USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 1 > Part 3
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Speaking of his early years with the St. Louis-Kansas City and Northern Railway Company, Colonel Blodgett recalled that among its directors were such men as James B. Eads, who designed and construeted the St. Louis Bridge and Tunnel Railroad, and who afterwards, by his skill as an engineer, gave to commeree a channel at the mouth of the Mississippi river that now enables the ocean-going ships to receive and discharge their eargoes at the dock in New Orleans. On that same board was Thomas A. Seott of the Pennsylvania System (commonly known as "Tom Seott") who, in his day, was thought to be without a peer in the science of railroad construction and operation. Again, in the operating department of the Kansas City and Northern Company, was William C. Van Horn, who afterwards constructed and operated the great Canadian Paeifie System, and who, when knighted by King Edward, became known as Sir William Van Horn. On the Wabash board in those early days were such men as James F. Joy of Michigan, Solon Humphreys, Jay Gould, Russell Sage, Thomas H IIubbard, O. D. Ashley and E. T. Jeffrey of New York, and among the younger men who grew up on that line was Charles M. Hays, who went from the Wabash to the Grand Trunk Company of Canada, and as its general manager constructed and operated the lines extending across the continent from Montreal to the Pacific ocean. It will be recalled that the wonderful career of Mr. Hays was suddenly ended when the Titanic, the great ocean liner, on her
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Wells I. Blodgett
first voyage collided with an iceberg in mid-ocean. And speaking again of his forty years of service on the Wabash lines Colonel Blodgett said to the editor of this sketch that he could not recall a single instance in which, during all that time, he had received an unkind look or word from either an associate or superior.
Colonel Blodgett has three children, one son and two daughters. His son, Henry W. Blodgett, was United States District Attorney at St. Louis, and is now a member of the state senate of Missouri, and his two daughters, Margaret and Edith, reside at the family home, 4449 West Pine boulevard, St. Louis. He has membership in Blair Post, Grand Army; Missouri Commandery Loyal Legion; Society Army Tennessee; Society Army Cumberland; St. Louis ('lub; Noonday Club.
Char carles nagel
Charles Ragel
C HARLES NAGEL was born in Colorado county, Texas, August 9, 1849, a son of Dr. Herman and Fredericka Nagel. His paternal grandfather was engaged in commercial pursuits and was a man of influence in his small community. The maternal grandfather and great-grandfather of Charles Nagel were Lutheran clergymen. His father was a physician, graduated at the University of Berlin, Germany, in the early forties. In the year 1847 his parents landed at New Orleans and proceeded to the interior of Texas, where they resided until 1863, when because of his sympathy with the Union, his father was obliged to leave the south. Taking his son Charles with him he fled to Mexico. In January they left for New York by a sailing ship, and arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, in February, 1864.
In the acquirement of his education Charles Nagel attended a German coun- try school in Austin county, Texas, and later a German private school in St. Louis. He afterward entered the high school at St. Louis, and was there gradu- ated in 1868. He was valedictorian of his class. His preparation for the bar was made as a student in the St. Louis Law School, in which he completed a two years' course, and also in a one year's course at the University of Berlin, Germany, where he specialized in the study of Roman law, political economy, history and kindred subjects, thus pursuing branches of study of the greatest value to him in his law practice. On again taking up his abode in St. Louis, Mr. Nagel opened a law office and through the intervening period has concentrated his time and efforts upon his profession. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his law practice, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases have brought him a large business and made him very successful in its conduct. He frequently contributes to magazines and newspapers, and devotes considerable time to the discussion of publie questions. His briefs always show wide research, careful thought, and the best and strongest reasons which can be urged for his conten- tions, presented in cogent and logical form and illustrated by a style unusually lueid and clear. He has been equally successful in the educational field. In 1885 he was appointed to a professorship in the St. Louis Law School, a position which he filled for twenty-four years. He has been most clear in his exposition of the law and wise in his direction of the mental development of pupils along the line of jurisprudence. Aside from his professional activities he has become a director of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, the St. Louis Union Trust Company, the International Bank of St. Louis, and vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. In 1911 he received the LL. D. degree from Brown University. The same degree was conferred upon him by Villanova University of Pennsylvania, and by the Washington University
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Charles Bagel
he has maintained several partnership relations
member of the arm of Finkelnburg. Nagel & Kirby From 1908 Land 1905 of fle Eren of Nagel & Kirby from 1905 until 1909. while I= 1915 siber he retired from the cabinet. he again entered upon that relation. oz the 4th of August 1ste. Mr. Nagel was married to Fannie Brandeis, of Kentucky who died in 1890. On the 1st day of May. 1595. he married Har: Sheslem of st Louis. His children sre: Hildegard Nagel: Mary S .. the WWWof Home: L. Streetser, of Brookline, Massachusetts. who in 1917 volunteered Sle the zury and served as an ensign. being on duty Erst in Washington. while Mter he was ssigned to's testsport: Edith, who is the wife of Henry Augustus Pose Purosm. who was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology ss a mining engineer and served as a captain of engineers in the United States Army during the World war: Charles Nazel. J ... who joined the United States Navy Reserve s: Yale about the time he was to enter upon his first year's stades there and was mastered out st the close of December. 1915. but has not ret been discharged: and Ambe Dorothea.
