USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 1 > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
The record of Mr. Hurst is one of notable achievement and success. Starting out in life in a humble capacity he has advanced steadily, his powers constantly
239
Charles &. Durst
expanding, his opportunities constantly broadening. All opportunities have been to him a call to action and for many years he has been most prominently known in railroad circles throughout the country.
Frederick & Dlauch
Frederick Emil Bausch
F
REDERICK EMIL BAUSCH, resident manager of the Hooven, Owens, Rentschler Company of Hamilton, Ohio, builders of Hamilton Corliss engines, sugar mills, ete., and manager of the Terry Steam Turbine Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Griscom-Russell Company of Massillon, Ohio, was born in Mannheim, Germany, January 8, 1871, son of Bern- hard and Emilie Bender Bausch.
In June, 1871, when he was six months of age, his parents came to the United States, settling in St. Louis. The father was a chemist of renown who passed away in 1877. The mother survives, having taught for twenty-nine years in the St. Louis publie schools and at present, at the age of seventy-seven years, is very active in a business enterprise established by her son in 1893. They have a family of four children: Oscar, who is sales manager with Meyer Brothers Drug Com- pany; Emily, a well known landscape painter and wife of Emil Summa; Fred- erick E. of this review; and Adolf, who is superintendent of the Frederick E. Bausch Fire Clay Works.
Frederick E. Bausch attended the St. Louis publie schools, passing through consecutive grades to the high school and afterward attended the Washington University, from which he was graduated in 1892 with the degree of Electrical Engineer. Immediately afterward he taught in the Manual Training School of St. Louis and at night in the Polytechnic night school until 1895. The following year 1895-1896 he took post-graduate work at Cornell University, where the degree of Master of Mechanical Engineering (M. M. E.) was conferred upon him.
His first work in the engineering field was that of assistant to the chief en- gineer of the Bell Telephone Company and in 1897 he became assistant chief engineer at the Missouri Edison Electric Company, now the Union Electrie Light & Power Company, St. Louis. From 1900 to 1901 he was appointed chief engineer of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company at Crystal City, Missouri. From 1901 to the present-for twenty years-he has been district manager of the Hooven, Owens, Rentschler Company of Hamilton, Ohio, builders of Ham- ilton Corliss engines, uniflow and poppet valve engines, sugar mills, marine engines, etc. In this connection he has supervision over the trade that extends throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, part of Tennessee and Kentucky and Southern Illinois. He is likewise manager of the Terry Steam Turbine Com- pany of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Griscom-Russell Company of Massillon, Ohio.
In addition to the machinery connections above listed Mr. Bausch is pro- prietor of one of the most modern fire clay plants in St. Louis county, designed and equipped with labor saving devices of all kinds, specializing in the mining and grinding of fire elays. He also owns a crucible clay plant at Kaolin, Illinois,
243
244
Frederick Emil Bausch
and a china clay plant in southern Missouri. It is of interest to note that Mr. Bausch's mother is active manager of his fire elay plant in St. Louis county and is never so happy as when the day's mail brings the customer's instructions for more clay.
Mr. Bausch is a member of the Protestant church. Politically he is a repubs- lican with liberal tendencies. He belongs to no lodges but is identified with the City Club, the Missouri Athletic Association, the American Society of Mechan- ical Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the local Engineers' Club. During the war period he was greatly interested in various activities for the support of the government and the soldiers in the field. He was a captain in the United War Work campaign and his organization was one of three to win a prize for efficient work in securing the largest number of sub- scriptions. That Mr. Bausch is an excellent sale'sman is manifested in the fact that he accomplishes splendid results when he goes out into the field in connee- tion with his business. He easily inspires and wins confidence and today enjoys wide trade connections. At all times he keeps abreast with the spirit of the age and is actuated by progressiveness in everything that he undertakes. He is a lover of literature, art and music and all those things which have cultural value in life, while at the same time he is most practical and enterprising in his business affairs and is accomplishing splendid results in the management of important interests.
JE Simon
Frederick Casimir Simon, A.D.
