Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 84

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 800

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while two more were further away at each end, necessitating the greatest vigilance on the part of each to prevent surprises and to obviate the disgrace, as it was considered, of being "passed in the house." Particularly was this the case with the hose companies. Their proximity to one another, should they escape being passed in the house, nearly al- ways was such as to cause the most exciting contests of speed, and some one was general- ly passed on the street, but it was not con- sidered so humiliating to be beaten in a fair race as to be caught napping. These oft recurring contests were the inexhaustible theme of comment and glorification in the en- ginehouses. The distance from the "Mound" on the north to the "Phoenix" on the south was two miles and a quarter, four companies being on either side of a common center, which would be Olive Street.

Toward the year 1851 two causes militated against the further successful prosecution of the extinguishment of fires by the volunteers. The first and prominent one was the acquisi- tion, from time to time, by the different com- panies of a lot of refugees from justice and chronic roughs from the departments of the Eastern cities. The typical "B'hoy" or "Sykesy" was unknown in the department up to this time, but unfortunately transplanted himself from a clime where the safety and the wholeness of his skin were in jeopardy to "the West," where he would be unknown. But, alas for human calculation ; the inherent "cussedness" of their natures did not allow them to remain in obscurity any length of time, for, as a general thing, they were the best-known characters in the city within a few months subsequent to their arrival. These parties soon changed the aspect and personnel of the department from a band of friends and brothers into a gang of rowdies, rioters and thieves, and to this cause alone can be attributed the dissolution of the Union Fire Company in 1855, and a consequent in- troduction of the paid department immediate- ly following, wrecking the entire department. The character of "Mose," an exaggerated type of the New York rowdy and ruffian, and not of a fireman, though habilitated as such, contributed largely to give "eclat" to the say- ings and doings of these new acquisitions, and went very far in moulding the characters of the younger members. The other cause which contributed largely also to the change

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FIRE DEPARTMENT OF ST. LOUIS, VOLUNTEER.

in the personnel of the membership was the passage through the council in 1850, and dur- ing the administration of Mayor Kennett, of an ordinance appropriating the sum of $1,- 000 annually to each company, the immediate result of which was that all the wealthy citi- . zens, who had heretofore countenanced them with their contributions, withdrew their sup- port and this took away their moral influence, or, in other words, their respectability or prestige, so much to be depended upon in the prosecution of their charitable work. Only one company refused to accept the stipend, the Union No. 2, relying upon the support of their many friends, never regret- ting the view which they had taken of the passage of the ordinance as to its results. Still another source of mischief, too much indulged in, was the turning in of false alarms, "just for a run, you know," often end- ing in disreputable scenes and lasting ani- mosities.

As may be imagined, the dissolution of the Union Fire Company and their introduction of the steam fire engine created the greatest consternation in the ranks of the remaining companies, and they immediately set on foot a tremendous opposition, succeeding for a time in stemming the formation of the paid department; but, luckily, there were at the time three old firemen, members of the city council, Daniel G. Taylor, of No. 2; Davis Moore, of No. 6, and George Kyler, of No. 8, who possessed the unprejudiced foresight to present a steam fire engine to the city upon easy conditions, and through their ex- traordinary efforts the bill to accept the steamer and organize a paid department was carried against the combined efforts of the volunteers, backed, as they were by the "old fogy" element. In recognition of the su- preme efforts of the latter two gentlemen mentioned, the first two engines ordered by the new department were named in their hon- or. Daniel G. Taylor was rewarded by be- ing elected mayor of the city. This signal failure on their part only increased the oppo- sition of the volunteers, who left no stone unturned to strengthen their own position and to throw every obstacle possible in the way of the modernizing of the department. They organized new companies, appointed a chief, and harassed the workings of the steamers at every opportunity. An idea of this latter can be gained and the feelings of

the volunteers arrived at in the following ex- tracts taken from a paper read before the Firemen's Historical Society, by the late William P. Barlow, a member of No. 6:

