USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 7
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SCOTT SEDDON.
Prominently known as a writer on many legal subjects and a successful law prac- titioner of the St. Louis bar is Scott Seddon, who was born January 9, 1892, in the city which is still his home, his parents being James Alexander and Louise Q. (Scott) Seddon. The father, who was a native of Richmond, Virginia, came to St. Louis in 1872, and here entered upon the practice of law which he has followed very successfully. He also served at one time as judge of the circuit court. His wife was a native of St. Louis, where they were married. Her antecedents were from Virginia. Mrs. Seddon passed away when her son Scott was but two years of age. In both the paternal and maternal line Scott Seddon comes of an old Virginia family.
In the acquirement of his education Mr. Seddon attended the Smith Academy at St. Louis and then went to Yale, winning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1914 upon the completion of a classical course. His law studies were pursued in Washington Uni- versity and he was graduated in 1916, with the LL. B. degree. He entered upon the general practice of law in St. Louis in the same year and concentrated his attention upon the upbuilding of his practice until May 26, 1917, when America having entered the war with Germany, he enlisted as a private in the Marine Corps and was assigned to active duty June 26, 1917, at the navy yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On the 18th of August, 1917, he was transferred to the second officer's training camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and there won a commission as second lieutenant. He left the training camp, November 27, 1917, and was assigned to the Three Hundred Thirty-sixth Regiment of the Field Artillery of the Eighty-seventh Division at Camp Pike. He remained with that regiment throughout the war except for two months spent at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in the School of Fire. On leaving Fort Sill he joined his regiment at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and sailed from New York on the 23d of August, 1918, remaining in France until March 8, 1919, when he returned to America and received his honorable discharge at Camp Taylor on the 18th of the month.
Returning to St. Louis, Mr. Seddon at once resumed the private practice of law and is regarded as an able young attorney, excelling in civil practice. Moreover he has be- come well known as a writer on many legal subjects, his discussion of which is at times extremely profound, as attested by his colleagues and contemporaries at the bar.
Mr. Seddon belongs to Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal) and is an active sup- porter of the Red Cross. He is also identified with the Phi Delta Phi, a college fraternity, and in club circles is well known belonging to the University, Ridgedale Country, City, and Sunset Hill Clubs of St. Louis and the Yale Club of New York.
MILTON LOUIS DAUGHERTY.
Milton Louis Daugherty, general secretary of the Big Brother Organization (Inc.) of St. Louis, his native city, was born May 9, 1899. His father, Charles B. Daugherty, is a native of Indiana and of Scotch descent. In the early '80s he came to St. Louis and has since been successfully engaged in manufacturing. In former years he took a very active part in civic and political affairs. He married Frances Wall, a native of Missouri, who is of Irish lineage on the paternal side and of French descent in the maternal line. She has become the mother of two children, Milton Louis, and Wallace.
Milton Louis Daugherty was educated in the public schools and in the St. Louis
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Manual Training School. He is now attending the St. Louis University, pursuing a course in law. His life thus far has been largely devoted to public service. His first position was with St. Louis Industrial School, later the juvenile court of St. Louis, where he served for a period of three years as investigator. In October, 1918, he was appointed general secretary of the Big Brother Organization (Inc.) of St. Louis, and has since so served with credit to himself and with excellent results for the betterment of the organi- zation and the extension of its work. His broad humanitarian spirit and his deep interest in the welfare particularly of young boys have resulted in most effective effort. He has studied the problems of the youth and his executive ability is also manifest in the management of the affairs of the organization.
His activity does not extend alone to this organization, for he is the secretary of the Social Service conference of St. Louis, is a member of the executive committee of the Cardinal Knot Hole Gang, the civic committee of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, "boys work" committee of the St. Louis Rotary Club, and the children's committee of the central council of social agencies. It will thus be seen that his interests and activities largely lie along the line where organized effort is meeting sociological conditions and problems. He is an exemplary representative of Anchor Lodge, No. 443, A. F. & A. M., and a member of Brilliant Lodge, No. 55, K. P. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party where national questions and issues are involved but at local elec- tions he casts an independent ballot.
