Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 75

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

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welfare of the city and State in which he had established his home. In 1846 he was elected to the city council, and while serving in that body impressed his progressive ideas on city legislation. His financial acumen especially commended him to the public, and in 1850 he was elected city comptroller, entering upon his discharge of the duties of that office un- der the mayoralty of Mayor Kennett. Be- fore the close of his term, however, he re- signed the comptrollership to become the publisher of the "St. Louis Intelligencer," established by leading citizens of St. Louis, who were especially anxious that the finan- cial and commercial interests of the city should have, in this connection, the benefit of Mr. Budd's sagacity and experience in the promotion of various important enterprises. Associated with him in an editorial capacity were J. B. Crockett, who subsequently be- came one of the judges of the Supreme Court of California, and later E. A. Lewis, afterward judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. He had a marked genius for finan- ciering, and, in addition to formulating many financial enterprises and representing at dif- ferent times large financial interests, was an instructive writer on topics of a kindred na- ture. At an early period of its history, he was financial editor of the "Missouri Demo- crat," and gave that paper a reputation for breadth and intelligence in dealing with mon- etary affairs which was one of the chief fea- tures of its prestige and prominence. At the breaking out of the Civil War his staunch loyalty and recognized ability as a financier combined to bring him into prominence in connection with governmental finances dur- ing that period, and as the agent of Jay Cooke & Co., he sold large numbers of the "five-twenty" bonds of the United States, and also purchased many government se- curities for the New York financiers. From 1864 to 1868 he again served as city comp- troller of St. Louis. Mr. Budd was one of the founders of the Boatmen's Savings Bank, having drafted the charter under which that now famous monetary institution was organ- ized-to encourage thrift and economy among the men connected with the river traffic-and he served also for many years as a member of its board of directors.

Buechle, William Louis, surveyor of customs at St. Joseph, was born April

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BUFFALO.

17. 1860, in St. Joseph, Missouri, son of William and Anna (Altman) Buechle, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father first settled in Kentucky after com- ing to this country from the Fatherland, but left Louisville, where he made his home, in 1856, and removed to St. Joseph, where he became one of the most prominent and highly respected residents of that Missouri city. The elder Buechle came to America a single man, but after realizing the richness and splendors of this country, he returned to Germany, married the girl of his choice, and brought his bride to America. The rel- atives of Mrs. Buechle were distinguished on account of the valiant service they per- formed for Germany in the conflicts between that country and other European powers, and they were particularly prominent on ac- count of the part they took in the bloody struggles of the Franco-Prussian War. Wil- liam L. Buechle was educated in the public schools of St. Joseph, and then attended the business college of Bryant & Stratton, being a student in the branches of that institu- tion at both St. Louis and St. Joseph. He availed himself of a thorough business course and was graduated with an assurance that he was prepared for actual and practical experience. This he demonstrated, and immediately after leaving the business col- lege he held good positions as book- keeper, and in other clerical capacities of a similar nature. Until 1884 he was engaged in office work of various kinds. In the lat- ter year he was appointed to the position of deputy city collector of St. Joseph. He served in this capacity until 1888, when he received the appointment of deputy andi- tor of that city. From 1800 to 1895 he held a remunerative position in the State National Bank of St. Joseph. In the last named year he organized the Buechle Abstract & Title Company, and became the president of that organization, still holding the position at the present time (1900). In 1898 he assisted in the organization of the Buechle Investment Company of St. Joseph, and was elected sec- retary and treasurer of that organization. Mr. Buechle was a member of the Saxton Rifles, formerly a popular military organi- zation of St. Joseph. Politically, Mr. Buechle has been before the public eye for many years, and his record is unblemished. From 1884 to 1890 he was deputy city collector and

