USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 1 > Part 6
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Captain Alerander Rives Skinker
themselves under cover, went ahead to find out the lay of the land and if possible to break up a machine-gun nest. The enemy suddenly opened a heavy machine- gun fire and he was killed. Major Comfort, who succeeded to the command of the regiment after the colonal was wounded and the lieutenant colonel killed, in his official report wrote: "Captain Skinker, in his local area, not desiring to expose more men than were necessary, required his men to take cover, and per- sonally set out with an automatic rifleman and a carrier to silence a machine-gun nest in his immediate front. The ammunition carrier was promptly killed and Captain Skinker, taking his ammunition, continued on, firing the automatic rifle, until he met death himself, followed immediately by the automatic rifleman. Captain Skinker has been recommended for the Distinguished Service Medal, posthumous." Major Comfort also wrote the bereaved parents as follows: "I looked upon his poor body lying where he fell in the road. His face bore the serene and peaceful expression of his waking hours."
Upon more deliberate examination of the circumstances attending Captain Skinker's heroic death the commanding general decided that the Distinguished Service Medal was inadequate, and the Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded instead. This is the reward offered by military law for "bravery and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty." (See Kenamore's From Vau- quois Hill to Exermont, p. 115.)
Colonel McMahon, who formerly commanded the regiment, has written: "He died, as he had lived, protecting his men. 'Greater love than this hath no man-that he lay down his life for his friend.' I have had the story by letter from several-and from others verbally-it is known to the regiment-and I hope it is some consolation in your day of sorrow to know that whenever the story is told it is agreed that a man among men died a man's death, for America -wonderful, quiet, heroie."
In civil life Alexander Skinker was a model son, brother and husband, genial, kind, honorable, unselfish, energetie, judicious, temperate and sure of himself, a Christian gentleman, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. In military life he was a diligent and intelligent instructor and careful protector of his men, thoroughly in sympathy with their needs, and in the day of battle calmly resolute and absolutely fearless.
EdwinC. Trust.
Edwin C. Ernst, A.D.
R. EDWIN C. ERNST, a Roentgenologist of St. Louis, was D born in this eity June 26, 1885. His father, the late Charles W. Ernst, was a native of Germany, but came to America with his parents in 1856, when but twelve years of age. The grandfather, William Ernst, settled in St. Louis, where he continued to spend his remaining days, and his son, Charles W. Ernst, was here reared and educated. In early life he became a wood carver and later engaged in the real estate business, which he followed to the time of his death, which occurred in 1909 when he had reached the age of sixty-five years. His wife, Catherine (Koch) Ernst, was a native of Alsace-Lorraine, now a part of France, and came to America when twenty years of age, arriving in 1874, her birth having occurred in 1854.
Dr. Ernst, their only child, was educated in the publie schools of St. Louis, in the St. Louis University, in Washington University, and in the Moravian College at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He completed a medical course in the Washington University Medical School in 1912 and after winning his M.D. clegree served for one year as interne in the St. Louis City Hospital. During the succeeding two years he was resident physician at the St. Louis Mullanphy Hospital and then entered upon private practice. During that period he quali- fied for the line in which he is now engaged and has sinee specialized in Roentgen ray work and radiotherapy. He has likewise taken post-graduate courses in eastern hospitals and colleges and is accounted one of the leading Roentgenolo- gists of St. Louis. He is a member of the staff and Roentgenologist of St. Luke's Hospital and the St. Louis Mullanphy Hospital and is consulting Roentgenologist to the United States Public Health Service Hospital in St. Louis and the United States Marine Hospital. He belongs to the St. Louis Medical Society, in Missouri State Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the American Roentgen Ray Society. He likewise belongs to the Radiological Society and is vice president of the American Roentgen Ray Society, central seetion.
