis, father of Robert D. Lewis, became superintendent of his father's tobacco works, filling that position at the time of the birth of his son. In 1847, with his wife and infant child, James A. W. Lewis left the old home in Virginia and started for St. Louis. Through having signed a note for a friend which involved his whole fortune, he had been practically ruined and this was why he left Virginia to come west to make
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ROBERT D. LEWIS
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his fortune. They journeyed by wagon over the mountains of Virginia to the Ohio river and proceeded down that stream by boat and up the Mississippi to thelr destination. The trip up the father of waters was one attended by thrilling inci- dents, the story of which came to the son in later years. At the landing at Cape Girardeau, Mr. Lewis left the boat to transact some business, and becoming sep- arated from his wife and child, the boat on which they had taken passage sailed away without him. He at once boarded another boat, which was to follow the first one up the Mississippi, and nothing more serious than a temporary separation of the members of the family might have resulted had it not been for the careless- ness of the pilot of the forward boat, through which his boat was allowed to swing across the stream, with the consequence that a disastrous collision occurred. The boat on which Mrs. Lewis had taken passage was struck amidship and soon sank. With her child in her arms, Mrs. Lewis climbed upon the roof of the wheelhouse, and in the frightful scramble which ensued her child was three times pushed out of her arms into the stream, each time to he rescued by its mother. After a time all the passengers were rescued from their perilous positions. Mr. Lewis and his wife then continued their journey to St. Louis, where they arrived safely.
It was not long after his arrival that Mr. Lewis became a partner of Christian Peper in a tobacco manufacturing business that was maintained for three years. On the expiration of that period Mr. Lewis accepted the superintendency of the Liggett & Dausman tobacco manufactory and so served for eight years. He later was superintendent of the tobacco works conducted by James Roddy and filled that position until January, 1867, when he removed to Alton, Illinois, to superintend the business of the Myers & Drummond tobacco factory. He was accompanied by his son, Robert D. Lewis, then twenty years of age, and the latter's brother, James, both of whom secured employment in the Myers & Drummond factory, there working until the spring of 1880. Both sons then returned to St. Louis and Robert accepted the position of general superintendent of the Drum- mond tobacco works in this city. He was, as it were, "to the manner born." Three generations of his forebears had been prominently connected with tobacco raising and manufacturing and from earliest boyhood he was familiar with the
trade through conversations which he heard concerning the various phases of the business. When he reached an age that qualified him to take up work he nat- urally turned to the tobacco trade and at the beginning of the year 1885 he pur- chased stock in the corporation operating the great manufacturing plant of St. Louis in which he was employed. He continued as a stockholder and as the general superintendent until 1898, when the Drummond plant was sold to the American Tobacco Company for a magnificent sum, Mr. Lewis remaining with the new corporation as the head of the manufacturing department. He was a director and senior vice president of this tobacco company for many years. His business activity extended as well into other fields, for he was a stockholder in the Alton Tobacco Box Manufacturing Company, making the boxes in which the goods of the tobacco company are put up, and was also vice president and director of the Grand Avenue Bank.
In the year 1867 Robert D. Lewis was married to Miss Ellen Stites, a daugh- ter of John R. Stites, of East St. Louis, and they became the parents of the fol- lowing named: Cora B .; Ida M., who died February 15, 1899; James R., who passed away November 8, 1892; George Myers, who died in 1901: Alice E., who died December 3, 1885; Arthur Lee, whose death occurred January 11, 1896; Joseph C .; and Margaret V. The death of the wife and mother occurred August 9, 1887, and on the 24th of April, 1890, Mr. Lewis wedded Miss Virginia Hinton, daughter of Captain William and Elizabeth Hinton, of Kentucky. The father, Captain Hinton, was killed in the Civil war and Mrs. Lewis can trace her ancestry back to the Revolutionary war. The Hinton ancestry goes back to an old English family and is connected with the nobility. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis' children were: Newman H., who died April 10, 1892; Virgil A .; and Roberta Lewis.
Virgil A. Lewis entered the French service during the World war as an ambu- lance driver, his father having contributed an ambulance to the cause. He served with distinction and was twice decorated. Later, on the entrance of the United States into the war, he returned to this country and trained for the aviation corps. Shortly before the armistice was signed he had secured his commission as a first
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lieutenant and was assigned as an instructor in Camp Lee. During the period of his service in France Mr. Lewis had made the acquaintance of his wife, then Miss Mina Gladys Reid, of Baltimore. She had been visiting there when the war broke out and had taken a nurse's training course and served with distinction, being decorated by the French and Russian governments. Their marriage took place here and they now have a daughter, Frances Holwell. Mr. Lewis is assistant cashier in the Grand Avenue Bank.
