USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 1 > Part 9
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Mr. Wood is calm and very deliberate, accurate, farsighted and always con- siderate of others with whom he has business dealings. He is a lawyer who believes that laws were made to be enforced and lived up to. He is a business man who has the courage and energy to force success, backed up by integrity of purpose. When he becomes financially interested in any project he is sure to direet it to sueeess, nor will he enter into any enterprise unless he has an under- stood agreement that he shall have something to say about its guidance. His capabilities are of diversified nature and he never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose, nor does he sacrifice his honor in the slightest degree in winning his point. In the practice of law or in the statement of business affairs he has the quality of saying the right thing in a few convincing words,
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Benjamin a. Wood
so that his utterances are most forceful. All of these characteristics have made him a dynamic factor in the business and professional life of St. Louis.
On the 25th of September, 1909, in this city, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Edith Trotter Smith, a daughter of S. Jenks Smith, who had removed to St. Louis from Philadelphia where he had been president of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The family came from Maryland, although one of the great uncles of Mrs. Wood, Andrew Jackson Smith, was postmaster of St. Louis in an early day. He also served in the northern army during the Civil war. The mother of Mrs. Wood belonged to the Newbold family of Philadelphia and one of her direct ancestors was a captain in Washington's army in the Revolutionary war and went through the memorable winter at Valley Forge with all of its hard- ships and discouragement. His personal diary, kept during that time, is now preserved in a church at Valley Forge and is one of the most interesting narratives of personal, military and political affairs of that period. To Mr. and Mrs. Wood has been born a daughter, Laura Emily Newbold, whose birth occurred March 15, 1911.
In politics Mr. Wood is an independent democrat. He had taken an active and prominent part in all public affairs but not as an officer seeker-simply as a citizen who holds to high standards in regard to civic interests. He was sec- retary for several years of the Municipal Voters League, is active in the Civic League and is also prominent in connection with the movement for a new con- stitution, for reform in election methods and in all fine public projects. When he speaks upon questions of this character he is forceful, clear and convincing, recognizing that strength lies in a direct utterance. He was for several years attorney for the St. Louis Bar Association. He belongs to no secret societies and no social clubs but is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. During the World war as government appeal attorney of the twenty-sixth ward he gave up most of his time to the general service. An Episcopalian in religious faith his membership is in the Church of the Ascension in St. Louis of which he has been
treasurer and vestryman since 1916. Ile is now residing at 5059 Waterman avenue and has recently purchased an estate of one hundred and thirty acres on the Conway road in St. Louis county and is looking forward to making that his permanent home. He is a man of quiet, domestic taste, finding his greatest happiness at his own fireside, and is a delightful companion at all times according to the testimony of the many who are proud to call him friend.
G. G. Monis. M.O.
Christopher Columbus Morris, AL.D.
D
R. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS MORRIS, a surgeon of St. Louis, was born in Putnam county, Indiana, December 27, 1858, his parents being Joseph M. and Sarah E. (Owen) Morris. He is a representative of old American families and one of his uncles in the maternal line, William Owen, served with the Union army in the Civil war.
Dr. Morris pursued his early education in the public schools of his native state and afterward attended Licking Academy at Licking, Missouri, subsequent to which time he entered the Missouri State University and won the M. D. degree in IS84. He has since taken post-graduate work in the New York Polyelinie during the winter of 1890-91 and in 1896 Ewing College conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree in recognition of his valuable scientifie labors. He took up the general practice of medicine in northeast Missouri, where he remained until 1890, and in 1891 he opened an office in St. Louis. In 1893 he organized the St. Louis Baptist Hospital, of which he is now superintendent and surgeon in chief. He is recognized as an eminent authority on his branch of the profession, his skill and ability being proven in many major operations. He has devoted practically his entire time to his profession and is constantly studying to perfeet himself in his chosen life work. In 1906 he took post-graduate work in the clinics of London, Berlin and Paris. Ile is a member of the St. Louis Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Society, the Amer- iean Medical Association, the American Electro-Therapeutic Association and a life member of the American Hospital Association. He is also a member of the American Association of Railway Surgeons, the Southern Medical Association and Southern States Association of Railway Surgeons; consulting surgeon of the Missouri Pacific Railway and substitute surgeon of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway.
