USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 2 > Part 24
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Calvin &. Christy
The home life of Mr. Christy was most attractive. He wedded Miss Mary A. Le Beau and they became the parents of six children: Ellen C., now the wife of Edward W. Uhri, an oil promoter of Fort Worth, Texas; Mary Belle, the wife of Clem T. Strauss, a lumberman of St Louis; Virginia L., the wife of Kenneth M. Davis, engaged in the real estate business in St. Louis; William T .; and John L. and Calvin M., who are with the Laelede-Christy Clay Prodnets Company.
The family eirele was broken by the hand of death in Deeember, 1907, when Mr. Christy passed away at Daytona, Florida, where he had gone with his family to spend the winter. Of him a contemporary biographer has written : "He was a liberal man in charitable and church work, giving generously to benevolent societies and even more liberally in private contributions where none knew his kindness save himself and the recipient of his bounty. He was never ostentatious in his giving, nor did he believe in that indiscriminate charity which fosters vagrancy and idleness, but wherever he felt there was real need he was quiek to lend assistance. Few men have realized so fully the obliga- tions of wealth, and broad humanitarianism was a strong feature in his life." He was a consistent Christian, holding membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and was praetieally the builder of the Christy Memorial church on Mor- gan Ford road and Neosho street. Capable of taking a ealm survey of life, he pondered much over its purposes and for long years did not weigh his acts on the seale of publie policy but on the seale of publie justice and righteousness. Guided by high and noble purposes, his life demonstrated the fact that there need be no division line between business and religion. Mrs. Christy is prom- inent in the social affairs of the eity and sinee the death of her husband makes her home in the Bellevue apartments on Kings Highway.
John Blasdel Shapleigh, M. D.
D R. JOHN BLASDEL SHAPLEIGHI, one of the leading aurists of St. Louis and professor of clinical otology in the St. Louis Medical College, the medical department of Washington Uni- versity, was born in St. Louis, October 31, 1857, and traces his descent back through a line of New England ancestors to Alexander Shapleigh, who was born in England in 1585 and became a merehant and ship owner of Devonshire. Coming to America, he settled at Kittery Point, Maine, about 1635 and there passed away in 1650. The ancestry is represented in succeeding generations by Alex- ander Shapleigh (Il) and his wife, Mary; Captain John and Sarah ( Withers) Shapleigh ; Major Nicholas and Martha (Langdon) Shapleigh; Nicholas and Elizabeth (Plaisted) Shapleigh; Captain Elisha and Elizabeth ( Waldron) Shapleigh; Captain Richard and Dorothy Blasdel Shapleigh; and Augustus Frederick and Elizabeth Anne (Umstead) Shapleigh, the last named being the parents of Dr. Shapleigh of this review.
The father was a native of Portsmonth, New Hampshire, and the mother of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Angustus F. Shapleigh became a prominent hard- ware merchant of St. Louis and in 1843 was the founder of the business which, under the name of the Shapleigh Hardware Company, now ranks among the largest in the central west. Two brothers of the Doctor, A. L. and R. W. Shap- leigh, respectively chairman of the board and president of the corporation, maintain the family connection with the business at the present time and are counted among the most progressive and public-spirited citizens of St. Louis.
John B. Shapleigh, however, chose the practice of medieine as his life work. His preliminary and college education was obtained in Washington University at St. Louis. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the university in 1878, graduating with honor and becoming a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 1881 he was granted the degree of M. D. by the St. Louis Medical College, now the Washington University Medical School, in which he pursued a three years' course. In 1881-2 he was interne in the City Hospital of St. Lonis and in 1882-3 was interne in the Female Hospital, while during the suc- ceeding year he was assistant physician at the City Dispensary. Deriding to limit his practice to diseases of the ear, he prepared for this special work in the elinies of Vienna, Austria, remaining abroad through 1884-5. Returning to St. Lonis in the latter year, he entered upon the practice of his specialty, in which he has won suceess, being recognized as one of the leading aurists of his na- tive city.
