USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 8
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produced from our mines in our own coun- try"; the holding of all government lands for sale or homestead entry to bona fide settlers only; the ownership and control of mineral lands by the government; ownership of all public conveniences and utilities by the na- tional, State, county or municipal govern- ment ; taxation of all real or personal property not owned and controlled by the govern- ment ; equal suffrage in all the States ; the es- tablishment of an income tax ; exclusion of the pauper labor and criminal classes of other countries from the United States by the ini- position of a head tax of $200 on all single per- sons over sixteen years of age, and $50 on each minor child of a family; requiring aliens to reside in the United States seven years before being entitled to vote; the enactment of a na- tional compulsory educational law; amend- ment of the Constitution of the United States so as to provide for the election of President, and Vice President, United States Senators and Speaker of the House of Representatives by direct vote of the people; constitutional provision for a system of initiative and referen- dum ; and the maintenance by the general gov- ernment of a national public school system. The headquarters of the first national com- mittee of the American party were established at Detroit, Michigan.
American Protective Association. A secret political society, organized at Clinton. Iowa, in March of 1887. by H. F. Bower. Vigorous efforts were at once made to so ex- tend the organization as to make it a power in the politics of the country, and a national council was instituted at a convention of rep- resentatives of local councils held in Chicago, in 1888, H. F. Bower being made president of this first national council. The members of the association were, at the beginning and have since been, sworn to secrecy as to its aims, purposes and methods of procedure in political affairs. Its public declarations have been in favor of the purification of the ballot, the complete separation of church and State, the preservation of free speech and a free press ; preservation of the public school system uncontaminated by sectarian influences ; the taxation of church property, the restriction of foreign immigration, the election of American- born citizens to office, and in opposition to the appropriation of public moneys to the sup- port of sectarian institutions. It has also
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AMERICAN PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION-AMES.
been declared to be one of the chief objects of the association to resent the attempts of any religious organization to influence legislation or governmental action in its favor. While disclaiming hostility to any particular church, the organization is, in effect, anti-Catholic, and all its influences are apparently arrayed against members of that church who become candidates for office. It has generally been re- garded by the uninitiated as a revival of the so-called "Know-nothing" movement, which swept over the country between 1853 and 1856, and doubtless has the same objects in the main, although it has never proposed pro- scription of foreigners to the same extent. The association has wielded an important in- fluence in politics in many purely local politi- cal contests and has determined the results of State elections in some instances, but has never materially affected a national contest. The first council was organized in St. Louis at Druid's Hall, in the spring of 1890, with A. L. Briggs as president, and about twenty mem- bers. The memberships increased rapidly and councils numbered up to twelve, in regu- lar order, were established within a few years. The popular superstition concerning the num- ber thirteen operated to prevent the organi- zation of a council bearing that number, but beginning again with fourteen, councils sub- sequently organized were numbered in regu- lar order up to seventy-one, many of these councils, however, being established in the State outside of St. Louis. In 1895 the asso- ciation attained its greatest degree of pros- perity in Missouri, its membership being esti- mated at 35,000 in the State. In St. Louis the organization admittedly exercised a control- ling influence in politics and has given con- vincing proofs of its power. The national advisory board of the association, composed of representatives from each State and Ter- ritory of the Union, met in St. Louis, in 1895, and the meeting was generally regarded as one of very considerable political importance. Soon after this, however, many leading mem- bers in St. Louis withdrew, claiming that, while pledged to non-partisan action, the or- ganization was being manipulated in the in- terest of the Republican party. As a result of these dissensions, the membership of the as- sociation has since largely decreased, and in 1897 there were but twenty-five councils in existence in the city, as against thirty-two in 1895.
