USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 20
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Again, there was raised for home expenses last year $80,393; the reported benevolences were $23,608. Average per member for both purposes, $26.18. The summing up is full of encouragement and power.
As to spiritual results, we can not esti- mate them. Such results as have come from the preaching of the gospel of Christ are incomparably better than gold, and the gen- eral influences in society are inestimably im- portant, but they can not be counted or specified. Conversions with confession of Christ and additions to churches have been made every year in probably every church and under every true pastor. The years 1853, 1874 and 1880 were most marked as revival seasons, and also 1894 and 1896, in some of our churches; but every year has seen the Lord's work and manifested the
Spirit's power. Another fact we may note also, namely this, there is no regularly or- ganized church connected with the Congre- gational Association in St. Louis that has failed so far in all this history, and only the one union above spoken of has taken place. Several Sunday schools and mission enter- prises, which did not reach church estate, have failed, perhaps for that reason. Many churches in other parts of this State, of our own and of all other denominations, and mul- titudes in Illinois and other States near us, have failed from various causes, but none has yet failed in St. Louis. This sheds light on prospects for permanence. It would be well if our churches should gain permanent funds, as we hope they may in time. Our ministry has been varied in ability, character, education, effectiveness, popularity, theological views and methods of work and preaching; but we can rejoice and be thankful for all the good done by the more than seventy pas- tors and acting pastors. A few have been of long duration in the ministry, as, for ex- ample :
Dr. Post, who was for thirty years active pastor and nearly five emeritus.
Dr. George C. Adams, fifteen years.
Dr. Goodell, fourteen.
Theodore Clifton, nine.
Dr. J. G. Merrill, Dr. Sutherland, near the city, and Rev. J. P. O'Brien, seven years each.
Rev. W. M. Jones, Ph. D., is now in his seventh year.
Rev. E. F. Wheeler is in his sixth year.
St. Louis has been a healthy climate for ministers, and yet most of the pastorates have been short. Only a few pastors have died in their work. Dr. Goodell died Febru- ary 1, 1886, of apoplexy, aged fifty-six. Dr. Post, emeritus, died December 31, 1886, of heart disease, aged seventy-six years and six months.
Rev. George Horst, of German Church, August 7, 1894, was killed by falling from a horse, at the age of thirty-two years.
Rev. Mr. Swift, preparing for organizing Olive Branch, died as a young pastor.
Our churches are now, relatively to each other, well located, no two crowding each other ; all have distinct fields and work: all well manned and with prospects of good.
Other facts of interest which may appro- priately be mentioned in connection with this
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CONGREGATIONAL CLUB-CONN.
sketch of Congregationalism are the follow- ing :
"The Year Book" was first published by the Congregational Union in 1854; the "Con- gregational Quarterly" commenced in 1859 and published the statistics of the denomina- tion from 1860 to 1878, when the "Year Book" was resumed as a separate issue, and its statistics are of inestimable value and are open to the public.
The Congregational ministers of St. Louis and vicinity meet each Monday for mutual helpfulness and consultation. They also have part in the Evangelical Alliance of the vari- ous denominations.
Fellowship of the churches is promoted by occasional fellowship meetings; by coun- cils called for advice, or for ordination, installation or dismission of ministers, when- ever desired by any church ; by the St. Louis Association of ministers and churches, which meets each April and October; by the Mis- souri State Association meeting, the last of April each year, and by the National Con- gregational Council meeting, once in three years.
The Congregational Club, formed in 1887, composed of ministers and members elected, holds five meetings each year.
Weekly papers have been published in the interest and for the mutual information of the churches, as "The Life," from 1887 to 1895, and "The Messenger," for six months in 1897-but are now suspended.
The churches contribute regularly to six great denominational boards and societies, and to many other benevolent organizations and needs as occasions call. Thus they have part in the progress of the kingdom of Christ, and the good of mankind in all the world, in addition to the local work and beneficial influence at home.
