Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 70

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 70

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EPISCOPAL CHURCH-ESPEJO.

boatmen were at once notified to govern themselves accordingly. On the next day- July 3d-a quarantine station was established on the lower end and west side of Arsenal Island, with Dr. Richard F. Barret as visit- ing physician, and the detention of steamers and the unloading of immigrants and their baggage at once began. On the 10th of July there were over 300 people at quarantine. Meantime the mortality kept steadily increas- ing until on the last day mentioned, two weeks after the appointment of the commit- tee, the total deaths reached the alarming figure of 184, of which 145 were from cholera. After this date, however, the death rate rap- idly declined until on the Ist of August the committee of public health, in a proclamation signed by Thomas T. Gantt, chairman, and Samuel Treat, clerk, declared the epidemic to be over, and that there was no longer any danger in visiting the city. At the same time they closed their accounts, having spent $16,- 000 out of $50,000 at their disposal, resigned their trust and adjourned sine die." But for the three succeeding years the city was not without the dreadful pestilence. In each of the twelve months of 1850 it was the cause of more or less mortality, there being 883 deaths during the year, more than half of which, however, occurred in July. Nearly as many -845-were recorded during 1851, but the following year there were but few, and those sporadic cases. In 1865 there was another cholera alarm, and suitable sanitary precau- tions were taken, although there were few, if any, fatal cases. However, the following year cholera appeared in a malignant form, and there were 684 fatal cases. In 1872 there was an epidemic of smallpox. Out of 3,759 cases reported the mortality was 1,591, and the following year there were 837 deaths from this disease, which continued to rage in cer- tain quarters during 1874-5, in which two years there were 1,050 deaths. Cholera en- tirely disappeared in 1874. The year 1878 was memorable for a heated term, from July roth to July 20th, during which 172 persons died from the heat. The same year the yel- low fever broke out in the South, and 125 cases were brought here, of which forty-five were fatal. There were ten local cases. Sev- eral cases occurred at quarantine during the two succeeding years. Smallpox again ap- peared in the city in 1881, and there were 115 deaths from that disease, all occurring at the

quarantine hospital, to which the patients had been removed. In April, 1882, it again broke out, continuing the entire year and causing 233 deaths. During the years 1886-7 diph- theria prevailed alarmingly, the mortality be- ing 1,840. The dreaded disease again made its appearance in 1895, there being 3,196 cases, of which 526 were fatal. In 1892, owing to the pollution of the water supplied from the reservoirs by the discharge from Harlem Creek and the Prairie Avenue sewer, typhoid fever made its appearance in epidemic form in that neighborhood. Out of 3,624 cases there were 514 deaths.

CHARLES W. FRANCIS.

Episcopal Church. - See "Protestant Episcopal Church."

Erie .- See "Oregon."

Erin Benevolent Society .- A phil- anthropic society organized in St. Louis in 1818, at the house of Jeremiah Connor, by prominent members of the Catholic Church. Thomas Brady was elected chairman, and Thomas Hanley, secretary. Among its most active members were John Mullanphy, James McGunnigle, Alexander Blackwell, Arthur McGinnis, Hugh Ranken, Lawrence Ryan, Thomas English, James Timon-the father of the saintly Bishop Timon-Robert N. Cath- erwood, Joseph Charless-founder of the "Missouri Gazette," the parent of the present St. Louis "Republic"-Hugh O'Neil and Francis Rockford-a name honored in the history of education, he being the first to open an English school in St. Louis.

Espejo, Antonio de .- "A Spanish ex- plorer, born in Cordova, Spain (some say in London), about the middle of the sixteenth century. He was a captain of the army in Mexico, when, in 1582, after organizing a special force of one hundred horsemen and a corresponding infantry detachment, almost at his own expense, he undertook, in company with Father Bernardino Beltran, a journey in search of the Franciscan missionary, Augus- tin Ruiz. After traveling several days toward the north he met some natives who had been converted during the expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez to Honda, in 1528. The people among whom these lived, the Jumanes, were so far advanced in civilization that they in-

I. R. Estill

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ESSENIC COUNCIL-ESTILL.