On the 17th of June, 1885, Dr. Morris was united in marriage to Miss Willa Raines and they became the parents of a daughter, Ina, who is now the wife of J. Travis Fleishel, vice president of the Cain-Hurley Lumber Company of St. Louis, Missouri. They have two children, Florence and Ina. In 1917 Dr. Morris was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away on the 5th of October of that year.
During the war Dr. Morris was chairman of Medical Advisory Board, No. 7, of St. Louis and also received recognition from the war department for services proffered to the Volunteer Medical Service Corps in connection with the Council of National Defense. In polities he is a republican where political issues are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. Fraternally he is a Mason who has taken the degrees of both York and Scottish Rites. Hle belongs to the St. Louis Club and finds his chief recreation in golf. His religious faith
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Christopher Columbus Morris, H.D.
is that of the Baptist church, his membership being with the Second Baptist church of St. Louis, and for the past twenty-eight years he has been the super- intendent and chief surgeon of the St. Louis Baptist Hospital. In this connec- tion he has done a wonderful work for the benefit of mankind and his labors have indeed been far-reaching and beneficial. He has ever maintained the highest personal as well as professional standards and has always enjoyed the fullest confidence and respect of his professional brethren and the general public.
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Edwin S, Pillsbury
Edwin S. Pillsbury
E DWIN S. PILLSBURY, president of the Century Electric Company of St. Louis, was born in Riley county, Kansas. January 12, 1867, his parents being Leonard H. and Evelyn S. (Sanborn) Pillsbury, both of whom were representatives of old and well known New England families. The ancestry of the Pillsbury family can be traced back to about 1638, when representatives of the name came from England to the new world. The Sanborn family is also of English lineage, Evelyn S. Sanborn being a daughter of Captain Frederick Sanborn. Leonard H. Pillsbury, the father, was born in New Hampshire and was educated at the Phillips Exeter Academy at Exeter, that state. He later went to Kansas with the earliest settlers and passed through the usual experiences and hardships of frontier life for several years. Realizing that there was limitless opportunity in the legal profession he deter- mined to study law and returned to Exeter where he began preparation for the bar. It was in 1862 that he wedded Evelyn S. Sanborn, the marriage being celebrated on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning, a week later, Mr. Pillsbury participated in the battle of South Mountain. He had recruited a company, of which he became captain, his command being mustered in as Company A of the Ninth New Hampshire Volunteers. He also participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Antietam and Vicksburg and after the latter campaign only nine men out of his original company of one hundred and twelve responded to the roll-call. After the close of the war Leonard H. Pillsbury returned to Riley county, Kansas, where he conducted a newspaper and was also engaged in surveying for several years. From there he removed to Memphis, Tennessee, where for about five years he was an officer in the United States court. He then returned to New Hampshire where he engaged in general merchandising at Derry in connection with his brother and has since been a resident of that place. An interesting fact of his long and honorable career is that thirty years ago he served in the state legislature and during the year 1920, at the ripe old age of eighty-five, his fellow citizens again called him to the same position and he is now a member of the general assembly of the old Granite state. His wife has passed away, survived by the following sons and daughter: Frederick S., Ambrose Burnside, Edwin S., William S., and Grace.
At the age of seven years Edwin S. Pillsbury was in Memphis, Tennessee, to which place his father had removed the family, there holding a position in the United States court. Soon afterward, however, Edwin S. Pillsbury went to New England, where he attended the public schools and the Pinkerton Academy at Derry, New Hampshire, while later he became a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston. In 1894 Mr. Pillsbury came to St. Louis, having accepted a contract with the Emerson Electric Manufacturing Company
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Gowin S. Pillsbury
to develop the single phase alternating current motor, which up to that time had not proven a success. It was Mr. Pillsbury's work that resulted in the produc- tion of the successful repulsion start, induction operating, alternating current motor and in the manufacture of this type of motor today St. Louis leads the world. After the expiration of his contract with the above firm Mr. Pillsbury was for some time connected with the Wagner Electric Company of this city.
