Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 105

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 105

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CbChilis

583

CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MISSOURI-CHILES.

sociation, are to be erected upon its grounds at an early day.

Children's Home Society of Mis- souri .- The mission of this worthy society is to rescue homeless, helpless and suffering children and place them in kind families for adoption and to continue to watch over them until they reach maturity. There is an under- standing with the parents that they are not to know where the child is placed, except from the society, through which all necessary information must pass. The first society was organized in Chicago in 1883. In 1898 it was represented in twenty-two States, including among its directors names of the most noted personages. William McKinley, President of the United States, is president of the board of directors of the society in Ohio. . Each State sends delegates in June to an annual convention held in Chicago, where the work of each State is reviewed, papers read and discussed, etc. The Children's Home Society of Missouri was organized in St. Louis in November, 1891, with Dr. John D. Vincil as president. The organization was effected by Rev. Charles F. Williams, of Iowa, who was elected by the national board State superin- tendent for the State of Missouri. Mr. Wil- liams came at once to Missouri and en- countered many difficulties, as St. Louis, then having sixty or more organized charities, felt that a new organization would be an addi- tional burden. He nevertheless succeeded and secured a charter. Early in 1892 the Rev. Gilbert T. Holcomb was elected district superintendent and financial agent for the city of St. Louis. In 1894 the North Side Day Nursery gave up its charter and turned over its money and furniture to the Children's Home Society of Missouri. The St. Louis Auxiliary, consisting of ladies, was organized to take charge of the nursery of the society, at present-1898-located at 3516 Olive Street. Up to 1898, 868 children had been received into the society's guardianship. Out of that number a few had died, some had been returned to their legal guardians, and something over 700 had been placed in good family homes.

Chiles, Cornelius Carr, banker, was born May 30, 1831. in Clark County, Ken- tucky. His parents were Joel F. and Azubah (Skinner) Chiles, both of whom were natives

of Kentucky. They removed to Missouri in September, 1831, while the son was an infant, and located on a farm ten miles east of Independence, Missouri, which continued to be their home until they were claimed by death, and which is still the family home- stead. At this okl homestead their family was reared and there they spent the many pleasant and profitable years which measured their residence in this State. C. C. Chiles received a common school education. The advantages of college training were not his, and the liberal general knowledge of books and affairs which he mastered in after years was acquired only through persistent effort, inspired by a determination to succeed. It was this persevering spirit that made it possible for him to rise to a high place in the esteem of his fellow men and to become an influential factor in the commercial affairs of western Missouri. His first venture after leaving school, with the ambitions of young manhood to spur him on, was in merchandis- ing at Sibley, Missouri, an historic old town, formerly known as Fort Osage. This settle- ment, under the former name, is referred to in various works of an historical nature and in the pioneer days was one of the most im- portant centers of civilization in the West. It was from Fort Osage that Captain Sibley started, on horseback, for the purpose of measuring the distance froin that point to Fort Union, New Mexico. This was a crude survey, but remarkable as it may seem, the expert government surveyors found afterward that the measurement had been made with wonderful accuracy and so close to the actual figure that no change was made. In honor of this Captain Sibley, the name of Fort Osage was changed to its present name about 1839. Mr. Chiles continued in busi- ness at Sibley until 1854, when he removed to Kentucky and remained one year. At the end of that time he went to Independence, Missouri, and took charge of the famous Overland Mail from Independence, Missouri, to Salt Lake and Fort Union, New Mexico. The method of operating this primitive postal system is described in detail in another part of this work. Suffice it to say that the one in charge of the route was beset by dangers and difficulties constantly, and the hardships and trials attending the work can- not be appreciated by those accustomed only to the modern advantages of civilization.

584

CHILLICOTHE.