In St. Louis, August 2, 1905, Dr. Ernst was married to Miss Mildred Vogt, a native of St. Louis and daughter of Charles Vogt. They have become parents of one son, Edwin C., born in St. Louis, October 4, 1916. During the World war Dr. Ernst left his practice and his family in St. Louis to render active aid to the country, becoming Roentgenologist in Base Hospital No. 21, in France. He served for two years, won the commission of major and was honorably discharged in May, 1919. He finds his recreation and diversion in athletics, hunting, fish- ing and especially in canoeing. His politieal endorsement is given to the repub- lican party and his membership relations indicate the variety and nature of his interests outside of his profession, for he is a member of Beacon Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of the University Club, of the Missouri Athletic Association and of the Evangelieal Protestant church.
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Robert David Lewis
OBERT DAVID LEWIS, of St. Louis, whose sound business R judgment, keen intuition, well formulated plans and powers of organization made him one of the foremost manufacturers in connection with the tobacco trade of the country, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, April 3. 1847, his parents being James A. W. and Mary (Newman) Lewis. He was a descendant of one of the old families of Virginia, founded in 1732 by John Lewis, who was a native of Donegal, Ireland, and of Huguenot descent and who came to the colony of Virginia accompanied by his wife and children. A branch of the Lewis family now in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, has in its possession the coat of arms and the family tree, which traces the ancestral line down to the present time. Robert David Lewis was a member of the Loyal Lewis Legion of Virginia. General Andrew Lewis, son of John Lewis, the American progenitor, achieved distinction by service in the French and Indian wars and also in the Revolutionary war. Another son was Thomas Lewis, who served as a member of the Virginia house of burgesses and faithfully supported the rights of the colonies, advocating the resolutions of Patrick Henry in the session of 1765. Ile served as a member of the colonial conventions of 1775 and 1776 and also of the state conventions that ratified the federal constitution. Two other sons of John Lewis were William and Charles Lewis, both of whom served in the American army during the war for independence with the rank of colonel. Still another son, John Lewis, was the great-grandfather of Robert D. Lewis and became one of the earliest settlers of Pittsylvania county, Virginia. Ile was the father of Littleberry Lewis, who for many years was a manufacturer of plug tobacco and a shipper of tobacco strips at Lynchburg. His son, James A. W. Lewis, father of Robert D. Lewis, became superintendent of his father's tobacco works, filling that position at the time of the birth of his son. In 1847, with his wife and infant child, James A. W. Lewis left the old home in Virginia and started for St. Louis. Through having signed a note for a friend which involved his whole fortune, he had been practically ruined and this was why he left Virginia to come west to make his fortune. They journeyed by wagon over the mountains of Virginia to the Ohio river and proceeded down that stream by boat and up the Mississippi to their destination. The trip up the father of waters was one attended by thrilling incidents, the story of which came to the son in later years. At the landing at Cape Girardeau, Mr. Lewis left the boat to transaet some business, and becoming separated from his wife and child, the boat on which they had taken passage sailed away without him. He at onee boarded another boat, which was to follow the first one up the Mississippi, and nothing more serious than a temporary separation of the mem- bers might have resulted had it not been for the carelessness of the pilot of the
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Robert David Lewis
forward boat, through which his boat was allowed to swing across the stream, with the consequence that a disastrous collision occurred. The boat on which Mrs. Lewis had taken passage was struck amidship and soon sank. With her child in her arms, Mrs. Lewis climbed upon the roof of the wheelhouse, and in the frightful seramble which ensued her child was three times pushed out of her arms into the stream, each time to be resened by its mother. After a time all the passengers were rescued from their perilous positions. Mr. Lewis and his wife then continued their journey to St. Louis, where they arrived safely.
