USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 80
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Edwin Frederic Guth obtained his early education in his native city where he attended the public schools to the age of fourteen years and then became a pupil in the schools of St. Louis, attending the polytechnic high school and the Foster high school. In 1892 he began work in the electrical repair shop of Lampel & Wur- dach, receiving a salary of three dollars a week for his services. He worked in that way for fifteen months, at the end of which time he suffered an attack of typhoid fever and following his recovery he paid a visit with his parents to the World's Co- lumbia Exposition in Chicago. On returning to St. Louis he entered the employ of the Steinwender & Stoffergen Coffee Company with whom he continued for a year as clerk. He afterward spent seven years with the David Nicholson Grocery Company as collector and salesman, occupying the former position for two years and the latter for five years. On the 1st of May, 1902, he became one of the organizers of the St. Louis Brass Manufacturing Company and started an active manufacturing business at Twelfth and Market streets in St. Louis. In January, 1903, at a meeting of stock- holders, the following officers were elected: Edwin F. Guth, president; Joe Chas- saing, vice president; Frank Chassaing, treasurer; and Charles M. Wempner, secre- tary. The business grew rapidly under the leadership and hard work of the new officers and in 1907 the factory space at Twelfth and Market was found inadequate for the volume of business. The factory was then moved to its present location at Jefferson and Washington avenues. The business was developed only after a most bitter struggle on the part of Mr. Guth and his associates. Several times in the early years they were almost overwhelmed by the influence of larger competitors, but they never lost falth in their future. They believed in their business and felt that their enterprise and diligence must ultimately triumph. They persevered, the reputation of the house grew through the good words of satisfied customers and the progressive
EDWIN F. GUTH
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sales and advertising policies of the company led to the steady development of the business each year. In 1912 E. F. Guth brought out an entirely new principle of illumination, the unit now known all over the world as the "Brascolite." A selling organization was incorporated to promote this new unit known as the Luminous Unit Company. Nearly a million Brascolites had been sold up to 1920-the short space of eight years-an unparalleled achievement in the lighting industry. The making of elegant bronze lighting fixtures has also progressed rapidly and within the last ten years lighting equipment for several state capitols, innumerable hanks, courthouses, hotels, office buildings and thousands of elegant homes throughout the country have been executed by his company. In 1915 the factory was again found to he too small and a five-floor addition was built, followed by a larger addition in 1919, the fac- tory now including one hundred and fifteen thousand square feet of floor space, more than double the space used in 1907. Many other innovations in the lighting industry have been introduced, notable among which are the "Aglite" (all-glass sanitary unit), the "Industrolite" (factory lighting unit), the "Jack O'Lantern" (hight light) and numerous other inventions in the art of illumination. The factory is now the largest and best equipped of its kind in the United States. Every necessary machine for turning the raw material into the finished product will be found here, every opera- tion and stage of manufacture being handled by the most skilled mechanics that can be found. Today the company has district offices in sixteen of the larger cities of America, selling the company's products exclusively and has agencies in various foreign countries. These district offices are all managed by men especially trained as illuminating engineers who are giving their entire attention to the development of the trade. The result is that this company is now doing a volume of business of about two million dollars annually, exceeding all others. In fact they are the largest manufacturers of lighting fixtures in the world. Constant endeavor and advertising have made their name the most widely known in the world's lighting fixture industry. Mr. Guth is the chief directing head of the enterprise, representing an investment of over nine hundred thousand dollars. Lowell has said: "An institution is hut the lengthened shadow of a man," and the plant of the St. Louis Brass Manufacturing Company, now a most important enterprise, is the result of Mr. Guth's business ability and progressive spirit. That his business is constantly increasing indicates his initiative and well defined plans which are steadily carried forward to successful completion.