D R. FREDERICK CASIMIR SIMON, who in the practice of his profession is confining his attention to the treatment of diseases of the ear, nose and throat, with offices in the Arcade building in St. Louis, is a native son of the city in which he yet makes his home, his birth having occurred at the southeast corner of Sixteenth and O'Fallon streets on the 7th of January, 1875. Ilis father, the late William Simon, was a native of Germany and came to America when a lad of fifteen years while subsequently he brought his parents to the new world. William Simon arrived in the latter part of the '40s and made his way direct to St. Louis where he resided until his death, which occurred July 12, 1914, when he had reached the age of seventy-two years. He had long engaged in the grocery trade and was very successful in his merchandising efforts. He married Rebecca Bammann, who was born in Germany and arrived in St. Louis when a young maiden of eighteen years. They were married in St. Louis and to them were born four children, three sons and a daughter, all of whom are living. The mother, however, passed away in this city June 15, 1912, at the age of seventy years.
Dr. Simon, the youngest of the family, was educated in public and private schools, attending the Toensfeldt's Educational Institute, after which he entered the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and was there graduated in 1896 with the Ph. G. degree. He next took up the study of medicine and completed his course in the St. Louis Medical College in 1899, being graduated with the M. D. degree. In the same year he was appointed a junior interne in the St. Louis City Hospital, which position he occupied for a year and then entered upon the general practice of medicine, in which he continued for six years. On the expiration of that period he went abroad for post-graduate work in Berlin and Vienna, specializing on diseases of the ear, nose and throat. Following his return to St. Louis he confined his attention to these branches of practice and has attained notable success in his chosen field. In 1917 he attended the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania for post-graduate work and throughout his entire career has remained a close student of the profession, keeping in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress and manifesting the utmost con- scientiousness in the performance of his duties. He belongs to the St. Louis Medical Society, the Medical Society City Hospital Alumni Association, the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Association, and is also a member of the Air Service Medical Association of the United States. He likewise has membership in the Nu Sigma Nu, a medical fraternity, and he is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the St. Louis Ear, Nose & Throat Club and now treasurer of the St. Louis Eye, Ear, Nose & Throat Infirmary, and also treasurer of the St. Louis Medical Society. He has been the
247
248
Frederick Casimir Simon, M.D.
secretary and also the president of the Alumni Association of the Washington University Medical School and he formerly held both offices in connection with the Medical Society of the City Hospital Alumni. He was second vice president of the St. Louis Medical Association in 1920. He enjoys the high regard of his professional colleagues and contemporaries because of his close conformity to the highest standards and ethics of his chosen calling.
During the World war Dr. Simon was one of the first to volunteer his services, beginning September 18. 1917. with rank of captain. His early duties were those of medical member of the examining board of the aviation section at St. Louis. Later he was sent to Mineola, Long Island, New York, for special research work in the aviation section. In June, 1915. he was sent to Hampton, Virginia, for duty as flight surgeon of Langley Field, being the first flight surgeon this flying field ever had. His duty as flight surgeon was to keep the flier mentally and physically fit for flying duty. This necessitated frequent and regular flights in order to study the various conditions the aviator had to undergo while doing stunt work and altitude flying. In the fall of 1918 he was flight surgeon at Carlstrom Field. Arcadia, Florida, where he continued until the termination of his service, January 13, 1919. At the present time he is major in the Medical Reserve Corps.
On the 24th of May, 1918. in St. Louis, Dr. Simon was married to Miss Clara Sorber, a native of St. Louis and a daughter of Mrs. Augusta Sorber and the late Carl Sorber, representatives of one of the old families of this city. To Dr. and Mrs. Simon has been born a daughter. Rebecca Andrew, whose birth occurred in St. Louis, September 5. 1919. The family residence is at No. 3523 University street. Dr. Simon is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Tuscan Lodge, No. 360, A. F. & A. M. He has attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. belonging to Missouri Consistory, and he is also identified with Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine and the Alhambra Grotto. He is likewise a member of Lloyd B. Boutwell Post, No. 136, of the American Legion. He belongs to the Missouri Athletic Association and in politics maintains an independent course, supporting those measures that he deems of advantage to the city and country. All interests, however, are made subservient to his devotion to his profession and as the years have passed he has built up an extensive practice. At the present time he is serving on the staff of the St. Louis City Hospital, the Deaconess Hospital and St. Anthony Hospital as oto-rhino-laryngologist and is instructor on diseases of the ear, nose and throat in the St. Louis University. Thus he performs additional duties to his private practice, which is extensive and of an important character, his patients including many of the most prominent and influential residents of St. Louis.