Dr. Shapleigh has at various times held positions on the medieal staff of sev- eral hospitals in St. Louis, has been connected with the staff of St. Luke's from 1899 and is a member of the staff of Barnes Hospital. He is also consulting aural
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John Blastel Shapleigh, H. D.
surgeon to the Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital, and was formerly iden- tified with the St. Louis Protestant Hospital, the Deaconess' Hospital and the Missouri Baptist Sanitarium, as a staff officer. Ile is also otologist in chief to the Barnes and St. Louis Children's Hospitals. While he has come prominently before the public through his private practice and hospital work, he has also become equally well known through his activities in the educational field of his profession. In 1886 he became a lecturer on diseases of the ear in the St. Louis Medical College, which since 1891 has been the Washington University Medical School. He continued to act in that capacity until 1890, when he was made clinical professor of diseases of the ear, so continuing until 1895. Through the succeeding seven years he was professor of otology and since 1912 has been clinical professor of otology. He was dean of the medical faculty in 1901-2 and since 1890 has been lecturer on diseases of the ear in St. Luke's Training School for Nurses. In 1910 he was made a member of the hospital board of the city of St. Louis.
Dr. Shapleigh is a member of various medical societies, including the St. Louis Medical Society, the Medical Society of the City Hospital Alumni, the Missouri State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the American Otological Society and the Academy of Science of St. Louis. He is also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
In 1886 Dr. Shapleigh was married to Miss Anna T. Merritt, daughter of Jacob Merritt, of St. Louis, and they have two children, a son, Blasdel, and a daughter, Margaret. Dr. Shapleigh, appreciative of the social amenities of life, holds membership in the Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis Country Club and the University Club. He is also connected with the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce. Ilis career has been one of quiet, unostentatious success and he commands the confidence and respect of his colleagues and of the community. Ile keeps in close touch with all modern research and investigation which bears upon the line of his specialty, his entire professional career being characterized by a progress that has brought him to a position of leadership among the aurists not only of St. Louis but of the Mississippi valley as well.
Rederik Q Schaun
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Frederick Augustus Johann
HERE is much in the life record of Frederick Augustus Johann T that renders it imperative that his history be presented as that of one of the representative citizens of St. Louis. Ile figured prominently in the business and in the elnb eireles of the city and, moreover, he was a veteran of the Civil war, who, in early youth, fired by the spirit of patriotism, joined the "boys in blue" and did effective work for the Union. His life labors were ended on the 10th of February, 1920, at which time he had almost reached the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 29, 1845, and was a son of George Mathew and Marian ( Weigle) Johann, both of whom were natives of Germany, where they were reared and married. Some years later they came to the United States, settling in Philadelphia, where they resided for several years and then came to St. Louis in 1854, the son Frederick being at that time a lad of nine years. He was educated in the public schools of St. Louis and prior to his fifteenth year had volunteered three times for service in the Civil war. Because of his extreme youth his father twice secured his release but on the third occasion determined to let the boy go. His objection to his son's enlistment was wholly on account of his youth and not from lack of patriotism, as the father himself, then sixty-three years of age, enlisted and gave his life to his country, for the hardships and exposures of war were too much for a man of his years and he died in the service. The son Frederick was with the army from 1861 until 1864 as a member of the First Missouri Volunteer Light Artillery and at the time of his death was one of ten surviving members of his regiment. Ile participated in nineteen important engagements and was with his eommand in every battle in which his eomrades took part.
After the close of hostilities Mr. Johann was associated with the Pacific Railroad of Missouri, now the Missouri Pacific, in various official positions, eon- tinuing with the corporation from 1865 until 1886. Ile afterward represented various commercial houses of St. Louis on the road, continuing as a traveling salesman for twelve years, and in 1898 he established business on his own ae- count as a dealer in railway supplies, in which undertaking he was signally successful. He served as president of the F. A. Johann Railway Supply Com- pany until 1915, when he retired from the presideney of the company on ac- count of failing health. He had beeome widely and familiarly known among railroad men throughout the entire country as Colonel Johann and he at all times commanded the respect, confidenee and goodwill of those with whom he came in contaet.
On the 1st of January, 1867, Mr. Johann was married to Miss Virginia Steger, who was born in St. Louis, a daughter of Captain John S. and Ann M.