On the 19th of May, 1910, Mr. Guth was married to Miss Sally B. Black, a daughter of James Black, a very successful building contractor of St. Louis and a man of marked social disposition, having the happy faculty of not only winning but retain- ing friends. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Guth are Frederic, James, Sarah Louise and Edwin F., Jr. Politically Mr. Guth is a republican but has never been an active party worker. He and his family are members of the Spring Avenue Episcopal church and he is a Mason with membership in Anchor Lodge, No. 443, A. F. & A. M .; St. Louis Consistory, A. A. S. R .; and Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His name is also on the membership rolls of the Algonquin Country Club and Missouri Athletic Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the National Chamber of Commerce, and he is now serving on the executive committee of the National Society of Lighting Fixtures Manufacturers. He is a lover of music and fond of all outdoor sports and is an enthusiastic golfer, fully believing that exercise of this nature is essential to his best efforts in business. He realizes the value and benefit of the out-of-doors and the exercise that is obtained in the game of golf and aside from the enjoyment which he gains on the links he regards it as a real business asset.
VERNE LACY.
Verne Lacy, who for three years has been assistant circuit attorney of St. Louis and who is engaged in the private practice of law as a member of the firm of Oliver, Raithel & Lacy, was born in St. Louis, February 13, 1886, and comes of English ancestry, although the family has long been represented in the state of New York where occurred the birth of Lawrence Lacy, father of Verne Lacy of this review. He was reared and educated at Sandy Creek, New York, and in 1874 became a resi- dent of St. Louis. Here he still makes his home and is now the president of the
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Poplar Bluff Brick & Tile Company. He married Daisy Baldwin who was born at Rome, New York, and who is of English descent, her great-grandfather having been Elijah Baldwin who was the founder of the family in the new world, coming from England to the American colonles in 1756 and settling in Connecticut.
Verne Lacy was the only child born to his parents. After attending the public schools of St. Louis he continued his education in Smith Academy and later entered Washington University, from which he was graduated in 1911 with the LL. B. degree. The same year he was admitted to practice and entered upon the work of his pro- fession in St. Louis in connection with the office of Ryan & Thompson. He has con- tinued in private practice since that time but has also been called upon for certain service along professional lines. On the 1st of January, 1917, he was appointed assistant circuit attorney for the term of four years, three of which he has already served with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. He specializes in corporation matters in his private practice and also bears the reputation of being an excellent criminal lawyer. His courage, honesty and ability have been salient features in the attainment of the well deserved reputation which he enjoys as a representative of the St. Louis bar. The firm of Oliver, Raithel & Lacy has offices in the Arcade building and their clientage is now extensive and of an important character.
Mr. Lacy was married In St. Louis, Missouri, January 14, 1912, to Miss Irma Beckert, a native of this city and a daughter of John and Catherine (Ambulh) Beck- ert. When America was actively engaged in war with Germany Mr. Lacy served as a member of the legal advisory board of the twelfth ward of St. Louis and was active in promoting the Liberty loan, Red Cross and other drives for the support of the government. In politics he is an earnest democrat, has labored untiringly and effec- tively for the party and has been president of the Speakers Bureau on the League of Nations. Fraternally he is connected with Cache Lodge, No. 416, A. F. & A. M., and is also a Royal Arch and Knights Templar Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite. Along strictly professional lines he is connected with the Missouri Bar Asso- ciation, in the ranks of which he has many friends and admirers, while all who know aught of his professional career acknowledge his many strong points as a trial lawyer and counselor.
JOSEPH CHARLESS CABANNE.
Joseph Charless Cabanne, who is the president of the St. Louis Dairy Company, the most extensive enterprise of the kind in Missouri, and whose splendid powers of organization and great business vision have featured in the upbuilding of the busi- ness which is today bringing a most gratifying return to the stockholders, was born in St. Louis, October 17, 1846. The history of the president is an interesting one for he is a representative of one of the oldest and best known families of St. Louis, his parents being John C. and Virginia Elliott (Carr) Cabanne, the latter a daughter of Judge Carr, an attorney who came from Kentucky to St. Louis. At that time it was very important for one of his profession to understand the French language, so he took up the study of that tongue at Ste. Genevieve. John C. Cabanne was born in St. Louis and followed the occupation of farming in St. Louis county for a number of years. He was of French descent, his grandfather, John Cabanne, having come from France to the new world during a very early period in the colonization of this section of the country. There were seven children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Cabanne, the eldest of whom, John Pierce, died in St. Louis during the early part of the Civil war while in preparation to join the Confederate army with his brother John C. Cabanne of this review. Another brother, S. C. Cabanne, engaged in the brokerage business in St. Louis for several years, but passed away in the prime of life, leaving a large family.
