Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 5

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

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 5

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CLEARING HOUSE.

years they lived on a large estate, which has been handed down from father to son through several generations, and which is still in the possession of their descendants. Ralph Clayton came to Missouri in 1820, at the time when the new Commonwealth was pre- paring to assume the duties and responsi- bilities of statehood. He settled on a farm which was nine miles west of what was then the little city of St. Louis, and for more than threescore years thereafter he was a prosperous agriculturist and one of the lead- ing citizens of St. Louis County. On this farm he lived for sixty-two years, and in the later years of his life he saw a thrifty and prosperous village grow up on the lands which he had cleared and cultivated. When St. Louis County was separated from the city and it became necessary to establish a new county seat, he donated to the county a site for its capital, and, in honor of him, the town was named Clayton. Near his home he built a Methodist Church, in which he and his family worshiped for many years. In this good work he was generously aided by his neighbors and friends, and those who applied to him for favors in turn were never disappointed in his contributions, no matter what religious denomination benefited by his gift. A most hospitable and generous man, he was the friend of all who came to him for aid, and no unfortunate was ever turned away from his door unblessed by his benefac- tions. Frequently urged by his friends to accept office, he as frequently declined the honors, preferring the quietude of his home and his farm life to public position. Only once did he vary from this rule, and that was when he consented to serve a term as justice of the peace. After a long, useful, happy and contented life, he died when in his ninety-sixth year. One of his distinguish- ing characteristics was his temperance in everything and total abstinence from the use of intoxicating drinks, and doubtless this had much to do with the prolongation of his life. Notwithstanding his remarkable age, as long as he was able to walk he could be seen every day directing his workmen on the farm and in the village of Clayton. Two weeks before his demise he walked from his home to a Sunday service at the church which he loved so well. He had a remarkably retentive memory and was a great reader, his Bible being the best beloved of all his books. It

was his custom to spend the early morning of each day in the privacy of his own cham- ber reading the Book of Books, and the old volume which was his constant companion through life is treasured as a sacred heirloom by his family. In all his business relations his integrity was of the ideal kind, and the good name which he left behind him is a precious inheritance to his children. May 31, 1831, he married Miss Rosanna McCaus- land, of St. Louis County, who died in 1862. Their children were John A. Clayton, Rev. William D. Clayton and Mrs. Mary McCaus- land.

Clearing House .- The clearing house is of comparatively modern origin, the first institution of the kind having been established in London about the beginning of the last century. The New York Clearing House, the first organized in the United States, be- gan its operations October 11, 1853. The St. Louis Clearing House was organized in 1868, beginning its operations December 24th of that year. The banks and banking institu- tions numbered among its charter members were as follows: Accommodation Bank, Bar- tholomew, Lewis & Co., Boatmen's Saving Institution, Butchers' and Drovers' Bank, Central Savings Bank, Clark Bros. & Co., Commercial Bank, Exchange Bank, First National Bank, Fourth National Bank, Fourth Street Bank, Franklin Avenue Ger- man Savings Institution, Franklin Savings Institution, German Bank, German Savings Institution, Haskell & Co., International Bank, G. H. Loker & Bro., Mechanics' Bank, Merchants' National Bank, National Bank State of Missouri, National Loan Bank, North St. Louis Savings Association, Peo- ple's Savings Institution, Provident Savings Institution, St. Louis National Bank, St. Louis Building and Savings Association, Second National Bank, State Savings Asso- ciation, Third National Bank, Traders' Bank, Union National Bank, Union Savings Asso- ciation, United States Saving Institution, Western Savings Bank. Of these banks the following have since voluntarily retired from business, many of them soon after the panic of 1873: Accommodation Bank, Central Savings Bank, Clark Bros. & Co., Exchange Bank, First National Bank, German Bank, Haskell & Co., G. H. Loker & Bro., Na- tional Bank, State of Missouri, National

CLEARING HOUSE.

