USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 60
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CLARENCE H. DORMEYER.
A well known and representative citizen of Herculaneum is Clarence H. Dormeyer, who established the first drug store in that place on the 23rd of May, 1910, which business he still conducts, and who is also prominent in the financial circles of the town, being president of the Bank of Herculaneum.
Clarence H. Dormeyer was horn at Jackson, Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, June 7, 1889, a son of Fred H. and Ella (Hart) Dormeyer. Fred H. Dormeyer was born in Cape Girardeau in 1846, and died at Jackson, Missouri, August 9, 1919. For many years he had engaged in the shoe business in Jackson and had realized a sub- stantial amount of success. He was a man of intense business habits and of sterling honesty. Being a great reader he was always well informed and was highly respected in the community in which he made his home. In politics he was a consistent demo- crat and his religious faith was that of the Lutheran church. His father was Henry Dormeyer, a native of Germany who came to this country after his marriage and settled in Cape Girardeau. He was a quarry owner and furnished the rock for the levee at that place. The mother of Clarence H. Dormeyer was before her marriage Miss Ella Hart and her death occurred December 9, 1913. She was born in Paducah, Kentucky, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Hart, the former heing engaged in the hardware and plumbing business. During the Civil war he fought in the Confederate army and was severely wounded.
The education of Clarence H. Dormeyer was received in the public schools of Jackson and he was graduated from the high school there at the age of seventeen years. After putting his text-hooks aside he worked in a drug store in Jackson for a year, at the end of which time he removed to Bonne Terre where he occupied a like position for three years, gaining a knowledge of pharmacy from practical experience as well as through a correspondence course. In 1910 he passed the state examina- tion and was granted a pharmacist's certificate of the first grade, and has heen a registered pharmacist since that time. Choosing Herculaneum as a likely location he removed there and opened its first drug store on the 23rd day of May, 1910, under the name of the Herculaneum Drug Company. He is still conducting this business but now
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owns all the stock. The Herculaneum Bank was organized in April, 1910. Mr. Dor- meyer became interested and in 1913 bought two shares, his first stock in that organ- ization. The capital stock of the bank upon organization was ten thousand dollars and its success seemed to be assured from the beginning. Mr. Dormeyer hought more stock from time to time and in 1914 was elected one of the directors of the bank. Three years later he was elected to the position of president, in which office he is still active. The capital stock is now ten thousand dollars and the surplus, seventeen thousand dol- lars. The resources have reached two hundred thousand dollars.
The political allegiance of Mr. Dormeyer is given to the democratic party and to the principles for which it stands. He has neither sought nor desired public office but has been a member of various democratic committees. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church and he is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, hold- ing membership ih Lodge No. 151, of Herculaneum. He is likewise a member of the Red Men, White Crow Tribe, No. 199, of Herculaneum. As president of the local bank he takes an interest in things pertaining to finance and is therefore active in the Ameri- can and Missouri Bankers Associations. Mr. Dormeyer is fond of reading and much of his time is spent in this manner. Outdoor sports also claim his attention and he is particularly fond of motoring.
BRIGADIER GENERAL SAMUEL LIPPINCOTT WOODWARD.
Brigadier General Samuel Lippincott Woodward, retired army officer having de- voted almost his entire life to military service for his country, was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, October 28, 1840. His father, John E. Woodward, was also a native of that state, born in 1812. He began farming in New Jersey and later removed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in merchandising. In 1858 he became a resident of Kentucky and carried on business at Paducah, that state, to the time of his death. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Lippincott Hornor, was born in New Jersey in 1812 and was a daughter of William and Sarah (Campion) Hornor, representatives of an old family of New Jersey.
