Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 15

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: 800

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Common Fields .- The common fields of St. Louis were lands "immediately adjoin- ing the village on the northwest . set aside for cultivation and conceded in strips of one arpent front by forty in depth, each applicant being allotted one or more, accord- ing to his ability to cultivate it. The tract extended from a little below Market Street, on the south, to opposite the Big Mound, on the north, and from Broadway to Jefferson Avenue, east to west." The "common field" lots "were obtainable by petition and grant, and belonged to the in- habitants as fee-simple property." Every inhabitant owning a lot in the village was entitled to a section of the common fields, proportioned to the size of his family and to his ability to cultivate it. This communal arrangement was well adapted to the condi- tions of pioneer life in this region. It enabled those engaged in agricultural pursuits to carry on their work in close proximity to each other, and to rally to each other's as- sistance in case they were attacked by the Indians, the establishment of such safeguards being a wise precautionary measure.

Common Pleas Court .- See "St. Louis Circuit Court."

COMMONS-COMMUNISM IN MISSOURI.

Commons .- It was the custom of the French and Spanish founders of new settle- ments in the Mississippi Valley to set aside certain lands in close proximity to their vil- lages for village pasture lots, in which the cattle and other live stock belonging to the inhabitants were kept for safety and conven- ience. Such tracts of land were not devoted to tillage, but were public pastures and wood lots. The benefits of the "commons" were free to all the inhabitants of the villages to which they were dedicated, and the grants of land made for this purpose were sometimes very extensive. The Cahokia common, for instance, was some three miles long, and the Ste. Genevieve common contained about four thousand acres. The St. Louis "common" was a tract of land, well watered by springs and covered with timber, lying southwest of the village, which contained, according to the survey of 1833, a trifle more than 4,500 ar- pens. This tract of land, or a considerable portion of it, at least, "was inclosed by the people in 1764-5," said Colonel Auguste Chouteau, in testimony bearing on the sub- ject in 1808. The growth of the village made it necessary to add to the "common" from time to time by taking more land from the royal domain, and the area of the land fenced in was several times extended. The "com- mon" was the property of the village, and was cared for by a syndic and eight umpires, nominated by the people on the first day of each year. The official decree under which a title to the lands was vested in the village was issued by Lieutenant Governor Cruzat in 1782, and by virtue of that decree the peo- ple of St. Louis claimed that their title to the "common" should be confirmed to them when the American jurisdiction was estab- lished. In 1812 Congress recognized the validity of the claim and confirmed the grant by act of June 13th of that year. An act of Congress of May, 1824, and of the Missouri General Assembly of March, 1835, author- ized the sale of this body of land with reser- vations for schools. Soon after the legisla- tive enactment of 1835 the people of St. Louis, to whom the question was submitted, voted in favor of the sale of the "common" and the appropriation of one-tenth of the proceeds of such sale to the school fund. This act provided for a subdivision of the land and a sale of the lots, the purchasers to pay 5 per cent interest on the amount of the

purchase money for a period of ten years, and at the end of that time to receive deeds upon payment of the principal. The sale took place in 1836, and 3,735 acres were dis- posed of at prices aggregating $425,000. Very soon afterward the purchasers appear to have reached the conclusion that they had agreed to pay too much for their lots, and with practical unanimity defaulted in their payments. On this account the sales were set aside, and the city again became almost sole owner of the "common." In 1842 a lim- ited number of lots were again sold. In 1854 the City Council, acting under legislative au- thority, created the "Board of City Com- mon," which subsequently subdivided and sold at auction lands belonging to the "com- mon," aggregating in value $670,000, the last sale being made in the fall of 1859. A con- siderable portion of these lands was retained by the city and has been appropriated to various public uses.

