USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 61
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WALTER SHIELDS
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Shields was descended. Her entire life was passed in the south and her death occurred in 1905.
Walter Shields, whose name introduces this review, was brought by his parents to St. Louis when but five years of age and in the public schools he acquired his early education, being graduated from the Central high school in 1895. He after- ward attended Washington University for four years, specializing in the study of civil engineering and graduating in 1899 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He at once entered upon his chosen life work in connection with the firm of James Stewart & Company, with which he remained until 1902, when with his father-in- law he entered the brick business, giving his attention to that undertaking until 1907. He next became connected with C. A. Moreno, a contractor with whom he remained for a year or more and then established business along the same line on his own account. He operated alone until 1910, when he became associated with the Fletcher R. Harris Realty Company and also with the Chester Construction Company as manager and part owner. He is thus identified with business interests at the present time and also holds office in several other corporations. He has done much notable work. In 1918, at Vandalia, Missouri, he laid out a subdivision on which he constructed one hundred houses from plans of his own making. He there made the record of building two houses in one day. At the present time his realty activities are confined largely to the care of property of non-resident owners, some of whom have been his clients for a quarter of a century, and he has had no difficulty in retaining their business by reason of his unswerving integrity, his close application and his fidelity to all the interests entrusted to his keeping.
On the 3d of July, 1902, Mr. Shields was married to Miss Nellie Bond, a daughter of Dr. Y. H. Bond, a celebrated physician of St. Louis, who was the organizer and the first president of the Marion Sims College of Medicine, which later became the medical department of the St. Louis University. Dr. Bond was born in Maryland, where his ancestors had located on coming from England during the seventeenth century. The old Bond homestead, built in 1705 and known as Bond's Castle, is still standing and is habitable. To Mr. and Mrs. Shields has been born one child, Nellie Bond, who was born June 16, 1904, and now a student at Mary Institute.
Mr. Shields has never taken active interest in politics but maintains an inde- pendent course in regard to the vital questions and issues which are settled largely through franchise. He is a member of the Westminster Presbyterian church, of which he has been a deacon since 1914. He takes a most active and helpful interest in all of the work of the church and he supervised the erection of the present structure, giving freely of his time and labor in this connection. One of his most prized possessions is an elegant watch inscribed as the gift of his fellow members in 1916, in recognition of his services in the building of the new church edifice. Mr. Shields became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity while in Washington University but is not identified with other secret societies, nor does he belong to any social clubs, giving his time and attention to his business interests and to the social life represented in the ties of home and friendship. He lives in St. Louis county, near Creve Coeur lake, and takes his recreation and exercise in the cultivation of flowers and shrubs, having produced many of rare beauty. As the years have passed he has made steady progress in his business life and has thus reached a place of affluence.
REV. URBAN STANOWSKI.
Rev. Urban Stanowski, pastor of St. Stanislaus Catholic church, situated at No. 1413 North Twentieth street in St. Louis, was born in Opole, Poland, September 2, 1856, a son of Anthony and Johanna (Barteczko) Stanowski, both of whom spent their entire lives in Poland. The son was educated in the schools of that country until he had com- pleted the classical course and in 1875 was exiled on the general order of Bismarck, which banished into exile all the Polish Catholic students for the priesthood. Accord- ingly he crossed the Atlantic and made his way to St. Louis, where he pursued his studies in philosophy and theology. On the 16th of May, 1880, he was ordained in St.
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John's church by the Very Rev. Patrick Ryan, then coadjutor of St. Louis and later archbishop of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
For five years following his ordination Rev. Mr. Stanowski served as pastor of St. Michael's church at Radom, Illinois, and in 1885 was appointed pastor of St. Stanis- laus parish over which he has now presided for thirty-six years, being the senior Cath- olic pastor of St. Louis at the present time, for all who were here before him have now passed away. When Father Stanowski was appointed to this parish it was known as Kerry Patch and the population of the district consisted of Irish "squatters." All this has been changed in the intervening years, for today this is a Polish community and Father Stanowski has contributed largely to the upbuilding of the district and to the growth and development of the church here. Under his administration the church property of St. Stanislaus has been built and is the finest in St. Louis. The buildings were all erected by the Polish parishioners and could not be duplicated today for a mil- . lion dollars, while upon the church there rests not a cent of indebtedness. These splen- did edifices stand as a monument to the zeal and consecrated efforts of Father Stanowski, the beloved senior Catholic priest of St. Louis.