American Protestant Association. This association was organized in Philadel- phia in 1850, having for its avowed object the promotion of Protestantism as against Roman Catholicism in the United States, the fostering of civil liberty and the upbuilding of the pub- lic school system. Only Protestants are ad- mitted to membership in the organization. It combines life insurance with fraternal fea- tures, and pays death benefits, collected by as- sessments on its members. The first lodge was established in St. Louis, July 26, 1856, and the Grand Lodge of Missouri was organized in that city, July 4, 1863. The charter mem- bers of the Grand Lodge were James C. Camp- bell, Charles Myer, August Heusnerr, Julius C. Schmidt, Frederick Damschroeder, Frank Hussman, Charles E. Boehmer, Ernest Koenig, August Timke, John Conzelman, Frederick Steinbrecher and Harry Gerhold. The membership in St. Louis is largely con- posed of Germans.
Ames, Edgar, one of the builders of a great industry in St. Louis, and a prominent and influential man of affairs, was born Octo- ber 26, 1824, in Oneida County, New York, youngest of the three children of Nathan Ames, whose ancestors settled in Massachu- setts in 1643. His father removed to Cincin- nati, Ohio, when the son was four years old, and Edgar Ames was educated in that city, completing his studies at Cincinnati College. After the removal of the elder Ames to St. Louis he was admitted to a partnership in the pork-packing business which his father estab- lished in that city, and in conjunction with his brother, Henry Ames, continued the business after the death of their father. They were among the pioneers in building up a business which has since grown to such vast propor- tions in Illinois and Missouri that these two States may be said to control the pork trade of the world. In their day the Ames brothers were among the largest operators in pork products in the United States, both careful, conscientious and conservative men of affairs, and useful and enterprising citizens. Henry Ames died in 1866, and Edgar Ames continued the business which they had conducted to- gether until December 9, 1867, when he, too, passed away. He had accumulated large wealth, of which he made generous use to ad- vance the interests of the city, and his death was mourned by all classes of people. He
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was one of the men who set on foot the move- ment to build the first grain elevator in St. Louis, and, after overcoming determined op- position to the project, finally erected, in 1864, the St Louis Grain Elevator, which is still in existence. The State Savings Institution, the Pacific Insurance Company, the Atlantic & Mississippi Steamship Company, the Mem- phis Packet Company, and the Belcher Sugar Refining Company were corporations with which he was also identified, and in which he served at different times as a director. Al- most every public enterprise seemed to seek his counsel and advice, and whatever helped to build up St. Louis interested him and re- ceived his substantial aid and encouragement. He helped to build the Lindell Hotel in 1864, subscribing $100,000 to that enterprise, and in all the commercial circles of the city his ripe wisdom and sound judgment gave value to his views and made him a trusted guide and counselor for financiers and men of affairs. He was exceedingly popular, and his popu- larity was based on his high personal worth. Strict integrity characterized all his transac- tions. Large-hearted and large-minded, he was a man of liberal culture, loving wealth not for itself, but for what it would bring. When asked once why he worked so hard and untir- ingly to increase his wealth, when he was al- ready possessed of an amount far beyond his needs, his answer was: "I work to make money to beautify our city." He died sud- denly while still in the prime of life and in the full tide of success, at a time when his energies were engaged in plans from the exe- cution of which, it is believed, the community in which he lived would have reaped large benefits. The devotees of literature, art and science found in him a friend and patron. His private benefactions were many. His sympa- thies were quick and active, and often he did not wait for an appeal for help. In number- less instances, if misfortune overtook a friend, or only loomed up threateningly, he proffered both counsel and financial assistance, and his timely and energetic action often arrested im- minent disaster. Personally he was gracious and genial, and distinguished for his suave and courteous manners. But only those who knew him well were aware of his rare excel- lencies and virtuies. The relations which ex- isted between him and his brother, Henry Ames, throughout their lives, were of an ideal character, and an incident of exceptional devo-
tion on his part should be mentioned in this connection. After Henry Ames had been stricken with paralysis and had tried many remedies for the dread disease unavailingly, physicians advised that the poison of the "crotalus" should be administered to him. After the ophidian virus had been procured Edgar Ames refused to allow it to be admin- istered to his brother until its effect upon the human system had first been tested by a series of experiments upon himself. Such deep fra- ternal regard as this is seldom witnessed, but it was only one of many evidences of Edgar Ames' boundless affection for those endeared to him by family ties. June 5, 1860, he mar- ried Miss Lucy Virginia Semple, second daughter of Judge James Semple, of Illinois, at one time a United States Senator from that State. The children who survived him were Ada Semple Ames, Henry Semple Ames, Mary Semple Ames and Edgar Ames.