It was not long after his arrival that Mr. Lewis became a partner of Christian Peper in the tobacco manufacturing business that was maintained for three years. On the expiration of that period Mr. Lewis accepted the superintendeney of the Liggett & Dausman tobacco manufactory and so served for eight years. He later was superintendent of the tobacco works conducted by James Roddy and filled that position until January, 1867, when he removed to Alton, Illinois, to superintend the business of the Myers & Drummond tobacco factory. He was accompanied by his son, Robert D. Lewis, then twenty years of age, and the latter's brother, James, both of whom secured employment in the Myers & Drummond factory, there working until the spring of 1880. Both sons then returned to St. Louis and Robert accepted the position of general superintendent of the Drummond tobacco works in this city. He was, as it were, "to the manner born." Three generations of his forebears had been prominently connected with tobacco raising and manufacturing and from earliest boyhood he was familiar with the trade through conversations which he heard concerning the various phases of the business. When he reached an age that qualified him to take up work he naturally turned to the tobacco trade and at the beginning of the year 1885 he purchased stock in the corporation operating the great manu- facturing plant of St. Louis in which he was employed. He continued as a stock- holder and as the general superintendent until 1898, when the Drummond plant was sold to the American Tobacco Company for a magnificent sum, Mr. Lewis remaining with the new corporation as the head of the manufacturing depart- ment. He was a director and senior vice president of this tobacco company for many years. His business activity extended as well into other fields, for he was a stockholder in the Alton Tobacco Box Manufacturing Company, making the boxes in which the goods of the tobacco company are put up, and was also vice president and director of the Grand Avenue Bank.
In the year 1867 Robert D. Lewis was married to Miss Ellen Stites, a daugh- ter of John R. Stites, of East St. Louis, and they became the parents of the following named : Cora B .; Ida M., who died February 15, 1899; James R., who passed away November 8, 1892; George Myers, who died in 1901; Alice E., who died December 3, 1885; Arthur Lee, whose death occurred January 11, 1896; Joseph C .; and Margaret V. The death of the wife and mother occurred August 9, 1887, and on the 24th of April, 1890, Mr. Lewis wedded Miss Vir- ginia IIinton, daughter of Captain William and Elizabeth Hinton, of Kentucky. The father, Captain Hinton, was killed in the Civil war and Mrs. Lewis can trace her ancestry back to the Revolutionary war. The Hinton ancestry goes back to an old English family and is connected with the nobility. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis' children were: Newman HI., who died April 10, 1892; Virgil A .; and Roberta Lewis.
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Robert David Lewis
Virgil A. Lewis entered the French serviee during the World war as an ambulance driver, his father having contributed an ambulance to the eause. Tle served with distinction and was twice decorated. Later, on the entrance of the United States into the war, he returned to this country and trained for the aviation corps. Shortly before the armistice was signed he had secured his commission as a first lieutenant and was assigned as an instructor in Camp Lee. During the period of his service in France, Mr. Lewis had made the aequaint- ance of his wife, then Miss Mina Gladys Reid, of Baltimore. She had been visiting there when the war broke out and had taken a nurse's training course and served with distinction, being decorated by the French and Russian govern- ments. Their marriage took place here and they now have a daughter, Frances Holwell. Mr. Lewis is assistant cashier in the Grand Avenue Bank.
Death again severed the family cirele when on the 3d of April, 1919, Robert David Lewis was called to the home beyond. He was a prominent member of the Masonie fraternity, was a consistent follower and a supporter of the teach- ings of the Methodist Episcopal church and in polities was a Jeffersonian demo- crat. He was a member of the St. Louis (Inb and Country Club. He never faltered in his allegianee to any cause which he espoused and his life was ever actnated by high ideals and manly purposes. His life record was marked by consistent advancement and the consecutive steps in his business career are easily discernible. These resulted from a thorough understanding of the busi- ness in which he engaged, his close application and unremitting energy, guided at all times by the highest sense of business honor and integrity. Thus he left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name as well as the sub- stantial rewards of his labor, giving his family an enviable financial position, while they have long occupied a prominent place in the social circles of the city.
John H. Orval.
John L. Overall
L
AW Offices of Frank K. Ryan, 506 Olive St., St. Louis. Jannary 8, 1904.
Mrs. Mary R. Overall, City. Dear Madam :-
As secretary of the meeting of the members of the Saint Louis Bar held January 2d, 1904, in memory of their late brother lawyer and your gifted and lamented deceased hus- band, John II. Overall, I have the honor to herewith transmit to you and to your family the resolutions of such meeting, which set forth facts and testimonials that constitute for his great worth and many virtues an enduring monument that is to be made a part of the records of the courts in which, as his life work, he faithfully and diligently practiced his profession, and where, with marked success in the calling which he always honored his brilliant talents and grand traits of character were indeed nobly exemplified.