Death again severed the family circle when on the 3d of April, 1919, Robert David Lewis was called to the home beyond. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, was a consistent follower and supporter of the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal church and in politics was a Jeffersonian democrat. He was a member of the St. Louis Club and Country Club. He never faltered in his allegiance to any cause which he espoused and his life was ever actuated by high ideals and manly purposes. His life record was marked by consistent advance- ment and the consecutive steps in his business career are easily discernible. These resulted from a thorough understanding of the business in which he engaged, his close application and unremitting energy, guided at all times by the highest sense of business honor and integrity. Thus he left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name as well as the substantial rewards of his labor, giving his family an enviable financial position, while they have long occupied a prominent place in the social circles of the city.
HENRY J. MOHRMAN.
A lifelong resident of St. Louis Henry J. Mohrman entered the business circles of the city in 1901, on attaining his majority. He was born February 27, 1880, a son of Henry and Barbara (Metzger) Mohrman, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father came to America in 1844, making his way direct to St. Louis, where he resided until his death, which occurred September 30, 1914, when he had reached the age of ninety-one years, his birth having occurred on the 15th of June, 1823. He was a merchant tailor and was very successful in the conduct of his business. His wife was brought to America by her parents when but eight years of age and was reared and educated in this city. She became the mother of two children and one son died in infancy. She passed away August 18, 1920, at the age of eighty-one, her birth having occurred September 28, 1838.
Henry J. Mohrman was educated in parochial schools, in the St. Louis Univer- sity and in Georgetown University. He was graduated in 1901 with the Bachelor of Arts degree and the following year the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him. Following his graduation he secured employment as a clerk with the Title Guarantee Company, with which he remained for two years and then in 1905 became associated with J. Mullanphy Cates in the real estate business. That con- nection was maintained until 1911, at which time he established the real estate and investment business which he is now conducting. Through the intervening period he has made steady progress and has won substantial results. Both branches of his business are proving profitable, but he specializes in real estate loans. His cooperation is considered a valuable asset in the management and conduct of other business interests, for he is now a director of the Trust Company of St. Louis County, a director of the Mound City Building & Loan Association, a director of the Garfield Savings & Building Association and vice president of the Washington Savings Building Association, all St. Louis enterprises. His father, too, had be- come a factor in banking circles of the city, for though he came to America a poor boy he made steady progress in business and at the establishment of the Franklin Bank became one of the original stockholders and directors.
On the 23d of October, 1906, in St. Louis, Mr. Mohrman was married to Miss Caroline M. Ilges, a native of St. Louis and a daughter of Otto and Margaret (Kai- man) Ilges, both representatives of old families of St. Louis and the father is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mohrman have one son, Henry J., born in St. Louis, July 26, 1914. The family residence is at No. 6064 Westminster place. Mr. Mohr- man and his wife are members of St. Roch's Roman Catholic church and he is identified also with the Knights of Columbus. He likewise has membership with
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the Delta Chi, the Missouri Athletic Association, the Normandie Golf Club, the Sunset Hill Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Real Estate Exchange, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. These associations indicate the nature of his interests and activities outside of business. During the World war period he took a most helpful interest in promoting the Liberty loan, Knights of Columbus and Y. M. C. A. drives, in fact supporting all those measures which contributed toward the upbuilding of America's interests during that crit- ical period.
REV. HERBERT B. RHODES.
Rev. Herbert B. Rhodes, pastor of the Grace Methodist Episcopal church of St. Louis, was born in Gloucestershire, England, January 16, 1887, a son of Charles W. and Elizabeth (Brown) Rhodes, both of whom were natives of Bolton Lanca- shire, England, where they were reared and married. The father was active in the ministry of the Wesleyan Methodist church of England for forty-seven years and is now living retired in Bolton, the city of his hirth.
Herbert B. Rhodes of this review was educated under the English system of private schools and his theological studies were pursued in the denominational theological school. While still a student he was also preaching the gospel for three years and for a period of this time served as a teacher in the public schools. In November, 1909, he came to the United States to take charge of a church at Sar- coxie, Missouri, in the St. Louis conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. His coming here was through a college friend who had previously crossed the Atlantic for the benefit of his health and had been placed in charge of this church. Mr. Rhodes continued as pastor of the Sarcoxie church for four years and in 1913 was appointed by Bishop Smith to the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church in Kansas City. There he remained until October 1, 1916, at which time he came to St. Louis as pastor of Grace Methodist Episcopal church through appointment of Bishop Quayle. He has since presided over this church and under his administration the church is steadily growing in numbers and in influence. Mr. Rhodes was ordained a deacon of the church by Bishop Smith in 1910 and ordained elder in March, 1912, by Bishop Quayle.