Loan Bank, North St. Louis Savings Associ- ation, People's Savings Institution, Second National Bank, Traders' Bank, Union Na- tional Bank, United States Savings Institu- tion, Western Savings Bank. Of the banks belonging to the original clearing house not in business, or represented by legitimate successors in 1897, the Provident Savings In- stitution is the only one which went into bankruptcy. This bank failed, but paid the depositors almost in full. The first president of the Clearing House Association was Wil- liam E. Burr, and the first vice president was Charles Hodgeman. The first committee of management was composed of J. H. Britton, Felix Coste, J. C. H. S. Block, W. H. Mau- rice and John R. Lionberger. The first man- ager was Jas. W. Howenstein. Howenstein was succeeded as manager in 1871 by Edward Chase, who continued to act in that capac- ity until his death, which occurred March I, 1897. Thomas A. Stoddard succeeded Chase. A reorganization of the association took place soon after the panic of 1873, and in 1875 an amendment to the constitution was adopted, providing that no member should be added to the association who has not a paid-up capital of $150,000. Mainly through consolidations of the banking interests of the city and the building up of banking institu- tions prepared to operate on a vastly larger scale than their predecessors, the number of members of the association had been reduced in 1897 to twenty, one of these members be- ing the United States Subtreasury in St. Louis. For the month of January, 1873, the total clearings were $43,033,907; the total clearings for the month of January, 1897, were $113,589,327, and these figures are fairly illustrative of the growth and expansion of the financial and commercial interests of the city during this period of twenty-four years. The purpose of the Clearing House Associa- tion is, primarily, to facilitate the exchange of checks and bring about the immediate set- tlement of balances between the banks of the city. The method of doing this is a matter of interest to the public in this connection. In the conduct of his affairs a business man receives checks on various banks. These checks are not presented for payment at the banks upon which they are drawn, but are deposited by the man in whose favor they are drawn in the bank in which his own ac- count is kept, and either cashed or passed to

his credit. At the end of each day's business each bank finds itself in possession of large numbers of checks drawn upon other banks, which must be presented for payment. To bring together representatives of all these banks, to check up their accounts against each other and to settle the balances before another day's business begins is the business of the clearing house. When a bank closes its business for the day all of the checks drawn against each of the other banks of the city, which have been deposited during the day with such bank, have been filed away in an envelope bearing the clearing house number of the debtor bank. A memorandum made on a clearing house slip, showing the amount due the bank from each of the debtor banks, is filed with the checks which are to be sent to such banks for payment. On the following morning a delivery clerk and a set- tling clerk representing each of the banks proceed to the clearing house, carrying with them all of the checks held by the bank which they represent drawn on other banks. At 10:30 o'clock the clearing house is called to order by the manager, and the delivery clerks then present to the settling clerks of each of the banks the checks charged up to them on the preceding day. When the accounts of the different banks against each other are thus brought together the exact amount that one bank owes another on account of the ex- change of their checks is quickly ascertained, and a clearing house check, drawn in favor of the creditor and against the debtor bank, settles the day's business between them. Thus in fifteen minutes all the transactions of the previous day are adjusted between the banks of the city and the new day begins with all scores settled. Banks which are not members of the Clearing House Association arrange to make their clearings through banks which are members of the association, their checks being treated the same as those of individual depositors in such clearing house banks, except that the clearing house makes it a point to keep informed as to their solvency. July 29, 1884, the St. Louis post- office was admitted to clearance privileges, the idea originating in that city. Money or- ders, as turned into the banks by their de- positors, bear the clearing house stamp of the bank offering them in lieu of and equiva- lent to indorsement. Balances are certified in favor of some bank having a credit.

CLEARMONT-CLEARY.

Checks in favor of the clearing house certifi- cates are issued by the postmaster upon the United States Subtreasury, which is the de- pository of all postoffice moneys. Fully seven-eigliths of the money orders payable at St. Louis are credited on the accounts of bank depositors engaged in trade, thus af- fording to payees an easy method of cash- ing the same without the annoyance in many cases of personal identification. January I, 1897, the Subtreasury joined the Clearing House Association. In addition to facilitat- ing the exchange of checks between banks, the clearing house "exercises a supervisory watchfulness over the affairs of its members and bonds them all together in mutual help- fulness in times of commercial distress."