On the 17th of March, 1913, Mr. Daugherty was married at Collinsville, Illinois, to Miss Florence Stamm, a native of Missouri and a daughter of William and Emily (Hoch) Stamm. They have two children: Ruth Ellen, born January 15, 1915; and Jack Ethridge, born August 14, 1920.
During the late war Mr. Daugherty was active in support of the Red Cross, the sale of Liberty bonds and the Boy Scout drive. His dominant characteristic is his humani- tarianism and his labors have been far-reaching and beneficial.
BENJAMIN A. WOOD.
Benjamin A. Wood, a St. Louis lawyer whose professional ideals are high and who puts forth every effort to raise himself to the level of these ideals, was born in John- son county, Missouri, November 18, 1876. His father, William L. Wood, was a major in the Confederate army during the Civil war. His birth occurred in Virginia but removing from the Old Dominion he became a resident of Missouri and made large investments in land. He was descended from English ancestors who fled to America to escape the wrath of Cromwell for they were devoted adherents to the cause of Charles I, and thus the family became founded in Virginia. In the maternal line Benjamin A. Wood comes of Holland ancestry. His mother bore the maiden name of Laura Helen Smith and was a daughter of Benjamin F. Smith whose birth occurred near Crawfordsville, Kentucky, and whose forefathers came from the land of the dikes prior to the Revolution.
Benjamin A. Wood acquired his early education in the public schools and was graduated from the high school of Holden, Missouri, while later he attended the State Normal School at Warrensburg and then entered the University of Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1903 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. During his college days he became a member of the Phi Delta Phi fraternity. His LL. B. degree was conferred upon him by Washington University, although he had previously been admitted to the bar upon examination. He at once entered upon the active practice of his profes- sion in St. Louis and after a brief period entered into partnership with Thomas S. McPheeters, a relation that was maintained until 1916, since which time Mr. Wood has practiced alone. His tendency is toward office and business practice and he has been successful both as a business lawyer and a business man. With his younger brother, Louis R. Wood, he formed a corporation under the name of the William L. Wood Estate Company, for the purpose of investments and it has had a prosperous growth.
Mr. Wood is calm and very deliberate, accurate, farsighted and always considerate of others with whom he has business dealings. He is a lawyer who believes that laws were made to be enforced and lived up to. He is a business man who has the courage and energy to force success, backed up by integrity of purpose. When he becomes
BENJAMIN A. WOOD
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financially interested in any project he is sure to direct it to success, nor will he enter into any enterprise unless he has an understood agreement that he shall have something to say about its guidance. His capabilities are of diversified nature and he never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose, nor does he sacrifice his honor in the slightest degree in winning his point. In the practice of law or in the state- ment of business affairs he has the quality of saying the right thing in a few convinc- ing words, so that his utterances are most forceful. All of these characteristics have made him a dynamic factor in the business and professional life of St. Louis.
On the 25th of September, 1909, in this city, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Edith Trotter Smith, a daughter of S. Jenks Smith, who had removed to St. Louis from Philadelphia where he had been president of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The family came from Maryland, although one of the great uncles of Mrs. Wood, Andrew Jackson Smith, was postmaster of St. Louis in an early day. He also served in the northern army during the Civil war. The mother of Mrs. Wood belonged to the Newbold family of Philadelphia and one of her direct ancestors was a captain in Washington's army in the Revolutionary war and went through the memorable winter at Valley Forge with all of its hardships and discouragement. His personal diary, kept during that time, is now preserved in a church at Valley Forge and is one of the most interesting narratives of personal, military and political affairs of that period. To Mr. and Mrs. Wood has been born a daughter, Laura Emily Newbold, whose birth occurred March 15, 1911.