habited houses of stone. Shortly afterward he learned that Ruiz had been killed, but pushed on toward the east, and, after march- ing through a fertile country, reached the territory of the Cumanes, whose capital, Cia, possessed 'eight public markets; the houses were built of limestone of divers colors, and the inhabitants wore beautiful cloaks of cot- ton, woven in the country.' Five leagues northwest of this he found the Amayes, who had seven cities, and afterward visited the town of Acomas, situated on an almost per- pendicular rock, which had to be ascended by narrow stairs, cut in the stone. After jour- neying eighty leagues farther he reached the country of the Zunis, where he met three Spaniards who had accompanied the expedi- tion of Vasquez in 1540, and who had lived so long with the Indians that they had almost forgotten their native tongue. Here Father Beltran, with most of the party, left Espejo and returned to Mexico, but he pushed on with but nine followers and reached the town of Zaguato, whose inhabitants lodged him sumptuously and gave him presents of cloth- ing. He then passed through the land of the Quires, which contained 25,000 inhabitants and abounded in mines. The natives wore cloaks of cotton or of painted skin, and lived in houses four stories high. The forests abounded in game, the rivers in fish, and in the valleys grew maize, melons, flax, fruit trees, and vines. But he soon encountered the Tamos, who refused to let him proceed through their territory, and, turning back, he journeyed along a river which he named, 'Rio de las Vacas,' from the cattle on its banks. He reached San Bartolome in 1583, after a journey of nine months. He left a work entitled 'Relacion del viaje al Nuevo Mejico (1636).'" (Appleton's "Cyclopedia of American Biography.")

Essenic Council .- This is an ancient secret order, claimed to be the most ancient in existence, antedating Freemasonry, and tracing back to a connection with the Jewish Sanhedrim and the Buddhist priesthood. Its governing principles are good will, fraternal feeling and help to all mankind. There is a chief officer with two assistants at the head of the order, and there is a council, composed of two members from each State in the Union. The number of members is limited, and no new member is admitted except when

an old one dies. Members do not avow their connection, and a good deal of mystery sur- rounds the order. It is said that it numbers ten members in the United States Senate, and thirty-nine in the House of Representatives. The meetings are called when some im- portant business is to be performed. The first branch of the order in the United States was established at Baltimore by members from Venice, Sofia in Turkey, and Brest in France. The order has no connection with the organization known as the "Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order."

Essex .- A village in Richmond Township, Stoddard County, eight miles southeast of Bloomfield, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad. It has two hotels, a gristmill, sawmill and distillery. Population, 1899 (estimated), 260.

Estill, James Robert, for many years one of the most widely known and successful agriculturists and stock-raisers in Missouri, was born in Madison County, Kentucky, January 30, 1819, and died at his home, in Estill, Howard County, Missouri, March II, 1900. Colonel Estill was descended from a pioneer family of Kentucky, which was one of the most prominent in the early history of that State. Captain James Estill, his pater- nal grandfather, a descendant of Revolu- tionary stock, and himself a veteran of the War of 1812, was one of the pioneers of the Bluegrass State. He participated in many of the campaigns against the Indians who so persistently annoyed the white settlers, and in an encounter in which he led the defenders of the little settlement in which he resided, he was killed and scalped. One of his sons, Wallace, married Miss Elizabeth Rodes, also a member of an early Kentucky family, and the subject of this memoir was their son. Colonel Estill's early educational advantages were limited to those afforded by the common schools which flourished during his boyhood. At the age of sixteen years he was made a deputy by the sheriff of his native county, and for several years thereafter served as "riding sheriff." About the time he arrived at man's estate he visited Missouri, with the intention of locating on a farm when a de- sirable site presented itself. After three or four prospecting tours, he came to Glasgow, in 1844, where he remained about eighteen