Clearmont .- A village in Atchison Town- ship, Nodaway County, five miles northeast of Burlington Junction, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and also on the Clarinda branch of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific. It is a thriving place of 300 in- habitants. The place contains Methodist, Baptist and Christian Churches, a Masonic lodge, a lodge of the Independent Order Good Templars, the Jackson Bank, with a capital of $12,000 and deposits of $46,000, and is the center of a large grain trade. The "News" covers the field of local news-gather- ing acceptably. A good creamery receives fair support.

Cleary, John M., lawyer and legislator, Kansas City, was born August 21, 1869, at Odell. Illinois. His parents were Michael and Ellen (Burke) Cleary. The father was a native of Livingstone County, Illinois, a wealthy land-owner and stockman, a men- ber of the State Legislature from 1882 to 1890, and again elected in 1898. The mother was reared in Sandwich, Illinois. The son lived at home until he was seventeen years of age, engaged in such labors as pertain to a large stock farm, and laying the founda- tion for an education in the district school and in the Odell High School, following this with a course in the Northern Illinois Normal School, at Dixon, Illinois. In 1886 he entered St. Victeur's College, at Bourbonnais Grove, near Kankakee, where he completed a liberal literary course. He then engaged in the study of law in the Bloomington Law School, at Bloomington, Illinois, and in the office of Ste-

venson & Ewing, in the same city. One of his preceptors, Mr. Stevenson, was elected Vice President of the United States in 1892. Mr. Cleary was admitted to the bar in 1893, and in September, 1894, removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he engaged in practice. In November, 1898, he was elected a repre- sentative in the General Assembly, where his intelligent judgment and careful discharge of duty commanded deep respect. In politics he is a Democrat, and has always been ear- nest in advocacy of the principles and inter- ests of his party. In religion he is a Catholic. He is a member of the Phi Delta Theta, a Greek letter society, with which he became connected in his college days; of the Mar- quette Club of Kansas City, and of Kansas City Lodge, No. 26, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is unmarried. Mr. Cleary occupies an honorable place at the Kansas City bar, and in other courts where his professional attainments and enthusiasm in his calling have won for him respect and admiration. In his political affiliations he commands a degree of confidence among his associates which affords promise of prefer- ment in the field of politics or in the line of his profession, as he may prefer, while for his social traits he is highly esteemed in all circles in which he mingles.

Cleary, Redmond, was born May 25, 1829, on a farm in Tipperary County, Ire- land. He was reared at home and attended a private school near there until fifteen years of age. His father died about this time and he then had to work on the farm until his twenty-first year. Owing to reverses, the family emigrated to this country in the lat- ter year-1850-via New Orleans, and settled in Carondelet. After several years of hard work and economy he managed to accumu- late a few hundred dollars. With these savings he started in the grocery and feed business in 1854. Later in this year hie be- came a member of the then Union Merchants' Exchange of St. Louis, which was in its in- fancy, and remained an active member of 'Change until his death, covering a period of nearly forty-five years. He continued in this line for a number of years, being suc- cessful from the start, and in the spring of 1865 he organized the general grain and com- mission house of Cleary & Taylor. This firm also prospered, and he remained in this co-

CLEAVESVILLE-CLEMENS.

partnership until 1876. In that year he bought Mr. Taylor's interest, and continued the business under the name of Redmond Cleary & Co .- he being the sole owner. In 1887 he incorporated the latter concern as the Redmond Cleary Commission Company. Shortly after Mr. Cleary's death-which oc- curred in January, 1898-this latter very well known corporation went into voluntary liqui- dation and retired from business, after nearly half a century of honorable and successful commercial life. Mr. Cleary was of a speci- lative turn, at times being largely interested in real estate, mining, banking and elevators. Although often solicited, his modesty pre- vented him from accepting many very high positions in either public or private life, he having no taste for the excitement of the former, although deeply appreciating the honor his fellow citizens sought to confer upon him. He was a devout member of the Roman Catholic Church, and always gave lib- erally to charity, being a generous benefactor of several local institutions. In 1858 he mar- ried Miss Alice K. Ryan, of St. Louis, who lived a little more than a year, and whose death was preceded a few days by that of their only child. Some months after this great loss Mr. Cleary, in 1860, left for Ire- land, where he revisited the many dear scenes of his youth. While abroad he trav- eled extensively, spending nearly two years in Europe. Shortly after his return to this country, on June 17, 1863, he married Miss Julia H. Doyle, of St. Louis, daughter of John Doyle and Mary C. Hayden.