Joseph C. Cabanne was educated in the schools of St. Louis and later pursued a special course in an institution at Long Island in 1868. He first became connected with the milk trade in this city under the name of Mt. Cabanne Dairy Company at Westmoreland and Portland place, and continued for about four years, obtaining his milk supply from his own herd of cattle. He then sold his farm and afterward ob- tained his supply of milk from country dairymen, shipping by rail to St. Louis. His
photo By Gerhard Sistem St. Louis.
JOSEPH CHARLESS CABANNE
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
place of business was then located on Seventh street, between-Chestnut and Pine streets and later a removal was made to Twelfth and Chestnut streets, where better facilities for shipment and delivery were secured. In 1896 a removal of the business was made to the present location at 2008 Pine street. The company also owns and operates a branch at 1236 Kings Highway. Mr. Cabanne has developed a business of mammoth proportions, the sales increasing from four hundred to ten thousand gal- lons of milk per day, placing him in a point of leadership among the milk dealers of the city. The building at 2008 Pine street is two hundred and twenty-five by one hundred and nine feet and is a three-story structure, supplied with all modern equip- ment found in a first-class dairy. The company employs about three hundred men at the plant and in the delivery service and in addition to the office help for clerical work they also have ahout thirty at the different stations on the railroad lines as skimmers. The company is the oldest in this line of business operating in St. Louis. They competed for a prize at the Panama exposition of 1900, winning a gold medal, and again at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition winning a gold medal for sanitary milk and for the plant exhibit and through all the intervening years the company has maintained the same high standards. Since December, 1896, the Walker-Gordon labora- tory has been in use by the St. Louis Dairy Company. The business is represented by two departments, the Gordon modified milk and the certified and definite percentage milk and cream prescribed by physicians for infants and invalids, designated as a chemical milk which is from particular herds specially cared for and fed with the one idea of producing a milk for the infants and sick room. The commercial milk and cream is pure and wholesome and is for general family use.
The St. Louis Dairy Company has as its officers, J. C. Cabanne, president; John P. Cabanne, vice president; Robert L. Kyser, general manager; Edwin F. Hagemann, secretary and treasurer; while in addition to the three first named John F. Lee and J. Sheppard Smith are on the board of directors.
Mr. Cabanne is a man who stands "foursquare to every wind that blows." He is one hundred per cent American, is liberal in his political views and in casting his ballot supports the man whom he thinks hest qualified for office without regard to party affiliations. He displays many of the best traits of his French ancestors, for the early Cahannes were born in France and became early settlers of St. Louis, in which both the father and mother of Joseph C. Cabanne were born.
In 1868 in this city Joseph C. Cabanne was married to Miss Susan C. Mitchell, a daughter of Colonel D. D. Mitchell who belonged to one of the old families of the city and was well known as one of the foremost political leaders during his active life. Mrs. Cabanne passed away in March, 1910, leaving five children: John P., vice president of the St. Louis Dairy Company; Virginia, the wife of E. W. Little, a wine dealer of New York city; Martha Kyser, wife of Robert L. Kyser, manager of the St. Louis Dairy Company; and Fannie, wife of A. L. Pierson of Sewickley, Pennsyl- vania, and vice president and sales manager of the Consumers Fuel Company of Pittsburgh; and Susy M., the wife of J. Sheppard Smith, vice president of the Mis- sissippi Valley Trust Company of St. Louis.
Mr. Cabanne has heen a lifelong resident of St. Louis, making his home here for seventy-four years. He is a most courteous and genial gentleman with whom it is a pleasure to meet and converse. He has ever manifested consistent interest in his native city. He supports all of those activities which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride and his co-operation can at all times be counted upon to further any plans for the public good. He fully sustains the reputation of a prominent and hon- orable old family whose record is interwoven with the city's history.
JOHN H. FECKTER.