I= polites Me. Nagel has always been s stalwart republican and is s recognized leader in the ray ks od his party in Missouri. In 1851 he was called upon to repre- sent kus district in the general assembly. serving for the two years' term. In 1893 be became president of the St. Louis City Council, and filled that position for four yes's. He was's member of the republican national committee from 1908 === 2012 sad from March 1909. sotil March. 1913, was secretary of commerce sod Isbor in the esbinet of President Taft. He is a trustee of Washington Taireraty of St. Louis and has been a member of the board of control of the S -. Lommes Museum of Fine Arts. He has connection with the worth while clubs . S: Louis, including the University, St. Louis. Commercial. Round Table. Mercantile Nocaday and the St. Louis Country Club: also with the Bankers Club of New York. and the Metropolitan and Cosmos Clubs of Washington. D C. As's member of the Chamber of Commerce of the United states. which was organized through his efforts as secretary of commerce and labor. he partici- pared in the war work during 1917 and 1916. particularly as a member of the price committee and the war committee. While secretary of commerce and Isbor be presided over the encrention of delegates representing the United States. Great Britain Russis and Japan. which formulated the Seal Treaty, thereby putting sh end to the endless sni costly controversies upon that subject. and restricting in the conservation of the valuable seal herds of the several countries. He has exerted a widely felt influence over publie thought and opinion in his city and state and has had pot s little to do with shaping public policy. He is usually found in those gatherings where men of intelligence are met for the dis- ust of pital problems and it is well known -hat association with him means
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CHICAGO
TAYLOR & SON, ENGRAVERS
Breckinridge 3 ones
RECKINRIDGE JONES, president of the Mississippi Valley B Trust Company of St. Louis, who has been one of the direeting officers of this corporation for more than thirty years, was born in Boyle county, Kentucky, on the 2nd of October, 1856, his parents being Daniel W. and Rebecca Robertson (Dunlap) Jones, His early educational opportunities were supple- mented by a course in Centre College at Danville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1875. Before entering upon the study of law he taught school for one year in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. He then studied law for two years in the office of Colonel Thomas P. Hill of Stanford, Lincoln county, Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar in that county in 1878. In October of that year he moved to St. Louis. He attended the St. Louis Law School in the session of 1878-9 and attended the summer Law School of the University of Virginia in 1879. In the same year he opened a law office in St. Louis where he continued in practice for nine years, when by reason of the business interests of himself and a number of friends and elients he went to New Decatur, Alabama, as vice president and general manager of the Deeatur Land Improvement and Furnace Company, then the largest corporation in North Alabama. After a successful reorganization of that com- pany in 1890 Mr. Jones returned to St. Louis where he resumed law practice, but after a brief period he was elected the first secretary of the newly incorporated Mississippi Valley Trust Company. Throughout the intervening period of thirty years he has given his attention to constructive effort, executive control and legal direction of the interests of this strong financial concern of which he is now the president. In 1896 he inaugurated the movement to form a national organization of the Trust Companies of the United States and is the recognized "father of the Trust Company seetion" of the American Bankers Association. In 1915 he was the chairman of the commission that wrote the revision of the banking laws of Missouri, enacted that year by the general assembly.