General Woodward of this review was educated in the country schools of his native state, and in the public and high schools of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after putting aside his textbooks started out in the business world with the firm of Landreth & Company, handling seeds and agricultural implements at Philadelphia. Just prior to the Civil war he removed to Paducah, Kentucky, where he joined his parents but on account of persecution due to his Union sentiments he left that state temporarily and went to Illinois, where he enlisted in the army as a private in the Sixth Illinois Cavalry. As a private in that company he was detailed for duty in the adjutant general's department of the division commanded by Brigadier General W. T. Sherman and in that capacity participated in the battle of Shiloh and in the subse- quent engagements in the advance on Corinth, Mississippi. After the fall of Corinth he proceeded to Memphis, Tennessee, where he found his regiment from which he had been detached for eight months. He was then promoted to second lieutenant and afterwards to a first lieutenancy and was then placed on duty as adjutant general of the Brigade of Cavalry commanded by Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, who was Colonel of the Sixth Illinois Cavalry. In that capacity General Woodward participated in the celebrated raid known as the Grierson Raid from La Grange, Tennessee, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For his bravery in that exploit he was made captain and assistant adjutant general. He also took part in the siege of Port Hudson, Mississippi, and in other engagements and participated in numerous raids and engagements in western Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. In the spring of 1865 he was pro- moted to the rank of major and assistant adjutant general in which capacity he served until mustered out of the volunteer service in September, 1865.
When the country no longer needed his active aid in preserving the Union he entered the regular United States Army as second lieutenant of the Tenth United States Cavalry and in 1867 was promoted to a first lieutenancy and made adjutant of his regiment. He served in that connection in Kansas and the Indian territory, now Oklahoma, also in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona until 1887, when he was pro- moted to a captaincy in the same regiment. He was on duty with that rank until 1899, when he was advanced to major in the First United States Cavalry. He later
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went to the Philippine islands with this regiment and in 1902 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Seventh United States Cavalry and ordered back to the United States. He served in that connection until promoted to brigadier gen- eral and being near the age limit for active military service he was relieved at his own request on the 9th of July, 1904. During his connection with the Tenth Cavalry from 1867 until 1900 he was in service against the Kiowa, Comanche and the Apache Indians and other wild tribes in the southwest. He was also instrumental in select- ing a site for and building Fort Sill in Oklahoma and during his experiences in the west he became well acquainted with Colonel William Cody, better known as Buf- falo Bill.
With his retirement from the army General Woodward established his home in St. Louis where he has since resided. In politics he may be called an independent republican, usually voting for the candidates of the party but often casting an inde- pendent ballot. He belongs to the Missouri Athletic Association and maintains pleas- ant relations with his old army comrades through his connection with Ransom Post G. A. R. and with the military order of the Loyal Legion. Practically his entire life has been devoted to the service of his country and he well deserves the honors and the rest which have come to him.
REV. MICHAEL A. VITKUS.
Rev. Michael A. Vitkus is the pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic church, situated at the corner of Park and Armstrong avenues in St. Louis. He is a Lithuanian by birth, his natal day being December 6, 1887. His parents were Anufrius John and Antonia (Janavice) Vitkus, both of whom spent their entire lives in Lithuania. The son was . educated in Kraziai, Lithuania, where he took his preparatory course and attended Assumption College at Sandwich, Ontario, Canada, in which institution he pursued a classical course. Subsequently he entered Kenrick Seminary at St. Louis, studying philosophy and theology and was ordained on the 20th of December, 1914, Archbishop Glennon officiating. Immediately following his ordination he was appointed to organize his people in St. Joseph's parish, where he has labored very successfully, having sixty- two Lithuanian families in his church, numbering about three hundred people. These families had no church of their own until Father Vitkus was appointed to organize the parish, a work which he has most successfully accomplished. He is a man of pleasing personality who makes friends readily and he is master of the Polish and English languages as well as of his native tongue. He not only attends to the spiritual needs of his parishioners but also teaches the children of his parish and is instilling into them high principles of American manhood. He manifests unfaltering zeal and devotion in his work and is proving a potent force for good among the people of his nationality.