John H. Feckter, president of the John H. Feckter Insurance Agency, of St. Louis, was born at Whitechurch, Hungary, March 28, 1874. His father Jacob Feckter, now deceased, was a contractor of Hungary. The mother hore the maiden name of Elizabeth Becker and they became the parents of two sons and a daughter: John H. who is the oldest; Barbara, the wife of John Schoellhorn, a woodworker; and Jacob, who is an iron-moulder and who married Anna Ilgers, by whom he has six children.
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John H. Feckter obtained a grammar school education in his native country, pursuing his studies to the age of twelve years. He afterward attended evening school for three years, studying craftsmanship and penmanship, and later worked for two years with his father in the building of railroads and railway stations in Niesh, Serbia. Attracted by the opportunities of the new world he came to America in 1893 without knowledge of the English language. He made his way direct to St. Louis and began work in a lumberyard as a laborer. In 1894 he took up the carpenter trade with the Joseph Rupp Construction Company/ and in 1896 began learning the trade of iron moulding and was thus employed until 1903 by the Buck Stove Company and the St. Louis Car and Wheel Company. In that year he entered the insurance field as a solicitor for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and on the expiration of five months was promoted to the position of assistant superintendent, continuing to act in that capacity until 1908. He then opened the St. Louis office for the Marquette Life Insurance Company, acting as manager and also assisting in opening the St. Louis field for the Marquette National Fire Insurance Company. He thus has been actively engaged in the insurance business to the present time and has won a notable measure of success. He organ- ized the John H. Feckter Insurance Agency, of which he is president and treasurer, while his daughter Rose acts as secretary. He is now one of the directors of the Marquette Life Insurance Company and also associate vice president of the Mar- quette National Fire Insurance Company. In addition to his insurance interests he is president of the Marquette Oil Company of St. Louis, and is president of the Sternwear Sales Company, located at 2807 Locust street in St. Louis. His business affairs have been carefully directed and his activities characterized by a quick intelligence and a ready recognition and utilization of opportunities.
In Holy Trinity church of St. Louis on the 25th of July, 1899, Mr. Feckter was married to Miss Antonia Siemer, a daughter of Henry Siemer and they have become the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters: Paula, Rose, An- tonia, John H., Jr., Vincent, Joseph, Adolph, Dolores, James Gladden and Vivian. Mr. Feckter and his family are members of the Catholic church and he belongs also to the Knights of Columbus. He is likewise a member of the West End Business Men's Club and the North Side Business Men's Club and takes an active interest in promoting everything that has to do with the business development and welfare and progress of the city. Politically, he votes the independent ticket. He is now president of the Cosmopolitan Club of St. Louis. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for he has here found the opportunities which he sought and recognizing their superiority to the chances he could have had in his native land, he has been thoroughly satisfied with America as a place of residence.
J. LOWE WHITE.
J. Lowe White of St. Louis, president and treasurer of the Illinois Powder Manu- facturing Company, a growing enterprise which is capitalized at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, was born April 23, 1850, in Watertown, Wisconsin, and is a son of J. Lowe and Adelia Mary (Potter) White. The father, a contractor and builder, was born in Lewis county, New York, and was a son of Isaac Lovell White of Johnstown, New York, who wedded Margaret Lowe of Lewis county, that state, although she was born in Ulster county. Margaret Lowe was a lineal descendant of Peter Cornelius Lowe, who came from Leerdam, Holland, in 1659, in the ship Faith, and settled at Wildwyck, now Kingston, New York. Since that time the name has been variously spelled, Louwen, Louw, Low and Lowe. J. Lowe White, Sr., was reared in the Empire state and turned his attention to building operations as a life work. He removed from New York to Watertown, Wisconsin, and there passed away in 1850, a short time prior to the birth of his son whose name introduces this review. He had wedded Adelia Mary Potter, daughter of Abijah Potter who was born in the state of New York, April 19, 1787, and was a son of Daniel Potter who was born June 30, 1760 and who wedded Naomi Crissey, a daughter of Colonel Crissey who served with the army of Washington in the Revolutionary war, being connected with New Hampshire troops, so that Mr. White of this review is eligible to membership in the Sons of the American Revolution
J. LOWE WHITE
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
through both the Lowe and Potter lines. His maternal grandmother was Roxana Sackett, of Westfield, Massachusetts, a lineal descendant of Simon Sackett, who with his brother John Sackett sailed from Bristol, England, December 1, 1630, in the ship Lyon and reached Nantasket Roads off Boston, February 5, 1631. On their arrival the two Sacketts settled in Newtown, now Cambridge, Massachusetts, and were active and prominent in the development of that district. One of the direct descendants of Jolin Sackett was Augustus Sackett who founded and gave his name to the historic town of Sacketts Harbor, New York. The history of the Sackett family in England can be traced back many generations and the family has always been a highly respected and progressive one there. His parents, J. Lowe and Adelia Mary (Potter) White, went from the state of New York to Wisconsin in a sailing vessel, sailing from Cape Vincent, New York, around the lakes and landing at Fairport, now Kenosha, Wisconsin.