Very respectfully. (Signed ) FRANK K. RYAN.
MEETING OF MEMBERS OF THE BAR
of the City of St. Louis, in Honor of the Memory of John II. Overall, January 2d, 1904, in Division 4 of the Circuit Court, City of St. Louis.
Judge Klein: Gentlemen of the Bar, it seems fitting that there should be an assemblage of the lawyers to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of our deceased co-laborer and brother, John II. Overall.
There is no one who knew Mr. Overall intimately but felt that there was something strong and vigorous in the man, strong in his intellectuality, strong in his moral sense, strong in his convictions of right, and strong as a lawyer in the discharge of his duty. His daily life was marked and emphasized by those qualities which distinguish the lawyer of success and ability. He had courage and independence, he possessed and exercised diligence and patience in the per- formance of his duties; he had a high sense of devotion to his profession. the profession of the law, and an undoubted sense of right and wrong and fearless- ness in the execution of his duties. Under such circumstances, and with a man of this kind it seems that the Bar of St. Lonis, from whom he has been taken, should leave a record of their sentiment of respect to his memory so that the same may be recorded in the records of the courts where he practiced, and al- though these records may be as a sealed book to the public at large, they contain, after all, the only and most durable record which the lawyer can leave behind him.
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John D. Duerall
It is in order, gentlemen, to elect a chairman of the meeting.
Mr. Judson: Mr. Chairman, I move that Col. Wells H. Blodgett act as chairman.
The motion was put and carried and Col. Blodgett assumed the chair.
C'ol. Blodgett: Gentlemen : I appreciate the honor of presiding over this meeting of the bar of St. Louis called to bear testimony to the name and charac- ter of one of our number who has recently passed from our midst, one of such distinguished character and ability as our friend John H. Overall.
It is thirty years this last month since I first met Mr. Overall at the Macon court which was held in December, 1873. He had then been only a short time at the bar, but had been elected prosecuting attorney for the circuit composed of Randolph, Macon, Howard, Boone and Callaway counties, and one of the first duties he was called upon to discharge was the prosecution of the Under- wood brothers. They were people of influence in the community, people of good family, of property, and previous good reputation. They were charged with having committed murder of two members of the Menifee family, and when their arrest took place no one in all Missouri would believe it possible that the charge could be well founded. It looked and seemed as though the sentiment in the community was such that it would be impossible to bring them to jus- tice, even if they were guilty. At that time north of the river there were such men as Thomas L. Anderson of Macon, Odon Guitar and James S. Rollins of Boone and John F. Williams of Macon. They were retained to defend in this case, but that energetic and clear headed young prosecuting attorney, all there was to represent the state in that trial, discharged his duty in such a forceful and vigorous way that notwithstanding all the opposition which confronted him, notwithstanding the influence and the wealth of the family charged with the erime, and their friends, and notwithstanding the character of the distinguished counsel who were employed to defend them, he successfully combatted point after point, and, at the close of the case, when he summed up the testimony, with vigorous logic and a wonderful command of facts and language he carried conviction to the minds of the jury, and, notwithstanding all opposition, the defendants were found guilty and executed. It was one of the greatest of triumphs, and everybody at that time in all North Missouri was as familiar with the name of John H. Overall as we are here today. Every lawyer in every county was speaking of him in the highest terms and admitting that he was the foremost of all the young men north of the Missouri River.
Later ou he came to and located in the city of St. Louis, and you all know his career here. You all know that John H. Overall was one of the lawyers . who never misled or deceived anybody, who always presented his case upon its merits and whose word was always just as good as his written obligation ; and you all felt that the honor of the legal profession was at all times and under all circumstances safe in his hands.
Gentlemen, what is your pleasure? I presume the first business in order will be the election of a secertary.
Judge Bond thereupon nominated Frank K. Ryan as secretary of the meet- ing, and Mr. Ryan was unanimously chosen to fill that position.
