USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 1 > Part 16
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decis. Celagner
Edwin L. Wagner
DWIN H. WAGNER, of the firm of Edwin H. Wagner & Com- E pany, certified public accountants of St. Louis, was born in Laramie City, Wyoming, October 6, 1873, a son of Henry and Susan (Cantwell) Wagner. The father's birth occurred in Ohio and during the Civil war he served with the Halleck Guards and participated in the siege of Jackson and other important engagements that led up to the final victory that erowned the Union arms. The mother was a grandniece of General Joseph War- ren, who commanded the troops at Bunker Hill, where he gave his life for the cause of independence. Her father was Thomas Cantwell, who fought in the Mexican war and was killed at Resaca de la Palma.
In his boyhood days Edwin H. Wagner attended the public schools of his native city and then entered the State University at Laramie, while later he at- tended the Jesuit College at Denver, Colorado. He was thus well qualified by a liberal education for life's practical duties and responsibilities. He next became connected with the auditing department of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, but later took up the study of law, spending the years 1897 and 1898 as a law student in the Washington University of St. Louis. Later he was con- nected with the Columbia Lead Company, with which he continued until the business was sold to the American Metal Company in 1901. He then became secretary and treasurer of the Madison Lead & Land Company, in which he owned an interest; and he ably directed the business of that organization, con- tributing largely to its success. He continued to act as secretary and treasurer thereof until 1909, after which he spent four years as auditor and credit manager with the Hanley & Kinsella Coffee & Spice Company. From 1913 until 1919 he was a member of the firm of Westermann Trader & Company, certified public accountants, and on the 1st of July, 1919, he established his present business under the name of Edwin H. Wagner & Company, certified public accountants. He has gained a large clientage in his present connection and is considered an expert in the line to which he is now giving his attention. He likewise conducts a branch of this business at Dallas, Texas, and is also a director of the Starck- Inland Machine Works. His business interests have thus become broad and im- portant and steadily he has worked his way upward to success.
On the 10th of October, 1900, Mr. Wagner was married to Miss Corinne Shev- nin, a native of Denver, where her parents settled in pioneer times, having crossed the plains from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Denver in 1861 with ox team and wagon. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are now the parents of an interesting family of three sons and four daughters: Corinne M., born in St. Louis in September, 1901; Edwin H., born October 4, 1903; Virginia S., born January 15, 1905; Warren S., born Sep- tember 12, 1907; Margaret Ellen, born March 2, 1909; John Shevnin, born March
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5, 1911 ; and Mary Josephine, born July 15, 1913. All were born in St. Louis. In religious faith the family are Catholies, being communieants of St. Roch's church.
Mr. Wagner is a member of the City Club, also of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and of the Knights of Columbus. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, but he has never been an aspirant for office. He has served as state treasurer of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants and is a member of the faculty of the St. Louis University School of Commerce and Fi- nanec. His social qualities make him popular among many friends, while in business cireles he has attained an enviable position, developing his powers along a line that has brought him to leadership among the certified public accountants of his adopted city.
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Heheter Colhum.
ebster Colburn
EBSTER COLBURN is the vice president and general manager W of the Dorris Motor Car Company of St. Louis and is one of the progressive and representative manufacturers of the city who holds to high standards which if universally followed would prevent all strikes and labor unrest. His course has ever been one of justice and fairness with his employes and his success has been the merited outcome of his industry and ability. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 9, 1876, Mr. Colburn is a son of Webster J. and Ada Elizabeth (Brabson) Colburn. The father was born in Fredonia, New York, November 26, 1840, and in his childhood was taken to Madison, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1861, when at the age of twenty- one years he joined the Union army for three months' service. Within that period it was seen that the war was to be no mere holiday affair and he reenlisted for the period of hostilities. At various times he won promotion until he reached the rank of major and was known by that title throughout his remaining days. It was in 1867 that he wedded Ada Elizabeth Brabson and removed to Chatta- nooga, Tennessee, where he engaged in the general insurance business as senior partner in the firm of W. J. Colburn & Company. Under that style be conducted his business with notable success for fifty-one years, or until his death, which occurred December 13, 1918. His wife was a daughter of Congressman Reese B. Brabson, who was an extensive land owner and prominent attorney of Chatta- nooga and served as a member of congress from his district. He was filling that office at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war and was one of the few to retain a seat in congress until its adjournment at the beginning of hostilities. While not in favor of secession he felt he must remain with his state, although he did not join the army on account of an injury to his ankle, sustained in a runaway accident. Ada Elizabeth (Brabson) Colburn died in May, 1911. By her mar- riage she became the mother of five sons and six daughters.