In politics Mr. Wood is an independent democrat. He has taken an active and promi- nent part in all public affairs but not as an officer seeker-simply as a citizen who holds to high standards in regard to civic interests. He was secretary for several years of the Municipal Voters League, is active in the Civic League and is also prominent in con- nection with the movement for a new constitution, for reform in election methods and in all fine public projects. When he speaks upon questions of this character he is . forceful, clear and convincing, recognizing that strength lies in a direct utterance. He was for several years attorney for the St. Louis Bar Association. He belongs to no secret societies and no social clubs but is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. During the World war as government appeal attorney of the twenty-sixth ward he gave up most of his time to the general service. An Episcopalian in religious faith his membership is in the Church of the Ascension in St. Louis of which he has been treasurer and vestryman since 1916. He is now residing at 5059 Waterman avenue and has recently purchased an estate of one hundred and thirty acres on the Conway road in St. Louis county and is looking forward to making that his permanent home. He is a man of quiet, domestic taste, finding his greatest happiness at his own fire- side, and is a delightful companion at all times according to the testimony of the many who are proud to call him friend.
EDNA M. STONE, M. D.
Dr. Edna M. Stone, physician and surgeon, with offices in the University Club building in St. Louis, was born January 28, 1878, in Carrollton, Illinois, of which state her father, Seranda Miller, was likewise a native, while her mother, who bore the maiden name of Martha Todd, was born in Missouri. The father was a lumber dealer, making a speciality of manufacturing walnut lumber. He would raft walnut logs down the Mississippi river to the mills to be cut into fine slabs for furniture and other domestic purposes, and continued in this business to the closing days of his life, his labors being ended in death in 1910. His widow is still living, making her home in Jerseyville, Illinois, and is quite active for one of her years. Her father was a Civil war veteran who volunteered for service in the Federal army, and is supposed to have been captured or died on the battlefield. The grandmother of Dr. Stone was Dr. Rebecca Miller, who was a physician, being the first woman admitted to the practice of medicine in southern Illinois, after which she followed the profession for a number of years in Greene county. After the death of Dr. Stone's father in 1904 her mother married again, becoming the wife of George Freeman of Illinois, and of this marriage were born six children, of whom only two sons are now living.
Dr. Stone was educated in the public schools of Illinois and determined to fol.
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low the profession in which her grandmother had become a pioneer representa- tive. Accordingly she pursued a medical course in the Barnes College of Medicine in St. Louis and was graduated with the M. D. degree with the class of 1908. In her early professional career she was connected with the Ellen Osborn Hospital of St. Louis as a teacher in the nurses training department, and while thus engaged she also had wide surgical and obstetrical experience, thus qualifying in large measures for surgical work. Later she became clinical obstetrician for the Ameri- can Hospital at Thirty-fourth and Pine streets, occupying that position through the greater part of the years 1911 and 1912. She was afterward associated with Dr. Wil- lis Young in surgery, administering the anesthetic. She opened her present office in the University building in July, 1918, soon after the completion of the building which is in the very heart of the city, being located at No. 607 North Grand avenue and now occupied almost entirely by physicians. Dr. Stone has been engaged in the practice of medicine in St. Louis continuously from the day of her graduation from the Barnes Medical College, and is well known professionally here. She makes her home at the Biltmore Hotel and gives the major part of her time and attention to her professional work which is constantly growing in volume and im- portance.
OTTO CRAMER.
Otto Cramer is identified with one of the leading commercial establishments of St. Louis as the treasurer of the Carleton Dry Goods company and his life record illustrates what may be accomplished through individual effort when intelligence and ambition are the guiding spirit of energy and industry. From point to point he has advanced in his business career as the result of his close application and there is much that is inspiring in his record. He was born in Hermann, Gasconade county, Missouri, on the 13th of October, 1847. His father, Edward Cramer, was a native of Saxony, Germany, and came to America in 1833. He entered upon the practice of medicine at Hermann, Missouri, as one of the first representatives of the profession there. He had acquired his education in the medical college at Gottingen, Saxony, and after reaching Missouri took a prominent part in promoting the pioneer development of Hermann as well as in ministering to the needs of the inhabitants along professional lines. There he reared his family, including eight sons, all of whom became prominently connected with business interests in Missouri. He died in the year 1878 and his wife has also passed away.