Ames, Edgar R., clergyman, was born in Adams County, Ohio, May 20, 1806, and was educated in Ohio University. During his collegiate course he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and entered the Illinois Conference in 1830. In 1837 he was trans- ferred to the Missouri Conference, and was stationed in St. Louis for two years. He was transferred to the Indiana Conference, and in 1840 was elected missionary secretary, giving special attention to the duties of his office in the West. In 1848 he became president of the Indiana Asbury University. In 1852 he was elected bishop, and filled the office till his death. His later years were spent in Balti- more.
Ames, Henry, who was for many years a conspicuous figure in the commercial cir- cles of St. Louis, and who was also one of the city's most public-spirited citizens, was born in Oneida County, New York, March 4, ISIS. His father was Nathan Ames, who was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits in early life, later embarked in pork-packing in Cincinnati, Ohio, came from there to St. Louis and founded a great pork-packing establishment in that city in 1841, and died there in 1852. After receiving a thorough English education Henry Ames began his business career as an employe in his father's pork-packing house in Cincinnati. The elder Ames was a sagacious man of affairs, and the son received under his
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AMITY-ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS.
supervision a very careful training for com- mercial pursuits, and demonstrated. while still a youth, that he had a genius for trade and rare judgment, and could be trusted to dis- charge important duties. When only fifteen years old he began making trips down the river on his father's flatboats laden for the New Orleans market, and so well did he man- age the business committed to his charge in this connection that he soon became recog- nized by those with whom he came into con- tact in the river trade as a man in ability. al- though only a boy in years and stature. When his father removed his business to St. Louis the son became associated with him as a part- ner, and. after the elder Ames' death, con- tinned the pork-packing enterprise inaugu - rated by him with such success that the house ultimately took rank among the greatest pork- packing institutions of the United States, and operated. especially during the Civil War, on a colossal scale. As his wealth increased his activities extended into various fields of en- terprise, and he became identified officially and as an investor with many important cor- porations. IIe was at one time vice president of the State Savings Institution, was a director in the Merchants' Insurance Company, a di- rector of the Belcher Sugar Refinery, of the Atlantic & Mississippi Steamship Company, of the United States Insurance Company, of the State Savings Association, and of the Memphis & St. Louis Packet Company. He and his brother, Edgar Ames, built the Lindell Hotel in 1864, and in 1869 he organized the St. Louis & New Orleans Packet Company. which became the successor of the Atlantic & Mississippi Steamship Company. Mr. Ames was one of the largest stockholders in this en- terprise, was a director of the corporation, and the old-time steamer "Henry Ames" was so named in his honor. In 1860, acting in con- junction with Edgar Ames and Albert Pearce, he set on foot a movement to construct the first grain elevator erected in St. Louis, but met with such opposition from city officials that it was not until 1864 that the projected elevator was built. It stood on the levee. be- tween Biddle and Ashley Streets, and was the property of what was known as the St. Louis Elevator Company. Mr. Ames was noted al- ways for his devotion to the welfare of St. Louis, and every movement which had for its object the advancement of its material inter- ests received his substantial aid and encour-
agement. Ile had remarkable energy and an indomitable will, and during the later years of his life. after he had been prostrated by a paralytic stroke and rendered totally unable to walk, he was driven regularly to his place of business, carried into his office and per- sonally directed the conduct of affairs of large magnitude. While suffering from this illness he visited California, Canada, Cuba and South America in the hope of regaining his health, but his efforts in this direction were fruitless, and he died at Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 14. 1866.
Amity .- A small village six miles from Maysville, in De Kalb County, on the Chi- cago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and named after Amity Church, which stood in the neighborhood. It has two stores, the Bank of Amity, with a capital of $10,000, and a Con- gregational Church. It is an important ship- ping point for stock and grain. Population, about 200.
