USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 57
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In a memorial service held in Hopkinsville, H. D. Smith, after speaking of Dr. Nourse's devotion to the principle of entire separation of church and state-an ad- herence which at times seemed to bring upon him even the disapproval of many of his friends and parishioners because he would not speak of prohibition as a political measure in his pulpit, said of him: "Dr. Nourse was careful to exercise his right of suffrage. He went often to the courthouse to note the course of justice and was inter- ested in good roads, in new railways and in the coming factories to the neighborhood.
He had a great local patriotism.
* * * He was a farmer, practiced gardening and
cared for an orchard. * * * Perhaps no preacher has been so variously, so inti- mately and so vitally related to and identified with this community. *
* * He was deeply and continuously interested in all educational institutions and activities, was a chief originator and promoter of the public library and was once a member of the city school board. As a member of the Men's Literary Club of the town he was an active and leading member and at the time of his death was its president; but we should not do justice to his memory as a friend and helper of education if we did not add that he had small respect for intellectual culture divorced from morality and religion. *
* Dr. Nourse was leonine, rugged, somewhat brusque in speech, but * he was full of kindliness and sympathy with all who suffered. He possessed a gen- erous sense of humor. He was thus a good friend, a pleasant companion, an excellent
neighbor. * * * He found out the sick and sorrowing, inquired after them, sent them messages of affection and cheer, and them he frequently visited without regard to their relation to the church, going to them as their neighbor. * *
* And withal our friend possessed a beautiful simplicity. He was genuine. He lived close to nature.
He loved God's great out-of-doors. * * * He kept a simple heart and was glad when folks spoke to him of homely things in simple words. He was singularly free
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from anything which smacked of affectation. He was not clerical in his dress or manner and no extravagance of habit or speech marred the noble simplicity of his life."
Dr. Nourse was married in 1864 to Miss Louisa Bell, of Owensboro, Kentucky, who passed away, and their two children, William and Mrs. Thomas Green, are also de- ceased, while one son of that marriage, Rev. Charles L. Nourse, is a Presbyterian minister. In 1875 Dr. Nourse married Sadie Bartrim, of Rockport, Indiana, who sur- vives him, together with their eight children.
It was of the second marriage that James B. Nourse was born. He was educated in the schools of Hopkinsville and in Centre College at Danville, Kentucky. He took great interest in athletics in his college days, became a famous football player and made the state track record for a quarter of a mile. In 1910 he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree and in the same year removed to Kansas City, where he became connected with the Southwest National Bank. He has always retained more or less active connection with banking interests and is now a director of the Cen- tropolis Bank, the State Bank of Sugar Creek and the Metropolitan State Bank. After taking up his abode in Kansas City he entered the Kansas City Law School and was graduated in 1912. He then became associated with the firm of New & Krauthoff but a little later entered into partnership with John G. Hutton, who was a lieutenant of the Eighty-ninth Division of the American army and went into active service. Following this the firm became Hutton, Nourse & Bell and so continues at the present time.
In 1918 Mr. Nourse also entered the federal service, being on duty at Camp Pike and at Camp Travis. He became a member of the officers' training school and was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry. Following his discharge he resumed the active practice of law and is winning substantial success in his chosen profession. He is ethical, honest, industrious and thorough and his steadfastness of purpose and close study are strong elements in his professional advancement. He has always maintained his interest in his fellow comrades of the World war and is a prominent and active member of the American Legion, having formerly served as commander of William T. Fitzsimons Post, which he aided in organizing. He is now chairman of the city central executive committee of the American Legion Posts of Kansas City, these posts being organized in accordance with a plan whereby each post is represented through its delegates on the city central executive committee, which committee, with Mr. Nourse as chairman, handles the affairs of the Legion at large in Kansas City and will have much of the responsibility of the 1921 convention of the American Legion which is to be held in Kansas City in the fall of 1921. He takes the keenest interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of his army comrades and to the promotion of the high purposes for which the Legion stands.
Mr. Nourse also holds membership in the Central Presbyterian church, while his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias, with the City Club, with the Chamber of Commerce and is a prominent member of the Beta Theta Pi and the Phi Alpha Delta, being president of the Kansas City association of the latter. Along strictly professional lines he is identified with the Kansas City, Missouri State and American Bar Associations.