Webster Colburn, who was the sixth in order of birth in this family, was edu- cated in the public schools and in the Manual Training School, which was one of the first schools of the kind organized in the United States, being established in connection with the publie school system of Chattanooga. When his school days were over he joined his father in the insurance business and was thus engaged for three years. Later he became connected with Nagle, Holcomb & Company, con- traetors of Chicago, who were building the Tennessee Central Railroad, his position being that of timekeeper. He afterward returned to Chattanooga and wasemployed in the accounting department of the Chattanooga Roofing & Paving Company, while subsequently he took charge of the roofing department of the Mountain City Stove & Manufacturing Company. In 1903 he came to St. Louis and ae- cepted a position with the Ferguson-Me Kinney Dry Goods Company and a little
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later secured a position in the savings department of the St. Louis Union Trust Company. In September, 1903, he went with the St. Louis Motor Carriage Company, which was the fourth company in the United States to manufacture and market automobiles. On the 15th of August, 1905, he assisted in organizing the Dorris Motor Car Company, of which he was elected secretary, thus con- tinuing until January 3, 1918, when he was elected vice president and general manager. The establishment of which he is one of the chief officials is a very harmonious aggregation of employers and employes. There have been no un- settled conditions nor strikes in the plant during the period of his management, for he is at all times fair and just and believes in paying a good living wage to those in his employ. During the war the company engaged in the manufacture of parts for the ordnanee department of the federal government.
On the 22d of November, 1905, Mr. Colburn was married in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Miss Leila Owen Llewellyn, a daughter of Morgan and Sarah (Pow- ell) Llewellyn. Her father was one of the most prominent manufacturers of this seetion, especially in connection with iron and steel manufacturing. He died February 17, 1920, having for a number of years survived his wife, who passed away in August, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Colburn are members of the Roek Hill Presbyterian church of St. Louis county and his political endorsement is given to the republican party. He is a director of the St. Louis Auto Manufacturers & Dealers Association and in 1921 was elected chairman of the Safe Drivers School, held under the auspiees of the St. Louis Safety Council. He belongs to the Missouri Athletic Association and finds his recreation largely in reading and study, especially study of the affairs pertaining to business, financial and labor condi- tions. His position is an advanced one and he is a leader in the thought and activity which bears upon many modern problems of this character, his course being characterized by high ideals which reach their culmination in practical fulfillment.
Hudson Talbott
Judson Talbott, A.D.
R. HUDSON TALBOTT, a St. Louis surgeon with offices in the D Metropolitan building, was born at Fairville, Saline county, Missouri, February 10, 1874. His father, the late Dr. Edward M. Talbott, was also a native of this state, his birth having occurred in Potosi, Missouri. The grandfather in the paternal line was the Rev. Nathaniel M. Talbott, a Methodist clergy- man who became an early resident of Missouri. He was born in Virginia, representing one of the old families of that state. Edward M. Talbott became a physician, being graduated from the Kentucky School of Medieine with the class of 1857. He was then engaged in active practice in Missouri from that year until 1903 when he retired and removed to southern Texas, passing away December 23, 1915, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He was a Civil war veteran, having served with the Confederate forces under Captain Ruxton. Soon after joining the army he was taken prisoner and was ineareerated at Alton, Illinois, and later in the Gratiot street prison in St. Louis. At the latter place he attended professionally the federal and Con- federate soldiers who were ill and wounded and was later released upon taking the oath of allegianee to the United States. He wedded Mary Mildred Hudson, a native of Virginia, where her ancestors had lived through several generations. She was a daughter of Captain John M. Hudson, a prominent and well known Confederate veteran of the Civil war. It was in Saline county, Missouri, when sixteen years of age, that Mary Mildred Hudson became the wife of Dr. Edward M. Talbott and to them were born ten children, eight sons and two daughters. The wife and mother passed away in 1877, when thirty-five years of age.