Communism in Missouri .- In its primitive meaning of holding all property in common, communism is an ancient theory, and has had advocates and experiments for ages. Traces of it are found in the writings of Plato, and it is asserted that learned men before him defined and favored it. Among the Jews, a purist sect called the Essenes advocated it, and in the very first year of the founding of the Christian Church at Jerusa- lem the followers of Jesus attempted to estab- lish it as a part of its polity. "As many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles' feet ; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." This was communism, innocent, pure and simple-and it possessed the important feature of being strictly voluntary. It was not binding on the individual Christians, and as there is no further allusion to it as an existing practice in the church, it is probable it was allowed gradually to fall into disuse. At a later day the Anabaptists of Muenster, the Libertines of Switzerland and the Familists of England advocated it, and later, still, the Shakers, the Harmonists and the Buchanites. It found in England such supporters as Bacon, Moore and Robert Oliver, and in France Saint Simon, Fourier and Proudhon. After the Franco-German War, in 1870, the Interna-

COMMUNISM IN MISSOURI.

tionalists of Paris, whose theory was com- munism, managed to secure possession of the French capital, and their brutal excesses and wanton destruction of property brought the doctrine into disrepute. The Russian nihil- ists and the anarchists of Germany make communism one of their principles, and this association has not commended it. Never- theless, in spite of all the crimes committed in its name, and all the successive failures of the enterprises undertaken to illustrate and commend its principles, it continues to have its advocates who fondly contemplate a time when society will be a vast commune, or a system of communes, without the strife and conflict of hostile interests which now dis- turb it ; and one of the most popular books in its day was Bellamy's "Looking Backward," giving an attractive picture of what our great cities will be "in the good time coming," when competition shall have ceased, and co- operation taken its place. Missouri has not been without a share in the experiments to bring about this happy condition. In the year 1845 a colony of communists estab- lished themselves on North River in Shelby County, under the leadership of Dr. William Kiel, who had been a Methodist clergyman in Pennsylvania. He had been deposed for preaching unwarranted doctrine, and when he came to Missouri to found the colony, his friends and followers came with him. They purchased a tract of 1, 100 acres of land, which was made common territory; and a common refectory supplied meals to all who were not married, the families dwelling in separate houses. A colony church, built of brick and stone, and paved with tiling, stood in the center of the town, called Bethel, and there regular worship was conducted every Sunday by the leader who made claim to a certain kind of inspiration which his followers acquiesced in. Not far from the town was the mansion house of Dr. Kiel, called Elini. There were about a thousand of the colo- nists, and their chief vocation was agriculture, though some attention was given to the man- ufacture of cloth from the wool of the colony sheep, and buckskin gloves. There was a brewery on the colony farm and a distillery, also, at which was made a supply of liquor for the colonists and some to sell. The products of the colony farm and factories were sold for the common good, and the proceeds given into the hands of the treas-

urer, to be expended for the common inter- est ; a well stocked colony store supplied all the comforts and luxuries of the colonists, so that they had little or no use for money. They lived mostly to themselves and were orderly, industrious, kindly and exemplary in all their conduct. The leader sent out mis- sionaries armed with his authority to found another colony at Aurora, in Oregon. Botlı enterprises prospered for a time, and the Bethel colony in Missouri was beginning to attract attention as a successful experiment, when dissensions about the management crept in and impaired its integrity. Members began to desert, and its affairs fell into dis- order, and at last the leader, Dr. Kiel, took his departure for Oregon, in 1858, and Bethel colony began to fall into a ruin, and in a short time nothing was left but deserted buildings and an untilled farm to tell the story of the failure.

In 1857 a commune called the Icarian set- tlement was started at the little village of Cheltenham, at that time five miles from St. Louis, but now within the city limits. The founders were followers of Etienne Cabet, a well known Frenchman, writer and commu- nist, who had previously made similar experi- ments in Texas and at Nauvoo, Illinois. A small tract of land, which included a sulphur spring and the large stone building that had been the country residence of William Sub- lett, a famous Indian trader and explorer, was purchased. The place had been used as a summer resort, and there were several stone cottages near the main building, which commended the situation to the communists. The settlement was administered by a pres- ident and advisory council, and the members were all on the same footing, working at mechanical vocations and having an equal in- terest in the common property. There were on the place blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, tailors, shoemakers and · cabinetmakers, whose labors were directed to improvements on the property, and to the manufacture of products to be sold for the common good- all the earnings going into the general treas- ury. Movements and operations were con- ducted with regularity and military precision, the members assembling at the call of a trumpet, in the common dining hall, and sim- ilar blasts announcing the hours of work and recreation. There was 110 common religion and no common worship, the majority of the

COMO-COMSTOCK.

members being freethinkers. Meetings for the discussion of social and economic ques- tions constituted the chief entertainment. The community possessed only limited means from the beginning, and the conditions were not favorable to success. The land was bought on credit, and after seven years re- verted to the seller. For a time affairs went on smoothly and the settlement was pros- perous until the Civil War came on to break up so many enterprises, when it became a victim of the general disorder. The settle- ment was kept up until 1864, when it came to an end. Other less notable experiments have been made in the State, but all have met a similar fate.