On motion of Mr. Judson that a committee of five be appointed by the chair
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John D. Duerall
to draft and present a suitable and proper memorial, the chairman appointed the following committee :
Frederick N. Judson; Col. George D. Reynolds; Judge Henry W. Bond; Judge II. S. Priest and Judge Valle Reyburn.
The committee retired for consultation and upon its return submitted the following :
The following is the memorial adopted by the members of the Bar of St. Louis at a meeting held January 2, 1904, concerning the death of the late JJohn H. Overall :
John Henry Overall was born in St. Charles county, Missouri, March 26, 1845, and died December 23, 1903. Ilis father was Major Wilson L. Overall, who came to Missouri in Territorial days, represented the county in the Gen- eral Assembly and was a prominent and respected citizen. Ilis mother was Eliza A. Williams, a woman of rare force of character, and was widely known as the first woman in the United States to beeome editor of a newspaper. Mr. Overall graduated from the University of Missouri in 1865, with the highest honors of his class and at the IIarvard Law school in 1867.
While at the Harvard Law school he assisted Professor Emery Washburn in writing his great and authoritative work on real estate law.
Returning to Missouri, Mr. Overall opened a law office in Macon and soon thereafter was elected Circuit Attorney for that circuit. In this office he soon won distinction by the thoroughness of his preparation, his ability as an ad- vocate, and his high sense of duty. He resigned this office in 1872 to accept the appointment of Dean of the Law School in the State University. He held this chair for a few months, organizing the school, and then resigned to enter general practice in St. Louis. He married in 1874 Miss Mary Rollins, daughter of the Honorable James S. Rollins, one of the most distinguished publie men of the state and father of the University of Missouri.
In 1875 Mr. Overall formed a partnership with Honorable James O. Broad- head. This firm continued until 1878 when Mr. Overall formed a partnership with Frederick N. Judson under the name of Overall and Judson. This firm continued for seven years, when in 1885 the Honorable Warwick Hough retir- ing from the Supreme Bench as Chief Justice entered the firm, which was eon- tinned until 1890 under the name of Hough, Overall and Judson. Since the dissolution of that firm, Mr. Overall has practiced alone.
Mr. Overall, from the beginning of his professional career, took high rank as a thoroughly trained lawyer, clear and direct in his application of legal principles to the facts of complicated cases, a wise and trusted counselor and a thoroughly equipped, manly and forceful advocate. On a number of subjects he became an authority, recognized as such by the bar and by the public. Thus, in the complicated questions involved in the long judicial conflicts between the State and Federal Courts as to the validity of township and county bonds issued in Missouri, Mr. Overall was recognized as the best equipped lawyer in the United States. He took a prominent part in every phase of the protracted litigation, secured from the Supreme Court of the United States its decision overruling its former judgment, establishing the validity of township bonds, which had heretofore been held invalid by both the Supreme Court of the United
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States and by the supreme court of Missouri. He also obtained from the Su- preme Court of the United States its judgment of the invalidity of the act of the general assembly making it a penal offense for a county judge to assess a tax for the payment of bonds, without an order from the circuit court. So thor- oughly informed was Mr. Overall on all the details of the questions involved in this protracted litigation, that his opinion was recognized as authoritative by the bar and the public on questions relating to the validity and the collection of municipal bond issues.
Mr. Overall also was recognized as an authority on the subject of election contests. He was retained as counsel in all such cases and it may be said that through his arguments he largely made the law on many questions involved in the opening of ballots and the conduct of contested elections. He was also prominently identified with the most important litigation in the department of municipal law, involving the powers of municipal assemblies, the construction of the city charter, and the granting of municipal franchises. He was actively employed in the organization and building of the Merchants bridge and the connecting railroads, and in laying out the towns of Madison and Granite City. On the subject of the condemnation of property, for railroad and other public uses and the many difficult questions involved, he was recognized as one of the best equipped lawyers of the state, and was retained in all such litigation in our courts.
Other phases of his distinguished and varied professional career might be noticed. Whatever the question involved, he was always recognized as a thor- oughly trained, resourceful and high minded lawyer.
In his relations with his professional brethren, Mr. Overall was always courteous and considerate. It was impossible for him to take an unfair advan- tage of an adversary.
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