auditor of St. Joseph. From 1892 to 1896 he was a member of the common council of St. Joseph, as an alderman-at-large from the Sixth Ward of that city, and served his constituients with marked ability and faith- fulness during that time. He was in the chair as president of the common council during the three terms of 1893-4-5. In 1898 he was appointed by President Mckinley to the important office of surveyor of customs at St. Joseph, Missouri, and is ex-officio custodian of the postoffice and cus- tomhouse building of that city. Mr. Buechle has for years been one of the most promi- nent Republicans of Missouri. He served as chairman of the Republican city central committee of St. Joseph from 1896 to 1898, and was secretary of the same committee during the preceding four years. He has been a member of the Republican congres- sional committee of the Fourth District of Missouri, and has repeatedly been a dele- gate to State conventions and other gath- erings of importance in political circles. He was raised a Presbyterian. In secret soci- ety circles he is one of the prominent men of St. Joseph. He is past master of Charity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, No. 331 ; is a member of Mitchell Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; a member of Hugh de Payens Commandery, No. 51, Knights Templar, and is a past potentate of Moila Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a mem- ber of St. Joseph Lodge, No. 22, Knights of Pythias; Modoc Tribe, No. 29, Independ- ent Order Red Men; the Legion of Honor, Royal Court, and National Union. Mr. Bnechle was married, June 23, 1897. to Miss Elizabeth Osborne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Horace B. Osborne, of Independence, Mis- souri. Mr. Osborne is a prominent retired merchant of that city. Mrs. Buechle has a distinguished ancestry, members of her fam- ily on both sides having served in the Revo- Intionary War. The Osborne family came from New Jersey, and early members of it were prominent Revolutionary officers and conspicuous figures in the events of Colo- nial days.

Buffalo .- The judicial seat of Dallas County, located in Benton Township, twenty- eight miles from Lebanon, on the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway. It is an incorporated city of the fourth class, and is delightfully

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BUGG-BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS.

situated on an eminence overlooking a vast tract of prairie country to the west. The first building erected on the site was built by Joseph F. Miles, in 1839. He gave to the town the name of Buffalo when it was laid out for county seat purposes, in 1844, in honor of his birthplace, Buffalo, New York. The town was first incorporated in 1854, and again in 1870. It has Christian, Presbyterian and Methodist, North and South, Churches, a good courthouse, a fine graded school, two banks, a flouring mill, two newspapers, the "Reflex" and the "Rec- ord ;" two hotels, and thirty business houses, including well stocked stores in various lines of trade and shops. Population, 1899 (esti- mated), 1,500.

Bugg, John P., was born May 10, 1826, in Augusta, Georgia, son of Peter T. and Anna G. Bugg. His grandfather on the paternal side served in the American Army during the War of 1812, and received from Congress a grant of land for the services thus rendered. The parents of John P. Bugg removed from Augusta to Columbus, Geor- gia, in his infancy, and in the neighbor- hood of the last named city he attended the country schools in his youth, and in these schools obtained the education which fitted him to become a successful man of affairs. He came to Missouri first in 1854, but in a short time returned to Georgia, and re- mained in his native State during the next year. At the end of that time he came again to Missouri, at the request of his aunt, and took charge of her estate, which was quite widely known as the John H. Perry estate, to which belonged much property in Washington County. For many years there- after he continued to act as the agent for Mrs. Perry, loaning for her large sums of money and handling the lead output of the noted Perry mines. By his careful management and capable financiering, he added largely to the value of this estate, and at Mrs. Perry's death inherited a handsome prop- erty from her. From 1874 until 1889 he was actively engaged in merchandising and mining at Potosi, in company with his brother. In the year last named he disposed of all his business interests in this connec- tion and retired permanently from business to enjoy the fruits of his well spent life and intelligent efforts. Though he had not the

advantages of higher education in his youth, he has been a close observer and a careful reader, and as a consequence has become a man of broad general information, an inter- esting conversationalist and an entertaining, as well as congenial companion at all times. Before the Whig party passed out of ex- Istence Mr. Bugg affiliated with that party politically, and since the demise of that or- ganization he has been a Democrat. He has never had any ambition, however, to fill pub- lic station, and has not aspired to political honors. In October, of 1869, he married Miss Mary Gibbon, whose home was in Dunklin County. They have no children of their own, but have an adopted daughter, on whom they have lavished a wealth of parental affection.