ALBERT J. SCHLUETER.
Albert J. Schlueter, vice president of the Schlueter Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, in which city he was born February 17, 1886, is a son of Julius A. Schlueter of whom extended mention is made on another page of this work. He was educated in the public and parochial schools of St. Louis and also attended the Southwestern Busi- ness College, being graduated from the latter institution of learning in 1904. Follow- ing the completion of his studies he began working in the office of the Standard Stamp- ing Company, with which house he was associated for two years. His father then organized what is now the Schlueter Manufacturing Company and Albert J. Schlueter entered the office at the time of the incorporation. In 1915 he became a member of the firm and was made secretary of the company, while upon the death of his father he was elected to the vice presidency and is still serving in that capacity. He has con- tributed in large measure to the success of the enterprise, displaying marked executive ability and administrative direction.
In 1908 Mr. Schlueter was - married to Miss Maud Ethel Baird, of Claremont, Illinois, and to them have been born two children: Richard B. and Robert J. Mr. Schlueter is a republican in his political views but the honors and emoluments of office have never had attractions for him. However, he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day and displays marked enterprise in connection with public as well as business affairs. He and his wife are members of the Zion Evan- gelical Lutheran church and are well known socially in the city in which Mr. Schlueter has always resided. There have been no spectacular phases in his career. His life is that of an eminently successful business man whose progress has resulted from close application, thoroughness and intelligence.
HAROLD C. MACOY.
Harold C. Macoy is the vice president of the National Printing & Engraving Com- pany, an Illinois corporation with offices in New York, Chicago and St. Louis, in which connection he is active in the conduct of a substantial and growing business. They are commercial and theatrical poster makers, lithographers and printers, and manufac- turers of fibre and muslin signs and the excellence of their work is recognized all over the world.
Mr. Macoy was born in Des Moines, Iowa, April 18, 1887, and is a son of E. H. and Thersa (Chambers) Macoy. The father was a theatrical man, owning and man- aging road shows and made his headquarters in Chicago for many years. He became interested in the printing business as an adjunct to his theatrical business and hecame president of the National Printing & Engraving Company, serving as such up to the time of his death in 1907. His wife now makes her home in' Los Angeles, California. In their family were two sons and a daughter.
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Harold C. Macoy was the youngest of the three children and was educated in the public schools of Iowa and in the high school at Niles, Michigan, before entering St. John's Academy at Delafield, Wisconsin, in which he pursued a commercial course. He also continued his commercial studies in Brownsberger Business College at Los An- geles, California. He afterward entered the Winona Technical School at Indianapolis, Indiana, pursuing a special course of study in printing. After completing this course he entered the employ of the National Printing & Engraving Company at Niles, Mich- igan. Later he went to the New York branch of the National Printing & Engraving Company, but afterward returned to Niles where he continued until his removal to St. Louis in 1909. Here he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Great Western Printing Company and in 1910, when that company was absorbed by the National Printing & Engraving Company, was elected second vice president of that company and later became manager of this hranch. The company occupy a substantial brick struc- ture, four stories in height and equipped with all the latest and most improved ma- chinery for carrying on their work. They have about forty thousand square feet of floor space in the building and employ on an average of fifty clerks and workmen. Not only do they enjoy a large trade in America but have also quite an extensive business in foreign countries.