Cleavesville .- A hamlet in Gasconade County, forty miles southwest of Herman. It has one store, a school and church. Popu- lation, 1899 (estimated), 20.

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, bet- ter known as "Mark Twain," distinguished as an author, is a native of Missouri, born in the village of Florida, Monroe County, Mis- souri. He was of aristocratic lineage. His father, Judge John Marshall Clemens, of Virginia, was a descendant of Gregory Clemens, who was one of the judges who condemned to death King Charles I, of England. Jane Lampton, mother of Samuel L. Clemens, was of the Lampton family of Durham, England. The Montgomerys, who

accompanied Daniel Boone to Kentucky, in which State she was born, were also among her ancestors. John Marshall and Jane Clemens were married in Kentucky, and first made their home at Lexington, where they owned a handsome estate and six slaves who came to them by inheritance. They removed to Jamestown, Tennessee, where Judge Mar- shall had procured a large tract of land from which he anticipated large returns, and this transaction afterward prompted the writing of "The Gilded Age" by "Mark Twain." In 1835 the parents removed to Missouri, locat- ing at Hannibal. Their son, Samuel, was then a delicate child, three years of age. Somewhat later he was sent to the farm of an uncle, where he could enjoy open air and outdoor sports. He was anything but studious, and could neither be coaxed nor driven to school after he was ten years old. He found occasional occupation in the office of a newspaper conducted by his brother, Orion, but tiring of confinement, left home at the age of eighteen years, and went east where he lived for four years. In 1857 he began learning steamboat piloting, under Horace Bixby, on the Mississippi River. His memory was marvelous, and his eye for land- marks sure, and he soon became a skillful pilot. In his leisure hours upon the boat, or while lying in port, he sought society, and made himself agreeable in conversation and as a piano performer and singer. At the breaking out of the Civil War, he entered the Confederate Army as a second lieutenant under General Tom Harris, but he aban- doned this service a few weeks later. His brother, Orion Clemens, having been ap- pointed secretary of the new Territory of Nevada, Samuel accompanied him in his trip across the plains, and, residing in Virginia City, contributed to the leading paper of the town a series of letters which found such favor with the proprietor, that he appointed the writer local editor, and sent him to Carson City, as legislative correspondent. It was while so engaged that his journalistic nom de plume, "Mark Twain," was adopted. Shortly afterward, he removed to San Fran- cisco, California, and became city editor of the "Morning Call." After a short time he was sent to Hawaii as a newspaper cor- respondent, and while so engaged his de- scription of the burning of the ship "Hornet" brought him generous recognition as a

CLEVELAND-CLIMATE OF MISSOURI.

descriptive writer. Six months later he returned to California and gave a few lec- tures, but soon abandoned the uncongenial labor. In 1867 he wrote "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras," and this gave him immediate introduction as a humorous writer. The next year he went abroad with the "Quaker City" steamship excursion to Europe and the Holy Land, and this afforded him inspira- tion for his first considerable published volume, "Innocents Abroad," which brought him immediate fame. An episode of his voyage was his meeting with Miss Olivia L. Langdon, to whom he was married in Feb- ruary, 1870. For four years following his return home, he was successfully engaged in lecturing. Shortly after his marriage he established his home at Buffalo, New York, where he purchased an interest in a news- paper, but he found confinement irksome, and removed in 1871, to Hartford, Connecti- cut, where he produced two volumes, "Roughing It" and "The Gilded Age." In 1873, with his family, he visited Great Britain. Among other works he has pro- duced "Life on the Mississippi," 1875; "Tom Sawyer," 1876; "A Tramp Abroad," 1880; "Prince and Pauper," 1881, and "Huckleberry Finn," 1885. In 1885 he became a member of the new publishing firm of Charles L.Webster & Co., New York. This firm paid to the family of General Grant, $350,000 for the "Memoirs" of the distinguished soldier, the largest sunı ever paid for a biographical work. The fortune thus acquired was lost through investment in a type-setting machine, and "Mark Twain" turned again to author- ship and with the proceeds of his book "Fol- lowing the Equator" paid a debt of $96,000 outstanding at the time of his failure. He made a lecturing tour in various countries, and afterward wrote "Pudd'nhead Wilson," which was entirely successful, as was an after dramatization. Years of voluminous writ- ing have failed to exhaust Mr. Clemens' originality or buoyant humor. On the con- trary, improvement and versatility are dis- cerned in his more recent work. His works have been translated into seven different languages, and are as familiar in many foreign countries as at home.