Building and Loan Associations .- These are voluntary associations of persons for assisting one another in acquiring homes by loaning money to their shareholders from a common fund. Different associations have different methods of conducting their affairs, but the general practice is the fixing of shares at a recognized sum-say $200. Each share- holder makes a monthly payment of $1 a share, and the sum of these monthly pay- ments is loaned out to the shareholders who desire to borrow. If the number of shares in an association is 300, and the monthly dues $2 on each share, there will be $600 a month paid in, to be loaned to the mem- bers. If there be two or more members desiring to borrow at the same time, the sum at the disposal of the association-say $600-is put up to the highest bidder, and the bidder offering the highest premium is awarded the money. This premium is de- ducted from the sum and the borrower re- ceives the residue. If the sum borrowed is $600, and the premium bid is 20 per cent, he receives $600 less $120, or $480. The borrower pays monthly interest on the loan at the rate of 6 per cent per annum in ad- vance, which, on $600, would be $3.00 per month. The borrower being a member and shareholder, receives his proportion of the profit which these discounts bring to the as- sociation ; and if the association meets with no losses and its affairs are economically ad- ministered, his monthly payments of $3 in- terest and $1 per share on each of his three shares will pay the loan in 100 months. The

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BUILDING AND LOAN SUPERVISION FUND.

purpose of the associations is to enable per- sons of limited means to secure a home by means of monthly payments. It is the cus- tom to keep little money, or none at all, on hand, but to sell the sum of the monthly payments at the monthly meetings, and where this practice is strictly followed, there is lit- tle temptation for dishonesty and irregular- ity. When a shareholder secures a loan he makes the association secure by giving a trust deed on real estate-generally the plot upon which he proposes to build, or the house he has bought-and, in addition, pledges his shares. Of course, there must be non-borrowers among the shareholders, as well as borrowers. The average in all the associations in St. Louis in 1897 was 39 non- borrowers and 99 borrowers for each one; and in the State, 68 non-borrowers and 126 borrowers and 99 borrowers for each one; rowing members simply pay their monthly dues of $1, and in the end receive the full value of their shares in money. The time in which the shares in an association ma- ture depends on its management, and its measure of exemption from losses. In St. Lonis the range for maturing series down to 1897 was from 70 to 127 months ; and for as- sociations outside of St. Louis the range was from 90 to 165 months.

The associations are subject to super- vision by a State officer, known as Super- visor of Building and Loan Associations, who is required to make an examination at least once a year of each one; this examination being directed to "the mode of conducting and managing its affairs, the action of its directors, the investment of its funds, the security offered its members and those by whom its engagements are held, and whether the requirements of its charter and the law have been complied with." The report of this officer shows that there were, in 1897, 255 associations in the State-156 outside of St. Louis and 97 in the city. Those outside of St. Louis showed cash on hand, $295,999; loans on real estate, $10,175,875; loans on stock, $352,921 ; due from members, $207,011; real estate, $734,973; furniture and fixtures, $39,- 685; miscellaneous, $143,885; total re- sources, $11,950,352; and under liabilities: dues account, $7,302.353; full paid stock, $919.359: prepaid stock, $500,071; bills payable, $446,817; surplus, $2,040,854; pre- miums returnable, $695,537 ; miscellaneous,

$45,358; total, $11,950,352. The 97 associa- tions in St. Louis showed cash on hand, $268,967; loans on real estate, $8,665,408; loans on stock, $262,582 ; due from members, $208,614; real estate, $791,118; furniture, and fixtures, $19,022; miscellaneous, $331,- 642; total resources, $10,547,356; and under liabilities ; dues account, $6,065.328; full paid stock, $399,155 ; prepaid stock, $273,142; bills payable, $726,303; surplus, $1,718,005; premiums returnable, $1, 146,341 ; miscellane- ous, $219,078; total, $10,547,356. The asso- ciations outside of St. Louis showed 36,069 members, of whom 22,464 were borrowers, and 13,605 non-borrowers, with a total of 164,597 shares in force ; and those in the city showed 13,394 members, of whom 9,572 were borrowers, and 3.822 non-borrowers, with a total of 89,095 shares in force; the totals for the whole State being 49,463 members, of whom 32,036 were borrowers, and 17,427 non-borrowers, with a total of 253,692 shares in force. The average membership to each association outside of St. Louis was 228; in St. Louis, 138. The average loan outside of St. Louis was $847; in St. Louis, $2,335. There was a time when a great deal of gross mismanagement and extravagance prevailed among the associations in St. Louis. The supervisor's report shows that when the law of supervision went into effect, in 1895, there were in St. Louis 183 . associations, having re- sources of about $22,000,000. In two years the number had fallen to 86, and the re- sources to $10,547,356; a result due not to supervision so much as to the defects in management which supervision revealed. In 1898 the business of the St. Louis associa- tions had been placed on a better basis, and the report of the supervisor indicated a more hopeful future for them.