"In the summer of 1858 I remember the heart-sick feeling engendered by the sight of the Washington engine, going up Fourth Street on her first run in the hands of her new masters, behind a span of sorrel horses driven by one of the new firemen. To see that beau- tiful engine, the joy and pride of the old men, hauled through the streets like a dray, was humiliating. And we were sure the old beauty felt her disgrace, for she refused to throw a decent stream when the "hired" firemen, after a long delay, got to work; and on going home she had a melancholy look, as if she would never be herself again. How could she, after years of petting and burnishing by lov- ing hands, and after dancing through the streets behind a line of clean-limbed athletes, feel or look otherwise than like a tramp when trudging along mournfully behind those spavined sorrels? And with what glee did we run to the fires and stand around watching those awkward 'hirelings,' making remarks about raising their wages when they reeled off the hose wrong end first or attempted to take a plug with the 'he butt!' During the first few months Clay Sexton had a hard time. But finally public opinion, led by the older business men and the more conservative fire- men, came to his aid; steamers were bought, some of the volunteers went over to the enemy, and Sexton felt independent. The vol- unteer department was dead, but not buried, and I think it was about 8 o'clock in the evening one day in August, 1858, when most of the younger disbanded firemen were loaf- ing, as usual, along Third Street, the bells rang for a fire uptown. Enough of the 'Tiger' boys were around the St. Louis engine house to take out the reel for a run, and at the first peal of those silvery bells every fireman from Locust to Franklin Avenue cocked his ear, rolled up his pants, and jumped into the street. Billiard games were left unfinished; barber chairs, with a shave unfinished, were vacated ; and, guided by a demon of unrest, a large crowd manned the ropes of the en- gine as she came up the street. Ben Case grabbed the horn, and that engine rolled up Third Street with a speed proportionate to the occasion. The fire was in an alley on Cherry Street, between Main and Second.

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FIRE DEPARTMENT OF ST. LOUIS, VOLUNTEER.

The reel got the nearest plug, at the corner, and held it in defiance of the paid firemen. The engine got there before enough of them arrived to take the plug by force ; two lengths of hose were reeled off, the engine was set, and we went to work, the brakes double- banked, and with plenty of reserves. I sup- pose the engine felt that this was her last chance for glory, as she threw a stream, as the boys declared, 'to beat any old blasted steamer out of sight,' and did it willingly and 'easy like.' The fire was nearly extinguished when, all of a sudden, she 'sucked dry.' In such a frightful emergency everyone knew what to do without orders. Every head went down as if in prayer. But it was stones the boys were after; it was the other side that generally needed the prayers. Like well- drilled soldiers, we arose, each man clasping a 'dornick,' or brickbat, and, with Ben in the lead, rushed for the plug. And lo! there stood Clay Sexton and a steamer. We cared nothing for this, but behind him stood a lot of aldermen and councilmen, in broadcloth and silk hats, instead of the new firemen whom we expected to find. As Ben reached the plug and was on the point of disconnecting the steamer's suction, which had already been at- tached. Sexton raised his spanner and said : 'If you touch that plug I will break your head !' Ben, as you all know, was dead game on ordinary occasions, but the ponderous re- spectability of the crowd rattled him. In emergencies he who hesitates is lost, and Ben hesitated and a sickly grin spread over his features, and simultaneously a timid chill started down our backbones. As Ben's teeth slowly protruded through his lips the corpse of the volunteer department got both feet into the grave. As that solemn laugh ap- proached his ears our courage-the heroes of a hundred battles as we were-painfully oozed away. And as Ben's head went down. conquered by the ponderous majesty of those well-fed stomachs and white shirt fronts, down went also the remains of the volunteer department, buried forever. We reeled up, manned the rope, silently went home, backed her in, left the wet hose on the carriage, turned out the gas, slammed the doors and dispersed-a sad, broken-hearted crowd ! And this was our last run. The more respectable members of our glorious old department had some time before gone over to the support of the professional firemen. We were only

the dregs, as it were, and acknowledged our- selves to be only in the way at fires. In fact, that is what we went there for-to worry Clay Sexton and the new firemen. And al- though I was more than half ashamed at our conduct, I sometimes feel a regret to this day that we didn't 'clean the old man out.'"

In spite of all their efforts, however, they weakened, and at last gave up the ghost. The evident superiority of the new system being patent to a discriminating public and to the firemen themselves, they gradually wound up and disappeared from the scene of action, the last one to fade away being the "Central"- the first to appear in 1832 and the last to suc- cumb in 1858. Some of them, actuated by the good of the public and recognizing the fact that they owed all their possessions to them, turned over their property to the city. Others sold out and greedily pocketed the proceeds ; and one became so disgusted at the turn which affairs had taken that their prem- ises were discovered on fire one evening and everything that they possessed went up in smoke. On one occasion the building was allowed to burn, the paid firemen having no disposition to "conquer" so as "to save" any- thing-the company motto-and thus ceased to exist an active company, deserving of a better fate, the ground upon which the house stood reverting to the city, its original owner.