Otto Cramer was the third in order of birth in a family of eleven children, five of whom are yet living. He acquired a district school education and afterward attended the St. Louis University up to the time of the Civil war. He was also a student in the Jones Commercial College and in 1862 entered the employ of C. Heim, a general merchant of Boonville, Missouri, leaving that place, however, when Mar- maduke made his famous raid in that section, at which time he came to St. Louis. He became associated with the Jameson-Cotting Dry Goods company, in 1863, with which he continued until 1872 when the company dissolved. At that time he accepted an important position with the S. C. Davis Dry Goods company and re- mained with that house until the company retired in January, 1896. Acquiring an interest in the Wear & Boogher Dry Goods company at that date he has since been associated with the business, for the company was succeeded by the Carleton Dry Goods company of which he is now the treasurer. The latter was incorporated in 1899 and today controls one of the most extensive commercial establishments of the west. Mr. Cramer acquired stock in the business and in 1897 was elected a director, while later he was chosen treasurer. He also became a member of the directorate of the International Bank and has become identified with other business concerns which have figured in the development and upbuilding of St. Louis. Throughout his life he has displayed undaunted enterprise and industry and has ever recognized the fact that when one avenue of opportunity seems closed he can carve out other paths whereby to reach the desired goal.
In September, 1872, Mr. Cramer was united in marriage in St. Louis to Miss Sophia Ludewig, a daughter of Johannes Ludewig, a hat and cap dealer. Mr. and Mrs. Cramer have become the parents of a son and three daughters: John, who
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is associated with the Carleton Dry Goods company; Dorothy, the wife of J. V. Henley, city representative for the Blumenthal Leather company; Ottilia, the wife of R. A. Kasting; and Elizabeth, wife of Chester L. Harvey. The daughters were educated at Mary Institute.
Mr. Cramer holds membership in the Liederkranz Club and is a member of St. Margaret's Roman Catholic church. His business career has been marked by steady advancement and a ready recognition and utilization of opportunities that others have passed heedlessly by, so that he is now a leading figure in the mercantile circles of the city.
EUGENE BLODGETT.
Eugene Blodgett is the senior partner in the firm of Blodgett & Rector, attorneys at law of St. Louis. Missouri numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred at Shelbina, January 12, 1884, his parents being S. L. and Alice (Smith) Blodgett, the former a native of Iowa and the latter of Michigan. The father was of English descent, while the mother belonged to one of the old families of New York. Mr. Blodgett carried on merchandising at Shelbina, Missouri, for many years, but passed away in August, 1884, when thirty-nine years of age, his birth having occurred in 1845. He was but sixteen years of age when he enlisted for service in the Union army as a member of Company K of the Sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he rose to the rank of captain. His wife survives and is a resident of St. Louis. They had a family of five children, two sons and three daughters.
Eugene Blodgett, the youngest of the family, was educated-in the public and high schools of his native city and in the University of Missouri, from which he was gradu- ated in 1905, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1904 he obtained the first Rhodes scholarship of Missouri and was graduated from Oxford in 1907 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in the honor school of jurisprudence. In the same year he entered the law department of Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri, and there com -. pleted his course in 1909, at which time the LL. B. degree was conferred upon him by that institution. Subsequent to his graduation he entered upon practice in St. Louis in the office of Morton Jourdan and subsequently was with the firm of Boyle & Priest. On the 1st of January, 1914, he entered into his present partnership rela- tion as senior member of the firm of Blodgett & Rector. Mr. Blodgett belongs to the American Bar Association, the Missouri State Bar Association and the St. Louis Bar Association, and of the state organization was treasurer in 1915 and 1916. He has made steady advancement in a profession where progress depends, entirely upon indi- vidual merit and ability. His knowledge of the law is comprehensive and exact and he is seldom at fault in the application of a legal principle.
During the World war Mr. Blodgett served as a member of the legal advisory board of the eighth ward. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he has been active in local, state and national politics. He belongs to the University Club, the Missouri Athletic Association and the Sunset Hill Country Club and enjoys a personal popularity that has gained for him many friends. Nature endowed him with keen intellectual force and he has used his talents wisely and well, advancing step by step until he now occupies an enviable place in professional circles in his adopted city.
LEO LEVIS.