R. M. SARGENT. M. BURNHAM.
Congregational Club .- The club of this name was organized in St. Louis, November 29, 1886, and has for its object "to encourage among the members of the Con- gregational Churches and societies of St. Louis and vicinity a more intimate acquaint- ance; to secure concert of action, and to promote the general interests of Congrega- tionalism." Rev. Henry A. Stimson, then pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church,
originated the idea of forming the club and was the prime mover in effecting its organi- zation. The regular meetings of the club are held on the third Mondays in January, March, October and November, and on the second Monday in May. The regular meeting in November is the annual meeting for the choice of officers.
Congressional Ratio .- The number of inhabitants entitled to one representative in Congress. This ratio is fixed anew after each decennial United States Census. After the census of 1890 it was decided that the number of members of the House of Repre- sentatives at Washington should be 356, and when the total population of the United States, 62,622,250, was divided by this nunı- ber the quotient, 173,901, was made the con- gressional ratio. This entitled Missouri, with its population of 2,679,184, to fifteen representatives. The census of 1900 gave the State sixteen Congressmen.
Congressional Representation .- When Missouri was admitted as a State into the Union it was allowed one representative in the lower House of Congress, and it had but one for twelve years; from 1833 to 1843 it had two; from 1843 to 1853 it had five; from 1853 to 1863 it had seven; from 1863 to 1873 it had nine; from 1873 to 1883 it had thirteen ; from 1883 to 1893 it had four- teen ; in 1893 it was allowed fifteen, and after 1903 will have sixteen. (See also "Repre- sentatives in Congress.")
Congressman. - The popular name usually given to a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Conn, Luther, H., a veteran of the Civil War, and for thirty years a leader among men of affairs in St. Louis, was born March 14, 1842, at Burlington, Boone County, Kentucky. His parents were Dr. James V. and Mary E. Conn, strong and forceful characters, who were active in church and educational work and leading citizens of the community in which they lived. His paternal grandfather was Captain Jack Conn, of Bourbon County, Kentucky, who was a participant in the War of 1812, and who was accredited, by many of his con- temporaries, with having killed the Indian
Very Truly yours Luther It. Com
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CONN.
chieftain, Tecumseh, at the battle of the Thames, although others have claimed that distinction for Colonel Richard M. Johnson, afterward Vice President of the United States. Luther H. Conn was educated in part at Carrollton, Kentucky, in an old-time seminary numbered then among the leading educational institutions of the State. Later he pursued a special course of study under Professors Cloud and Magruder, the last named of whom, Major Magruder, was a graduate of West Point, and from whom he obtained a knowledge of military tactics, of which he soon afterward made practical use. He was still in school when the Civil War began, being then nineteen years of age. Fired with sympathy for the Southern cause and burning with military ardor, he left school and home very soon after the struggle began, and joined the Confederate Army as a private soldier. He was soon promoted to a captaincy and served in that capacity under the brave and dashing cavalry leader, Gen- eral John H. Morgan, participating in all the thrilling and exciting experiences incident to the vigorous and effective campaigns of his renowned commander. In a hot engage- ment near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he was wounded, and besides being shot through both legs, had his clothing perforated with bullets, escaping death by a seeming miracle. He was captured with General Morgan's command on the occasion of the celebrated raid into Ohio and Indiana, and for more than a year thereafter was held a prisoner of war at Johnson's Island, Allegheny City, Point Lookout, Fort McHenry and Fort Delaware, being transferred from one prison to another in the order named. In the fall of 1864 he was returned to the Confederate service through an exchange of prisoners, and participated in the subsequent campaign of 1864-5. On the surrender of General Lee and the evacuation of Richmond, his com- mand was made the special escort of Presi- dent Davis and the Confederate officials on their retreat into Georgia. After the final surrender and complete overthrow of the government at Washington, Georgia, in the spring of 1865, he returned to his old home in Kentucky, and addressed himself to the duties of civil life. The question as to what his vocation in life should be was one which he had not determined when he left school to don the uniform of a soldier, and it was