Dr. Hudson Talbott, the ninth in order of birth in the family, was educated in the country schools of Saline county and in the State University at Columbia, Missouri, there completing his more specifically literary course. He afterward entered upon preparation for his professional career in the Marion Sims Medical College of St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1898. This school is now the medieal department of St. Louis University. Prior to entering the medical college, however, he had taught school in Saline county and was also associated with his father in the drug business. Before his graduation he served for a time as interne in the Rebekah Hospital at St. Louis and thus gained broad and valuable experience, while later he became interne in the St. Louis City Hospital. In 1899 he entered upon the private practice of medicine and surgery, in which he continued until 1910. In that year he was made associate surgeon in the Rebekah Hospital and so continued until the institution was elosed about 1912 when he became surgeon of the Missouri Baptist Sanitarium staff and has since maintained his connection in that capacity. Since 1910 he has concentrated his efforts and attention entirely upon surgery and is an eminent representative of
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Dudson Talbott, O.D.
this branch of the profession. He belongs to the St. Louis City Hospital Alumni Association, to the Missouri State Medical Association, the St. Louis Medical Society and the American Medical Association and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
On the 25th of June, 1902, Dr. Talbott was married in Kansas City, to Miss Frances Page Tabb, a native of Romney, West Virginia, and a daughter of Robert Peyton and Mary (Vandiver) Tabb, both representatives of prominent old families of Virginia. Mrs. Tabb's brother, Charles H. Vandiver, was a soldier of the Confederate army during the Civil war and at one time was state senator of Missouri. She was also a cousin of Willard D. Vandiver, who was for seven and a half years in charge of the United States sub-treasury at St. Louis, which was discontinued January 5, 1921. To Dr. and Mrs. Talbott have been born three children: Mary Frances, born January 7, 1904, in St. Louis, was graduated from Hosmer Hall and is now a student in the Washington University; Charles Hudson, born October 29. 1908, in St. Louis, and Peyton Tabb, born April 29, 1910, are at home. The family residence is at No. 4229 Washington boulevard and they have a country home, Riverview Garden, situated in St. Louis county. The religious faith of the family is indicated in their membership in the Third Baptist church, of which Dr. Talbott is now a deacon and chairman of the finance committee. He is interested in all those forces which make for the benefit and uplift of the individual and the progress of the community. His success in his profession is due in large measure not only to his broad scientific knowledge but also to his strong humanitarian spirit which prompts the most conscientious effort in behalf of his fellowmen.
Calvin Chascom
Calbin Perry Bascom
ALVIN PERRY BASCOM, general manager for the business C conducted under the name of the Fayette R. Plumb Company, Incorporated, of St. Louis, was born in Ellsworth, Kansas, October 17, 1876. His father, Daniel Craig Bascom, a native of the state of New York, removed to Kansas in 1868 and there engaged in ranching for a number of years, contributing to the early development and progress of that district. Hle afterward returned to the Empire state, taking up his abode in Rochester, and has now passed away. In early manhood he wedded Agnes Johnson, a native of Vermont, their marriage, however, being celebrated in Ellsworth, Kansas, in 1873. Mrs. Basecom is still living and now makes her home in Rochester, New York. Their family numbers two sons and two daughters.
The second eldest of the family is Calvin Perry Bascom, who was educated in the public and high schools of Rochester and also attended the Rochester University and the New York Trade School. He then started with his father in the heating and plumbing business in which he continued for four years, but desirous of improving his education and still further to qualify for the practical and responsible duties of business life he went to Boston, where he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was there graduated in 1904 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He next accepted a position with the Fayette R. Plumb Company, Incorporated, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October, 1904. He had charge of manufacturing there for six years and on the expiration of that period came to St. Louis in 1910. Here he designed and superintended the construction of their plant and when it was put in operation he was made general manager thereof. This company manufactures all kinds of hatehets, axes, and hammers, and during the war was engaged in the manufacture of bayonets for Russian and Serbian armies and also entrenehing implements, scabbards parts and other supplies for the United States government. HIc likewise designed the Bola knife known as pattern 1917, C. T., which was the type used almost exclusively by the American troops. His factory also manu- factured the Bola knife, but could not supply the demand and had to turn orders over to other factories to be filled. Through the manufacture of the design which he perfected the government was saved several million dollars. The plant is now operated along the usual line of its manufactured products and its output is extensive, the business reaching a most gratifying annual figure.