SAMUEL PLANT.
Samuel Plant, vice president of the George P. Plant Milling Company of St. Louis, has developed executive power of superior order in managing the interests of the business, which has now grown to extensive proportions. Mr. Plant was born in St. Louis, May 31, 1872, and is a son of George H. Plant, who is the president of the milling company. He, too, was born in St. Louis, his father being Samuel Plant, a native of Massachusetts and a descendant of one of the old families of that state of English lineage. His father was Samuel Plant, the great-grandfather of Samuel Plant of this review and a native of England, who became the founder of this branch of the family in the new world, crossing the Atlantic while America was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Britain. The grandfather, Samuel Plant, came to St. Louis with five brothers and his family in 1835 and in 1840 he and his brother, George P. Plant, established the present milling company, their original location being on Franklin avenue, between Fifth and Sixth streets, long since one of the principal retail centers of St. Louis. The business was there conducted until 1883 and after the death of Samuel Plant, his son, George H., became the head of the company and has been active in developing this from an original fifty-barrels-a-day mill to its present
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capacity of three thousand barrels per day, the largest enterprise of the kind in St. Louis. George H. Plant married Alby Easton, who passed away in 1889 at the age of fifty years. She was a daughter of the late Alton R. Easton, a prominent St. Louis pioneer in whose honor Easton avenue, one of the principal thoroughfares of the city, was named. Mrs. Plant was the mother of five children.
Samuel Plant, who was the second in order of birth in the family, was educated in the public schools of St. Louis in the Smith Academy and in the manual training schools of this city. When nineteen years of age, having completed his studies, he became connected with the business that had been established by his grandfather. He thoroughly mastered every phase of milling and since 1909 has filled the office of vice president of the company. He has ever concentrated his attention upon constructive effort, promoting the growth of the business along legitimate lines and creating a de- mand for the output through the excellence of the product. He is also a director of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company and thus occupies a position of prominence in the manufacturing and financial circles of the city.
On the 10th of January, 1900, Mr. Plant was married to Miss Claire Ewing, a native of St. Louis and a daughter of A. B. and Mary (McCausland) Ewing. They have one daughter, Mary, horn in St. Louis, November 10, 1900. The religious faith of the family is that of the Congregational church and Mr. Plant is well known in club circles, hav- ing membership in the St. Louis, St. Louis Country and Racquet Clubs and the Mis- souri Athletic Association. His political endorsement is given the republican party and during the World war he served as chairman of the Missouri milling division of the food administration. At all times he manifests a keen and helpful interest in all those forces which make for higher standards of citizenship and which pro- mote interests of civic virtue and civic pride. His business career has been one of steady progress. It is true that he entered upon a business already established and placed upon a substantial basis, but as an executive officer of the company he has kept pace with the changing conditions of the times, meeting modern requirements and extending trade relations through methods which neither seek nor require disguise.
JOHN RAVARINO.
John Ravarino, vice president and treasurer of the Ravarino & Freschi Im- porting & Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, was born in Bassignana, Piedmont, Italy, December 24, 1876. His father, Frank Ravarino, was also a native of Bas- signana and became a successful merchant of his native town. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Caroline Bassi, is also yet living and by her marriage became the mother of six children, three sons and three daughters, who yet survive.
John Ravarino, the eldest of this family, was educated in the public schools of his native city to the age of thirteen years, when he started out to earn his own Ilvelihood and was apprenticed as a clerk to the grocery trade, which business he followed continuously until 1898, when he determined to try his fortune in America, believing that this country offered better opportunities for advancement. He arrived in St. Louis, October 21, 1898, and his first position was that of night cook in the St. Nicholas Hotel, where he remained for two years. He then entered the retail grocery business at Eighteenth street and Franklin avenue and successfully conducted his store until 1904, when he opened a wholesale and retail grocery house at No. 720 Franklin avenue. There he carried on his business with substantial success until 1906, when the growth of the trade necessitated a removal to larger quarters, which were secured at No. 811 Franklin avenue. In 1911 Mr. Ravarino opened a branch store at 819 Washington avenue and there continued the business until 1919.