William J. Berkowitz
HEN the history of Kansas City is finally recorded in the annals W of time and the achievements of its great men, its builders, are set forth in brilliant accents there will be one name that will stand out prominently among those who have contributed their energies and abilities to make this city the great metrop- olis that it is, and that name is William J. Berkowitz." Thus wrote one of the local papers when William J. Berkowitz passed on into the larger life. His position among his fellowmen was due to the ability and enterprise which he manifested in business but more than that to the helpful part which he took in promoting all those interests which are of value in com- munity life, which contribute to the uplift of one's fellowmen and to the up- building of the commonwealth. "Not the good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us, is the measure of our success," wrote a modern philosopher; and it is by this standard that William J. Berkowitz is judged. The earliest recollection of one who knew him throughout his entire life was that of a chubby little ruddy-faced fellow with curls dropping to his shoulders, a child full of life, love and laughter. He was the sixth of the seven children born to Louis and Henrietta Berkowitz, his birth occurring in Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1860. His parents were of that sturdy pioneer elass who under the stress of trying eireumstances ventured to break away from eastern Germany (Silesia) in 1847 to seek freedom from galling religious restric- tions and obtain the larger economie possibilities of the new world. Shortly after their marriage they sailed for America and their hardships aboard a sail- boat were often recounted to the wonder of their children, upon whom they made a deep impression. After a few years of stanch struggling with the diffi- culties of getting a foothold in Philadelphia, where some of their friends and relatives had settled, they crossed the Allegheny mountains to the border town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and there the family was reared. The father, who first engaged in peddling goods, became with the passing years a well-to-do man through the exercise of his native talents and the improvement of his oppor- tunities. He became identified with the real estate business in Pittsburgh and there ereeted many houses which he sold to employes of the Carnegie steel plant, making the sales on the installment plan. His last days were spent in Kansas City where he passed away in 1893, when seventy-three years of age, while his wife's death occurred many years previous. In their family were five sons, all of whom sought and obtained superior educations. The surviving members of the family are: Dr. Henry Berkowitz, now of Philadelphia, but formerly rabbi in charge of B'nai Jehudah congregation in Kansas City; and Mr. Maurice Berkowitz, who is president of the Waxide Paper Company of Kansas City.
When William J. Berkowitz was a mere schoolboy he began to serve. A Dr.
251
252
William J. Berkowitz
Rex of Pittsburgh took a faney to him and drove him about when making his calls, kept him in his office, trained him to keep his records and to "keep office." This constituted vacation work for Mr. Berkowitz during several summers. Denied the opportunities of schooling abroad his parents were eager to give their children every opportunity and denied themselves many pleasures to insure this ambition. Theirs were the first of the Jewish children to attend and graduate from the C'entral high school of Pittsburgh. After the mother's long illness and untimely death in 1875, the family removed to Coshoeton, Ohio, where the elder boys had established a store, and there W. J. Berkowitz earned his spurs as a successful merchant. Ambitious to continue his studies he became a diligent student and formed a little reading elub of which Joseph Marsh, now president of the Standard Underground Cable Company of Pittsburgh, was a member, together with Miss Rose Ingraham, who afterward became Mrs. Marsh. The members of this little organization were mutually helpful in advancing their knowledge of cultural subjeets. Mr. Marsh had gone to Coshocton from a farm and taken a position in a grocery store. His education had been very limited, but W. J. Berkowitz inspired and instructed him. After Mr. Marsh had saved enough from his earnings he went to Pittsburgh and took a course at Duff's Business College and in turn taught his friend, Mr. Berkowitz, by the corres- pondence method, his daily lessons in stenography and bookkeeping. On the basis of this instruction the latter broke away from Coshocton and settled in Kansas City in 1884, here securing a position in the office of Lathrop, Smith & Morrow. His ambition was to qualify for admission to the bar and to this end he studied at night and elerked over week-ends to add to his funds. It was at the persuasion of his brother, Rabbi Berkowitz, that he relinquished these tasks, which were altogether too severe a physical strain upon him, the effects of which were unquestionably felt by him in later life. At this time he had been backing his younger brother Maurice in the printing