As his father died prior to his birth J. Lowe White of this review largely acquired his early education from his mother. When he was eight years of age they left Wis- consin, returning to Sacketts Harbor, New York, where he attended the public schools and later the Old Academy at Watertown, New York, where he studied until he was seventeen years of age. In January, 1868 he went to Chicago and there began learning the hardware business, first as an inside man and then going on the road as a traveling salesman for the same firm and subsequently representing its successors, being thus employed until he established a retail hardware business in Chicago on his own account, dealing also in cutlery and sporting goods. He admitted a partner to whom he sold out after five years. In 1893 he became assistant to the manager of the Hazard Powder Company and continued with the DuPont Powder Company in the same position after the latter absorbed the former.
In August, 1895, Mr. White removed to St. Louis, where he opened an office in the Security building as agent and manager of the western branch of the Austin Powder Company of Cleveland, Ohio, continuing in that connection until November 30, 1919, when the St. Louis interests of the company were sold to the Illinois Powder Manu- facturing Company. Mr. White had organized the latter company in 1907, with a plant at Grafton, Illinois. He continued with the Austin Powder Company for some time as they made a different variety of explosives. The Illinois Powder Manufactur- ing Company started with a capital stock of sixty thousand dollars and has progressed steadily until it is now capitalized for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Mr. White is the president and treasurer of the company, with his son Charles Converse White as the secretary.
On the 20th of December, 1876, Mr. White was married in Chicago to Mary Elizabeth Converse, a daughter of Charles E. Converse who came to the middle west from Boston and engaged in the wholesale paper business in Chicago. The Converse family is an old and prominent one of New England and comes originally from English and French stock, tracing their lineage back to the time of William the Conqueror. Mr. and Mrs. White have become the parents of a son and two daughters: Charles Converse, who is associated with his father in business; Mabel Converse, now the wife of E. B. Helmer of Wyoming; and Lillian Converse, now the wife of Frank Drury of Kansas City. Mr. White's father gave his political allegiance to the whig party and J. Lowe White of this review has ever been a stalwart republican. He attends the Second Baptist church but is not a member of any secret societies nor any social clubs, his life being devoted to his family and his business. He is an ardent lover and collector of books and has a fine, well selected library of general literature but specializes in first editions, American, particularly Illinois and the early west. His collection bearing on the American Indians and the early English is very complete. He is likewise a member of the Bibliophile Society of Boston and of the Franklin Book Club of St. Louis. He is interested in old coin, fractional currency and stamps but confines his interests to those of the United States. Horticultural matters also elicit his deep attention and he takes much pleasure in the cultivation of shrubs and flowers. He enjoys out-of-doors sports, particularly fishing, which he has followed in various streams from Lake Ontario southward and from New York to Wyoming. Mr. White and his wife occupy a beau- tiful home thoroughly artistic in its furnishings and adornments. Upon its walls are two fine etchings of Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, both of which bear the auto- graph of the men themselves who presented them as evidence of their respect and affection for the owner. He has had pleasant association with many prominent and distinguished men of the country and he deserves great credit for reaching the high busl- Vol. V-48
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