In the meantime Mr. Ravarino had extended the scope of his activities into other fields. In 1914 he became associated with the Ravarino & Freschi Import- ing & Manufacturing Company. They entered the macaroni business as manu- facturers at Twenty-second and Wash streets, beginning with a daily production of ten barrels. In May, 1915, the firm removed to larger quarters at Eighth and Cass streets and increased the production to fifty barrels per day. There they continued until 1917, when they built their present plant, embracing an area of sixty thousand square feet. They have one of the most modern and sanitary build-
JOHN RAVARINO
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ings in the United States in the line of their business and they employ on an average of sixty people, their product being shipped to all parts of the United States. Mr. Ravarino is also the treasurer of the Cicardi Realty Company and thus his business has constantly broadened in scope and volume until he is rec- ognized as a forceful factor in the commercial and manufacturing circles of the city. The Ravarino & Freschi Importing & Manufacturing Company has as its officers: Joseph Freschi, president; John Ravarino, vice president and treasurer; and Charles Ravarino, secretary. As manufacturers of alimentary paste they are turning out a product of high grade and their output finds a ready sale on the market.
On the 9th of August, 1909, Mr. Ravarino was married in Tortona, Italy, to Miss Charlotte Denari, the sweetheart of his boyhood days. She was born in Tortona, a daughter of Henrico and Angelina (Canegallo) Denari. They have become parents of three children who are yet living, two sons and a daughter, Frances, Albert and Mario, all of whom were born in St. Louis.
Mr. Ravarino is a republican in politics. He was made a citizen on the con- clusion of the proper term of legal residence and in local politics he has since taken an active interest, stanchly supporting the cause in which he believes. He belongs to the Sunset Inn Country Club, also to the Chamber of Commerce and to the Italian American Cavalry. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. He came to America a poor boy but has never had occasion to regret his determination to establish his home on this side of the Atlantic, for he here found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has steadily progressed as the years have gone on. He is today at the head of business enter- prises of importance that return to him a substantial and gratifying annual income and his contribution to the business activity of the city has also been valuable.
JOHN FRANCIS CASE.
John Francis Case, editor of the Missouri Ruralist, published at St. Louis, became an apprentice to the printer's trade when a youth of fourteen and since that time by the stages of steady progression has reached his position as editor of one of the leading agricultural journals of the Mississippi valley. Born in Lyon county, Minnesota, Sep- tember 30, 1876, he is a son of the late Orin S. Case, a native of Ohio and of English descent. The father removed to Minnesota prior to the Civil war, in which he par- ticipated as a member of the Third Minnesota Infantry, serving as a private through- out the entire period of hostilities. He afterward maintained pleasant relations with his old military comrades through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1888 he removed to Andrew county, Missouri, where he successfully followed farm- ing and also served as postmaster at Rea, Missouri, for twelve years, ever giving his political allegiance in stanch manner to the republican party. He married Emily Ann Shipton, a native of Pennsylvania, who was of Welsh descent on the paternal side and in the maternal line came of an old Pennsylvania Dutch family. To Mr. and Mrs. Case were born six children, four sons and two daughters, of whom the subject of this * review was the fourth child and second son. The mother passed away at Rea, Mis- souri, in 1902, at the age of fifty-three years, while Mr. Case survived until February 16, 1919, reaching the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey.