WARREN MOORE CHANDLER.
Little did Warren Moore Chandler dream when he entered the National Bank of Commerce in the humble capacity of messenger that he would one day be active in directing the affairs of the institution as vice president and yet all through his career he has been actuated by a laudable ambition to progress and has availed himself of every opportunity of taking a forward step. He has never been afraid to venture when the way was open nor has he manifested any dread of the laborious attention to detail which is so necessary an element in the achievement of prosperity. The solid and substantial qualities of the business man have been constantly developed in him and the results have therefore been certain.
Warren Moore Chandler was born near Natural Bridge, Rockbridge county, Vir- ginia, October 3, 1866. His father, Dr. Samuel Temple Chandler, was also a native of that locality and became an active practitioner of medicine and surgery, in which profession he continued throughout his entire life, serving as a surgeon in the Con-
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federate army, while later he was a successful practitioner in West Virginia prior to his removal to St. Louis in 1881. Here he opened an office and remained in prac- tice to the time of his death. His father also bore the name of Samuel Temple Chan- dler and was likewise born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, being a representative of one of the old and prominent families of that state. The mother of Warren M. Chandler bore the maiden name of Reubenia Grigsby, and she, too, was connected with a family that in Virginia played an important part in shaping the history and progress of the state. Her birth likewise occurred in Rockbridge county and she passed away in St. Louis.
One of a family of ten children, seven of whom are living, Warren M. Chandler pursued his education in the public schools of Parkersburg, West Virginia, to the age of fifteen years when he put aside his textbooks and accompanied his father to St. Louis. Here in 1881 he entered the employ of R. S. McCormick & Company, with whom he remained for a few months. On the 10th of December, 1881, he entered the National Bank of Commerce as a messenger and has constantly been associated with this institution to the present time. He advanced through all departments to that of assist- ant cashier, to which office he was assigned in 1909. Since then he won promotions and election to other office and in January, 1919, became the vice president of this old and stable moneyed institution of St. Louis. In his present capacity he has charge of the new business department.
On the 27th of October, 1897, Mr. Chandler was married to Miss Edna Shaw, a daughter of Dr. Alexander B. Shaw, of St. Louis. They have become parents of two children: Warren Temple, who was born January 30, 1899, and is now a student in Brown University; and Margaret Shaw, who was born December 23, 1902, and is attending Mary Institute as a junior.
Mr. Chandler is a member of the Bellerive Country Club which indicates his love of golf. He is also connected with the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce as its treas- urer and is a consistent member of the Westminster Presbyterian church. During the period of the World war he took an active part in the Red Cross and Liberty bond campaigns as captain of a team. His life has been one of diligence and his sterling characteristics of enterprise and reliability have won for him a large circle of close friends and the respect and confidence of his business associates. There is something stimulating and inspiring in the record of such a man, showing what may be accom- plished through individual effort, for Mr. Chandler has been both the architect and builder of his own fortunes.
HENRY A. BORGMANN.
Henry A. Borgmann, sales manager for the Mallinckrodt Chemical Company of St. Louis, was born February 25, 1870, in New York city. His father, Henry Ger- hard Borgmann, was born in Germany in 1826 and came to America in 1868, when forty-two years of age. Arriving in New York city, he there resided until 1874, when he came to St. Louis and established a manufacturing plant, giving his attention to cabinet work, but he died in the same year. His wife, Elise (Terhellen) Borgmann, was born in Germany in 1830 and was married in that country in 1868, coming as a bride to the new world. Their family numbered two sons, of whom Henry A. is the elder, and a daughter, who died in infancy.
In the public schools of St. Louis, Henry A. Borgmann pursued his education and also attended the night polytechnic school. When a lad of twelve years he began to provide for his own support by clerking in the old North Park Place Hotel in North St. Louis. He was afterward connected with the Windsor Hotel and in 1884 entered the employ of the Mallinckrodt Chemical Company as a clerk, since which time he has been advanced to the position of sales manager and is now serving in that capacity.