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Frederick Augustus Johann
(May) Steger and a sister of Captain JJames H. Steger, who served as staff officer in the Civil war with the rank of adjutant general. Mr. Johann is snr- vived by his widow, three sons and two daughters, namely : F. A. Johann, Jr., who is living in Los Angeles, California; Alexander H. and Eugene M., of St. Louis; Effie May, the wife of Dr. T. E. Williams, of Shreveport, Louisiana; and Mrs. Maude Virginia Holt, who is now a widow, making her home with her mother. The latter is a lady of rare innate eulture and refinement whose beau- tiful eharacter has left its impress upon face and feature.
Mr. Johann, while never an office seeker, took an active interest in all civic matters and gave stalwart support to those interests which were promoted for the benefit and upbuilding of the city. He was a democrat in his party affil- iations and served as deputy state and county tax collector and also as dram shop eolleetor in St. Louis in an early day. He was the founder of the Bass Isle Fishing Club and was said to be at one time the most expert angler of St. Louis. He was also president of the Pennsylvania Society during the Lou- isiana Purchase Exposition and was marshal of the day on Pennsylvania day of the fair. He was likewise a member of the St. Louis Legion of Honor and he was the founder and president of the St. Louis Railway Club, remaining as its chief executive officer for many years. He likewise belonged to the Royal Areanum and to Ransom Post, G. A. R., proudly wearing the little bronze bnt- ton that proelaimed him a veteran of the Civil war. His standards of manhood, his measure of patriotie eitizenship, his devotion to high principles and his sterling personal worth in every relation of life commanded for him the unqual- ified respect and confidenee of all.
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Virginia S. Johann.
William & Byers.
William Coward Byers
ILLIAM EDWARD BYERS, lawyer and banker of Kansas W City, was born in Stewart, Ohio, September 6, 1883. Ilis father, Francis Marion Byers, was a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and was a farmer by occupation. In early life he became a resident of Ohio and there continued to reside throughout his remaining days. He served for three years as a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war and was after- ward a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His religious faith was that of the Unitarian church. He married Julia Elizabeth Wharff, a deseend- ant of an old Virginia family, and she still survives her husband, yet making her home in Ohio. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom are living, William E. being the youngest son.
In the year 1904 William E. Byers was graduated from the Marietta Acad- emy of Marietta, Ohio, and continuing his education in Marietta College, re- eeived his Bachelor of Arts degree, Magnum Cum Laude, in 1908. Ile after- ward entered Columbia University of New York city for the study of law and was awarded the LL. B. degree in 1911. He was admitted to practice at the bar of New York in the same year and remained a member of the profession in the Empire state, in the city of New York, until 1912. On the 31st of March of the latter year he arrived in Kansas City and became associated with the law firm of Warren, Dean, MeLeod and Timmons. This firm became one of the most prominent in Kansas City and Mr. Byers' association therewith as a part- ner continued until January 2, 1920. He is now practicing alone, with offices in the Commerce building. IIe is a logical, sound adviser who thinks matters out for himself and has marked business ability in addition to his knowledge of law. However, he excels as an attorney in counselor and advisory work and is also capable in the trial of cases before the court. In addition to his legal interests Mr. Byers was for years chairman of the board of Central Exchange National Bank but has recently sold his stoek in that institution. He is now chairman of the board of the Kansas City Terminal Trust Company and is interested as a stockholder or director in many large commercial and financial concerns. Ile is likewise known in the educational field as an instructor in the Kansas City School of Law and was, at one time, on the editorial staff of the Law Review of the Columbia University Law School.
Mr. Byers belongs to the Kansas City Bar Association and he is identified with many organizations which have to do with the social activity and the civic progress of Kansas City. Ile belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is in- terested in all that has to do with the welfare and upbuilding of the community. He belongs to the Kansas City Athletic Club, and the City Club, is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa of Marietta College and also of the Alpha Sigma Phi
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fraternity. His religious belief is manifest in his connection with the First Con- gregational church, of which he is a trustee. His political support is given to the republican party. Fraternally he is connected with Westport Lodge, No. 340, A. F. & A. M., also with the chapter and commandery.