still unsettled when he returned to civil pur- suits. His education and the broadening ex- periences of his military career had fitted him admirably for professional life, but he preferred to turn his attention to business pursuits, and after a few months devoted to rest and recreation, he went to Arkansas and engaged in cotton-planting. Not satisfied with this occupation at the end of a year's experience, he came to St. Louis in 1867 and embarked in the real estate business as a member of the firm of Flournoy & Co. The style of this firm was later changed to Conn & McRee, and it quickly took rank among the leading firms of its kind in St. Louis. For more than twenty years it had a large and lucrative business in all the departments incident to real estate operations, its mem- bers being especially noted for their sagac- ity, thorough knowledge of realty values, honorable methods and the strict integrity of all their dealings. In addition to his real estate operations, Captain Conn has been connected with many important enterprises, semi-public in character, prominent among them being the construction of the West End Narrow Gauge Railway, the Jefferson Avenue Railway, the building of the South- ern Hotel and Merchants' Exchange. In promoting the establishment and improve- ment of Forest Park he was a moving spirit, and feels justly proud of having been a par- ticipant in the movement which gave to St. Louis what is now and will always be one of the most beautiful parks in the world and the pride of the city. He is a lover of music and art, and enthusiastic over all field sports, has traveled extensively and spent considerable time in Europe and the Orient. He is now the owner of the historic "Grant Farm," the former home of General U. S. Grant, now in the suburbs of St. Louis. There he resides much of his time and indulges his tastes for fine horses and cattle, and for rural sports and pastinies generally. The possession of the early homestead of the great soldier is something in which he very naturally takes great pride, and the American people, in- clined to make of it a shrine, like Mount Ver- non, Monticello, or "The Hermitage," are to be congratulated upon its having fallen into the hands of one so appreciative of its his- toric associations as is Captain Conn. One of very few, and perhaps the only office which he ever held, was that of commissioner of
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CONNELLY-CONNOR.
Lafayette Park, a position which he retained for many years, serving a part of the time as president of the board. During the adminis- tration of Governor Phelps he was offered a police commissionership of St. Louis, but de- clined the office, as he has declined many other offers of official preferment. Politi- cally he has affiliated with the Democratic party, but has taken no active part in politics. He is not a member of any church, but has been a liberal and helpful friend of church organizations in general. He was married, in 1871, to Miss Louise G. Gibson, eldest daughter of Sir Charles and Virginia Gibson. The only children born of their union were a son and daughter, of whom the daughter only survives. She is now Mrs. Frank V. Hammar, of St. Louis, and as Miss Virginia May Conn was a reigning belle in St. Louis during her young womanhood.
Connelly, Alvin H., president and treasurer of the Connelly Hardwood Lumber Company, at Kansas City, is a native of Illi- nois, and was reared and educated at Rock Island. As a young man, he entered the employ of the Rock Island Lumber Com- pany and there gained that knowledge of the lumber industry which fitted him to success- fully engage in business for himself. In 1884 he went to Topeka, Kansas, where he carried on a remunerative business until 1894. In the latter year he removed to Kan- sas City, Missouri, where he became inter- ested in the hardwood lumber business. In 1899 Clark H. Connelly, a brother of Alvin H. Connelly, became a member of the present corporation, and was elected secretary. The yards of the company are located at 1909 Baltimore Avenue. The firm handles all de- scriptions of hardwood lumber, oak, ash, hickory, poplar, cypress, etc., making local shipments and sending out mixed car lots from the Kansas City yards, and shipping oak timber and bridge plank direct from their mills in Arkansas, which they operate under contract. The transactions of the company form an important item in the lum- ber trade of Kansas City, and the Connelly Brothers are regarded as among the most capable men in the business.
Conners' Cave .- A cave in Boone County, seven miles southeast of Columbia. It has an entrance twenty feet wide and eight
feet high, and has been explored for several miles.