On the 2d of June, 1899, in St. Louis, Mr. Borgmann was married to Miss Thelma Kiefaber, who was born in this city and is a daughter of William Kiefaber, who was connected with A. Krieckhaus & Company, hide merchants. Mr. and Mrs. Borgmann have one daughter, Elise Katherine Borgmann, who is now eighteen years of age.
Mr. Borgmann largely turns to athletics and to rowing, fishing and hunting for recreation and diversion. He is a republican in his political views and fraternally
PHOTO BY GERHARD SISTERS
HENRY A. BORGMANN
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he is connected with the Royal Arcanum and has taken all of the degrees in Scot- tish Rite Masonry and has crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Royal League and for a quarter of a century he has been a member of the North St. Louis Turnverein. He is also con- nected with the Liederkranz Club and for twenty-five years has been the secretary of the North End Rowing Club. He is identified with the Young Men's Christian Asso- · ciation and with all those forces which make for uplift and progress in his community and among his fellowmen.
CLIFFORD A. SCHLUETER.
The members of the Schlueter family of St. Louis have built up a splendid enter- prise, constituting one of the important productive enterprises of the city, and of this Clifford A. Schlueter is the secretary. He is bending his efforts to further constructive work in this connection, keeping in close touch with the trend of the trade and doing everything in his power legitimately to increase the business of the house. He is one of the wide-awake, alert and enterprising young business men of the city where he was born December 21, 1894, being a son of Julius A. Schlueter, mentioned elsewhere in this work.
Clifford A. Schlueter was educated in the Lutheran parochial schools and in the Webster public school of St. Louis and in 1909 after completing his studies he became connected with his father in business, working for a time in the factory. His initial training was received in the machine shop and from this minor position worked his way up to the superintendency of the plant. In 1913 he was admitted to a partnership and in 1919 following the death of the father when the business was incorporated, he became secretary of the company but continued to act as superintendent of the plant until 1918 when he entered the office in order to take charge of the clerical work of the firm.
In the same year Mr. Schlueter was united in marriage to Miss Inez Doolittle, of Oakland, California, and to them has been born a daughter, Beverly L. Mr. and Mrs. Schlueter are members of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran church. He is a veteran of the World war, having joined the army on the 22d of July, 1919, as ambulance driver of Company No. Two Hundred and Thirty-eight of the Tenth Division. He was in Baltimore when the armistice was signed. He manifests a progressive interest in all that has to do with the welfare and upbuilding of the city and his course as a business man marks him as one of the representative young manufacturers of St. Louis.
EMIL NICHOLAS TOLKACZ.
Emil Nicholas Tolkacz, a director and general manager of the Missouri Boiler & Sheet Iron Works of St. Louis, Missouri, was born in Berlin, Germany, August 23, 1859. His father, Marion V. Tolkacz, was born in Poland and came to America in 1866, set- tling in Callaway county, Missouri. He afterward removed to Quincy, Illinois, and in 1870 came to St. Louis, residing in this city until his death. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Emilie Elkhardt, was born in Posen, Poland, which later became a part of the German empire. She still survives her husband and is eighty-nine years of age. The father served in the German army, holding a rank equivalent to that of colonel in the American army. To him and his wife were born three sons and four daughters.
Emil N. Tolkacz pursued his education in the Laclede public school of St. Louis and in the Central high school, attending night sessions there when the school was situated at Seventh and Chestnut streets and among his teachers were Ben Blewett and F. Louis Soldan, both prominently known in St. Louis. He afterward became a student in the Bryant & Stratton Business College, striving after opportunities to im- prove his education and thus qualify for life's practical and responsible duties. While attending night school he worked during the daytime as a sign painter, for which he had a natural talent, early manifesting ability in the art of drawing and free-hand work. Subsequently he engaged in the wholesale clothing business and afterward
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became a bookkeeper for the firm of C. Conrad & Co, Budweiser agents until 1882. On leaving that position he entered the employ of Kupperle Brothers, with whom he con- tinued until 1890 when he purchased the business of A. C. Dunlevy and thus took over the General Sheet Iron Works with which he is now connected, having in the mean- time changed the name to the Missouri Boiler and Sheet Iron Works, of which he is now the general manager and one of the directors. He is thus active in controling a business of substantial proportions and one which is classed as an important industrial enterprise of St. Louis. He is also the president of the Marquette Realty Company, is a director of the St. Louis Mutual Life Insurance Company and is otherwise well known in business circles.