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months. There he married, on March 20, 1845, Mary Ann Turner, a native of Glas- gow, and a daughter of Talton and Sallie Turner. Talton Turner, a native of North Carolina, was one of the pioneers of that section of Missouri, and a man of great prominence and influence. He conducted an extensive trade with the Indians, and accu- mulated a large fortune. During the War of 1812 he served as an officer under Green Clay. He was educated as a civil engineer and surveyor, and at one time had a con- tract with the United States government for surveying a large tract of land in the north-

western part of Missouri. Five of his children are still living, all re-

siding in Missouri. Soon

after his

marriage to Miss Turner Colonel Es-

till purchased 460 acres of land in Howard County, on the present site of Estill, where he and his wife passed the remaining fifty- five years of their lives, the death of Mrs. Estill occurring eight years after that of her husband. Gradually his farm holdings in- creased until he owned 3,200 acres of land in one body. In early days he devoted a con- siderable proportion of his land to the cul- tivation of hemp, and bred and fed mules for the sugar plantations of Louisiana. Later

was a member of the board of curators of the Missouri State University, occupying that office at the time of his death. An illustration of his deep interest in the education of the young is found in the fact that during his life he personally paid the expenses incident to the education of eighteen girls. He was identified with various other institutions, among which were the Farmers' Bank, at Fayette, and the Franklin Bank, at Franklin, in which he served as director for many years. Though at no time a resident of Kan- sas City, he possessed a large amount of valu- able property in that city, including the apartment house on Broadway, between Tenthand Eleventh Streets, bearing his name, which was erected by him in 1897 and 1898. A devoted member of the Christian Church, he served as an elder in that society for many years, and built the parsonage for the church at Franklin. He and his wife were the parents of five children, namely: Wallace, eldest child, who married Miss Forbes, of In- dependence, Missouri, and now resides on the home farm at Estill; Alice, who married Lewis C. Nelson, of Fort Scott, Kansas, and died in 1872; Eleanor, now the wife of Felix Lafayette La Force, of Kansas City; William Rodes, of Estill, who married Nannie, daugh- ter of Richard Gentry, of Sedalia, and who died January 30, 1896, and Mary Clifton, wife of Washington Butler La Force, of Kansas City, the sisters marrying brothers. Colonel Estill was in many ways a remarkable man. In the first place, he was recognized as the most thorough and scientific farmer and stock-raiser in Missouri. He was a splendid judge of human nature, and his unerring eye invariably estimated a man for what he was

he engaged largely in the breeding of fine stock. In 1883 he imported from Scotland a herd of Angus cattle, and from this importa- tion and additions thereto came the famous Angus herd of Wallace Estill, on exhibition at the World's Fair in 1893. This herd won in premiums at Chicago over $4,000, making the best showing of any herd of beef cat- tle. This large estate also included the fa- mous Burckhart salt spring, where, in 1812, Nicholas Burckhart employed a hundred men · worth. Physically, his figure was a conspic- in the manufacture of salt. In 1865, soon uous one, his height being over six feet and his weight about 250 pounds. The following is what Colonel William F. Switzler says of him : "He was a man of strong character, un- obtrusive, undemonstrative, unambitious of office and public life. He was of unimpeach- able integrity, progressive and enterprising in his ideas, liberal and kind-hearted in his dealings and intercourse, a genuine friend of education, and, withal, chivalric and ex- tremely fond of his home. He was a typical Kentucky gentleman of the old school, and the world was better for him having lived in it." At his home he always dispensed a lavish hospitality. One of the distinctive after the close of the Civil War, Colonel Estill became a director in the old Tebo & Neosho Railroad, planned to run from Sedalia to Hannibal, which subsequently became a part of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway system. From an early day he displayed a keen and growing interest in the cause of education. When the Orphans' School was removed from Camden Point to Fulton he interested himself in its welfare, becoming one of its foremost promoters and benefac- tors. He and his wife both gave scholar- ships to this institution, and assisted it in numerous other ways. For many years he

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qualities which endeared him so closely to the young was his constant desire to help young men to help themselves. His numer- ous benefactions were performed in the most unostentatious manner, and rarely, if ever, did he find his confidence misplaced.

Ethel .- An incorporated village in Ma- con County, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, twenty-six miles north- west of Macon. It was laid out by the rail- road company, in April, 1888. It was for- merly called Ratliff. It has two churches, a flouring mill, a newspaper, the "Courier," two hotels, and about twenty-five business places, including stores and shops. Population in 1899 (estimated), 500.

Ethical Society of St. Louis .- The Ethical Society of St. Louis grew out of a movement started about twenty-five years ago by Dr. Felix Adler in New York City. This is now known as "The Ethical Movement," and the organization was called the Society for Ethical Culture. After a few years other societies were inaugurated in Philadelphia and Chicago.