The steps in the orderly progression of Leo Levis in the business world are plainly manifest. He has advanced steadily through the utilization of the oppor- tunities which have come to him and is now the president of the Levis-Zukoski Mercantile company, thus controlling one of the important commercial interests of St. Louis. He was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, February 21, 1839, and is a son of Seligman and Jetta (Rosenheim) Levis. He began his education in the public schools of his native country and continued his studies at Wheeling, Virginia, after coming to the new world in 1854, being at that time a youth of fifteen years. Soon
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afterward he secured employment in a dry goods store at Wheeling, Virginia, and in 1857 became a resident of St. Louis, where he joined his uncle, Morris Rosen- heim, a wholesale milliner. After acquainting himself with the business and prov- ing his capacity and trustworthiness he was admitted to a partnership and upon the retirement of Mr. Rosenheim in 1893 the Levis-Zukoski Mercantile company was organized and Mr. Levis has since been the senior partner. Under his guidance the business has been developed to substantial proportions and is one of the im- portant millinery houses of this city.
In St. Louis, on the 12th of January, 1870, Mr. Levis was married to Miss Josephine Singer and they are now parents of three sons and a daughter: George S. Levis, the eldest son, is married and has two children, Frederick and Frances; Walter Levis, the second son, is married and has two children, Richard and Eleanor; Edgar S. is the third son of the family; Edna is the wife of Dr. W. W. Hamburger, of Chicago, and they have two children, Elizabeth and Walter Hamburger. During the World war the sons of Leo Levis were active in support of many movements relative to the country's welfare.
Mr. Levis is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he does everything in his power to promote its success. He belongs to the Hebrew Charities Association, also to the Ethical Culture Society and is a member of the City Club and the Columbian Club. He finds his chief recreation in travel. Coming to the new world when a youth in his teens he has since made steady progress along well defined lines of labor and he remains still the directing head of a prominent commercial enterprise of St. Louis, although he has now passed the eighty-first milestone on life's journey.
COLONEL BENJAMIN G. BRINKMAN.
Colonel Benjamin G. Brinkman, vice president of the La Fayette South Side Bank and identified with several other business interests of St. Louis, was born in this city in 1885. His father, William F. Brinkman, was a native of Franklin county, Missouri, and was formerly engaged in the iron and steel business but is now living retired in St. Louis. He wedded Mary Wolken, who was born in St. Louis, a daughter of Henry Wolken, a representative of one of the old families of this city.
Benjamin G. Brinkman obtained his education by attending the public and high schools of St. Louis and St. Mary's College at Dayton, Ohio, being gradu- ated from the latter institution. He initiated his business experience in connection with banking in 1905, when he entered the La Fayette Bank, with which he re- mained as assistant cashier until 1916, when the institution was consolidated with the South Side Bank under the name of the La Fayette South Side Bank, at which time Mr. Brinkman was chosen vice president and still fills that position, bending his efforts to administrative direction and executive control in this connection. His fifteen years' experience in banking have well qualified him for the onerous and responsible duties that devolve upon him. He has ever recognized the fact that the bank is most worthy of support which most carefuly safeguards the interests of its depositors and in bank management he has always followed that course. He is a director of the South Side Trust Company and is president of the Yaryan products in the world. He was also at one time president of the Cardinal Base- Rosin & Turpentine Company of Brunswick, Georgia, the largest producers of these ball Club of St. Louis.
On the 1st of September, 1909, in St. Louis, Colonel Brinkman was married to Miss Marie Doerr, a daughter of P. J. Doerr, formerly president of the La Fayette Bank, and they now have a son, Jerome, who is ten years of age. The parents attend St. Margaret's Catholic church and Colonel Brinkman gives his political alle- giance to the democratic party. He has served as colonel on the governor's staff and has been captain of the Missouri Home Guard, commanding Troop A. He was also general of the South St. Louis district in the Liberty Loan drives. His personal popularity is manifest whenever he visits the various clubs with which he is iden- "tified. He belongs to the Sunest Hill Gun Club, the Century Boat Club, the River- view Club, the St. Louis Club and the Liederkranz Club, of which he was formerly
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