Como .- See "Lotta."

Compton's Ferry .- A ferry crossing on Grand River in Carroll County, which was the scene of a fight on the IIth of August, 1862, between the Union troops under Col- onel Guitar, and a body of Confederates under Porter. This body of Confederates had been defeated at Kirksville a few days before, and they were again overtaken in their attempt to cross Grand River. A num- ber had already crossed when the Union troops came up with two pieces of artillery and attacked them in the rear. They were thrown into disorder, some throwing away their guns and plunging into the river, some of the horses became unmanageable and swimming back to the shore with their riders. Some were drowned, others killed and a con- siderable number captured. Two days later, on the 13th of August, the remnant that escaped was again attacked by Colonel Guitar at Yellow Creek, in Chariton County, and the band completely broken up.

Comstock, T. Griswold, physician, was born in the town of LeRoy, Genesee County, New York, July 27, 1829, son of Lee and Sarah (Calkins) Comstock. Both his parents were natives of Lyme, Connecticut, and his father was a brother of Dr. John Lee Comstock, a surgeon of the United States Army in the War of 1812; and the author of "Comstock's Philosophy," "Comstock's Chemistry," "Comstock's Geology," and other text books on mineralogy, physiology, natural history and physical geography. His mother was the daughter of Dr. Daniel

Calkins who, in his day, was the most cele- brated and accomplished physician of New London County, Connecticut. Dr. Calkins was a descendant, in the sixth generation, of one of the Puritans who landed from the "Mayflower," and Dr. Comstock, his grand- son, belongs to the eighth generation of those descended from the Puritan colonist. Reared in New York State, Dr. Comstock completed his academic studies at the high school in his native town, and soon afterward came to St. Louis, where he began the study of medi- cine. He entered upon his preparation for the medical profession not only with the prestige of springing from an ancestry dis- tinguished in this field of intellectual effort, but with an inheritance of those qualities which had caused such ancestors to achieve distinction, both in medicine and in literature. He read medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. J. V. Prather, one of the founders of St. Louis Medical College, then attended the- regular course of lectures at that institution, and received from it his first doctor's degree. Naturally an independent thinker, the fact that he had graduated in the allopathic school of medicine did not prevent him from. giving consideration to homeopathy, then just beginning to attract attention and re- ceive a measure of recognition in the West. His investigations impressed him favorably with this system of practice, and after study- ing homeopathy for a time under the special direction of Dr. J. T. Temple, he went to Philadelphia, and became a student of the- "Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsyl- vania." He was graduated from that institu- tion in 1854, and immediately thereafter began practicing in St. Louis, meeting with: flattering success from the start. After a short time he went abroad to visit the hos- pitals in Europe, and later matriculated in the University of Vienna, where he passed the examination of the university in the Ger- man language, and received the honorary degree of master in obstetrics-doctor of midwifery. He resumed the practice of his. profession in St. Louis in 1858, and in a com- paratively short time he had not only taken rank among the leading physicians of the city as a practitioner, but had become conspicu- ously identified also with medical, educational and hospital work. He has ever since that time occupied a commanding position in his- profession and has left the strong impress of.