John Francis Case, spending his youthful days under the parental roof, pursued his public school education to the age of fourteen and then became an apprentice to the printer's trade in the office of the Rea Times. He continued to work at the case for two years after completing his apprenticeship and when nineteen years of age re- turned to the farm, on which he continued for two years. When he had attained his majority he took up editorial work, his first position of this character being with the Rea Times, the plant of which he subsequently purchased, conducting the paper for two years. He then removed the plant to Whitesville, Missouri, and changed the name of the paper to the Whitesville Banner, publishing it as a weekly independent until 1913 when he sold the business and became editor of the Missouri Ruralist, which has its headquarters at St. Louis, Missouri. In this position he has since continued and has made the paper one of the leading agricultural journals of the middle west. He is
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also the president of the Missouri Corn Growers' Association, in which position he Is serving for the third term, and for one year prior to his election to the presidency he had been vice president of the organization. He was likewise secretary of the Whites- ville Corn Growers' Association from 1905 until 1913 and while residing at Whitesville filled the position of postmaster for twelve years, or from 1901 until 1913. He now concentrates his efforts and attention upon his editorial duties and the management of his farm property, for he performs his editorial work for the Missouri Ruralist on his farm in Warren county, his place being known as Shady Lawn Farm, one of the model properties in that section.
On the 5th of October, 1898, at Maryville, Missouri, Mr. Case was married to Miss Margaret M. Calvert, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Gosney) Calvert. They have become the parents of four children who are living: Aileen, Wil- fred, Francis and Elizabeth; and they also lost two children. The family has member- ship in the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Case is serving as superintendent of the Sunday school. He takes a keen interest in everything that pertains to the moral progress of the community and cooperates in many plans and efforts for the public good. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp at Rea, Missouri, and for several years served as its clerk. His political endorsement is given to the republican party. When he started out in the business world he was entirely without capital. He gave his per- sonal notes in purchasing the Rea Times and the first payment he made thereon was one hundred dollars, a sum he had received from an award in an editorial contest which he won in competition with editors from four states-a matter that afforded him much pride and was the nucleus of his later success. He is now a director of the Boys and Girls Club work for Senator Capper's publications, these clubs being found in fourteen other states, with a total membership of over three thousand. These clubs have been formed to stimulate an interest in agricultural affairs and have accomplished great good in this connection. Mr. Case has indeed done an effective work in behalf of ad- vancement and improvement in methods of farming and his editorials are always a stimulating influence to his readers, as he discusses forcefully matters of intense prac- tical interest to the farmer, treating subjects which deal not only with the tilling of the soil but have in any way to do with the development of agricultural life and the promotion of all those interests which make for higher standards of living and of citizenship among the dwellers on the farms, who constitute the major portion of our population and upon whom the progress and prosperity of the entire country depend.
WALTER SHIELDS.
Walter Shields, of St. Louis, is closely associated with realty and construction interests, so that his labors have been a potent element in the growth and improve- ment of the city. He was born in Dallas, Texas, January 3, 1876, and is a repre- sentative of an old family of English lineage, the prosperous town of Shields, England, having taken its name from the family. The American progenitor of the family came to the United States in 1702, settling in Virginia, where many of his descend- ants still reside. The George Shields branch of the family left the Old Dominion, however, and removed to Kentucky about 1800 and about 1835 went to Tennessee. Benjamin Franklin Shields was the grandfather of Walter Shields and became a well known planter of the south and a real estate dealer. He was born in Kentucky but spent the greater part of his life in Nashville, Tennessee, and passed away in 1884. His son, George Shields, who was born in Nashville, Tennessee, removed to Texas in 1872 and later became a resident of St. Louis, where he passed away in 1891. He became extensively interested in real estate and dealt largely in prop- erty. He married Margaret R. Martin, who was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and was a representative of one of the old families of that state. She was a graduate of the famous Ward Seminary, where so many of the leading young women of Ten- nessee and Kentucky completed their education and were fitted for the duties of society and of home life. The Martins came from England in colonial times, set- tling in Virginia. There they have been prominent politically and socially through all the intervening years. They intermarried with the family of "Light Horse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary war fame and also with the families of President Polk and President Andrew Jackson. It is from such ancestry that Mrs. George
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