USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 69
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DANIEL M. GRISSOM.
Embalming, State Board of. - A board instituted by act of the State Legis- lature in 1895, "to provide for the better pro- tection of life and health, to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, and to reg- ulate the practice of embalming and the care and disposition of the dead." It is composed of five persons, appointed by the Governor, and holding office for a term of five years, not more than three of whom shall belong to the same political party. It is authorized to prescribe a standard of qualification for those engaged in embalming and to grant licenses to prosecute the business to appli- cants found qualified. The license fee is five and two dollars annually thereafter. The penalty of embalming without license is $50 to $100. The board meets once a year, at least, and oftener if necessary. The expenses of the board are paid out of the receipts, but the members do not receive any salary from the State. The first meeting for organization was held at Butler, July 10, 1895, and the first members were G. B. Hickman, of Butler, president ; Hoyt Humphrey, of Lamar, sec- retary and treasurer; M. H. Alexander, of St. Louis; J. C. Herms, of Neosho, and J. W. Wagner, of Kansas City.
Emergency Aid .- The name given to an institution founded in St. Louis about the year 1894, which had for its object the an- swering of sudden calls for help and assist- ance on the part of the needy and unfortu- nate. It was designed to facilitate the prompt treatment of the sick, or those injured by accident, and to afford temporary but quick relief to those suffering for food or shelter. The institution had rooms at 1705 Washington Avenue prior to its going out of existence, in 1897.
Emergency Guild .- See "Wednesday Club."
Emergency Home .- This home for aged people, infants and children, was origi- nated in St. Louis, August, 1895, by Mrs. Leta Flint, and the shelter was immediately opened at 2605 Morgan Street. Though be- ginning with only money enough to pay the first month's rent, its growth was rapid and great good has been accomplished. In April, 1896, the home was moved to its present lo- cation, 2808 Morgan Street. It is entirely
L. A. Emerson C
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non-sectarian, and is free to all who need assistance, excepting only the indolent. De- serted or widowed mothers, with their young children, are cared for until the mother is able to obtain employment. Women out of work or sickly are received, and positions are obtained for them as soon as possible. Cases of positive illness are sent to the hos- pital, save in cases of infants, or of the very old, who are cared for to the end. No help is employed save in washing and in nurs- ing the sick infants. No income is derived from board, since as soon as work is ob- tained for any inmate, she removes to make room for another destitute one. The single exception is where mothers going into do- mestic service prefer to leave their children here, when they pay a small sum. The house of eleven rooms is far too small to accom- modate all applicants, but constantly shel- ters from twenty-five to thirty persons. As all capable of work remain only a short time and most of the children return to their rel- atives, or are otherwise provided for, this but slightly indicates the number in urgent need who are temporarily befriended. Mrs. Flint was prepared for this work through her twenty years' experience as city mission- ary, under Rev. John Mathews, D. D., and when she felt called to undertake the estab- lishment of the home, Dr. Mathews was her adviser and helper. The first donation of ten dollars came from a poor woman, who had been converted through her means, and who wished to help some children, whom she knew to be starving in a basement. Mrs. Flint attributes the success of her enterprise to prayer and faith. All contributions are voluntary, and there are no subscribers or solicitors, so the home is often hard pressed for means, yet Mrs. Flint expects to have a larger house, where she will be able to take destitute aged couples. She receives old men now as transients, when there is room for them. The home is managed entirely by Mrs. Flint. There is no organization, but the enterprise is under the patronage of a number of prominent people, among whom are Rev. John Mathews, Rev. John D. Vincil, Dr. and Mrs. William Reed, Murray Carle- ton, Mr. and Mrs. G. A. Morgens and V. O. Saunders. Ten doctors, among them well known specialists, have placed their services at call, also an attorney and a stenographer. Ministers of different denominations and
other friends frequently lead the Friday aft- ernoon prayer meetings, and twice a year some patroness arranges a benefit entertain- ment.