Connor, Thomas, president of the Miners' Bank, Joplin, was born in County Kerry, Ireland, August 10, 1847. His parents were James and Katherine O'Connor, who immigrated to America with their children in 1851, locating at Tiffin, Ohio. The father was a laborer; he died three years after ar- riving in the country. The mother died at the home which they first made in Ohio, in 1893, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Of their four children, two are de- ceased; those living are Mary, now Mrs. James Nolan, of Tiffin, Ohio, and Thomas, who, for sake of convenience, at the begin- ning of his business career, dropped the "O" in the family name, and has since been known as Connor. The latter named was the young- est child, left fatherless at the age of about nine years. He became a newsboy on trains between Sandusky and Dayton, on the old Mad River Railway, now incorporated in the Big Four system. As a consequence he was deprived of educational advantages, and all with which his mind is stored has been en- tirely self-acquired. When the Civil War opened in 1861 he was an ardent Unionist, and the martial spirit, characteristic of his race, impelled him to enter the ranks as a soldier, but he was four years under the re- quired age. He accompanied the Eighth Ohio Infantry Regiment to the field, how- ever, and was with that command for more than two years as a newsboy. His regiment was a part of Shields' (afterward French's) Division of Hancock's Corps, and he not only witnessed many of the bloodiest battles of the war. but participated in them. He was pres- ent at Fredericksburg, Antietam, the seven days' battle in the Wilderness, Winchester, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Wherever the army was, he followed it with the daily papers, often of old date, owing to delay of mails, taking them to the soldiers on the line of battle, under fire, as well as in camp. He habitually accompanied Company A in its frequent reconnoitering expeditions. After the war he prospected in the mountains in Montana for a time, and then went to Texas, where, at the age of twenty-three years, he became a successful cattle trader and drover. In 1871 he came to Missouri, locating in Seneca, where he established a livery stable.
Ros Connor
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CONROW-CONSTABLE.
A few months later he removed his business to Joplin. He continued in this line until 1878, when he sold out. During these years he had paid much attention to the mining fields, and his investments proved richly profitable. He has contributed much toward the material development of Joplin. He was one of eight men who erected the first smelt- ing plant in the district. For about fifteen years he was president and the principal stockholder of the Joplin Water Works, which he operated during that period, dis- posing of them in May, 1899, to the Ameri- can Water Works Company. For several years past he has been, as he is now, presi- dent of the Miners' Bank, the pioneer finan- cial house of the city, and one of the most stable and wealthy financial institutions in the State; beyond this, he has no connection with business concerns except in an indi- vidual way. He has never sought or held official position, although frequently solic- ited; but his effort and means have been lavishly extended to his party and friends. He is a Democrat, and has always been an active figure in the counsels and conventions of the party to which he adheres. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Con- vention at Chicago in 1892 which nominated Cleveland, and in that campaign was the treasurer of the Missouri Democratic State Central Committee. In the presidential con- test of 1896 he voted for McKinley, being unable to follow his own party in what he held to be abandonment of Democratic prin- ciples, in its advocacy of the policies repre- sented by Bryan. Mr. Connor was married at White Pigeon, Michigan, in 1874, to Miss Melissa Wilcox. No children have been born of this marriage. Mr. Connor is in vig- orous physical and mental condition, in -. tensely active, and keenly alive to business conditions and possibilities. His most strik- ing characteristic is his sturdy, unaffected independence, which finds little expression in words, but is manifested in his conduct when- ever occasion requires. Two instances suffice in illustration. The one was his antagonism to his own political party on the occasion before narrated. The other was his action with reference to the differences between the zinc-miners and the smelter proprietors of the Missouri-Kansas district. In this contest he sided with the miners, and when the smelter proprietors refused to pay a price for
ore which the miners considered reasonable, and the market lay stagnant, he drew upon his great wealth and bought large quantities in ten-carload lots, paying a spot-cash price which was satisfactory. Mr. Connor will not admit that in this action he was actuated by any sentiment of sympathy for the miners, but that class accord to him gratitude, and hold him in high esteem as an able and pow- erful advocate of their interests. In a per- sonal way he is affable with all, unreserved and companionable with his friends, and sympathetic and liberal where distress seeks his aid. With the appearance of one who has no cares, and who concerns himself little with business matters, there is no more sagacious capitalist in the land ; his judgment is well-nigh infallible, and when he once determines upon a course of conduct he is deterred by no apparent obstacle, but is rather stimulated to greater effort in attain- ing success. He is now the largest individual owner of zinc lands in America, if not in the world, and the income from his investments is in itself a handsome fortune.