D. M. GRISSOM.

Building and Loan Supervision Fund .- A fund constituted of fees paid into the State treasury by the building and loan associations of Missouri. The moneys so received are used to pay the salaries of dep- nty supervisor, clerk, examiner, and for other expenses of that bureau. The receipts into the fund in 1897 were $6.990, and in 1898 $7,925; the disbursements were, in 1897, $5,690, and in 1898, $7,993, with a balance January 1, 1899, of $3,066.

421

BULLARD.

Bullard, Artemas, clergyman, was born in Northbridge, Massachusetts, June 30, 1802, and was graduated at Amherst College in 1826. Two years after. before completing his studies at Andover Theological Seminary, he was induced to become the agent of the Massachusetts Sunday-school Union. The work of this office was not defined. It was a new venture in an untried field. Sunday schools were an experiment. Many did not believe in them. The man needed must have a creative mind, great executive ability, large persuasive powers, and a personality so at- tractive as to disarm prejudice. That these qualities, characteristic of Dr. Bullard in his later years, were possessed by him in emi- nent degree in his youth. is evident from the fact that the distinguished professors at Andover were among the most urgent of those who pressed him to enter at once upon these new duties without waiting to graduate. With Beston for a center, but with headquar- ters in his gig, he rode all over New England, visiting the churches and rousing them to an unheard-of interest in Sunday schools. Not content with such chances to reach the peo- ple by his voice, he established and edited "The Sunday-school Treasury," afterward called "The Well-Spring." This was prob- ably the first of the vast host of such papers. New England did not bound his horizon. His heart turned to the children of those who had left its sheltered homes, its religious privileges, and been lost in the vast wilder- ness. In 1830, with the consent of the soci- ety, he made a tour through the West. The stages touched only the larger places, and were so uncertain, because of the miserable roads, that in Cincinnati he bought a horse and saddle. The rest of the journey through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, back to Buffalo, was made on horseback. His report. dwell- ing specially upon the lack of educational privileges in the new settlements because there were no teachers, roused great interest throughout New England. and resulted in the organization of several societies to send teachers to the West. This movement was exceedingly popular, both East and West, and its influence upon the character of the Middle States can not be overestimated. So marked was the influence wielded by Dr. Bullard that the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions selected him to represent them in the Valley of the

Mississippi, and in 1834 he removed with his family to Cincinnati. From Detroit to New Orleans, he visited all the principal places. It was said of him: "Wherever he went he left the impression of his sincere devotion to every good work, of his lovely character and of his energy. His periodi- cal visits were looked forward to with inter- est and hailed with delight." In June of 1838 he became the pastor of the First Presby- terian Church of St. Louis. It was the only one of that denomination in the city, and there were but few in the State. The whole community began to feel the effect of his interest in temperance and every good enterprise. The death of a prominent citizen in a duel lead him to preach a sermon which roused the most intense feeling. To many it was the first utterance they had ever heard against this prevailing custom. His expe- rience as editor of that little paper in New England had proved to him "the power of the press." So greatly did he feel the need of a clean, honest, fearless daily in the growing city that every effort to establish such a pa- per found in him a ready helper. In the course of years these repeated ventures cost him several thousand dollars. Meanwhile he took advantage of them. Articles from his pen were constantly appearing, but under such varied forms that none suspected they had a single source. His scrap-books show how, under different names, he often wrote on both sides, answering one day as "A Cit- izen" the objections he had raised the day before over the signature of "An Inquirer." No single church, nor even the city, could limit his interest or influence. Soon "the care of all the churches" fell upon him. He speedily gained and held to the end of his life the unstinted love and confidence of his brethren. Many a hard journey he made to visit some weak little church, and always he brought new life and courage. No vacation to New England failed to bring a new acces- sion of young ministers to Missouri, won by his visits to the theological seminaries. His correspondence was very large. So greatly was he impressed with the need of houses of worship in the new settlements that he proposed to the synod the raising of a fund to be loaned as needed for the building of churches. He removed all ob- jections by proposing to go east and raise the money himself. The summer of 1845