He had charge of this mail route for one year and then lived upon a farm for a few years. Later he engaged in the banking business at Independence, Missouri, and has since been identified with the financial affairs of that portion of the State. He bought the interest of Joseph W. Mercer in the bank- ing house of Brown Hughes & Co. A few years after this time the bank was in- corporated as the Anderson-Chiles Banking Company, with a capital stock of $80,000, and Mr. Chiles was the president and manager of the business. In 1889 he disposed of his interest in the Anderson-Chiles Banking Company, and, the capital stock of the Bank of Independence having been increased for the purpose of making it possible for Mr. Chiles and others to become associated in that bank, he connected himself with the Bank of Independence and was made vice president, which position he now holds. He is one of the owners of the large flouring mill of the Waggoner & Gates Milling Company, at Independence, and has other large holdings which add to his strong influence as a pro- gressive, successful business man. He was married in March, 1857. to Miss Anna Hal- lar, of Independence, Missouri. To this union three children have come : Lizzie G., wife of W. H. Wallace, of Kansas City; Mamie C., wife of John M. Dennis, of Balti- more, Maryland, and one son, C. C. Chiles, Jr., who died March 13, 1900. Mr. Chiles is a man who is proud of his State and of the advancement she has made. His clear recol- lection of the time when buffalo roamed over what are now cultivated fields, and when deer were unmolested as they browsed about where electric cars now thread their way, emphasize in his mind the true greatness of Missouri and the wonderful growth that has resulted in the present condition of richness and prosperity. In addition to his interests in this State he has had extensive ranch hold- ings in Colorado and Texas. Politically he is a Democrat.

Chillicothe .- The judicial seat of Liv- ingston County, a city operating under special charter. situated on the platean lying between the Grand and Medicine Rivers near the center of the county. It is the junction point of three lines of railroad, the Hannibal & St. Joseph, the Kansas City branch of the Wabash, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.

Paul, and is 76 miles from St. Joseph, 130 from Hannibal, and 226 from St. Louis. The town was laid out in 1837 on land ob- tained by special grant direct from the United States Government. At different times additions have been made to the origi- nal town. It was incorporated in 1855. It is one of the most healthful cities of Mis- souri ; has well graded and shaded streets, electric lights, fine water works, a well equipped fire department, a handsome court- house and city hall and a number of other fine buildings. The churches in the city are Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, Christian, Presbyterian, Baptist, two Catholic, Episcopal and Congregational ; and two churches, one Methodist and the other Baptist, for colored people. The two best church buildings are the Catholic Churches, and next may be ranked the Presbyterian Church. The principal public institutions are St. Joseph's Academy and St. Joseph's Col- lege, conducted under the control of the Catholic Church, a private normal and com- mercial college, an excellent hospital and an excellent conservatory of music. The Ma- sonic and Odd Fellows orders have build- ings in the city, and other leading fraternal orders have well organized lodges there. The city is supplied with a good telephone system, supports six newspapers, the "Con- stitution," the "Tribune." the "Mail and Star," all of which are published daily and weekly: and the "Crisis." the "Missouri World," and the "Disseminator." published weekly. The public schools of Chillicothe were organized under a special act of the Legislature, passed and approved February 15, 1865, which act constituted "The Board of Education of the City of Chillicothe." Under this act the territory of the school district was to include the city and such ad- joining territory as might be annexed for school purposes. The powers of the corpor- ation are vested in six directors, each elected for three years and two of them elected every year. The board organizes once a year by the election of a president, secretary and treasurer. and the appointment of certain committees. It levies and collects its own taxes and disburses the same. Until 1875 it owned no buiklings worthy of note. In that year the fine Central School Buikling. three stories high, with basement rooms in ad- dition, was erected on a fine block of

5.85

CHOLERA-CHOPIN.

ground, the whole costing about $35.000. The money was borrowed, with which to erect this building, of Mr. Hazelton, of New York City, who donated each year, a portion of the interest on the bonds, to be used to establish a school library for the use of the schools. The library was named "The Hazel- ton Library," and has grown until it now has over 7,000 finely selected books, such as would be useful to the scholars and the read- ing people of the city. Some years after the erection of the Central School Buikling the board erected two handsome brick school buildings, of three stories each, with base- ments, one in the Second Ward of the city, for white children, and one in the Third Ward for colored children. These buildings with grounds and furniture cost about $14.000. About ten years ago the board erected, at about the same cost, two additional ward school buildings, one in the First Ward and the other in the Fourth Ward. The schools are in fine condition and are properly graded. so that those who graduate can enter the State University. They are divided into three departments, namely, primary, gram- mar and high schools. The board employs a superintendent and twenty-seven teachers. There are 2,100 children of school age in the city, as shown by the last enumeration made in May, 1900. There are five teachers in the high school, a principal and four assistants. Three courses of study combine English literature, mathematics, languages, Latin, Greek and German, and the sciences. The high school is thoroughly equipped and there is none better in the State. Three colored schools are maintained and are in a flourish- ing condition. On the 24th of April, 1900, at a special election, the board was empowered to borrow money to the amount of $25,000 to be used in the erection and furnishing of a high-school building to be built in the sum- mer and fall of 1900. Among the business institutions of the city are four substantial banks, two flouring mills, a large creamery, brick works, planing mill, furniture factory, carriage and wagon works, tobacco factory, wooden ware factory, five hotels and about 175 other business places, including stores in various lines of trade, small factories, lum- ber and coal yards, shops, etc. Near the city are coal mines and a superior quality of limestone. The population in 1900 was 6,995.