In 1902 he joined the H. E. Lindsey Electrical Supply Company, jobbers of electrical supplies, etc., and at once changed this company to a manufacturing concern. In 1904 the name of the Century Electric Company was adopted and Mr. Pillsbury took control of the business, of which he was later elected president. The company is today capitalized for one million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Under his guidance the business has made rapid, substantial and satisfactory progress and today the Century motors are in use all over the world, shipments being made to China, Japan, Australia, South America and in fact to every part of the world. The output has now reached large proportions and the business is one of the large productive industries of St. Louis. The plant, which is located at Pine and Nineteenth streets, extends through to Olive street. The company owns the property on both sides of Pine street from Eighteenth to Nineteenth, with the exception of the parcel on the northeast corner of Eighteenth street. The plant is modern in every respect and the company has just completed, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars, a new seven-story building in the middle of the block on the south side of Pine street. This building is one hundred and eighty feet long and is the last word in factory construction. In these magnificent plants employment is given to over one thousand high grade mechanics and the most advanced standards are maintained in connection with the output.
On the 17th of June, 1907, in St. Louis, Mr. Pillsbury was married to Miss Harriet Brown, a native of Missouri, who was born at Ironton, and they have become the parents of three sons: Frederick S., Joyce and William. The religious faith of the family is Baptist and they are members of the Third Baptist church of St. Louis, in which Mr. Pillsbury is serving as a trustee. Mr. Pillsbury is president of the Missouri Baptist Sanitarium and is also a trustee of William Jewell College at Liberty, Missouri. In political views he is a republican. The family now occupies a fine country residence, Ridgeview, on the MeKnight road, near Clayton. His has been a most active, busy and useful life. His enter- prise and industry have enabled him to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path and step by step he has advanced, at all times keeping in touch with the onward trend of the electrical business. Thoroughly informed concerning every phase of the work his progressive methods have taken on tangible form and not only has he profited individually from the conduct of the industrial plant which he has built up but has also contributed much to the prosperity and business growth of the city and state.
Sincerely your friend W EMinar
William Eli Alinor, M.D.
R. WILLIAM ELI MINOR is one of the ablest and most sue- D cessful physicians and surgeons of Kansas City, but important as he regards his professional duties there is still another line of activity which features still more largely in his life record. Those who know him well-and he has a wide acquaintance- say that without invidious distinction he may be termed one of the foremost philanthropists of Kansas City, for he is ever making all other interests subservient to his continuous effort to do for his fellowmen, and is particularly well known in connection with uplift work. He was born in Chillicothe, Missouri, June 8, 1865, a son of Preston 11. and Lydia A. (Pace) Minor. The father was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and when about twenty-five years of age became a resident of Chillicothe, Missouri. The grandfather was a native of Virginia and in young manhood removed to Kentucky. The Minors all came originally from Virginia and many are still prominently known in that state. One of the number, John B. Minor, was for many years president of the University of Virginia and was the author of some noted law books.
Dr. Minor of this review attended the public schools and the seminary at Chillicothe and then, having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he pursued his studies in St. Louis and in Kansas City, winning his degree from the Kansas City University Medical College as a member of the class of 1889. Later he took a regular post-graduate course in the New York, Phila- delphia and Chicago colleges and he also studied in and visited the principal European surgical clinics. Ile has always specialized in rectal and abdom- inal surgery in Kansas City since 1889 and has operated almost exclusively at Research Hospital for thirty years. lle has been physician in charge of the Thornton & Minor Sanitarium since the death of his father-in-law, Dr. Thorn- ton, in 1895. There are few who have more fully met the obligations of man in relation to his fellowmen than has Dr. Minor. He is continually striving to assist the individual and promote the welfare of the community and there are many tangible evidences of his devotion to the public good. He gave liberally of time and money to the Christian Hospital and for the past twenty-five years has contributed most liberally to all needed buildings at the Research Hospi- tal. Ile was one of the heavy subscribers to all the war drives put over in Kansas City and particularly to the Red Cross drives. In all of his activities the needs of the poor are first with him professionally and financially and he is continually extending his professional aid when he knows that there can be no chance of financial recompense.