In the spring of the year 1887, twelve years ago, Mr. W. L. Sheldon, who had been working with Dr. Adler in New York for two years, came out to St. Louis and gave three lectures at Memorial Hall, in the Muse- um of Fine Arts, dealing with this Ethical Movement. This led to an effort on the part of a number of citizens to organize an Ethi- cal Society for St. Louis. The following fall the society was definitely organized and in- corporated under the laws of Missouri, with the election of Mr. Sheldon as lecturer of the society. He has, therefore, held this posi- tion since the date of organization.

The constitution of the society was con- structive in character, laying down as its one aim, "to put morality into the foreground in religion." Among those who founded this Ethical Society were Messrs. James Taussig; Charles Nagel, Paul F. Coste, Albert Arn- stein, Otto L. Teichman, Leo. Levis, Dr. W. E. Fischel, Mrs. L. D. Hildenbrandt, W. A. Kelsoe, and many others. Its president early in its history was Dr. Charles W. Stevens, one of the oldest and most esteemed residents of St. Louis at that time.

At first the movement was incorporated under the name of the Society for Ethical

Culture. This name, however, after a few years, was entirely dropped, and the corpo- rate name now is simply "The Ethical Soci- ety of St. Louis."

The plan was to hold lectures regularly Sunday mornings, and to carry on work sim- ilar to that conducted by the churches, only along exclusively ethical lines.

The lectures have been given now Sunday mornings for eleven or twelve years at Me- morial Hall. Besides the addresses given by the regular lecturer it has been customary to have discourses by other speakers from elsewhere in the United States, including the lecturers from the other societies-Dr. Felix Adler, Mr. W. M. Salter, Mr. S. Burns Weston and Dr. Stanton Coit. It has been the desire of the managers that lectures should be given by leading specialists dealing with practical ethical problems. Among those who have spoken Sunday mornings on these subjects have been Professor Frank Taussig, of Har- vard University ; Professors Paul Shorey and J. Laurence Laughlin, of the Chicago Uni- versity ; President G. Stanley Hall, of the Clark University, and Professor Josiah Royce, of Harvard University. Occasionally addresses have also been given on applied ethics on the same platform Sunday morn- ings by a number of well known citizens of St. Louis.

The Ethical Society has now, 1898, about 250 members in St. Louis. Its chairman is Mr. Robert Moore; vice chairman, Mr. Philip Gruner; secretary, Paul F. Coste, Esq .; treasurer, Mr. Joseph Taussig. In connection with the society there has grown up a Young People's Ethical Union, with various sections, for the purpose of study in connection with ethical problems.

One great purpose of the society was to encourage and foster in St. Louis a study of the questions of the day from a strictly ethical standpoint. With this end in view, it or- ganized and conducted for a number of years a political science club, having first a general course of lectures upon "Political Economy," and then addresses on practical subjects by well known citizens. For two seasons there were a number of important talks given on the public life of this country, or on local or national institutions, by such men as Hon- orable D. R. Francis, Honorable John W. Noble, Honorable James O. Broadhead, Mr. W. S. Chaplin, Colonel George E. Leighton,

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ETHICAL SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS.

Honorable C. P. Walbridge, Honorable E. O. Stanard, Honorable James Carlisle and others. One entire season was devoted to the study of "Crime and Criminology."

As this class of work began to extend and develop among other organizations in St. Louis, it was felt that the main purpose in such a direction had been accomplished, and the society therefore does less along this line than formerly.

In this same connection it was the plan of the lecturer also to have addresses dealing with such practical themes on Sunday morn- ing, so as to arouse public attention to the ethical side of questions of the day. It was Mr. Sheldon's opinion that problems of this kind should be treated with the same sacred- ness as problems directly connected with theology. The Ethical Society has striven, therefore, to establish the standpoint that subjects of this kind were not merely "secu- lar" in character, but that they had a pro- found ethical or religious import, calling for the deepest consideration on the part of the clergy everywhere.