In 1914 Mr. Byers was married to Miss Anna Blohm, of Marietta, Ohio, and they have a daughter, Frances Elizabeth, now four years of age. The family have many friends and their home is a hospitable one. Mr. Byers has ever held friendship inviolable and has ever recognized the truth of the Emer- sonian philosophy that the way to win a friend is to be one. He is active in church work, does his part in philanthropie projects and at all times can be relied upon to support earnestly and loyally any organization with which he is identified. Consistent application, combined with a good sound logical mind, has constituted the basis of his professional success, which is now most grat- ifying.
AN, Bolle
Lon. August L). Bolte
ON. AUGUST II. BOLTE, who passed away on the 24th of H June, 1920, was a member of the St. Louis bar and assistant counselor of the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. He also figured prominently in the political history of the state as a representative of the democratic party and for four years filled the office of lieutenant governor. He was born Septem- ber 3, 1854, in Franklin county, Missouri, a son of William HI. Bolte, a native of Germany, who came to America in 1838 with his parents. He was then a lad of twelve years, his birth having occurred September 26, 1826. The family home was established in Franklin county, Missouri, and there the grandfather, Caspar HI. Bolte, followed the occupation of farming, although he was a turner by trade. He was numbered among the pioneer settlers of Franklin county and contributed to its early development. Ilis son, William H. Bolte, also followed farming and during the period of the Civil war he was eaptain of a regiment that was raised in Franklin county, remaining with it throughout the period of hostilities for home protection. He also served for two terms as publie administrator of that county and there passed away in August, 1890, when sixty-four years of age. Ilis wife, who bore the maiden name of Wilhelmina (. Haase, was a native of Hanover, Germany, and came to America when a little maiden of six summers in company with her parents, who also cast in their lot among the pioneer residents of Franklin county, where her father followed farming. The death of Mrs. Bolte occurred in St. Louis in February, 1919, when she had reached the advanced age of eighty-five years and ten days. She was the mother of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, of whom eight are living.
August H. Bolte, the eldest of the family, was educated in private, public and parochial sehools in Franklin county and for a year was a pupil in a high school of St. Louis. He also spent two years in study at the Northwestern College at Watertown, Wisconsin, and in preparation for a professional career entered the Missouri State University, from which he was graduated with the LL. B. degree in April, 1875. Ilis early life to the age of sixteen years was spent upon the home farm and after his graduation from the law sehool he entered upon active practice in Union, Franklin county, there remaining until 1907. He was admitted to the state bar in the spring of 1875 and thus for forty-five years was a representative of the legal profession in this state. He belonged to the American Bar Association and to the Missouri State Bar Associa- tion. At the outset of his career he recognized that industry is just as essential in law practice as in commercial or industrial pursuits and he always displayed the utmost thoroughness in the preparation of his cases, while his analytical mind was manifest in his logical deductions and clear reasoning.
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Don. August ID. Bolte
Mr. Bolte also became a well known factor in democratie circles in the state and did much to further the interests of his party. In November, 1880, he was eleeted probate judge and so served until January, 1894. He was prosecuting attorney from January, 1894, until 1897 and in 1896 was elected lieutenant governor of Missouri, filling the office for four years. His opinions long car- ried weight in the councils of his party and contributed to shaping the policy and directing the destiny of the commonwealth.
On the 26th of December, 1881, Mr. Bolte was married to Miss Christina C. Arand, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Christopher Arand. Mrs. Bolte passed away in St. Louis, September 13, 1909. They are survived by two dangh- ters, Adele M. and Clara I.
During the war period Mr. Bolte served on the legal advisory board of the thirteenth ward and otherwise maintained a most helpful attitude in regard to war activities. He was a member of the Evangelieal Lutheran church and at the time of his demise was serving as president of the board of the Church of the Messiah. From early manhood he has been a deep student of vital publie ques- tions and had manifested the keenest interest in all those problems which affect the welfare of community, commonwealth and country. His standards were high and he ever kept abreast with the best thinking men of the age regarding the great sociological, economie and political problems before the country.