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BULLEN.

was spent in this attempt. Visiting all the important churches from Boston to Charles- . ton, South Carolina, he returned in Novem- ber with ample funds, and with ten young preachers, whom he had persuaded to settle in Missouri. A "church erection fund," thus first proposed and secured, is now considered an essential part of denominational machin- ery. In 1850 he was sent to the "World's Peace Convention," held in Frankfort-on-the- Main, as a delegate from the State of Mis- souri. Of his address in the convention the correspondent of the "London Times" wrote : "Dr. Bullard, a tall, thin American, with white hair and purely trans-Atlantic features and countenance, made a great 'hit.' He re- tired amidst universal applause. He had two great qualifications-decided good humor and familiarity with all the objects to which he made allusion." Shortly after his return home the question of removal began to agi- tate his church. Their property on the west side of Fourth Street, between Washington Avenue and St. Charles Street, had become valuable for business. Dr. Bullard was cor- dially beloved by his people; they had also great confidence in his wisdom, yet it took all his tact and several years' time to con- vince the majority that it was not ruinous folly to build a church so far out in the coun- try as Fourteenth Street. Not until 1854 was the vote taken to remove to the northwest corner of Fourteenth and Lucas Place. The new building was completed and dedicated in October, 1855, but on the first day of that year Dr. Bullard was numbered among the victims on the Missouri Pacific Railroad at the falling of the bridge over the Gasconade River. His friends bought a lot in Belle- fontaine Cemetery and erected a monument, and there he was buried. His wife and six of their children rest beside him. His inter- est in higher education and his unusual in- fluence over young men led to an earnest ef- fort by the denomination to secure his serv- ices as secretary of the board of education ; after serious consideration, however, he de- cided to remain with his church in St. Louis. During his last years much of his strength was given to found a college near St. Louis. A very liberal charter was secured. A stone building was erected, and Webster College, with two professors and a freshman class, besides the preparatory department, was in operation, with great hope of permanence.

As president of the board of trustees, he was the mainspring of the enterprise. After his death no one arose to take his place. Web- ster Groves owes its name to the college, and the building belongs to the Soldiers' Orphanage. Dr. Bullard was slightly above six feet, well formed, erect, and of a com- manding appearance. His hair whitened early, and "strangers, on learning his age, were wont to say his years were fewer than his appearance suggested, and his appearance was younger than his reputation would im- ply." He was a ready debater, and if the power to move his audience be the test, a truly eloquent speaker. A clerical friend once said: "I have heard Webster, Everett, Choate; I have heard in the pulpit the Beechers. Adamses, and dozens of professors of rhetoric, but by none of them have I been moved as by this man." Thoroughly conse- crated and unselfish, he cared not for himself, if only the standard of the cross be ad- vanced.

Bullen, Charles W., banker, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1854, son of Samuel and Caroline Bullen. His mother died when he was an infant, and when he was seven years of age his father enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate Army, serv- ing throughout the Civil War, so that in boy- hood the son knew little of parental care and guidance. All the earlier years of his life were spent at Henderson, Kentucky, where he made his home with an elder sister. There 'he attended the public schools in a desultory sort of way, but, although deprived of first-class educational advantages, he ac- quired the habit of self-culture and studied and read to such good advantage that he developed early into an unusually well in- formed and capable youth. His business ex- perience began in Henderson, where he was first employed as a clerk in a book store, his environments in that connection being such that he was able to store his mind with useful knowledge at the same time that he gained practical training for business pur- suits. When he was sixteen years old he came to Missouri, going first to Lynn Creek, where he hoped to find satisfactory employ- ment. Disappointed in this, he went to Se- dalia, Missouri, where he met at first with but little encouragement, and was compelled to accept a position in a dry goods store,

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 75

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