In 1909, in New York city, Mr. Bascom was united in marriage to Miss Virginia Clark, a daughter of William Clark of Camden, New Jersey, and they have become parents of two sons: William R. and John Calvin.
Mr. Bascom is a republican in his political views and has always been a most loyal and progressive citizen. He represents one of the old American families,
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Calvin Perry Bascom
his ancestry on this side of the Atlantic being traced back to the year 1634. He has ever stood for those things which are essential in modern citizenship and which are of real worth to the community and commonwealth. He belongs to the Central Presbyterian church and has membership in the Triple A Club, the University Club, the St. Louis Tennis Association of which he is president, the Bowling Club of which he is a director, the St. Louis Engineers Club and Tuscan Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Missouri Consistory, No. 1, Scottish Rite and Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is most faithful to any cause which he espouses and is actuated by a spirit of progressiveness in all that he undertakes. He is greatly interested in bowling and tennis and the firm with which he is connected has provided athletic grounds for the use of its employes.
Percy H. Swahlen.
Percy D. Swahlen, M.D.
R. PERCY H. SWAHLEN, a representative of the medical D profession in St. Louis, well known as an obstetrician and gynecologist, was born in Lebanon, Illinois, June 4, 1877. His father, the late William F. Swahlen, was a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, and was descended from one of the old Pennsylvania families. His grandfather, John Swahlen, who was born in the land of the Alps, came to America in 1820. He married Ann Gibbons, a descendant of the Cope family, early residents of Pennsylvania and members of the Society of Friends or Quakers. William F. Swahlen was well known in educational circles, becoming one of the professors of MeKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois, and later in De Pauw University at Greeneastle, Indiana, where he remained until his death. He was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, April 19, 1839, and had therefore reached the age of seventy-seven years when he passed away in Greencastle, February 19, 1916. He was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and first entered upon educational work at MeKendree College of Lebanon, Ilinois. As the years passed he won an enviable reputation by reason of the ability, clearness and forcefulness with which he imparted to others the knowledge that he had aequired. He married Caroline Virginia Hypes, who was born in Lebanon, Illinois, January 30, 1848, a daughter of Benjamin and Caroline (Murray) Hypes, representatives in the paternal line of an old Virginia family, while the Murrays were one of the old families of Maryland. The Hypes family was represented in the Revolution- ary war by Henry Hypes, the great-grandfather of Dr. Swahlen, his ancestors having come from Germany during the early colonization of the new world. Mrs. Swahlen, the doctor's mother, is still living in Greencastle, Indiana. By her marriage she had six children, four sons and two daughters, of whom two of the sons and one daughter are living.
Dr. Swahlen, the third child of the family, was educated in the public schools of Lebanon, Illinois, and of Greencastle, Indiana, and in De Pauw University, from which he won his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1899. He then took up the study of medicine in the Marion Sims Beaumont College of Medicine at St. Louis, and won his M.D. degree upon graduation in 1903. Following the completion of his course he served for two years as interne in the St. Louis City Hospital, from June, 1903, until June, 1905, and then resumed his medical studies in Europe, spending some time in Strassburg, in Berlin, in Tuebingen and Vienna. There he remained from the summer of 1905 until the fall of 1907, gaining much valuable knowledge in the elinies and through college instruction in those eities.