business, they having en- tered into a partnership from which developed the important enterprise known as The Berkowitz Envelope Company. It was in 1886 that a partnership was formed and a little printing establishment opened in the rear room at No. 23 East Sixth street. Maurice Berkowitz was the practical printer of the firm, having learned the trade in early manhood. William J. Berkowitz became the business solicitor and made trips to the various parts of the city on schedule time, visiting each customer not only on a certain day of each week but also at a certain hour. He was a keen judge of human nature and found it easy to handle men and to satisfy his patrons. The first printing press used by the Berkowitz brothers was operated by foot power. Steadily their patronage in- creased and in 1890 they began the manufacture of envelopes, which proved a profitable undertaking. In fact their business in that direction increased with such rapidity that they gradually withdrew from the printing business. Several years ago Maurice Berkowitz retired from the firm, after which the business was carried on by William J. Berkowitz and his two sons. The gradual development of their trade called for more commodious quarters and from time to time and at different periods they were located at 1016 Grand avenue, at 1920-24 Main street, at 1918-20 Wyandotte street and ultimately at Twentieth and Tracy streets. The business is still conducted and the firm now occupies the fifth floor of the Traders building, while the product of the company reaches every state
:
253
William J. Berkowitz
in the Union. They did a vast amount of work for the government during the World war, furnishing supplies to General Pershing at headquarters in France.
On February 7, 1888, W. J. Berkowitz was married to Miss Emilie Block, a daughter of Simon Block, who later moved to Kansas City, and they became parents of two sons and a daughter: E. Bertram, who was born in 1889 and is now president of the Berkowitz Envelope Company: Estelle, the wife of Irving Hirsch, of Kansas City ; and Walter J., who was born in 1892 and was graduated from Harvard University in 1914. He served with the rank of first lieutenant in the World war, and is the secretary and treasurer of the Berkowitz Envelope Company. The eldest son, E. Bertram, was in charge of the envelope plant during the war. He is a graduate of the Manual Training high school, where he took a post-graduate course in engineering.
All those things which are of cultural value in life were keenly appreciated and cultivated by Mr. Berkowitz. He was greatly interested in the advance- ment of musical education in the city and his cooperation was given to every plan for the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the community at large. He acted as chairman of the committee on technical education of the Manufacturers & Merchants Association, was one of the directors of the Em- ployers Association, was president of the University Extension lectures held at Grand Avenue Temple during a period of five years and gave much time and en- ergy to the promotion of the projects which the organization supported. He was a man of the broadest philanthropie spirit and was an active promoter of much benevolent and charitable work, while his name was also closely linked with religious and civic affairs. One of the most definitely beneficial activities in the life of William J. Berkowitz was that in which, in 1906, he federated all of the Jewish charities of Kansas City. At that time there were a number of organizations planned to aid the unfortunate, each duplicating the efforts of the other, with very little result attained in proportion to the amount of time, energy and money expended. It was Mr. Berkowitz who conceived the plan of uniting these into a great organization which would do away with this dupli- cation of effort and his work resulted in the systemization of these charities and improving their method of aiding the poor. He served as president of the society for five years, when he was succeeded by Alfred Benjamin. As the result of his labors the greatest possible good was accomplished for the benefit of those who needed assistance and most generous response was made to his call for aid for the unfortunate. The story of his activities for the benefit of his fellowmen was splendidly told by the press of Kansas City when he passed away at La Jolla, California, February 4, 1920. The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle wrote: "The life of William J. Berkowitz is a bright page in the history of our city. His active participation in all affairs for the general good, his publie spirit, the high offices which he held, the leadership which he displayed, all combined to make him one of the marked men of our city, not only within our Jewish community, but also in the larger community of our city and throughout all the states of the Union. He was an indefatigable worker for all that is best and noblest and truest. The memory of the services he gave to the community will be secure from the withering touch of time. In his office as president of the United Jewish Charities as well as in all the other relations of life he was a man of lofty ideals and tireless activity. His administration as president of our