Because he has used his talents wisely and well, because his judgment in business affairs is thoroughly sound and his methods progressive and reliable,
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William Gli Minor, O.D.
he has become the holder of large real estate interests in Kansas City. It was through his activities that the new Federal Reserve Bank secured its location. He was also the owner of the Reliance building, which is occupied by the Thornton & Minor Institute. This was built by Dr. Minor and is the first solid concrete building erected in Kansas City. In fact he formed a most important link in a group of publie-spirited citizens who have upbuilded and maintained the business district of the eity, assisting materially and financially in locating many of its large buildings, such as the Young Men's Christian Association building, the Interurban Station and the Federal Reserve Bank. IIe was like- wise instrumental in promoting the construction of the Automobile Club build- ing on Oak street. This was a pioneer building in conerete construction and is the first building in the United States in which was used a fifty-foot concrete girder without steel supports or reenforeements, having been erected in 1913. Dr. Minor also has other important real estate interests in Kansas City, from which he derives a very gratifying income that is most wisely and generously used for the benefit of his fellowmen.
In Kansas City, Missouri, in 1888, Dr. Minor was married to Miss Laura B. Thornton, daughter of Dr. Thomas W. Thornton, with whom Dr. Minor was in partnership until the death of Dr. Thornton about twenty years ago. Her parents were stanch and devoted members of the Christian church, as were her grandparents. Her father came to Missouri from Kentucky when a young man and her mother's family removed to this state from North Carolina, all being worthy and substantial eitizens. Dr. and Mrs. Minor have a daughter, Marie Alicia, who became the wife of Thomas W. Sanborn and resides in Kansas City, where Mr. Sanborn is engaged in the wholesale lumber business.
Dr. and Mrs. Minor are most loyal members of the Linwood Boulevard Christian church and for many years he has served on its board. He is a Knight Templar and also a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise a charter member of Union Lodge, No. 168, I. O. O. F., and he belongs to the Kansas City, Mid-Day, Athletic, Mission Hills, Blue Hills Golf, and other clubs. Ile is likewise a member of the Sons of Revolution and of various civic organizations. He is leading a most busy life without thought of himself, seeking constantly the benefit and good of others.
Junglebeat
Henry Clarkson Scott
F each individual used his talents to the utmost and neglected no duty that devolved upon him the problems of the world would be settled. There are men here and there whose high sense of honor prompts them to the fulfillment of every obligation and to the utilization of every opportunity for advancement. Such was the record of Henry Clarkson Scott who became a dynamic force in the business world, contribut- ing to the upbuilding not only of St. Louis but of various other sections of the country and who, while winning substantial success, never for a moment forgot that business was but one phase of life and not the sole end and aim of existence. On the contrary his career was characterized by the highest principles and the world is better for his having lived. He came to St. Louis from Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his birth occurred on the 5th of May, 1859, his parents being Hugh and Anne (Clarkson) Scott. His public school training was supplemented by a course of study in the Fredericksburg Military Institute from which he was graduated with the rank of captain and adjutant. I
Mr. Seott was a young man of but twenty-two years when he arrived in St. Louis in 1881 and from that time until his demise he was closely associated with business affairs of the city, his energies being first directed to his duties as secretary of the Carondelet Gas Light Company of which he became manager in 1884. Following his resignation he founded the Laclede Power Company and was elected to the presidency, so continuing until the company was taken over by the North American Company. In the meantime he had become closely associated with various industrial, commercial and financial projects and busi- ness enterprises, his cooperation being eagerly sought by reason of his keen business sagacity, his sound judgment and his ability in discriminating between the essential and the non-essential in all business affairs. Moreover, he united and coordinated seemingly diverse elements into a unified and harmonious whole and never stopped short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose. He was not only the president of the Laelede Power Company but also of the National Light & Improvement Company, of the Missouri & Illinois Coal Com- pany and a director of the Merchants Laclede National Bank, the Hydraulic Press Briek Company and the American Central Insurance Company. Various points in the southwest profited by his sound judgment, his keen discernment and indefatigable energy. He became the president of the Fort Worth Light & Power Company of Fort Worth, Texas; president of the Waco Gas Company and Citizens Railway Company of Waco, Texas; president of the Wichita Gas & Electric Company of Wichita, Kansas; vice president of the Bellefontaine Cemetery Association; and a director of the American Surety Company of New York. The value of his judgment in business matters was widely recognized
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and at all times he commanded the respeet of his fellowmen by his fairness, progressiveness and initiative.