Another important effort on the part of the society was to encourage the study of science as a means for influencing the moods and character of people. With this end in view, it inaugurated Sunday afternoon popular science courses, at one of the downtown theaters, beginning first with the men of science in St. Louis, and afterward inviting prominent specialists from elsewhere. Among those who were brought to St. Louis to speak in these lecture courses were Professor Frank W. Chapman, of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City; Pro- fessor Frederick Starr, of the Department of Anthropology of the Chicago University : Professor L. O. Howard, of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C .; Professor An- gelo Heilprin, of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, and the late Professor E. D. Cope, of the University of Pennsylvania. These courses of lectures were largely attended, and proved very successful in St. Louis.

In more direct connection with ethical study there was inaugurated a few years after the society was started a special club for women, which was to meet on alternate Wed- nesday afternoons, with the aim in view of studying the ethical tendencies in literature, art, history and philosophy-mainly in order

to apply the study to the problems of home life at the present day. The club took its name from the subject to which it devoted its first year's work-Greek ethics. It has been known since that time as "The Greek Ethics Club," and has about 300 members. It took up a study of ethical literature histori- cally, beginning first with Greek ethics, then the ethics of Rome, afterward the Renais- sance; later on the seventeenth and eight- eenth centuries. The fifth year was devoted to "Modern Poets." One season was given over to George Eliot. This club is now spending two years on character studies in Shakespeare.

A Young Men's Shakespeare Club has also been organized, with the same purpose in view. The intention of both these clubs has been not to make them classes in litera- ture, but rather to turn literary study in the direction of ethics, so that reading Shakes- peare means, for those who are doing this work, a study in character, thus having all the while a practical direction. The various branches of work of the Ethical Society are attended by people quite irrespective of any personal connection with that society. Its clubs and classes have met a welcoming re- sponse by numbers in the orthodox churches, especially as the lecturer aims to keep strictly within the lines of ethics.

One of the most unique features of this society has been its Ethical Sunday school. The plan was formed of starting a school for boys and girls Sunday mornings, with the idea of making ethics exclusively the basis of instruction, preserving as far as possible a non-sectarian character in regard to doc- trinal or theological questions. This school is now completely organized, under the charge of Mr. Sheldon's associate, Mr. W. H. Lighty. There are classes in "Stories from the Bible," "Good and Bad Habits," "Story of the Life of Jesus," "Duties Within the Home," "Citizenship and the Duties of a Cit- izen," "One's Self and the Duties Pertaining to One's Self," "Religion and the Significance of Religious Beliefs," and also a "Bible Class" for adults. One-half the work of the school is devoted to general exercises. The young people always have a sentence or beautiful thought from classic literature, which they take home and commit to memory, and then are to recite the following Sunday. They also give recitations from the choicest selec-

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ETHICAL SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS.

tions in ethical literature gleaned from all ages. Besides this, they have responsive exercises and singing. The sessions, there- fore, partake of the nature of a "religious service" for children, as well as meeting the demand for a school for ethical instruction.

The Ethical Society now has its own rooms in a wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, where the various classes and clubs have their meet- ings, while the Sunday morning exercises are held as heretofore in Memorial Hall.

From time to time the society has pub- lished some of the lectures given Sunday mornings, and a regular bureau of publica- tion exists, in charge of the librarian, Mr. William A. Brandenburger. At the end of the first ten years of work of the Ethical Society a volume of the lectures by Mr. Shel- don was published by the Macmillan Com- pany, of New York and London, under the title, "An Ethical Movement." A short "Life of Jesus for the Young" has also been pub- lished in St. Louis, by the same author. At this tenth anniversary an important ethical congress was held in that city.

It has been a principle of all the ethical societies that the members should always undertake

Self-Culture Hall Association. to inaugurate practical philanthropical or educa- tional work in their respective cities. Pro- ceeding from this standpoint, the Ethical Society, about two years after it was founded, inaugurated an educational movement among the wage-earning class of St. Louis, and this movement has now developed into what is known as the Self-culture Hall Association. The plan in view was to encourage and fos- ter efforts for self-improvement among wage- earners and their families-but to do this on a basis of strict neutrality on all subjects per- taining to politics and religion. The first step taken was to open some free reading rooms on Franklin Avenue, and then soon after to start a regular evening lecture course, mainly by the professors of the Washington University.

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 70

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