Mr. Macoy was united in marriage at Covina, California, October 4, 1911, to Miss Evelyn Charlotte Fletcher, a daughter of Rev. Alfred Fletcher, of Covina, California. They have become the parents of two children: Harold C., eight years of age, now in school; and Charlotte, aged six, who has just entered upon her student days. Mr. Macoy is a member of the Missouri Athletic Association, also of the Advertising Club. of St. Louis, the Chamber of Commerce and of the Ben Franklin Club, of which he a member of the executive committee, and in 1920 he was elected president of the Poster Printers' Association of the United States and Canada. The nature of his interest is further indicated by his connection with the Episcopal church. During the World war he was captain of Company A of the First Regiment of Infantry of the Missouri Home Guards. He has been one of the active business men of St. Louis for more than twelve years and in this time has proven to all who know him that he is possessed of unabating energy and industry that never falters. He has gained a cred- itable position in both business and social circles and enjoys a well deserved reputation for fair dealing along husiness lines, while his genial qualities make for popularity among his social acquaintances. He and his family occupy a heautiful home in Web- ster Groves, a select residence district adjacent to St. Louis and there most graciously entertain their many friends.
SAMUEL MURTA.
While Samuel Murta would undoubtedly class himself as a hotel proprietor, there are certain qualities in his make-up that would establish his rank in other connections. He has closely studied many sociological and economic conditions and in the conduct of his business is actuated by humanitarian principles that have made him the friend of the workingman and in this connection he is conducting the Erie House, the Swan House and the Bachelor Hotel of St. Louis. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1853, his parents being Edward and Sarah (Swan) Murta. The father was born at Rosey Hill, five miles from Dublin, Ireland, and was sixteen years of age when he came to America. He was a painter by trade and at the time of the Civil war put aside all business and personal considerations, serving in the Union army as a member of a Pennsylvania regiment, while Samuel Murta, who was then a small boy, was an enthusiastic little supporter of the Union cause and desiring to render aid thereto, would carry water and refreshments for the soldiers when they were digging the trenches. The father died in 1870 and the mother passed away in 1885. She, too, was born near Dublin, Ireland, and came to the United States when fourteen years of age. In the family were five sons: Henry, Samuel, John, Edward and Paul. Paul and Samuel are the only survivors.
The last named was educated at Duff's College in Pittsburgh and in early life learned two trades-carpentering and whip making. He also thoroughly knows every- thing connected with engines and printing presses and it was in connection with the printing business that he made his initial start in business life, securing a position
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in a newspaper office when but fourteen years of age. There he worked his way upward until he became an engineer in the same office, but his health being undermined he turned his attention to gardening, hoping to be benefited hy outdoor exercise. Subse- quently he was employed in the fire brick and tile business and later studied phrenology under Professor N. S. Power of Pittsburgh. On the expiration of that period he visited Europe, spending fifteen months abroad, during which time he went to two hundred and fifteen different towns and cities and was brought into close contact with the life, customs and habits of the people on that side of the Atlantic, returning with broader views, such as are always the outcome of extended travel.
Because of his health Mr. Murta went to Carlyle, Illinois, where he spent some time in hunting and trapping, and in 1883 became a resident of St. Louis and worked for a time in the Southern Hotel. In 1884 he established the Swan House with accommoda- tions for one hundred and sixty men, and in 1887 opened the Erie House with beds for three hundred and twenty men. This was followed by the establishment of the Bach- elor Hotel, which was the old Itens House, with beds for sixty men. The Bachelor Hotel was opened in 1905. He caters to the workingmen who seek cheap but clean lodgings and when the general advance in rents came about Mr. Murta lowered his rates instead of raising them, saying that he had nobody to whom to leave his money and as he made it out of the laboring men he would give them the benefit thereof. He thus dis- played a most philanthropic spirit such as would prove a leavening force in the world if brought into general play and would do away with all the labor problems and troubles of the present. Mr. Murta is also the owner of a plantation in Cuba comprising four hundred and eleven acres.