Emerson, John W., lawyer, was born July 26, 1830, in Massachusetts, and died June 20, 1899, in Ironton, Missouri. He be- longed to the historic family of Emersons which has given to the world many distin- guished men. In his youth he worked his way through Iron City College, in Pennsyl- vania, and at a later date was graduated from the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. He began the study of law with William M. Moffatt, a noted lawyer of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar after his coming to Missouri, in 1857. He then began the practice of his profession at Ironton, the county seat of Iron County, and from that time until his deathi was an hon- ored member of the bar of that place, at- taining well merited distinction as a lawyer. When the Civil War began he at once evi- denced his staunch loyalty to the Union, and aided largely in organizing the Forty-seventh Regiment of Missouri Volunteer Infantry. In this regiment he enlisted as a private, but his patriotism and ability received deserved rec- ognition, and he was made major early in the history of the regiment. At a later date he was commissioned colonel of the Sixty-eighth Regiment of Enrolled Mis- souri Militia, and held this command until the close of the war, winning the encomiums both of his superior officers and the men who served under him by his soldierly conduct, his devotion to duty and his ability as an officer. In later years he took a deep interest in re- viewing the history of the war, and during the last three years of his life he wrote a history of General Grant's campaign in the Mississippi Valley, the manuscript of which is now in the possession of his wife, and which his many friends hope to see published at an early date. He was always a ready and pleasing writer, and prepared, in the course of his active life, many essays and delivered many addresses at college commencements and on other occasions, which received the high commendation of the most cultivated and scholarly people. His refined tastes and love of nature's charms are evidenced in his home, situated in the lovely Arcadia Val- ley, and commanding a view of the scenery
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of the Ozarks, the spot being historically interesting by reason of the fact that Gen- eral Grant was encamped here when he re- ceived his commission as a brigadier general. Surrounded by well kept grounds and park- like attractions, this home is one of the most beautiful in the State of Missouri. Affiliating with the Democratic party, he wielded large influence in its councils in Missouri for years, and sat as a delegate in many conventions, from county to national gatherings, of that great political organization. He served as judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, as United States marshal, and in many less im- portant official positions, and under all cir- cumstances discharged his duties ably and filled the full measure of requirements. His fondness for his profession and his love of literature and the freedom of private life caused him to resign the judgeship, and at different times he declined congressional nominations which he was solicited to accept. A profound thinker and a forcible speaker, his nature was at the same time poetic, and he was the author of several poems, charm- ing alike in sentiment and meter. On the 12th of September, 1855, Judge Emerson married Miss Sarah Maria Young, in Oswe- go, New York, who is descended from the Young and Elsworth families of Revolution- ary fame. Mrs. Emerson survives her hus- band.
Eminence .- The county seat of Shan- non County, a village situated on Jack's Fork of Current River, in Eminence Town- ship, in the central part of the county. The present town dates from 1868, though from the organization of the county it has been the seat of justice. Owing to the isolated position from the railroad, its growth has been slow. Beside the courthouse and jail, it has a public school, two churches, a few general stores and a hotel. It has one news- paper, the "Current Wave." Population, 1899 (estimated), 300.
Eneberg, John F., president and treas- urer of the Kansas City Lumber Company, is a native of Sweden, where he was born December 21, 1825. In 1853 he immigrated to the United States, coming almost imme- diately to Kansas City. The outlook was inauspicious, and he located in Lexington, where, with slight interruptions, he carried
on a lumber business until 1880. In the spring of the latter year he removed to Kan- sas City, and, in association with R. S. Roubough and G. H. Barnes, engaged in the lumber business under the name of the Kansas City Lumber Company. This was a partnership concern until 1889, when it was incorporated under the same name. The yards, at Twentieth and Walnut Streets, cover more than one-half a city block, and include a large double deck shed. Lumber, lath, shingles, sash, doors and blinds are handled at wholesale and retail, the local trade being a large feature. Among recent large contracts filled from these yards was that for the lumber used in the New Con- vention Hall, which was furnished without necessitating a moment's delay. From the foundation of the business Mr. Eneberg has been the directing spirit, giving it his con- stant personal attention, and in his line none have been more efficient in contributing to the upbuilding of the great Western metropo- lis, which had scarcely entered upon its phe- nomenal development when he founded his yards. Prudent and capable in the manage- ment of his business, he is also highly es- teemed for his public spirit and liberality. During the Civil War Mr. Eneberg rendered faithful service as a member of the Seventy- first Regiment Missouri Volunteers on the Federal side, and rose to the rank of cap- tain. He participated in all the important operations in Missouri, including the ardu- ous campaign against General Price, when he made his last invasion of the State. In 1854 he married Miss Emojean Jones, of Lexington, Missouri, daughter of W. Jones. In politics Captain Eneberg is a staunch Re- publican.