Reviewing the field now, after a lapse of forty years, no one, not even the most incor- rigible of the men who composed the volun- teer department, but will acknowledge the vast superiority of steam over human muscle, the advantages of electricity over the alarm bell, and the fact that inany of their old com- rades derive a subsistence for themselves and families under the new order of things, when their enthusiasm and love of excitement led them to ruin innumerable suits of clothes, un- dermine their health, lose their sleep, endan- ger their lives and endure all manner of hard- ships-for "glory." Yet many life-long friendships were undoubtedly made, which, with pleasant recollections of fun and frolic still haunting the memory, are, in part, the compensation therefor, not to speak of the blessing of immunity from jury duty-of military duty they had no care, as scores of them were active members of the military companies of the day. That there was a fasci- nation in the volunteer life is true; that they were prompt and efficient with the means at

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FIRE INSURANCE AGENTS' ASSOCIATION-FISHBACK.

their command is true; and it is not to be wondered at that they fought gallantly for ex- istence and the perpetuation of their organi- zation and old familiar methods. It was hard to part with that which had been their pride, and which had been long years accumulating, to go into the hands of others, and in which they could have no share-for the romance of "running wid de masheen" is sunk when one does it for his daily bread-a fact strik- ingly illustrated by the very small number of them who ever joined the paid department.

The world is ever marching onward, new ideas will supplant the old, new methods prove their superiority. Where the old rival- ry engendered animosities, wrangling and feuds, often ending in broils and even riots, there is now only peace and far greater ef- ficiency; and the old volunteer fire depart- ment showed its good sense by stepping aside and gracefully accepting the inevitable. Like the leaves of the forest when they have be- come sere and yellow with age, the veteran firemen are rapidly dropping into the lap of their mother, Nature, and but a few more years will elapse till none of them will be alive to recount heroic deeds, hairbreadth es- capes, and thrilling episodes in their exciting experiences as volunteer firemen. Scores of them have gone to their reward, and but a handful now remain ; yet all could mournfully say, with Wolsey :

" Nay, then, farewell!

I have touched the highest point of all my greatness, And from the full meridian of my glory I haste now to my setting ; and I shall fall Like a bright exhalation in the evening, And no man see me more."

Elsewhere in these volumes and under their appropriate alphabetical headings will be found sketches of the lives of Patrick Gor- man, Hiram Shaw, H. Clay Sexton and other old-time presidents of the volunteer fire com- panies.

THOMAS LYNCH.

Fire Insurance Agents' Associa- tion. - The Missouri Association of Fire Insurance Agents is a body organized at Sedalia, January 28, 1897, with William G. Baird, of Kansas City, for president; N. R. Wall, of St. Louis, first vice president ; J. T. Holmes, of Hannibal, second vice president, and John A. Bryant, of Kansas City, secre- tary and treasurer. It is composed of fire insurance agents engaged in local business, managers and special agents being excluded.

The object is to "support right principles and use influence to correct bad practices in fire underwriting, and to promote mutual protec- tion and social intercourse." It seeks also to point out to the legislators of the State the importance of a law for holding a reg- ular inquest to ascertain the cause of every fire, through a fire marshal. The yearly dues from members are $1.50, fifty cents of which goes to pay for membership in the National Association. Annual metings of the associa- tion are held on the third Thursday in April.

Fire Underwriters, Board of .- A voluntary organization of the fire insur- ance agents of St. Louis, which came into existence in 1872, and has since been com- posed of the leading underwriters of the city. Its object has been to protect the interests of the fire insurance companies, and of the general public as well, by regulating insur- ance rates, improving the facilities for ex- tinguishing fires and the construction of buildings, and promoting the adoption of precautionary measures designed to reduce to the minimum the losses from fires.

See also "Insurance, Organizations Auxil- iary Thereto."