I. Griswold leonstock.

CONANT-CONCORDIA.

his individuality upon homeopathy in the West. He was professor of obstetrics in the St. Louis College of Physicians and Sur- geons, and when that institution was merged into the Homeopathic College of Missouri, he was appointed to the same chair in the last named college. Some years since he retired from the active duties of professor, and has been elected emeritus professor. At the special request of the faculty and students of the Homeopathic College of Missouri, for the past three years he has continued to de- liver his course of lectures during the ses- sions of the college, fulfilling the duties of an acting professor with the same enthusiasm and erudition as in former years. In recog- nition of his attainments and of his distin- guished services in connection with the development of medical science, the St. Louis University conferred upon him the honorary degree of master of arts and doctor of phi- losophy. In 1862 he was appointed surgeon of the First Missouri Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, and served for a short time under General John B. Gray, resigning to take up his private practice. He was primarius phy- sician on the staff of the Good Samaritan Hospital for more than twenty years and at the present time-1898-is president of the medical staff of the St. Louis Children's Hos- pital. His practice has always remained gen- eral, although he has been most widely consulted as an authority on obstetrics and gynecological surgery. He has been through- out his long and useful career a close student, and his library is one of the largest medical libraries owned by any physician in the West, his collection of medical literature covering a wide range of thought, research and investigation, and including many works published in foreign languages, as well as in the English language. A chivalrous devotion to his profession has operated to prevent him from participating actively in politics or pub- lic affairs, but he has always had well de- fined political views, and has been known as a staunch Republican. He is an Episcopalian churchman, and a member of Christ Church Cathedral, of St. Louis. October 21, 1862, he married Miss Marilla H. Eddy, eldest daughter of J. Phillips Eddy, of the old wholesale dry goods house of Eddy & Jame- son. Dr. Comstock is one of the founders of the Humane Society of Missouri for the protection of children and animals against

cruelty. For some years past he has been chairman of its executive committee, and he is still an enthusiastic worker in the alliance, and spends a good deal of his time in the interests of the cause. Not the least valuable services which Dr. Comstock has rendered to his profession has been the preparation of an admirable historical sketch of "Homeo- pathy in St. Louis," which appears elsewhere in these volumes.

Conant, A. J., archaeologist, was born in Vermont, in 1821, and came to St. Louis in 1857. He made the Indian Mounds in St. Louis and in Illinois the subject of careful and diligent study, and contributed to Camp- bell's "Commonwealth of Missouri" an article which is regarded as high authority. He found four kinds of mounds in Missouri and the American Bottom in Illinois-burial mounds, including caves or artificial caverns ; sacrificial mounds ; garden mounds ; and mis- cellaneous works-and he treats them in an interesting and instructive manner.

Conception .- A town in Nodaway County, fifteen miles southeast of Maryville, near the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Rail- road. It was founded in 1860 by Father Powers, Owen Reilly and Anthony Felix, and was named in honor of the Immaculate Vir- gin. It was made the center of the Reading colony established by the same persons. A tract of forty acres was platted and the colony house and chapel built and dedicated. Seven years later, in 1867, a Catholic Church was erected. In 1880 a monastery was built, which is now called the Benedictine Abbey, New Engelberg. It is four stories high and has forty-six rooms and fine halls. In it is conducted a theological school and a high school for boys. There are two libraries, one for the abbey and one for the people-the former containing 3,000 books, some of them very old and rare. A mile and a half from the abbey is a Sisters' convent, a four- story building, and a new house completed in 1882. The population of the town in 1899 was 150.

Concord .- See "Plattsburg."

Concordia .- A city of the fourth class, in Lafayette County, on the Missouri Pacific Railway, twenty-four miles southeast of Lex-

Vol. II-6

CONCORDIA COLLEGE.

ington, the county seat. It is the seat of a large German settlement. It has a public school; an Evangelical Lutheran male sem- inary, St. Paul's College, with three teachers, forty-three students, and property valued at $18,000; three German parochial schools ; two Lutheran Churches, an Evangelical Church, a Baptist Church and a Methodist Episcopal Church; a Republican newspaper, the "Concordian ;" two banks, a creamery, a flourmill and a fruit cannery. There are coal mines in the vicinity. In 1899 the pop- ulation was 1,300. In 1856 Henry Flander- meyer and Louis Bergman operated a large flourmill here. The town was platted in 1868 by a joint stock company, consisting of G. P. Gordon, George S. Rathburn, and others. The name was given it by its German resi- dents.