Mr. Jones was married at Stanford, Kentucky, October 21, 1885, to Miss Frances Miller Reid and they became the parents of five children: Reid, Breckin- ridge, Jr., Franees Reid, Daniel W. and Mary D. The wife and mother passed away on the 13th of August, 1904. On the 21st of September, 1910, at Cazenovia, New York, Mr. Jones was married to Mrs. Sarah Brant Colwell, a representative of an old prominent St. Louis family. Three of the children of Mr. Jones also served in the World war. His eldest son, Reid Jones, was a captain in the Thirty-second Regiment of Engineers in 1917 and 1918, while Frances Reid Jones served in vocational training work at the Walter Reed Hospital in Wash- ington, D. C., in 1918, and Daniel W. Jones was an ensign in the United States navy. His two stepsons also served in the World war: John Charles Colwell
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Breckinridge Jones
was a captain in the United States regular army, belonging to the Fifty-eighth Infantry in 1917 and 1918; and Kent G. Colwell was a first lieutenant in the Intelligence Department of the United States army in 1917 and 1918.
Mr. Jones belongs to the Union Avenue Christian church. Politieally he has always been a demoerat and in 1882 was chosen to represent his district in the thirty-second general assembly of Missouri. He is a member of the St. Louis, Noonday, Country, Raequet, Florissant Valley, and Log Cabin clubs. He is the treasurer of the Missouri Historical Society.
Larry Brookings Wallace
HIROUGH the stages of successive advancement and promotion which he has earned through striet application to the work T before him in each position he has held, taking a personal in- terest in the success of the firm, Harry B. Wallace has reached the presidency of the Cupples Company, one of the largest in- dustries not only of St. Louis, but of the entire country, in the manufacture and distribution of woodenware. Almost from the inception of this enterprise, the Wallace family has been connected therewith and the growth and success of the mammoth concern is contributable in a large measure to their activity. Throughout his entire career Harry B. Wallace has been aetnated by the spirit of the old Roman maxim: "There is no excellence without labor." Ile was born in St. Louis, Angust 6, 1877. his parents being Asa A. and Mary Jane ( Brookings) Wallace. The father was a native of Troy. Ohio, and came from one of the old families of the eentral southern part of Pennsylvania where William Penn gave to the Wallace family a grant of land. The old log house which was built there in pioneer times is still standing, one of the interesting landmarks that indicates the settlement of this state. In the maternal line, Harry B. Wallace is a representative of the Brookings and Carter families who came from C'ecil county, Maryland. The Brookings were originally French, the name being Broquin. They were driven out of France in 1437 and went to England, where the name was changed to the present spelling. The con- nection of the Wallace family with St. Louis dates from 1851. In January of that year, Asa A. Wallace formed the acquaintance of Samuel Cupples in Cin- cinnati, Ohio. The latter made a trip to St. Louis early in the year and in July of the same year Mr. Wallace came to St. Louis, at which time he joined Mr. Cupples in the manufacture of woodenware. Through the intervening period a wonderful progress has been made until there has been developed the largest business of the kind in the world. This is attributable in no small measure to the activity and enterprise of the various members of the Wallace family who have been connected with the business since its inception, and who have had much to do with forming the poliey of the company and directing the activities of the plant, hence contributing to a development that places it among the big industries of the world. The company now has a separate factory for the manu- facture of Cupples tires, and is developing a big demand for that commodity. Mr. Wallace is responsible for this new venture.
Harry B. Wallace was educated in Smith Academy at St. Lonis and then went east to enter Yale, and completed his university course in 1899, at which time the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred upon him. While in college he was very prominent in athletics, having played three years on the varsity baseball team. He became connected with the Samuel Cupples Woodenware Company in September, 1899, accepting a position in the sample and stock room. Later
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Dartp Brookings Wallace
Le served as des ant 2001, and then entered the buyer's department He afterwards betame buyer and manager of the manufacturing department and was called to oficial position in 1907. when elected assistant In deve Le wes Losen for the office of secretary and in 1912 became H.seleton to the presidency of the company occurred in 191s. Minst be Bas come to the chief executive office in connection with this business. which through an orderly progression has reached the point of world's leader- C.p. .