While Mr. Murtá was married in St. Louis in 1885 to Miss Ellen Sullivan, he lost his wife in 1904. In 1905 he wedded Lilly Schulte, of St. Louis, who passed away May 6, 1919. Mr. Murta was reared a Catholic but he has not adhered to the church but has attended all churches and contributed to the support of many. His political allegiance is given to the republican party which finds in him a stalwart champion. Though in early manhood he suffered much from ill health for the last thirty-seven years he has enjoyed practically perfect health and during that time has lost only twenty-five days from illness and the same number of days have heen devoted to his own pleasure -- his vacation periods thus being very brief. However, he greatly enjoys literature and keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress in all things. He be- lieves in the highest possible physical, mental and moral development and his interests and activities have ever been directed along those lines. Mr. Murta thoroughly un- derstands mechanics and physics. He is the inventor of air and water elevators, pat- ented in all the principal countries, and also of a water pump intended for pumping water or oil from great depths.
FREDERICK H. OBERMEYER.
Frederick H. Obermeyer, vice president and general manager of the Kren- ning-Westermann China Company of St. Louis, was born October 26, 1875, at Heithoefen, Germany, his parents being Ernst and Marie (Droste) Obermeyer. The father was overseer of the estate of Baron Von Huenefeld. He was reared as a farmer, horticulturist and landscape architect and was thus qualified for the large responsibilities and duties that later devolved upon him in connection with the management of the estate. His wife, who was a daughter of Colonel Droste of the Hanoverian army, passed away in 1886. Mr. Obermeyer survived for many years, his death occurring in 1914.
Frederick H. Obermeyer was educated in the parochial schools of his native town to the age of fourteen years, when he bade adieu to friends and family and came with an uncle, Fred G. Droste, to the United States. His uncle was a resident of Mount Olive, Illinois, and the nephew acted as clerk in his general store at that place for three years, after which he came to St. Louis and pursued a course in the Perkins & Herpel Mercantile College. He then accepted a position as assistant bookkeeper with the Wennecker-Morris Candy Company, with whom he con- tinued for six years, becoming a salesman on the road, with Oklahoma as his ter- ritory. On the expiration of that period he accepted the position of assistant book- keeper with the Krenning Glass Company, with which he remained for fifteen
FREDERICK H. OBERMEYER
Vol. V-36
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months in that capacity and then was sent out as a traveling salesman, represent- Ing the house upon the road until 1912. In the latter year he was appointed to sales manager and in 1915 he was elected to official position, being made secre- tary and treasurer of the company and continuing also to act as sales manager. In 1918 he was elected vice president and sales manager and in 1920 he became general manager and vice president, following the death of F. H. W. Krenning. The business was conducted under the name of the Krenning Glass Company until 1910, when it was consolidated with the house of H. Westermann & Sons, under the name of the Krenning-Westermann China Company, with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. Today the house is represented on the road by twenty- five traveling salesmen who cover the southern and western states and also Mexico. The company specializes in china dinnerware but also handles china dolls, glass- ware and kindred lines. Their business has become one of extensive proportions and their house displays the finest goods that the markets of the world afford.
On the 21st of June, 1899, in St. Louis, Mr. Obermeyer was married to Miss Emma Bredenkoetter, a daughter of John Bredenkoetter, a wood turner, who was born in St. Louis, while his father was a native of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Obermeyer have one daughter, Myrtle, who was born August 11, 1901, and is at home. The parents are members of the Grace Evangelical Lutheran church of St. Louis and Mr. Obermeyer is serving as one of the board of elders, while for six years he was superintendent of the Sunday school, which has an attendance of six hundred pupils. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, but he has had neither time nor inclination for public office. He concentrates his attention upon his business affairs and the pleasures of home life, turning occa- sionally to hunting and fishing for further recreation and diversion. His business career has been marked by steady progress. Starting out in a minor position, he soon realized the fact that industry wins and industry became the beacon light of his life. What he has accomplished is the result of energy and determination intelligently directed, and he is now one of the successful wholesale merchants of the city.