Conrow, Aaron H., lawyer, soldier and member of the Confederate Congress, was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, June 9, 1824, and was killed near Camargo, Mexico, August 14, 1865. When a child, his parents removed, first to Illinois, and in 1840 to Mis- souri, and settled in Ray County. He studied law and began practicing at Richmond, soon rising to eminence and success at a bar which numbered A. W. Doniphan, Austin A. King and others among its members. He served four years as circuit attorney, and for a time as judge of the court of common pleas. In 1860 he was elected to the Legislature, and the next year espoused the cause of the South and entered the Confederate Army. He was also elected by the Missouri Confed- erate troops to the Confederate Congress. On the collapse of the Southern cause, he went to Mexico with General M. M. Parsons, and while encamped near Camargo, at night, the whole party of six persons were cruelly massacred by a detachment of Mexican Lib- eralists.
Constable .- An · executive officer who attends on the court of a justice of the peace and performs duties similar to those per- formed by a sheriff in the circuit court. The
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CONSTITUTION-CONSTITUTION, HOW AMENDED.
constable is a township officer. He serves the warrants issued by the justice of the peace, and makes arrests, summons juries and collects debts by selling property under writs of execution.
Constitution .- The supreme law of the State, sometimes called the organic law, and sometimes the fundamental law. It differs from statutory laws, or acts of the Legisla- ture, and city and town ordinances, which are the acts of municipal councils, in that it is of higher dignity and authority, and they must conform to it. An act of the Legisla- ture, or of a city or town council, which, upon being questioned and taken into court is judi- cially declared to be in conflict with the constitution, instantly becomes void and of no force. Another difference is that statutes, or ordinary laws, are acts of the Legislature, or General Assembly, the regular law-making body, which, itself, is a creature of the con- stitution, while the constitution is made by a State convention representing the people in their sovereignty. The State convention is not a constituted body, always in existence, like the General Assembly; it is called and constituted only on extraordinary occasions -to frame a new constitution, or amend the existing one, or to meet some great and sud- den peril-and when it has performed its duty it adjourns without day, and passes out of existence. Constitutions are unwritten and written, the most illustrious example of the former being the English constitution, which consists of established precedents, customs, habits and decisions so ancient and stable as to have come to be recognized as supreme. In this country there is no such unwritten constitution ; the Constitution of the United States, which is the supreme law, is written, and so are the constitutions of all the States. In Great Britain, the Parliament is supreme over the constitution, and may change it ; but in this country there is no constituted body, whether Congress or a State Legislature, that can change either the Constitution of the United States or that of a State. A change of the former can be effected only in two ways-by a great national convention, or by the co-operative action of the national Con- gress and a majority of the State Legisla- tures. The latter is the usual method -- in fact, the only one, for no national constitu- tional convention has been called into exist-
ence since the adjournment of the original one which framed the United States Consti- tution in 1787. Fifteen amendments to it have been added from time to time, but all through the co-operative action of Congress and the State Legislatures, or conventions.
The present (1900) Constitution of the State of Missouri, framed in 1875, consists of a preamble and fifteen articles. Article I accepts and recognizes the established boun- daries of the State. Article II is the bill of rights, consisting of thirty-two sections. Article III is a single paragraph, naming the distribution of powers. Article IV relates to' the legislative department, and consists of fifty-six sections. Article V relates to the executive department, and consists of twenty- five sections. Article VI relates to the judi- cial department, and has forty-four sections. Article VII relates to impeachments, and has two sections. Article VIII relates to suffrage and elections, and has twelve sections. Arti- cle IX relates to counties, cities and towns, and has twenty-five sections, six of them re- lating to the city of St. Louis. Article X relates to revenue and taxation, and has twenty-one sections. Article XI relates to education, and has eleven sections. Article XII relates to corporations, and has twenty- seven sections, thirteen of them relating to railroads, and three to banks. Article XIII relates to militia, and has seven sections. Article XIV relates to miscellaneous provi- sions, and has twelve sections. Article XV relates to the mode of amending the consti- tution, and has three sections. In addition to these fifteen articles, there was a schedule providing for submitting the constitution to a vote of the people and for certain other matters of convenience.
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