In St. Louis in 1882 Mr. Tolkacz was married to Miss Minnie Thiet, who was born in St. Louis, July 31, 1861, a daughter of Carl and Marietta Thiet, the former a prom- inent druggist. Mr. and Mrs. Tolkacz have two sons: Paul, who is the president and treasurer of the Missouri Boiler Works; and Walter, who is the vice president of the company.
In politics Mr. Tolkacz is an independent republican and made campaign speeches through the state for William H. Taft when he was candidate for office the second time. Mr. Tolkacz belongs to the St. Louis Altenheim Association, to the Algonquin Golf Club, The City Club, The Triple A Golf Club and the Liederkranz Club. He has been a resi- dent of St. Louis from the age of eleven years, or for a period of one half century, so that he has a wide acquaintance in the city and has made a creditable place in its indus- trial circles. Whatever success he has achieved in a business way is due to his own efforts. Studying at night he qualified for the business world and is today at the head of a large concern bringing him a substantial financial return.
LYMAN T. HAY.
Lyman T. Hay, general manager of Hotel Jefferson, not only one of the finest hostelries of St. Louis but also one of the finest of the Mississippi valley, was born in Newton, Illinois, November 23, 1858. He is a son of Carson D. and Mary (Tan- sill) Hay, both of whom have now passed away, dying in February and in May, 1893, respectively at Hot Springs, Arkansas. The father was engaged in the hotel business and was also a graduate physician. During the period of the Civil war, from 1861 until 1865, Dr. Hay and his wife were in Washington, D. C., where he was connected with the treasury department, becoming the first pension agent for the southern Illinois district. His wife was president of the Soldiers' Wives and Mothers' Home Aid Society. All of her people were strong supporters of the Confederate cause, while her husband was a most loyal advocate of the Union. In 1877 Dr. Hay removed with his family to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he and his wife continued to spend their remaining days. Their family numbered two sons and a daughter. The daughter, Fannie H., became the wife of J. W. Moffitt, a merchant of Hot Springs, Arkansas, who passed away in 1899 as the result of illness contracted in the Spanish- American war. The brother, Eugene Carson Hay, was a graduate of the University of Virginia, completing the medical course with the class of 1887. He became a prominent and well known diagnostician of Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he passed away in 1913.
The other member of the family, Lyman T. Hay, whose name introduces this review, attended · the public schools of Centralia, Illinois, and afterward became a student in the State University at Urbana, Illinois, in 1877, where he pursued his studies for six years. He then embarked in general merchandising, but since 1884 has been continuously engaged in the hotel business. He had not yet completed his university course when his parents removed to Arkansas and for many years he resided at Hot Springs, there entering upon active connection with hotel life. He became general manager of the Arlington Hotel of that city in 1891 and of the Eastman Hotel in 1897. He was one of the founders of the Jefferson Hotel of St. Louis, the company being incorporated in 1903, and the hotel opened for business on the 8th of April, 1904. Mr. Hay remains as general manager of this hotel and is secretary and treasurer of the company, of which A. B. Gaines is the president. Colonel Samuel W. Fordyce was formerly vice president of the company but passed away in August, 1919. Mr. Hay was associated with Colonel Fordyce for many
LYMAN T. HAY
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years, knowing him intimately from boyhood days, while their connection with busi- ness affairs dated from 1891, when Mr. Hay became the general manager of the Arlington Hotel at Hot Springs. Twenty-nine years of management of leading hos- telries in this country have made Mr. Hay not only widely known throughout America but to many European travelers as well. He has displayed a most progressive spirit in all business affairs, constantly seeking to promote the comfort and convenience of guests through the efficiency of service rendered, and his standards have ever been most high.
On the 30th of April, 1884, Mr. Hay was married to Miss Lotowanna Fellows, daughter of Daniel Fellows, a prominent merchant and planter of Camden, Arkansas. Of this marriage were born a son and a daughter, but both died in infancy.