Cholera .- See "Epidemies."

Chopin, Kate, author, was born Feb- ruary 8, 1851. in St. Louis, daughter of Thomas and Eliza (Faris) O'Flaherty. Her father was a native of the County Galway, Ireland. and her mother was of mixed Vir- ginia and French ancestry. Her father came of an honorable Irish family, which for gen- erations pursued the avocation of land agents in the County Galway. He came to this country and to St. Louis when a lad of eighteen, and during the early years of his life there was in the employ of Edward Walsh & Co. Later he embarked in the business of merchandising and was at the height of his successful career when he lost his life in the Gasconade Bridge disaster of 1855. llis wife. the mother of Mrs. Chopin, was a woman of great beauty, intelligence and per- sonal magnetism, and her death, in 1885, was a loss to which a large circle of friends and relatives have never been able to become reconciled. Mrs. Chopin was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent in St. Louis, where her studies were of the usual character, then con- sidered imperative, including music, French, literature, a sprinkling of the sciences and much theology. She was graduated from the convent in 1868, at the age of seventeen years, an accomplished young lady, according to the recognized standards, although she herself feels that most of her education was : (mired from the novels of Sir Walter Scott and Fieldling, which she read at a very tender age, when the Civil War was raging. It was a time of great trouble to her family and sorrow to herself when a favorite brother lost his life in the Confederate service. Mrs. Chopin's earliest acquaintance was with the French tongue rather than the English, French being the language spoken in her family in those days. In 1870 she was mar- ried to Oscar Chopin, a native of Louisiana, whom she met in St. Louis, where he was employed as cashier in the bank of his uncle, Louis A. Benoist. After a brief sojourn abroad they went to live in New Orleans. where Mr. Chopin engaged in business as a cotton factor. It was during the decade spent in New Orleans that the six children of Mrs. Chopin were born. In 1880 they re- moved from that city to their plantation in Natchitoches Parish, where in the winter of 1882 Mr. Chopin died. In 1885 his widow

586

CHOSEN FRIENDS, ORDER OF-CHOUTEAU.

returned with her children to St. Louis, and she has since been a resident of that city. In 1889 she began writing, her first work being a novel, entitled "At Fault," which was published in St. Louis and which obtained local celebrity. This was followed by "A No-Account Creole," which appeared soon afterward in the "Century Magazine." Since then she has been writing steadily and suc- cessfully. In 1894 Houghton, Mifflin & Co., of Boston, published a volume of her Creole tales, entitled "Bayou Folk." In 1897 a Chicago firm brought out her "Night in Acadic." April 1, 1899, another Chicago house brought out her novel entitled "The Awakening."

Chosen Friends, Order of .- A mu- tual benefit and fraternal order, organized at Indianapolis, Indiana, May 28, 1879, by Rev. Dr. Thomas G. Beharell, Thomas B. Linn, and others. It admits to membership per- sons of both sexes between the ages of eight- een and fifty-six years, and makes provision for the payment of benefits in cases of total disability, at death, and when members shall have reached the age of seventy-five years. The first council of the order in Missouri was instituted at St. Louis March 5, 1881, by Freeman Wright, and was named St. Louis Council No. 2. Wright was made first chief councillor, and J. H. Williamson first secre- tary. In 1900 there were thirty-three coun- cils in existence in the city, with a membership of 1,865. The total number of councils in the State of Missouri at the same time was forty-nine, and the total member- ship 2,500. There was one council in Kansas City with 68 members; and there were councils also in the following places in Mis- souri: Jefferson City, St. Joseph, De Soto, Bismarck, Springfield, Bowling Green, Moberly, Pacific, St. Charles, Catawissa, Sedalia, Macon City, Hannibal, Montgomery City and Villa Ridge. The order had in the United States a membership of 26,000, and had paid out in benefits $11,500,000.