254
William 3. Berkowitz
charities laid the foundation of the great and beneficent organization which we now have. His progressiveness in this office made it possible for our local organization to become one of the first Jewish charities in the country to federate all the Jewish philanthropies under one head. When William J. Berkowitz assumed office in the various societies that exalted him to leadership he was not content to drift along with the current. He felt that office implied respon- sibility. His record as a leader is brilliant because for him leadership meant duty and obligation. He worked all the harder after he had been honored than before he was honored. He did not belong to the category of those who cease their efforts when they have reached the goal of personal distinction. In office, as well as out of office. he was an arduous worker and an indefatigable toiler for the welfare of others. To repeat the story of his life among us would be superfluous. He was known to almost every man, woman and child in Kansas City by name if not personally. The difficulty in eulogizing him, in picking out those particular incidents of his life that are most impressive, that are most profitable for us to consider. is the very wealth of deeds that are recorded to his credit. He was a loyal American and a devoted Kansas Citian. His professions of love for his country and his city were not empty, hollow phrases. His deeds proved that this was so. The commercial integrity that was the twin brother of his communal activity was accepted as being so much a matter of fact that it was hardly ever referred to. People did not need to say that his business was conducted honestly. They did not need to bolster up his mercantile reputation by telling of his integrity. his probity. In the vast business concern in which he was engaged so successfully he has builded himself a monument. The educa- tion of his children was the great ambition of his married life, and when they graduated from the schools to which he sent them, the best schools in the land, how his father heart must have thrilled with joy when the diploma was awarded them, signalizing the commencement of a w der career of usefulness for them. His heart has ceased to beat. let us not forget the services which he has rendered to the community. Let us wrap a mantle of communal gratitude around him; and when we repeat the biography of William J. Berkowitz to posterity and iterate the tale of his life to coming generations they and we will be better for our not forgetting him as a communal leader."
Another of the local papers said: "A great man has died, passed from us quietly and peacefully just as his great achievements were accomplished without blare or acclaim, but with the deep respect and the love and esteem of all his fellowmen. The Jewish community of Kansas City has lost one of its most precious, active and constructive figures. To him more than to any other man is due the increasing respect and understanding that the non-Jewish world maintains for the Jew in this city. He was the embodiment of the Jewish ideal of citizenship and expressed as such the highest type of the loyal and true Amer- ican. Not only the Jewish community of this city has suffered greatly, but the entire city and state and nation.
"William J. Berkowitz was a pioneer in Kansas City, for he came here when the city was nothing more than a small town. Opportunities were not nearly as great then as they are today, but a man of his type soon creates his own opportunities. He was a pioneer and a builder of Kansas City because many
255
William 3. Berkowitz
projects of civic betterment and publie welfare originated in his mind and exist today as everlasting monuments to his broad vision.
"There was no movement or enterprise that tended to increase the cultural and intellectual standing of the city that did not have the whole-hearted support of William J. Berkowitz. Not only did he devote a great measure of his time and ability, but his purse was always open and he lavished generous material gifts on the projects which he believed would benefit his fellowmen. Mr. Berk- owitz was greatly interested in the University Extension lectures. Miss Mary Andrews was the founder and first president of the University Extension lectures, which, until the time when Mr. Berkowitz took charge, had a very limited membership. Mr. Berkowitz was elected president after Miss Andrews resigned and moved from Kansas City. and through his efforts the activities of this center were enlarged, so that all who sought this higher education were per- mitted to attend these lecture courses. The people of Kansas City were given an opportunity, through this course. to hear some of the greatest men and women of this country. When at times enthusiasm for these lectures was dimmed and the possibility of their discontinuance imminent. Mr. Berkowitz did not despair, but kept this noble idea alive, many times single-handed. He also gave considerable attention to the advancement of musical education.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.