First Full Bible Church .- The first Full Bible Church, of St. Louis, or, as it is called, the First Full Bible Mission Church, is a mission under the control of no denomi- nation. It was started at Nineteenth and Morgan Streets, in 1895, by Rev. J. T. Stew- art, formerly of the United Presbyterian Church in Ohio, but who offended the gov- erning body of that church by teaching the doctrine of "Divine Healing" by the "laying on of hands." Members of this church aver that true Christians should believe in salva- tion, sanctification, divine healing, and the second coming of Christ. This latter fulfill- ment of the promise they believe is near at hand. The mission has a Sunday school, which meets at 2719 Morgan Street, with a membership of over 100 in St. Louis.

Fishback, George W., well known throughout the West as newspaper editor, publisher and man of affairs, was born De- cember 3, 1828, in the town of Batavia, Cler- mont County, Ohio, his early home being within twenty miles of Cincinnati. He ob-

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FISH COMMISSIONERS-FISHER.

tained his early education in the schools of his native town, and completed his academic studies at Farmer's College, of College Hill, Ohio, when that institution was under the management of Freeman Cary and Dr. Rob- ert H. Bishop. After leaving college he stud- ied law, and was admitted to the bar of Ohio in 1851. For three years after his admission to the bar he practiced his profession, and then went to St. Louis with the intention of continuing his law practice there. Journal- ism had, however, greater attractions for him than the law at that time, and in 1854 he en- gaged regularly in reportorial work on the "Evening News" and "St. Louis Intelli- gencer" of that city. He soon afterward transferred his services to the "Missouri Democrat," which was then published by Hill & McKee, and of which General Frank P. Blair was part owner. This was in what may be called the primitive period of journal- ism in St. Louis, and Mr. Fishback consti- tuted the entire local staff of the "Demo- crat," as did Kirk Anderson of the · "Mis- souri Republican." In 1855 Mr. Hill sev- ered his connection with the "Democrat," and Mr. Fishback became a one-sixth owner of the property, the publication of the paper being carried on thereafter under the firm name of McKee & Fishback. A year later Mr. Fishback became the owner of another sixth interest in the paper through his pur- chase of a part of General Blair's interest. He was one of the owners and editorial man- ager of the "Democrat" during the Civil War, and up to the year 1875. Daniel M. Houser, who had for several years been con- nected with the paper as manager of the counting room, purchased the remainder of Mr. Blair's interest in 1862, and the publish- ing firm then became McKee, Fishback & Co. The "Democrat" had a prosperous ca- reer thereafter, and in 1872 became the sole property of Mr. Fishback, who incorporated his publishing enterprise as the Democrat Company. After that for three years he was president of this corporation, and at the end of that time sold his interest to Messrs. Mc- Kee and Houser, who consolidated the "Democrat" with the "Globe" newspaper, thus establishing the present "Globe-Demo- crat," one of the most widely known and also one of the most influential newspapers in America. After his retirement from the pub- lishing business Mr. Fishback devoted his

time to his private affairs, to travel, and in later years to the secretaryship of the board of commissioners of the Mullanphy Immi- grant Relief Fund, and to the writing of oc- casional historical and other articles. He married, in 1855, Miss Virginia H. Welton, of Kentucky, and has two sons living, one of whom has achieved distinction in the diplo- matic service of the United States. Mr. Fishback died in the latter part of 1900.

Fish Commissioners .- The three fish commissioners are State officers appointed by the Governor, one of them to reside north of the Missouri River and another south. They act in conjunction with the United States fish commissioner, receiving no salary and only their necessary expenses, but they are authorized to employ an agent or super- intendent and pay him a salary. The fish commissioners are empowered to maintain a fish hatchery for stocking the waters of the State with fish, and an annual appropriation of three thousand dollars is set apart to defray the cost of the hatching house and the expenses of the commission. A hatch- ery was established by the commission in Forest Park in 1885.

Fisher Daniel D., was born Decem- ber 16, 1837, in Mt. Etna, Indiana. After obtaining a public school education he went to Wheaton College, of Wheaton, Illinois, and was graduated from that institution with class honors in 1863. He then studied law at Ottawa, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar at Springfield in the same State early in the year 1866. Immediately afterward he came to St. Louis, was admitted to prac- tice in this State, and began his professional labors in that city. Some time later he formed a partnership with Clinton Rowell, and their associations continued without change under the firm name of Fisher & Rowell until Judge Fisher retired from prac- tice to begin the labors which the people of St. Louis had delegated him to perform, as a judge of the circuit court, twenty-three years later. In the fall of 1890 he accepted the nomination of the Republican party, with which he was always affiliated, to the judg- ship of the circuit court, and he was chosen to that office at the ensuing election. He has since occupied the bench of that court. Judge Fisher married, in 1866, Miss Carrie A.