Engelmann, Edward H., clerk of the court of common pleas at Cape Girardeau, was born March 21, 1860, at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, son of Edward D. and Adelheid (Weiss) Engelmann. His father was a na- tive of Hanover and his mother of Saxony, Germany. The former was born August I, 1830, and died in February, 1898. He came to America in 1840, and located at St. Louis, but in 1852 he removed to Cape Girardeau, where he married Miss Weiss, who arrived in America in 1850. Her death occurred in September, 1893. Edward H. Engelmann was educated in the public schools of Cape
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Girardeau, and upon reaching his majority, engaged in the insurance business, which he still continues. For some years he has been secretary of the Cape Brewery & Ice Com- pany, secretary of the Cape Girardeau Fair Association and secretary of the Lorimier Cemetery Association, and for a while was secretary of the Cape Girardeau Board of Trade. For eighteen years his father was clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Cape Girardeau, and four years after he gave up the position, in 1882, his son, Edward H. Engelmann, was elected to the place, and has since continued in the office, being elected to succeed himself four successive terms. For twelve years he has been deputy county col- lector. Politically he affiliates with the Repub- lican party, and has taken an active interest in politics, has been a delegate to a number of State conventions, and had charge of a delegation to the National Republican Con- vention, at St. Louis, in 1896. He was a member of the State Militia Company of Cape Girardeau, in which he was a corporal. He is a member of the Lutheran Church. August 16, 1881, Mr. Engelmann was mar- ried to Miss Pauline Tirmenstein, of Cape Girardeau County. The children born of this marriage have been Gustave, Oscar and Edward Engelmann.
Engineers' Club of St. Louis .- The Engineers' Club of St. Louis was incor- porated April 12, 1869, and has been an active body ever since that time. As stated in its Constitution, its objects are the professional improvement of its members and the ad- vancement of engineering in its several branches. Although strictly a technical club, its membership includes many who are not engineers, but who take an interest in scien- tific and industrial progress. During the win- ter season there are two meetings each month, at which papers are read and dis- cussions held concerning current engineering topics. No political or personal questions are allowed to enter into these discussions, but current municipal problems have always received attention, and it is safe to say that the city has derived great benefit from this interchange of ideas. The club has always numbered among its members the foremost engineers in this part of the country.
The membership now includes one hundred and twenty-seven resident and fifty-nine non-
resident members. The following named gentlemen have been presidents of the club :
Henry Flad, 1869-80; Thomas J. Whitman, 1881; C.Shaler Smith, 1882 ; Henry C. Moore, 1883; Calvin M. Woodward, 1884; Robert Moore, 1885; Robert E. McMath, 1886; Wil- liam B. Potter, 1887; Minard L. Holman, 1888; Edward D. Meier, 1889; Francis E. Nipher, 1890; George Burnet, 1891 ; John B. Johnson, 1892; Robert Moore, 1893; Ben. L. Crosby, 1894; S. Bent Russell, 1895; John A. Ockerson, 1896; Edward Flad, 1897; Wm. H. Bryan, 1898.
The founders and incorporators of the club were: Henry Flad, George W. Fisher, Thos. J. Whitman, L. Fred. Rice, T. A. Meysen- burg, William Eimbeck, Charles Pfeiffer, C. E. Illsley, George P. Herthel, Jr., Joseph P. Davis and James Andrews.
RICHARD M'CULLOCH.