On the 20th of October, 1910, Mr. Rhodes was married to Miss Edith Emme- line Reeve, of Peasmarsh, Sussex, England, the marriage ceremony being per- formed in New York city, where the contracting parties met for the ceremony. They have become parents of two children: Charles Frank Reeve; and Herbert Lewis.
Mr. Rhodes is a member of the Missouri Athletic Club and is widely known in St. Louis where he is recognized as one of the leading divines of the Methodist Episcopal church and one of the able platform speakers.
CHARLES F. BETZ.
Charles F. Betz, vice president and general manager of the American Pretzel Com- pany of St. Louis, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1873. His father, Frederick Betz, a native of the same country, settled in St. Louis after crossing the Atlantic to the new world and in this city engaged in the teaming business. He wedded Mary Lange and one son and one daughter were born to them ere they left Germany. The father died in 1895, after which the mother returned to her native country and. passed away there in 1918.
Charles F. Betz was educated in the public school of Germany and came to America in 1888 when a youth of fifteen years, settling first in Columbus, Ohio, where he en- 1
gaged in the bakery business. In 1890 he arrived in St. Louis where he continued in the same line of business for about five years. In 1895 he organized the Columbia Pretzel Company, of which he became secretary, while subsequently he was elected to the presidency. In 1916 he sold this business to the American Pretzel Company and was made vice president and general manager of the latter organization. A big business
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has been built up by this corporation and Mr. Betz is active in its management and control. He is also president of the Sterling Supply & Service Company and is a director of the Lafayette-South Side Bank and treasurer of the Diamond Wood Heel Company.
In St. Louis, in 1897, Mr. Betz was married to Miss Martha Huebner, a daughter of George Huebner, and to them have been born two children, Carlos and Dorothy. Mr. Betz is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Westgate Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He has also taken the Scottish Rite degrees and is a member of Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to several social organizations, including the Cedar Crest Country Club, of which he is the president, the Missouri Athletic Association and the Liederkranz Club. He is also connected with the Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Biscuit & Cracker Association. He is interested in all that tends to promote trade between St. Louis and other sections of the country and is a supporter of many projects for the upbuilding of the city along the lines of substantial improve- ment and advancement.
HARRY BROOKINGS WALLACE.
Through the stages of successive advancement and promotion which he has earned through strict application to the work before him in each position he has held, taking a personal interest in the success of the firm, Harry B. Wallace has reached the presidency of the Cupples Company, one of the largest industries not only of St. Louis, but of the entire country in the manufacture and distribution of wooden- ware. Almost from the inception of this enterprise, the Wallace family has been connected therewith and the growth and success of the mammoth concern is con- tributable in a large measure to their activity. Throughout his entire career Harry B. Wallace has been actuated by the spirit of the old Roman maxim: "There is no excellence without labor." He was born in St. Louis, August 6, 1877, his parents being Asa A. and Mary Jane (Brookings) Wallace. The father was a native of Troy, Ohio, and came from one of the old families of the central southern part of Pennsylvania where William Penn gave to the Wallace family a grant of land. The old log house which was built there in pioneer times is still standing, one of the interesting land marks that indicates the settlement of this state. In the maternal line, Harry B. Wallace is a representative of the Brookings and Carter families who came from Cecil county, Maryland. The Brookings were originally French, the name being Broquin. They were driven out of France in 1437 and went to England where the name was changed to the present spelling. The connection of the Wallace family with St. Louis dates from 1851. In January of that year, Asa A. Wallace formed the acquaintance of Samuel Cupples in Cincinnati, Ohio. The latter made a trip to St. Louis early in the year and in July of the same year Mr. Wallace came to St. Louis, at which time he joined Mr. Cupples in the manufacture of woodenware. Through the intervening period a wonderful progress has been made until there has been developed the largest business of the kind in the world. This is attributable in no small measure to the activity and enterprise of the various members of the Wallace family who have been connected with the business since its inception, and who have had much to do with forming the policy of the company and directing the activities of the plant, hence contributing to a development that places it among the big industries of the world. The company now has a separate factory for the manufacture of Cupples tires, and is developing a big demand for that commodity. Mr. Wallace is responsible for this new venture.
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