Mr. Hay has been quite prominent in political circles as a member of Governor Hadley's staff and was presidential elector at large from Missouri during the Taft campaign, also the Harding campaign. He belongs to the Episcopal church and is prominent in Masonic circles, having membership in the blue lodge at Hot Springs, Arkansas, while he has also attained the Knight Templar degree and is connected with the Mystic Shrine at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. His name is on the membership rolls of the St. Louis and Automobile Clubs. He finds recreation in golf and is a devotee of the national game of baseball. During the recent World war he was chairman of local draft board No. 5 and for a year and a half gave that work every moment which he could spare from his business. He is capable of and accustomed to solving big problems, whether in connection with business or public interests, and the fidelity and progressiveness which he manifests in the former connection are equally pronounced in the latter.
JOHN GEORGE AFF.
The self-made man, denied the advantages of early education or forced to strenu- ous effort to obtain them, who yet has so clear a conception of their value that he affords his children every opportunity for culture, is entitled to unbounded respect. John George Aff, the secretary of the F. W. Clemens Feed Company of St. Louis is such a man and father. He was born in St. Louis on October 18, 1869, the son of German parents. His father, Johann George Aff, was born in Germany in 1832, and coming to America in 1848 settled in St. Louis. His first position was that of coach- man for Mr. Alexander who was then the mayor of St. Louis. Later he took up farm- ing on Weber Road. In 1860 he started a grocery store at Gordonville, Missouri, but returned to his farm two years later. He removed to St. Louis in 1862, however, making his location at the southwest corner of Gravois and Cherokee streets. In 1871 he sold this business and built a grocery store in Affton, Missouri, a town which was named after him, and held this location until 1882 when he bought a farm at Sappington, Missouri. Giving this farm to his oldest son in 1893 he bought another on Tesson Road which he worked until 1900 when he turned it over to his youngest son and retired, living in Sappington until his death in 1913. Johann George Aff married Mary Loesch in St. Louis in 1860. She was a native of Hesse, Germany, born there in 1835, and she came to America with her brother in 1851 and settled in St. Louis. She died in 1908. Their children were four sons and six daughters, John George Aff being the fifth child.
Educated in the old-fashioned log schoolhouses of Sappington and Affton, John George Aff acquired further culture by arduous study undertaken outside of business hours. Leaving the farm to become a clerk in the grocery store of H. C. Beekman & Company, located at Fourth and Plum streets, he remained with that firm until his health failed and forced his return to his father's farm. In 1900, however, he came to St. Louis and associated himself with the F. W. Clemens Feed Company at 3357 Grooves road. For twenty years he was secretary of this company and on January 1, 1921, he became president-treasurer and controlling owner of the business. He is also a director of the Farmer and Merchants' Trust Company.
Mr. Aff is an independent republican. In 1899 he served as the deputy assessor of St. Louis county for a year. During the late war he was active in Liberty loan and Red Cross drives in connection with the Farmer and Merchants' Trust Company. He is also a member of the American Protective League and has fraternal affiliation with
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Westgate Lodge, A. F. & A. M., St. Louis Chapter, No. 8, with St. Aldemar Commandery, No. 18, and with the Moolah Temple Shriners. He is a member of the Tower Grove Turnverein and was former chairman of the House Committee of this cluh.
Mr. Aff was married in St. Louis, June 21, 1905, to Miss Anna M. Weber, a daugh- ter of H. J. and Christina Weber of that city. Her father conducted an extensive nursery business in St. Louis county. Their children are Frank G. and Helen M. Aff, who have received every advantage which a fond father can give to his son and daughter, particularly in an educational way, so eager has he been to afford them those things which were denied to him.
HERBERT C. SCHLUETER.
Herbert C. Schlueter, treasurer of the Schlueter Manufacturing Company, was born in St. Louis, July 23, 1888, and is a son of Julius A. Schlueter, an extended sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. He was educated in the parochial schools and also in the Southwestern Business College of St. Louis and likewise attended Wal- ther College. After completing his studies he entered his father's employ and spent four and a half years in the factory, learning the details in the manufacture of the line of goods turned out by this concern. Upon their incorporation in 1915 he was made treasurer of the company, in which capacity he has since served and he also acts as auditor. He is a thorough-going, progressive, alert and energetic business man and his efforts are a contributing factor to the development of the business in which he is engaged.
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