On the 14th of February. 1893, was celebrated the marriage of Henry Clarkson Scott and Miss Bertha Drake, whose father, George Silas Drake, is mentioned elsewhere in this work. for he was an honored pioneer resident of St. Louis where he took up his abode in 1526. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Scott were four in number: Hugh, Anne Warburton, George Drake and Alice Marion. The elder daughter on the 12th of June, 1918, became the wife of Thomas S. Blumer of Boston, Massachusetts, where they reside, and they now have one daughter. Naney Scott. Mr. Blumer was a first lieutenant in the Massachusetts Field Artillery during the World war.
Mr. Scott's older son, Hugh, was a member of the Three Hundred and Fortieth Field Artillery of the Eighty-ninth Division. He left the senior class in Yale and was graduated in absento. In May, 1917. he enlisted and was sent to the officers' training camp at Fort Riley, where he was under the instruction of General Wood for a year. He was made a lieutenant in August. 1917, and was sent to France the following June. He participated in the St. Mihiel offensive and was on the Euvexans front at the time of the signing of the armis- tice, after which he was sent with the army of occupation into Germany where he remained until May, 1919. He then returned home and is now associated with Robert Gaylord. Incorporated, a paper box manufacturing company. On the 6th of October, 1920, he married Miss Anne Block, a daughter of Harry L. Block of St. Louis.
George Drake Scott. the younger son, also left Yale where he was a student in the Sheffield Scientific School, in May, 1917, and joined the navy. Later he was transferred to the naval aviation section and was graduated at the Massa- chusetts School of Technology as an ensign in February, 1918. He was then made instructor in aviation at Bay Shore, Long Island, and left the service in April, 1919, with the rank of junior grade lieutenant. He is now associated with George Tiffany & Company, cotton brokers, of St. Louis.
Mr. Scott did not live to witness the splendid record made by his sons in military service for he passed away on the 14th of January, 1911. when fifty-two years of age. He was an Episcopalian in religious faith, attending the services of Christ Church Cathedral, and was a devoted member of its chapter. Mr. Scott long took a helpful part in benevolent and charitable activities and in all good works. For a number of years prior to his death he had been one of the directors of St. Luke's (Episcopal) Hospital and he was chairman of the committee managing the business affairs of Holy Cross Mission. He held membership in the society of the Cincinnati and belonged to the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association of which he was president and director. the Academy of Science, the Missouri Historical Society and various social organizations, including the St. Louis, Noonday, University. St. Louis Country, Florissant, Bellerive, Commercial and Contemporary clubs. When he passed away the Merchants Laclede Bank said of him: "Combined with ripe experience, wisdom and foresight that insured a splendid success and prosperity to whatever business devoted, he possessed such courteous manners, such charming social qualities, and generosity of heart, as endeared him to all his friends and made his loss irreparable." This was but one of many expressions of regret at his passing made by various boards of which
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