Upon his return on the 2d of January, 1908, Dr. Swahlen entered upon the active practice of medieine in St. Louis, and while continuing in general practice
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he has more largely concentrated on obstetrics and gynecology. His studies and experience along these lines have made for marked skill and efficiency. He is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the St. Louis Uni- versity, is resident obstetrician in St. Ann's Maternity Hospital, gynecologist in St. John's Hospital and a member of the visiting staff of the St. Louis City Hospital. He is also obstetrician and gynecologist to the Mount St. Rose Hospital.
During the World war Dr. Swahlen was a captain in the Medical Corps of the United States army, stationed in the Base Hospital at Camp Pike, Arkansas. Ile entered the service September 30, 1918, and was discharged on the 29th of May, 1919.
Dr. Swahlen belongs to the University Club and is identified with the Beta Theta Phi and the Phi Beta Phi. Along strictly professional lines his connection is with the St. Louis, Missouri State and American Medical Associations, and he is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He finds his chief interest in study and research along medical lines, his progressiveness in professional work bringing him to a place of distinction in the field of his specialty.
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Robert Lee Orcutt
R
ROBERT LEE ORCUTT, president of the General Warehousing Company of St. Louis, was born in this city October 7, 1879. His father, Rosalvo E. Orcutt, was a representative of an old English family and is now living retired. He married Annie Rose in St. Johns, New Brunswick, and they became the parents of five sons and two daughters.
Robert L. Oreutt, the sixth in order of birth, was educated in the Cote Brilliant Grammar school, which he attended to the age of seventeen years and then turned his attention to the storage and moving business, becoming associated with the firm of Orcutt & Company, with whom he remained until January 1, 1920. He started out in his business career as office boy, and has steadily advanced through intermediate positions and promotions until he has reached the presidency of the company, having in the meantime filled the posi- tions of solicitor, bookkeeper, secretary and vice president. On the 1st of January, 1920, he became president of the General Warehousing Company, which is one of the largest organizations of this kind in the country. Their members include the Langan & Taylor Storage & Moving Company, the R. U. Leonori Auction & Storage Company, the American Storage & Moving Company and the J. Brown Storage Company. Mr. Orcutt is now the executive head of the organization and his long experience with the Oreutt Company well qualifies him for the responsible duties which devolve upon him in this connection. He is also serving on the Advisory Board for the Agricultural & Live Stock Empire Exposition.
There is an interesting military chapter in the life record of Robert L. Orcutt, who during the Spanish-American war enlisted at the age of eighteen years as a member of Company A, Third Regiment of Infantry, that became the First Missouri Volunteers. He joined the army as a private and afterward remained in the National Guard, becoming a member of Battery F in 1901 and continuing in that connection until 1907. During the World war he was active in securing subscriptions for the Liberty loan and for all the various war activities.
In Denison, Texas, on the 29th of December, 1908, Mr. Orcutt was married to Miss Alice Crowther, a daughter of James Crowther, representative of an old English family. Mr. and Mrs. Orcutt have become parents of a son, Robert L., Jr., born May 20, 1911. They reside at No. 5533 Cates avenue. Much con- cerning the personal characteristics, interests and activities of Mr. Orcutt is indicated in his membership relations, which are extensive and of a varied ehar- acter. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Rotary Club, the Automobile Club, the Old Colony Club, the St. Louis Art League, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, the Traffie Club of Chicago, the Advertising Club of St. Louis, the Real Estate Exchange, the Riverview Club, the Truck
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& Team Owners Association, the American Warehousing Association, the National Furniture Warehousing Association and the Masonie fraternity, in which he is connected with Itaska Lodge, No. 420, A. F. & A. M. He has also taken the Scottish Rite degrees and is a noble of Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the board of governors of the Symphony Orches- tra. His political views are in accordance with the teachings and purposes of the republican party and his religious faith is indicated in his connection with the Episcopal church, in which he is serving as a member of the vestry. He is chairman of the executive committee of the Nation-Wide Campaign for the Diocese of Missouri. From his study of the Bible he has been led to adopt the tithing system as taught in the Seriptures and therefore gives to the Lord's cause at least one-tenth of his ineome. His life has been one of intense and well directed activity, fruitful of results that have been of benefit in the upbuilding of his fortunes, in the promotion of publie welfare and in the advancement of social progress and high ideals of American manhood and citizenship.
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