WILSON LINN HEMINGWAY.
Wilson Linn Hemingway, vice president of the National Bank of Commerce and a well known and prominent figure in the financial circles of St. Louis, was born in Potosi, Missouri, December 2, 1880. His father, W. E. Hemingway, was a native of Mississippi and of English descent. He became a member of the bar and is now a resl- dent of Little Rock, Arkansas, where he follows his profession. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Helen Gerault, was likewise born in Mississippi and is of French lineage. They became the parents of two children, but the younger son, Horace, is deceased.
Wilson L. Hemingway was educated in the Bingham school at Asheville, North Carolina, and in Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, from which he was graduated with the class of 1900. Thus liberal educational opportunities qualified him for life's practical and responsible duties. Following his graduation he entered the Ger- man National Bank at Little Rock, Arkansas, where he filled a clerical position for a year. He next obtained a situation in the Exchange National Bank at Little Rock and after serving for a time in a clerical capacity was advanced to the position of assistant cashier. Subsequently he was secretary of the Mercantile Trust Company of Little Rock and in 1915 was elected to the presidency, continuing to occupy that position until 1919 when he transferred his labors to St. Louis, becoming vice president of the National Bank of Commerce. He has long been known in connection with the financial interests of the southwest and his business ability, developed through the exercise of effort, has brought him to a prominent position among the bankers of the middle Mississippi valley.
On the 1st of March, 1905, at Little Rock, Mr. Hemingway was married to Miss Lois Roots, a native of Little Rock and a daughter of Logan H. and Emily M. (Blakes- lee) Roots. They have become the parents of four children: Emily Margaret, Lois Helen, Wilson Linn, Jr., and Frances Miriam.
During the World war Mr. Hemingway served as state chairman for the Liberty
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loan organization of Arkansas, doing splendid work in this connection in organizing the forces for a state-wide canvass and like the great majority of prominent business men of the country he stood solidly back of the administration in all of the activities put forth in connection with the prosecution of the war. His political endorsement is giveu to the democratic party. His appreciation of the social amenities of life is indi- cated in his membership in the St. Louis Club, the Bellerive Country Club and the Missouri Athletic Association. He is never too busy to be cordial and courteous and never too cordial to be busy. In a word the activities and interests of his life are well balanced, making him a forceful factor not only in financial circles but in connection with all those activities which claim his time and interest.
REV. VICTOR STEPKA.
Rev. Victor Stepka, pastor of St. Joseph's church at Clayton, Missouri, being in charge of one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the state, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 31, 1872, a son of Theodore and Catherine (Shaub) Stepka. The father, a native of Poland, came to the United States in young manhood immediately following the Civil war and took up his abode in Cincinnati, Ohio, in which city the mother of Victor Stepka was born, her parents having located there about 1820. Mr. Stepka conducted a bakery in Cincinnati for a number of years and about 1877 removed to St. Louis, where he established a bakery business which he carried on to the time of his death.
Rev. Victor Stepka was educated in St. Francis Seminary at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he pursued his preparatory and classical studies. He then became a student in the University of Innsbruck at Tyrol, Austria, where he pursued a theological course and was ordained in Switzerland on the 15th of August, 1894, by Archbishop Zardetti. He then returned to America and has since labored in the St. Louis diocese. He served for only three years as assistant, after which he was appointed pastor of a church in the Ozarks and in 1908 was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's parish at Clayton, over which he has since presided. In 1912 he built a handsome church structure at a cost of forty thousand dollars, but the work could not be duplicated today at a much higher cost, owing to the advance in building material.
Rev. Mr. Stepka is a member of Clayton Council, No. 1376, of the Knights of Colum- bus. He also belongs to the Western Catholic Union and is a member of the Innsbruck Alumni Association. He is keenly interested in every branch of the church work, which has been thoroughly organized under his direction, and at the same time he manifests a helpful attitude toward all questions of public progress and improvement.
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