Amsterdam .- A village in Bates County, on the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Rail- way, twenty miles northwest of Butler, the county seat. It has a public school, a Baptist Church, a Methodist Church, an independent newspaper, the "Border Breezes." a bank, and a flour and sawmill. In 1900 the estimated population was 300.
Ancient Order of Hibernians .- An Irish-Catholic fraternal organization, which traces its origin to the latter part of the seven- teenth century. After the capitulation of the Catholic-Irish to King William III, at Lim- erick, in 1691, and the establishment of Eng- land's authority in Ireland, the continued per- secutions of the Catholics led to the formation of societies designed to perpetuate the history and traditions of the Irish people and to pre- serve as much as possible of their religious liberty. These organizations, which took upon themselves an obligation to protect their women and children and the priests of the Catholic Church from the instilts and persecu- tions of their English masters, formed the nucleus of a society which became known as the Ancient Order of Hibernians. When Irish immigrants began flocking to this coun- try it was natural that they should seek to per- petuate this order in America, and in the year 1836 the first division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians was instituted in the city of New
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York. Since then it has extended through- out the United States and now has a large membership, all of the larger and many of the smaller cities of the country supporting branches of the order. Its objects are de- clared to be to provide funds for the relief of members in distress ; to give substantial aid to the sick and those in need of assistance among its members, and to give Christian burial to its dead; to care for the widows and orphans of its deceased members, and to elevate and ennoble those coming within the sphere of its influence. In 1896 the order contributed $50,000 to the endowment of a chair of Celtic in the Roman Catholic University of Wash- ington City. In 1894 the order was divided into two factions, which became known, re- spectively, as the National Order of Hiber- nians of America, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians of the United States. Controver- sies relative to the extent to which the parent organization in Ireland should exercise juris- diction over the order in America, and as to what should constitute eligibility to member- ship, were the chief causes of this division and of much subsequent bitterness between the factions. In 1897 steps were taken at the na- tional conventions of the two bodies to bring about a reunion, and as a result the matters of difference between them were referred to Bishop McFaul, of the Catholic Church, for adjudication. Bishop McFaul submitted a plan of reunion which was satisfactory to both factions, and which provided that the reunited organizations should be known as the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America. The order was instituted in St. Louis, in 1855, and is said to have disbursed a million dollars in its char- itable and benevolent enterprises in that city prior to 1898. At the close of the year 1897 there were in existence in the city ten divi- sions of the order, and well disciplined and well drilled bodies of the "Hibernians" have constituted a notable feature of many parades and public demonstrations. The governing body of the order in the city is what is known as the County Board of Directors, the mem- bership of which consists of the officers of the several divisions. A plat of ground at the corner of Jefferson Avente and Pine Street belongs to the order, and upon this it is pro- posed to build a handsome hall and business block. The average membership of each of the ten divisions in the city is about one hun- dred.
Anderson, Galusha, clergyman and educator, was born March 7, 1832, in Bergen, New York. He was reared and educated in the Empire State, being graduated from Roch- ester University, in 1854, and from the Theo- logical Seminary of Rochester in 1856. He then entered the Baptist ministry, soon be- came distinguished as a preacher of that de- nomination, and was largely instrumental in building up the Second Baptist Church of St. Louis. He was called from this church in 1866 to the professorship of homiletics, church polity and pastoral duties in Newton Theolog- ical Institute. From 1873 to 1878 he preached in Brooklyn, New York, and then in Chicago. In the year last named he was chosen presi- dent of Chicago University, and held that position until the autumn of 1885. He is still a member of the faculty of that institution.