English Intrigues in the West .- The machinations of agents of the British government against the infant Republic of the United States were numerous and varied in character, immediately after the War of the Revolution. One of the projects set on foot proposed the alienation of Kentucky from her allegiance to the Union, and the conquest of Louisiana through an alliance of Kentuckians and Canadians. Knowing that the Kentuckians were irritated at their fail- ure to sever ties which bound them to Vir- ginia and establish an independent State, and incensed also against Spain on account of her restriction of their trade on the lower Missis- sippi, Dr. John Connolly, who had been conspicuous as a British loyalist, visited Ken- tucky in 1788 and sought to enlist Humphrey Marshall, General James Wilkinson and other prominent Kentuckians of that day, in a scheme to wrest Louisiana from Spain. His representations were that there were 4,000 Canadian troops ready to march with the Kentuckians into the Spanish territory and that the conquest of Louisiana could be easily effected by the combined forces. His proposition was, however, coldly received, Marshall telling him that the people of the West would not be disposed to "make any terms or co-operate in any adventure with Great Britain as long as that power, in the teeth of the treaty of 1783, retained posses- sion of the Western posts and forts inside the frontier of the United States." Compelled
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to abandon his intrigues in Kentucky and leave the country, he returned to Canada, and later held a conference with a party of con- spirators in Detroit, at which it was proposed to seize New Orleans and forcibly control the navigation of the Mississippi River. Infor- mation of this plot was, however, given to General Washington, who took prompt steps to prevent its execution.
Ensworth Medical College .- A prominent medical educational institution lo- cated at St. Joseph. It is the successor of two medical colleges, St. Joseph Hospital Medical College, founded in 1876, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons founded in 1879. These two medical colleges were consolidated, and when Samuel Ensworth left to the. institution an endowment of $100,000, the name was changed to that which it now bears.
Epidemies .- Cholera appeared in epi- demic form in St. Louis in 1832, when, with a population of about 8,000, there was for sev- eral weeks an average of about twenty deaths per day. Again it was prevalent in 1833, though in a far less malignant form. In 1848 a fatal contagious disease, the ship fever, was brought there by foreign immigrants arriving by boat, but soon disappeared. The severest visitation of cholera was that of 1849, by which time the population within the limits of St. Louis had increased to 63,471, as shown by a census taken in February of that year. From a report made in 1884 by Robert Moore, civil engineer, the facts in regard to this terrible epidemic are here given: "The disease had been brought to New Orleans on emigrant ships early in December, 1848, and in a few weeks was carried to all the principal cities on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. During the last week in December several boats with cholera on board arrived in St. Louis, one of them being the steamer 'Ama- ranth,' which arrived on the 28th with no less than thirty cases among its passengers and crew. On January 23, 1849, the steamers 'Aleck Scott' and 'St. Paul' arrived here, hav- ing left New Orleans on the 26th ult. The former reported forty-six cases of cholera on the trip, six of them fatal; the latter, twenty- six cases and four deaths. On the 7th the steamer 'General Jessup' arrived from the same port, having had 'many cases' of cholera
on her trip, six of them fatal. Each of these steamers brought many immigrants, who were landed at the wharf with all their bag- gage and scattered throughout the city in boarding houses, without the slightest hin- drance or seeming care on the part of the city authorities. It is no surprise, therefore, when, in the morning paper of the 9th, we read that 'several cases of cholera were re- ported in the city yesterday, one or two fatal.' The editor adds, however, that they were 'caused by cabbage,' and to many of his read- ers this explanation was perhaps sufficient. The cholera was now fairly planted, and for the next four years, including the years 1849, 1850, 1851 and 1852, it was never wholly ab- sent from the city, except for three short in- tervals of four weeks each. It did not, however, at once become epidemic. The deaths from cholera in January were thirty- six. In February there were but twenty-one, a decline which led the 'Republican' to an- nounce that there was no ground for alarm, there being 'no cholera in the city.' During the next month, however, in spite of this as- surance, the deaths from this same cause were seventy-eight, or over double the num- ber of January ; and in April there was a still further increase to 126. All this time noth- ing was done by the city authorities, either to prevent the spread of the disease within the city or to stop the stream of infection which kept pouring in from New Orleans. For ex- ample, the 'Republican' of April 12th records the arrival from New Orleans on the night before of the steamer 'Iowa,' with 451 deck passengers, mostly English Mormons, and that during the trip there had been nine deaths from cholera. Of course, in view of such facts, the disease could not help spread- ing, and during the first week in May tlie deaths from this cause amounted to seventy- eight. By this time the city had become thoroughly alarmed. The board of health, which consisted of a physician and a commit- tee of the council, by proclamation urged the ‘disinfection of back yards and damp places with chloride of lime.' Even the newspapers now admitted the disease to be on the in- crease-'perhaps epidemic.' The city was also reported to be filled with hundreds of immigrants, besides those en route from other States to the gold fields of California. On May 9th the circuit court adjourned for three weeks on account of the difficulty