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FISHER.

McKee, daughter of David and Sarah Ward McKee, of Aurora, Illinois. Their only living child is Katherine Pauline, now the wife of Lieutenant George M. Brown, of the United States Army.

Fisher, George Dunlap, an early and successful merchant and cotton factor, was born October 31, 1836, in Danville, Ken- tucky, son of Colonel James A. and Martha M. (Dunlap) Fisher, both of early Virginia ancestry, which became distinguished during the Revolutionary War. The family with which he was connected emigrated from Vir- ginia to Kentucky, prior to 1800. His father, Colonel James A. Fisher, for many years a merchant of high standing in Danville, Ken- tucky, was a great-grandson of the renowned Colonel Robert Slaughter, of Virginia, who was near General Washington in all his im- portant campaigns, and was brevetted briga- dier general for his war service. Colonel Fisher was also grandson of Gabriel Slaughter, who was Governor of Kentucky for nearly two terms, and who as a general officer in the war with Great Britain, in 1812, was highly commended by General Andrew Jackson for his gallantry in the battle of . Jere B. Fisher, now mayor of Danville, Ken-

New Orleans. In the maternal line the an- cestors of Mr. Fisher were Kentuckians of Scotch-Irish origin, and were people of marked distinction. About 1735 the Robert- son and Dunlap families were planted in Vir- ginia, whence their representatives went to Kentucky in and prior to 1784, and became active in the upbuilding of a new State. The brothers of Mrs. Fisher, mother of George D. Fisher, were men of superior attainments and commanding influence. Her father, George Dunlap, a first cousin of Chief Justice George Robertson, of Kentucky, was for many years a judge of the old county court of Lincoln County, one of the three original counties of Kentucky. It is said of him that he stood as a public arbitrator among his neighbors, and that he rarely permitted a case to go to trial in court, nor ever issued a fee-bill. His portrait in oil adorns the walls of the courthouse in Lincoln County. His daughter, Martha, married Colonel James A. Fisher, in 1834. George D. Fisher, born of this marriage, was educated at Centre Col- lege, Danville, Kentucky. When he was a youth, his parents removed to Jackson County, Missouri, and he remained with

them on the home farm until he was eighteen years of age, when he went to Kansas and pre-empted a quarter-section of land near the Missouri line, of which he yet retains ownership. For a few years beginning in 1860, he was a clerk in his father's store in Pettis County, Missouri. In 1863-4 he was engaged in mercantile business in Arkansas, having established a store in Little Rock, and another in Camden. Although success- ful in these undertakings, he sought a broader field, and he removed to New Orleans, Louisiana, where, in 1867, he opened the cotton factorage house of Fisher, Johnson & Co., in which his father, Colonel Fisher, was a member, and was otherwise active in business affairs. The larger share of the management of the business, which became extensive and profitable, devolved upon Mr. George D. Fisher, who was also a charter member of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, and one of the organizers of and a director in the New Orleans National Bank during the successful administration of Cap- tain Jesse K. Bell as president, from 1868 to 1873. In 1873 Mr. George D. Fisher re- moved to St. Louis, and with his brother,

tucky, established the house of Fisher Bros. & Co., cotton factors and commission mer- chants, at No. 16 North Main Street. Both brothers were members and directors of the St. Louis Cotton Exchange, and members of the Merchants' Exchange, for many years. After the founding of the Cotton Exchange, in 1873, Colonel Paramore proposed the building of a gigantic cotton compress in St. Louis, and as a result was organized the St. Louis Cotton Compress Company, which has from that time operated the largest com- press and warehouse in the country. In this enterprise, George D. Fisher was an efficient colaborer of Colonel Paramore, and he served on the directorate for twelve years. Mr. Fisher also assisted in the organization of the corporation which constructed the Cotton Belt Railway, and he was a director in the company during the presidency of Colonel Paramore, from 1881 to 1885. He was also among the organizers of the South- western Improvement Company, a corpora- tion owning all the principal town sites on the Cotton Belt Railway between Cairo, Illi- nois, and Texarkana, Texas, and was for several years its president and manager.

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 84

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