Anderson, Benjamin M., legislator, was born in 1855, in Boone County, Missouri, which has ever since been his home, which has honored him with positions of honor and trust, and which he in turn has honored by able and faithful public services. His par- ents were Benjamin and Sara Anderson, who came west from Orange County, Virginia. His grandfather came to Missouri in 1832. He was educated in the public schools of Boone County, and in his young manhood en- gaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1881 he abandoned merchandising and turned his at- tention to farming, stock-raising and dealing in real estate, in which he has met with flatter- ing success. A man of superior executive ability, much personal magnetism, and, withal, a genial and courteous gentleman, he was rec- ognized by the people of Boone County as a natural leader of men and became influential in politics and public affairs in early life. A Democrat of unswerving loyalty to his party, lie became prominent in the conduct of its af- fairs and entered official life in 1886, when he was elected county collector of Boone County. This office he held for two terms, and in 1894 he was elected presiding judge of the County Court of Boone County. In 1896 he was elected a member of the State Senate from the district composed of Boone, Macon and Ran- dolph Counties. He served in the Senate during the sessions of 1897 and 1899, and was one of the recognized leaders of the ma- jority in that body, being especially influential and effective in shaping legislation through
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ANDERSON.
judicious committee work. His forceful ut- terances on the floor of the Senate were always attractive, logical and convincing, and his dili- gence in looking after public interests resulted in the placing of various wise laws upon the statute books of the State. Among the more prominent of these laws was the act making it a felony for officers of building and loan asso- ciations to accept deposits when such associa- tions are in a failing condition ; the act known as the "Anti-Trust Fire Insurance Law," and the "Inheritance Tax Law." In procuring the enactment of the last named law Senator Anderson evidenced his resourcefulness and tenacity of purpose. What was known as the "Collateral Inheritance Tax Law," which pro- vided, among other things, for free scholar- ships for worthy young men at the State University, having been declared defective, Senator Anderson undertook to incorporate the free scholarship provision in the University Endowment Bill. His contention was, that as the university is supported by revenue de- rived from taxes collected from all the people -although no special levy is made for its maintenance-it stands in the same relation to the people of Missouri as the common schools and high schools, and that no tuition fees should be charged to the young men of this State. He refused to support the endowment bill without this provision. His influence and the high personal regard entertained for him in the Senate secured the indorsement of the proposition by that body by a two-thirds vote. In the House it was defeated by six votes. Undismayed by this defeat, and believing, like his former fellow-townsman, Major J. S. Rol- lins, that in Missouri there should be "freedom and education for all," Senator Anderson originated another plan for accomplishing the desired results. After consulting with friends at Columbia, Colonel J. M. Seibert, State Auditor, and Captain Allen, chief clerk in the Auditor's office, he decided that a new in- heritance tax bill, which had been drawn with great care by Judge Alexander Martin and Professor Isador Loeb, should be introduced in the General Assembly. Accordingly J. G. Babb, secretary of the board of curators of the university, was sent to Jefferson City with this bill. He submitted it to Governor Ste- phens, who selected a member of each branch of the Legislature to introduce it. It was intro- duced in the House by Honorable O. M. Bar- nett, of Pettis County, and finally passed both
the Senate and House. This law makes tui- tion free at the State University, and the younger generation of Missourians will gratefully remember Senator Anderson for his efforts in this behalf. Among his distin- guishing characteristics are intense activity, remarkable industry and broad capacity for the conduct of affairs. The agriculturists of Central Missouri know him as a farmer of the practical and thoroughgoing kind, and he has demonstrated conclusively that a farmer may be a wise legislator. He was the promoter of the Midland Railroad, which connects Colum- bia with the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Rail- way, and which has added materially to the wealth and population of his native town, and in various ways he has done much for the community in which he lives. One of his col- leagues in the Senate says of him: "He never failed to make good his promises, and whether before committees, on the street or at his rooms, any statements made or agreement en- tered into by the Senator from Boone were ac- cepted without doubt or reserve." Warm- hearted and generous and ready at any time to extend favors to those whom he can assist, either in public or private life, he was one of the most popular members of the Senate during his term of service, and he is equally popular with all classes of people with whom he is brought into contact. Senator Ander- son was married to Miss Fannie Bowling, daughter of James D. Bowling, of Columbia, Missouri, in 1882, and they have four children.
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