Cleveland .- See "Burlington Junction."

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad .- The Cleveland,

Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, lying entirely on the east side of the Mis- sissippi, is one of the most important systems reaching St. Louis. It controls 2,248 miles of road in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, ex- tending into the southwestern part of Mich- igan and connecting the four great cities that constitute its name in a quadrilateral of trade. It was formed in 1889 by the consolidation of several valuable roads, St. Louis contribut- ing the Indianapolis & St. Louis, and other lines coming in to complete the "Big Four" system. There are nine divisions, each of these four cities having one, and four oth- ers, being those of Cairo, Whitewater, San- dusky and Michigan. It is one of the most compact systems west of the Alleghany Mountains, and it would be difficult to over- estimate its advantages to St. Louis, one being the connection it affords with the Ches- apeake & Ohio Railroad and Newport News.

Cliff Cave .- A cave thirteen miles below St. Louis, on the Mississippi River, used for a wine cellar. It is known also by the name of Indian Cave.

Clifton Hill .- An unincorporated town, located in the extreme western part of Ran- dolph County, on the Wabash Railroad, twelve miles west of Moberly. It has five general stores, two drug stores, hardware store, lumber yard, barber shop, hotel, shops, etc. The town also supports an enterprising newspaper. It has a good public school and two churches. Population, 1900 (estimated), 200.

Climate of Missouri .- The annual mean temperature of Missouri, as computed from all available records to the end of 1898, is 54.5 degrees. The annual mean of each of the five physiographical divisions of the State is as follows: Northwestern plateau, 51.9 degrees; northeastern plain, 53.6 de- grees ; southwestern lowlands, 54.5 degrees; Ozark plateau, 55.2 degrees, and southeast- ern lowlands, 57.6 degrees. The lowest an- nual mean temperature is found in the extreme northwestern counties, where it is slightly below 50 degrees, and the highest in the extreme southeastern counties, where it is about 60 degrees. The variations in the annual mean temperature from year to year rarely exceed three degrees and are often less

CLIMATE OF MISSOURI.

than one degree. The following table shows the mean temperature of each division by seasons :

Division.

Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter.

Northwestern plateau

51.8

74.5

53.6

27.7

Northeastern plain.

53.5

75-3

55.1

30.6

Southwestern lowlands.

54.3

75-7

56.1

. 31.9

Ozark plateau ..

55.

74.8

56.2

34.7

Southeastern lowlands ..

58.0

76.7

58.3

37-3

State.

54.5

75.3

55-9

32.4

The warmest month of the year is July, with a mean temperature for the State of 77.0 degrees, and the coldest is January, with a mean temperature of 29.8 degrees. During the months of June, July, August and Sep- tember the temperature occasionally rises to 95 degrees, but does not often exceed 100. The highest temperature ever recorded at any weather bureau station in the State was 106 degrees, at St. Louis on August 12th and 26th, 1881. During the winter months the temperature sometimes falls to 5 or 10 degrees below zero, but temperatures of 20 degrees below zero are of very rare occur- rence. The lowest temperature ever re- corded at any weather bureau station was 29 degrees below zero, at Springfield on Febru- ary 12th, 1899. The average number of days during the year with maximum temperature above 90 degrees is twenty, and the average number with minimum temperature below 32 degrees ranges from about 75 in the south- ern, to I10 in the northern portion of the State. During the winter cold waves occa- sionally sweep over the State, causing falls in temperature of from 40 to 60 degrees in twenty-four hours, but periods of extreme cold are usually of short duration, as are also periods of extreme heat in summer.

The average date of the last killing frost in spring and the first in autumn, as com- puted from the records of the several weather bureau stations, is as follows :

Station.

Last in Spring.

First in

Length of

Autumn. Season, days.

Keokuk, Ia.

April II

October 13

184

Hannibal.

April 13

October 16

185

St. Louis

. April 10

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 5

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