Om detober 29. 1912. Mr. Wallace was married to Mary R. Kennard, a laughter of Samuel M. and Annie Maude Kennard of S :. Louis, and a repre- stative of one of the old and prominent families of the city. They have two children. John K .. born November 6. 1903. who is now preparing for Yale Uni- versity at the Taft school in Watertown, Connecticut. and Anne K., who is now a student at Mary Institute
Mr. Wallace belongs to the Civic League and has been a member of the City Plan Commission. He is also connected with the Municipal Voter's League and the Mercantile Library Association, of which he was formerly the president. He is now the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis. is vice president of the Noonday Club and was formerly one of the governors of the Racquet Olat. He also became one of the founders of the City Club. and he is a member of the Round Table. His recreation is found largely in golf and tennis. but these are made subservient to his activities and duties in other connections. His interest centers in his family and he finds his greatest happiness at his home Eresde. When America entered the World war he was among those extremely antive business men wh: put aside personal considerations in order to give the atmost possible service to their country. In December. 1917. he was called to Washington and tock entire charge of the Red Cross relief and welfare work in all military camps. parteens. and motor corps, and in fact was in charge of the welfare work having to do with the enlisted men throughout the United States. Mr. Wallace was instrumental in influencing Secretary of War Baker to issue the general order from use war department authorizing and defining the work of the Red Cross in the army. In July. 1315. he received a cable from the war areil calling him to Franse as deputy commissioner with the rank of major. On his arrival in France he was put In entire charge of the Red Cross work and Ett activities in the American zone which covered all places where American troops were in Lire. He remained in France until December. 191s. and his activities there have become a matter of history in connection with the service :f che khal dias mer on Europeas sil. When one comprehends the magnitude if the Capples Comy any it is easily understood why Mr. Wallace was selected ip the war bonn il to take entire enarg- of Red Cross work in France. for he is a Fast master in the work of organization and in assembling and distributing sup- -as and materia . He measured up to the fullest expectations in this connec- - Handler-ip stider x France bears testimony to the efficiency of the work We by the Red Cross organization. Mr. Wallace is a member of the executive menof the Yale Alumn. Advisory Board. and is ex-president of the Yale His interests are indeed broad and his co-
eFestive and resultant force in anything which he
ATchaplugh
BOP 1 JANUARY 9 1810
DIED FEBRUARY 27, 1902 ESTABLISHED THIS BUSINESS IN ST LOUIS, 1843
Augustus Frederick Shapleigh
HEILE American trade annals contain records of many men W who have been the architects of their own fortunes there has been no record more creditable by reason of undaunted energy, well formulated plans and straightforward dealing than that of Augustus Frederick Shapleigh, the founder of one of the most important commercial enterprises of St. Louis. The name has beeome a synonym for the hardware trade here and the extensive house, now conducted under the style of the Shap- leigh Hardware Company, remains as a monument to his progressive spirit and business ability.
A native of New Hampshire, Augustus F. Shapleigh was born at Ports- mouth, January 9, 1810, a son of Captain Richard and Dorothy ( Blaisdell ) Shapleigh. The ancestry of the family in America is traced back to Alexan- der Shapleigh, who was a merchant and shipowner of Devonshire, England, and prior to 1635 came to America in his own ship "Benediction" as repre- sentative of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. He built the first house at Kittery Point, now in the state of Maine, on the river Piscataqua, authority for which state- ment is found in the entry on the records of the York court in 1650; "For as much as the house at the river's mouth where Mr. Shapleigh first bylt and Ililton now dwelleth; in regard it was the first house there bylt."
In successive generations members of the Shapleigh family filled impor- tant offices of trust under the British crown and were rewarded by landed possessions which are still held by members of the family, constituting a tenure of more than two hundred and fifty years.