William Albert Stickney
FORCEFUL figure in the business world was William Albert A Stickney, who became one of the most widely known wholesale cigar dealers of the United States, developing in St. Louis a business of very substantial proportions. He came of New England ancestry and was a representative of the eighth gen- eration of the Stickney family in the new world. The an- cestral line is traced back to William Stickney, who came from England prior to 1650 and first settled in Boston, while subsequently he re- moved to Rowley, Massachusetts. Abraham Stickney, of the third generation in direct line of descent, served in the colonial wars as an ensign in the regiment commanded by Colonel Eleazer Tyng in 1757. His son Abraham was a lieuten- ant under three commands in the Revolutionary war, from 1776 until 1778, and it was by reason of this that William Albert Stickney held membership with the Society of Colonial Wars and with the Sons of the Revolution. His parents were Dr. Augustus G. and Louise ( Wilson) Stickney.
William Albert Stickney was born at West Townsend, Massachusetts, Au- gust 5, 1844, and in that locality was reared and educated. In 1862, when eighteen years of age, he secured a elerkship in a mercantile establishment of Boston, where he was employed for two years About that time the last call for troops for service in the Civil war was made and he enlisted in the Sixth Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry, serving with that command until after the close of the war. Following his discharge he went to New York city, where he be- came identified with the line of business in which he was so signally successful. He familiarized himself with every detail of cigar manufacturing and in 1872 he came west to establish a wholesale cigar house in the Mississippi valley. St. Louis was chosen as a suitable location, and with somewhat limited capital but with thorough knowledge of the tobacco trade and especially that branch which in- cludes the importation, manufacture and sale of cigars, he established business and as the years passed developed his interests until he was at the head of a most extensive enterprise, conducted under the name of the William A. Stickney Cigar Company. His trade radius was much broader than that covered by many other lines centering in St. Louis and at length he found himself at the head of the largest jobbing house in the cigar trade in the United States, while at the same time he enjoyed an unassailable reputation for the high character of his business methods and his thorough reliability in all transactions. A branch house was opened and maintained in Kansas City, also at Denver and Salt Lake City, the trade being controlled directly from the St. Louis house, while through the branch houses the business was extended throughout all the southern and Gulf states, westward to the Pacific coast and northward to the Canadian line. Many of the brands of cigars, like the Chancellor, Security and
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William Albert Stickney
Preferencia, have become known as standard throughout the entire country, while the house o'ertopped all others in the large importation of fine cigars in the United States.
Mr. Stickney was a man of unfeigned cordiality, social by nature and ex- ceedingly popular wherever he was known. He was especially welcomed in the circles of the Mercantile, University and other clubs in which he held mem- bership and he was also prominently known in the leading fraternal orders.
In 1873 Mr. Stickney was married to Miss Millicent M. Taylor, of Coving- ton, Kentucky, and they became the parents of four children: Albert Taylor, now of the Stickney-Holscher Cigar Company of St. Louis; Stewart Grovesnor, who is with A. G. Edwards & Sons, bond brokers of St. Louis; William Arthur, also with A. G. Edwards & Sons; and Mildred, the wife of Orion J. Willis, of St. Louis.
Mrs. Stickney was one of the most active women in war work in St. Louis. She was chosen chairman of the Comforts Committee of the Navy League and for twenty-three months devoted her entire time to the work. She sold her handsome home on Westmoreland Place to be free from household responsi- bilities and took an apartment in the St. Regis Apartments that she might give undivided attention to the needs and comforts of the boys in the navy. The work was most thoroughly systematized under her direction and through the organization in twenty-three months were sent out almost twenty-eight thousand knitted garments, more than ten thousand three hundred comfort kits, nine thousand three hundred and fifty-two housewives and nine thousand four hun- dred and thirty-six miscellaneous articles. The total receipts of the organ- ization in cash were forty-three thousand nine hundred and seventy-four dollars and when the work closed there was a balance of four hundred and fifty dollars in the treasury. In the management of all this Mrs. Stickney displayed marked executive and administrative ability. In the days when the country is not facing such a crisis as it did in the World war, Mrs. Stickney is particularly a home woman, her devotion to her family being her first interest-a devotion which was thoroughly shared by Mr. Stickney, who found the keenest happiness in pro- viding for the members of his own household. At the same time he was recog- nized as a leader in the leading clubs of the city and as a dynamic force in business circles-one in whose career there was not a single esoteric phase and whose example may well serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to . others. His demise occurred on the 4th of July, 1913.
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