Chouteau, Auguste, one of the found- ers of St. Louis and for many years its most distinguished citizen, was born in New Or- leans, Louisiana, August 14, 1750, son of Rene and Marie Therese (Bourgeois) Chou- tean. It sounds strange to hear that one of the founders of the great city of St. Louis

was a boy less than fourteen years of age; nevertheless it is true that Auguste Chouteau was only a boy thirteen years and six months old, when he was sent by Laclede to mark out the spot, fell the trees, erect cabins, and make the first beginning of their trading- post near what is now the foot of Walnut Street. It gives us some idea of his character to know that he was intrusted with the task by his stepfather. It was an age when the French were the most enterprising and in- trepid of adventurers and explorers, and Auguste Chouteau seems to have possessed these qualities in a hardly less degree than Laclede himself. When he landed with his party of thirty persons on the shelving shore of the Mississippi and pitched his camp in the solitude, the party were alone in a region they knew nothing about and entirely at the mercy of whatever band of Indians might attack them. West of them was a vast wilderness, and east of them was a deep, wide and rapid river, which they knew flowed past New Orleans to the Gulf, but of whose ex- tent north of them they were ignorant. In an attack from Indians, they might hope to escape by taking to their boats and fleeing to Fort Chartres, or Ste. Genevieve, the little settlements below; but this would be an abandonment of the fur-trading enterprise that had brought them from the charming society of New Orleans to seek their fortunes in this rude and remote region-and such an ending was not to be thought of so long as it was possible to hope for something better. The party recognized their boy leader, and he proved worthy of the trust confided in him. Under his direction, ground was selected for the camp in the locality indicated in a general way by Laclede, and when Laclede, who had remained below at Fort Chartres, came up, his step-son had fairly begun the work of starting the "settlement." Young Chouteau had no dreams of found- ing a state-nor did Laclede. No hint of the populous and mighty empire west of the Mississippi, which we see in the year 1898, crossed their minds ; no hint, even, of what Auguste, lived to see occurred to him, for the change that took place in his lifetime was too great to be conjectured. Laclede died twelve years before the close of the eighteenth century, and while his settlement was still part of the Spanish domain, living only long enough to see his post successfully

587

CHOUTEAU.

established and beginning to secure the fur trade which was the object of it. But Auguste Chouteau survived nearly to the second generation of the nineteenth century, living during the Spanish and French regimes, and for a full quarter of a century under a regime of which probably he did not dream at the beginning, but which his descendants fondly believe will last to the end of time. It is to be presumed that Laclede was recognized as the official pro- prietor of the settlement while he lived ; but there is no person connected with this inter- esting enterprise of whom we know less. We have little else than his name-Ligueste de Laclede- and even that is a puzzle, for he sometimes wrote it Laclede and sometimes Ligueste. The probabilities seem to favor the latter as the name which he preferred ; but the former looks better to our American eyes and comes easier to our American lips, and Laclede it will continue to be to the end. During the twenty-four years from the found- ing of the post, in 1764, to the death of Laclede, in 1788, he was frequently absent, visiting New Orleans and the lower river settlements, and maintaining his connection with and making reports to the firm of Maxent, Laclede & Co., which had sent him out-and in his absence, the supervision of the business of the post of St. Louis devolved upon his step-son, Auguste. He was fitted for the responsibility, even while still a boy, for all the authentic accounts of him that we possess represent him as grave and re- flective, self-possessed, abstemious in his habits, moderate in his opinions, and with but a small share of the vivacity of the French people. It may be that his natural temperament and habits were modified by the fact that he was much looked up to, and that matters were constantly coming up in the settlement that demanded his counsel, decision and action. Certain it is that before Laclede died, in 1788, Auguste Chouteau had become the first person in the settlement- and this character he maintained, not by any efforts or through any desire to maintain it, but by virtue of his wisdom, kindness, and the royal hospitality which his wealth en- abled him to dispense. At first the entire trading operations were conducted by La- clede and Chouteau on account of the New Orleans firm that had sent them out, and after the death of the former, Chouteau -- now