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of getting jurors. Twenty-four new cases of cholera and six deaths are also reported for this day; and the same paper which contains this record notes the arrival of the steamer 'America,' on which there had been twenty- two deaths since her departure from New Orleans. The epidemic was now fairly es- tablished, and for seven days ending May 14th the average number of interments due to this cause was over twenty-six per day. On the night of May 17th occurred the great fire, in which twenty-three steamboats and many blocks of buildings in the business part of the city were consumed. After the fire the mortality from cholera fell below twenty per day for a couple of weeks, and a hope sprang up that the cholera had spent its force and would soon cease. But it was short-lived, for on Saturday, the 9th of June, the deaths from cholera rose again to twenty- six, and on the Ioth to thirty-seven. For the week ending June 17th the burials due to this cause were 402, or over fifty-seven per day. Meantime the importation of fresh cases from New Orleans continued without abate- ment. On the day last named-June 17th- the steamer 'Sultana' arrived with between 300 and 400 immigrants. Twenty-five deaths had occurred during the trip, and on her ar- rival she had six dead bodies still on board. During the next week, ending June 24th, the deaths from cholera rose to 601, or eighty- six per day. By this time the alarm had deepened, until we hear of a popular subscrip- tion to clean the streets, and a patriotic citizen offers $20 worth of sulphur for purposes of disinfection. On the 25th a mass meeting was assembled at the courthouse, at which the propriety of quarantine was at last suggested, and the authorities were strongly denounced for their inaction. A committee of twelve, two from each ward, was appointed to wait upon the city council and urge immediate action. The latter body was not at that time in session, and many of its members had sought places of safety out- side the city. By vigorous efforts, however, they were hastily assembled on the afternoon of the next day-June 26th-and audience given to the prayer of the committee. By way of answer an ordinance was passed at the same sitting and approved by the mayor, James G. Barry, by which the city govern- ment was virtually abdicated in favor of the petitioners. The committee of twelve, ap-
pointed by the mass meeting of the day before, composed of T. T. Gantt, R. S. Blen- nerhasset, A. B. Chambers, Isaac A. Hedges, James Clemens, Jr., J. M. Field, George Col- lier, Luther M. Kennett, Trusten Polk, Lewis Bach, Thomas Gray and William G. Clark, were made a 'Committee of Public Health,' with almost absolute power. Au- thority was conferred upon them to make all rules, orders and regulations they should deem necessary, and any violation of their orders was made punishable by fine up to $500. This authority was to continue during the epidemic. Vacancies in the committee were to be filled as they themselves should determine, and $50,000 was ap- propriated for their use. The com- mittee, thus suddenly clothed with the sole power and responsibility, at once took up their task. At their first meet- ing, held on Wednesday, June 27th, certain schoolhouses in each ward were designed as hospitals, and physicians appointed to attend them. They also provided for a thorough cleansing of the city, to be begun at once, with an inspector or superintendent for each block. Among these 'block inspectors,' as they were termed, were many of the best citi- zens of the city, who entered into the work with the utmost zeal and declined afterward to receive any pay. On the next Saturday, June 30th, the committee recommended 'the burning, this evening at 8 o'clock through- out the city, of stone coal, resinous tar and sulphur'-a measure which seems to have met with much favor, for in the next day's paper we are told that on the night before, 'in every direction the air was filled with dense masses of smoke, serving, as we all hope, to dissipate the foul air which has been the cause of so much mortality.' The com- mittee also appointed Monday, July 2d, to be observed as a day of fasting and prayer-a recommendation with which, as with that for bonfires, there was general compliance. The committee, however, did not content them- selves with prayer and smoke alone. Thus we are told that on Sunday the block inspec- tors continued their work of purification without regard to the day, and on the very day of fasting and prayer appointed by them- selves the committee dictated to the city council an ordinance, which was passed the same day, establishing quarantine against steamboats from the South, and the steam-
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