Major Nicholas Shapleigh, son of the American progenitor, was especially prominent in colonial affairs in the province of Maine, serving for many years as a member of the eouneil and as treasurer of the province from 1649 to 1653. Ile was a commander of the militia from 1656 to 1663, made a treaty with the Sagamore Indians in 1678 and was attorney for the lord proprietor. Robert Mason. He also represented his district in the Massachusetts gen- eral court until his death. The line of descent is traced down through Alex- ander, son of the first Alexander, Captain John, Major Nicholas Il, Nieholas III, Captain Elisha and Captain Riehard Shapleigh to Augustus F. Shap- leigh, of this review. In 1706 Captain John Shapleigh was killed by the Indians, who at that time captured his son. Major Nicholas Shapleigh served for a long period as major of the colonial wars while his son Nicholas took part in eolonial wars with the "Blue Trupe of York," one of the companies of the regiment commanded by Sir William Pepperell. Captain Elisha Shap- leigh, one of the sons of Nicholas Shapleigh III, raised the first company of
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Augustus Frederick Shapleigh
the Second York County Regiment and as its eaptain served in the Revolu- tionary war.
Captain Richard Shapleigh, father of Augustus F. Shapleigh, was mas- ter and owner of the ship Granville, which was wrecked off Rye Beach, New Hampshire, in 1813. In that disaster he lost his life, his ship and much of his property, and upon the son soon devolved the necessity of assisting the mother in the support of the family. Mrs. Shapleigh was a daughter of Abner Blaisdell, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who served in the Revolutionary war as sergeant in Captain Titus Salter's company of artillery at Fort Wash- ington and later with Captain John Langdon's Light Horse Volunteers.
The early boyhood of Augustus F. Shapleigh was devoted to acquiring an education, but when his father died and the family was left in straitened financial cireumstanees, he sought and secured a position as elerk in a hard- ware store at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where in compensation for a year's services he received the sum of fifty dollars and boarded himself. The succeeding three years were devoted to seafaring life, during which he made several voyages to Europe, but at the solicitation of his mother and sisters, he left the sea and secured employment with the hardware house of Rogers Brothers & Company, of Philadelphia. Entering that employ in 1829, he there remained for thirteen years and successive promotion eventually made him junior partner. This firm extended its operations to St. Louis in 1843 and Mr. Shapleigh's business capacity, understanding of the trade and powers of organization led to his selection for the establishment of the hardware house of Rogers, Shapleigh & Company, under which name the trade was contin- ued until the death of the senior partner. Thomas D. Day was then taken in and the firm was reorganized under the name of Shapleigh, Day & Com- pany, thus operating for sixteen years, or until the retirement of Mr. Day, when the firm of A. F. Shapleigh & Company continued the business until 1880. In that year the A. F. Shapleigh & Cantwell Hardware Company was incorporated and when Mr. Cantwell retired in 1886, the name was changed to the A. F. Shapleigh Hardware Company, which was retained until the retirement of Mr. Shapleigh in 1901. The business was then reorganized as the Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Company, the corporate name being changed a few years later to Shapleigh Hardware Company. From 1845, A. F. Shapleigh was the head of this well known establishment and from its incorporation until his retirement acted as president. Hle trained his sons to the business, except Dr. John B. Shapleigh, who is a prominent aurist. Alfred L., chairman of the board of directors, and Richard W., now president, exer- cise a controlling interest in the house, which from its organization has made continuous progress, enjoying that ereditable and enviable prosperity which results from careful systematization. undaunted determination and the execu- tion of well defined plans and purposes. Today the house has no superior in the entire Mississippi valley, its ramifying trade interests reaching out 10 practically all sections of the country and to foreign countries, while the development of the business has been an indispensable factor in making St. Louis the center of the hardware trade.
Aside from his connection with this business Mr. Shapleigh was associated
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Augustus Frederick Shapleigh
with various other business concerns, all of which constitute elements in the city's development as well as the source of revenue to himself. In 1859 he became identified with the State Bank of St. Louis and in 1862 was elected a director of the Merchants National Bank, so continuing until 1890, when he resigned in favor of his son Alfred L. Shapleigh. He was also president of the Phoenix Insurance Company, vice president of the Covenant Mutual Life Insurance Company and interested in the Hope Mining Company and the Granite Mountain Mining Company.
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