thirty-eight years of age-not only managed the business on his own account in St. Louis, but made occasional visits to the Osage Indian villages in central and western Mis- souri, rode on horseback over the mountains to New York and Philadelphia to arrange for shipments of robes and furs to England and France by way of New Orleans and to confer with his partner, John Jacob .Istor. The journey to the Eastern cities, as then made, required some forty days. He also made visits to New Orleans, to wind up his relations with the old firm of Maxent, La- clede & Co., and afterward to sell his packs of furs, which were sent down the river in his own boats, the boats returning laden with merchandise for the St. Louis trade. The trade had proven profitable from the begin- ning, and this was due, in great measure, 10 Chouteau. He was singularly fortunate in his dealings with the Indians, for while some of the traders, whom his success had attracted to the business, had their expeditionsattacked and their men killed by the savages. Chou- teau's expeditions were exempt from this trouble. At the beginning, his just and humane spirit concurred with his judgment in a general policy of treating the Indians. That policy was fairness, friendliness and confidence, and it saved him from attacks, disasters and losses and made his trading ex- periences peaceful and successful. He was the wealthiest person in the post. in the village, in the town, and in the city of St. Louis while he lived-the largest landholder and the largest trader, living in the largest mansion, and the recognized head of the largest and most influential family. Under the Spanish and French domination, he was simply Monsieur or Mr. Chouteau-the lead- ing Frenchman in a community almost en- tirely French, and in which nothing but French was spoken ; but when the transfer in 1803 made him an American citizen and fam- ilies began to come in from Kentucky, Vir- ginia and other States, it was not long before his popular manners and his high position marked him for promotion. The Americans -with whom, from the beginning, he was and continued to be, on as happy terms as he had been and always continued to be, with the French-could not allow him to go un- honored. and so, in 1808, he was appointed a colonel of militia and bore the title of colonel during the remainder of his lifetime. Colonel

588

CHOUTEAU.

Chouteau, seems never to have had political aspirations ; if he had had such aspirations, with his wealth, kindness and affable man- ners, he might easily have risen to any coveted position in the Territory or State of Missouri. But he was, nevertheless, a man of affairs and everything was thrust upon him. The government at Washington made him Revolutionary Pension Agent and Com- missioner to treat with the Osage Indians. Under the treaty concluded at Ghent, De- cember 24, 1814, between Great Britain and the United States, it was stipulated that the United States should put an end to the war- fare with the hostile Indians ; and to execute the article above alluded to in good faith, the President appointed Colonel Chouteau one of the commissioners, with full power to con- clude a treaty of peace and annuity with such tribes. Owing to his great influence the hostiles came to Portage des Sioux and signed the treaty. The government held him in such high esteem that it entrusted him with immense sums of money, without even a scratch of a pen in the shape of a bond, and when any trouble arose with the Indians of this region he was chosen as arbiter. A copy of the treaty made by Colonel Chouteau and his associates with the Sac tribe of In- dians is in possession of his grandson, J. Gilman Chouteau, and is an exceedingly in- teresting document. The signature of the Indians attached to it are very odd and in- genions and are specimens of the most primitive style of Indian chirography. In negotiating this treaty, the argument used by the commissioners was given a poetic turn, which appealed to the aborigines and secured the desired results. Said Colonel Chouteau : "Put in your mind that as soon as the British made peace with us they left you in the middle of a prairie without a shade or cover against the sun and rain. The British left you positively in the middle of a prairie, worthy of pity. But we Americans have a large umbrella which covers us against the sun and rain, and we offer you, as friends, a share of it." This picturesque presentation of the case won the Indians, and it is not im- probable that some of the descendants of Col- onel Chontean will see that "umbrella" cover the whole of North America. When St. Louis was invested with the dignity of town govern- ment, in 1800, he was made one of the trus- tees, and when the Territorial Legislature

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 105

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n Publication date: 1901 Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors Number of Pages: 856

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856