Concordia College .- This institution was founded in 1839, at Altenburg, Perry County, Missouri, where it was housed in a log hut, constructed by the first faculty of the college shortly after their arrival in this country with the Saxton colonists, who came here to enjoy religious liberty for themselves and their children. That first building was dedicated in October, 1839, and the first faculty consisted of C. F. W. Walther, J. F. Buenger, O. Fuerbringer and Th. J. Brohm. All these men were before long called away to serve in various parts of the country as Lutheran ministers, and the only instructor of the school was, for a time, the Rev. Loeber, of Altenburg, until he received an assistant, J. Goenner, in 1843. After the or- ganization of the Missouri Synod it was for various reasons deemed preferable to have this school located in St. Louis, and the con- gregations of that place offered two acres of land and $2,000 in cash for the erection of suitable buildings, and the proceeds of their cemetery and of the sale of the hymn book published by them, for the maintenance of the college. On November 8, 1849, the cornerstone of the first building was laid, and in the same year, Rector Goenner with his students arrived from Altenburg. The build- ing was dedicated June 11, 1850, and occupied by the professors and their families, with six- teen students. To the professorship of theol- ogy the pastor of the St. Louis congregation, C. F. W. Walther, had been called by the Synod, and in 1850 Professor A. Biewend was

called, chiefly for the classical department. In 1856 two more instructors were added, G. Schick and A. Saxer, and Dr. G. Seyffarth, formerly professor of archaeology in the University of Leip- zig and a renowned Egyptologist, was received as a teacher of theology and history. Additions were made to the first building until the original plan, comprising a main building with two wings, was completed in 1857. In 1858 the institution suffered a seri- ous loss in the death of Professor Biewend. In December of the same year Professor R. Lange, formerly of St. Charles College, was called, and in 1859 Professor Larsen was appointed by the Norwegian Synod, whose students were to receive their education in Concordia College until the Synod would provide a college of its own. In 1861 Pro- fessor Seyffarth left to pursue his scientific researches in New York, and Professor Lar- sen was called as the director of the college which the Norwegian Synod had concluded to erect. In the same year, however, a more radical change was brought about, as the classical department of Concordia College was, with Professors Lange, Schick and Saxer, removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, while the Practical Theological Seminary of the Synod, with Professor Craemer, was re- moved from Fort Wayne to St. Louis to be united with the "Theoretical Seminary" un- der the supervision of Professor Walther. Rector Goenner was pensioned on account of advanced age. In 1863 a third professor of theology, Professor Brauer, was installed, and in 1865 Professor Baumstark took charge of a preparatory department to the Practical Seminary. For a number of years the Rev. Theo. Brohm served as instructor in Hebrew. After Baumstark's apostasy, in 1869, Dr. E. Preuss, formerly of the University of Ber- lin, was appointed to a fourth theological professorship. He remained until 1872, when Professor F. A. Schmidt, of the Norwegian Synod, was appointed to a professorship in the seminary, as quite a number of Norwegi- an and Danish students pursued their studies there. In the same year Professor G. Schal- ler was added to the faculty, and Professor Brauer accepted a call to the pastorate of Trinity Church, St. Louis. In 1873 Profes- sor M. Guenther was called. Until 1875 all the professors lectured to the students of both seminaries. but in that year the Prac-

CONDE-CONFEDERATE CEMETERY.

tical Seminary, with Professor Craemer, re- moved to Springfield, Illinois. In 1876 Professor Schmidt, was, by his Synod, trans- ferred to Madison, Wisconsin. In 1878 Pro- fessors R. Lange and F. Pieper were called. In 1887 Professor Dr. Walther died, and Pro- fessor Pieper succeeded him in the presidency and in the chair of systematic and pastoral theology. In the same year Professor A. L. Graebner was added to the faculty. In 1892 Professor Guenther died, and in the follow- ing year Professor Lange. In 1893 Profes- sor L. Fuerbringer and F. Bente were appointed, and in 1897 a sixth professorship was founded and filled by the appointment of Professor G. Metzger. The course of studies comprises three years, the students being all then postgraduates, having completed a six years' collegiate course. Lectures are given in German, English and Latin. Graduates from this institution are to be found not only all over the United States and the Canadas, but also in Europe, Africa and Australia. In 1882 the old building was taken down, and on the same site and adjacent grounds the pres- ent stately structure was erected at a cost of $150,000 and completed in 1883.

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 15

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: 800

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: 800