USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 92
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term as postmaster at St. Joseph concluded his public life. From this time until his death, which occurred November 23, 1880, lie gave his attention to the care and manage- ment of his property, and found his greatest enjoyment in the society of the old and tried friends who had borne with him "the heat and burden of the day." His interest in public affairs never waned. He witnessed with serene satisfaction the slow, but certain, restoration of the country to a condition of law and order, and was thankful in his de- clining years that his children could enjoy peaceful homes in a land of the "truly free."
Fox, James D., lawyer and judge of the Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit, was born in Madison County, Missouri, January 23, 1847. He was educated in the common schools at Fredericktown and at the St. Louis University. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in his native county, opening an office at Fredericktown. His father was an attorney and a member of the Madison County bar, and in the first case Judge Fox was the counsel and his father was the attorney on the opposing side. This case was in a justice court, and in his first case before the circuit court his father was the opposing counsel. Judge Fox was elected judge of the Twentieth (now the Twenty- seventh) Judicial Circuit in 1880, and was re- elected in 1886, in 1892, and again in 1898, serving on the bench continuously for more than twenty years. Politically the judge affil- iates with the Democratic party. As a judge his acts are beyond criticism, always exercis- ing great care in rendering decisions and adhering strictly to the law in all cases. Per- sonally he is one of the most genial of men and is held in the highest esteem by the people of his native county and those of neighboring counties who have known him from childhood. He is one of the few present circuit judges of Missouri who have contin- uously lived in their native counties and preside over circuits including the county of their birth. Judge Fox has been continu- ously on the bench longer than any other circuit judge now serving in the State.
Fox River rises in southern Iowa, and flows for forty miles through Clark County, into the Mississippi, ten miles below Alexandria.
504
FRANCHISE, ELECTIVE-FRANCHISES, MUNICIPAL.
Franchise, Elective .- The elective franchise was not granted to the citizens of the territory included within the present boundaries of this State, except in primitive form, until the year 1814, when the first Gen- eral Assembly of the Territory of Louisiana promulgated an election law, which, in its essential features, is much the same as has governed the exercise of suffrage since. Sup- plementary legislation on that subject marks the efforts of the succeeding legislative as- semblies of the State and Territorial govern- ment, changing the original law in minor particulars to meet the growing exigencies, until the year 1865, when an important inno- vation was introduced in the shape of a bill providing for the registration of voters. This bill was repealed in 1871 and supplemented by a new law of more comprehensive char- acter to the same general effect.
There appears to have been no special leg- islation applicable to the city of St. Louis until the year 1875, when an act was passed providing for the legalization of the primaries of the various voluntary political associations. It was directed, of course, at that city, it then being the only city of the State with a popu- lation in excess of 100,000 inhabitants, and it grew out of the frauds practiced in nomina- tion contests, by reason of the laxity of the test, and the irresponsibility of the partici- pants to the law. This law has been amplified by more recent legislation, particularly the act of 1897.
The general election laws have been rein- forced by legislation popularly known as the "Australian System" of balloting, which en- ables the voter to exercise his prerogative without fear of disturbance, influence or fraud.
A new and improved system of registration has been added to the safeguards thrown around the voter until we now have a system which, so far as human ingenuity can devise, minimizes the dangers of corruption. The act of 1895, creating a board of election commissioners in cities having over 100,000 inhabitants, makes this provision for regis- tration, and confers upon the commissioners the conduct and control of registration of primary, general and special elections, and the canvass of the returns thereof.
This last act provides that every male citi- zen of the United States, and every male per- son of foreign birth who may have declared
his intention to become a citizen of the United States, according to law, not less than one year nor more than five years before he offers to vote, who is over the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in this State one year next preceding the election at which he offers to vote, and during the last sixty days of the time shall have resided in the city where such election is held, and dur- ing the last twenty days in the precinct at which he offers to vote, who has not been convicted of bribery, perjury or other in- famous crimes, or of a misdemeanor con- nected with the exercise of the right of suffrage, nor directly interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result of the election, nor an officer, soldier or marine in the regular army or navy of the United States, nor while kept at any poorhouse, or other asylum at public expense, nor while confined in any public prison, shall be entitled to vote at such election for all officers, State or municipal, made elective by the people, or at other elections held in pursuance of the laws of the State; but shall not vote else- where than in the precinct where his name is registered, and whereof he is registered as a resident.
He may also leave his employment and absent himself for a period of not more than four hours for the purpose of voting without restraint or liability.
ARTHUR N. SAGER.
Franchises, Municipal .- In a strict sense municipal franchises imply only privi- leges derived by grant from a city or munici- pality, and by ordinances vested in individ- uals or corporations. Cities are known as municipal corporations, and the special privi- leges they confer are municipal franchises. As they exist in this country, cities are bodies politic and corporate, constituted by the in- corporation of the inhabitants of a certain locality into a city for the purpose of local government. Such corporations are estab- lished by law partly as agencies of the State to assist in civil government of the country, but chiefly to regulate and administer their local affairs. They are created, not for the benefit of their officers or of particular indi- viduals, but for the public advantage. The corporation itself is invisible, intangible, in- corporeal, existing only in contemplation of law, and the primary idea for its creation is an
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FRANCHISES, MUNICIPAL.
institution of artificial persons to regulate and administer the internal affairs of the in- habitants within the city's corporate bounds. The charter of a city is its constitution. Mu- nicipal. corporations can exercise no powers but those which are conferred upon them by the act by which they are constituted, or such as are necessary to the exercise of their cor- porate powers, the performance of their cor- porate duties, and the accomplishment of the purposes of their association.
No city has the power to create a corpora- tion. Every corporation is created either by act of Congress or by virtue of the legislative enactment of some particular State. Hence a municipal franchise is a thing distinct from the creation of a corporation. The corpora- tion must exist independent of any acts of the city before the conditions have arisen where- by the city may confer municipal franchises upon such corporation.
The inhabitants of the town of St. Louis were incorporated into a city in 1822, under the title of "Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of St. Louis." The first charter vested power in the mayor and aldermen to regulate, pave and improve streets, avenues, lanes and alleys within the city limits, and to open and widen the same. This charter was amended in 1831. It was repealed and a new one substituted in 1835, which vested in the mayor and aldermen express powers, includ- ing, among others, power "to open and keep in repair streets, avenues, lanes and alleys, drains and sewers, and to keep the same clean ; to regulate, pave and improve streets, avenues, lanes and alleys within the city ; to establish, open, widen and extend all such streets, avenues, lanes and alleys; to erect and regulate public wharves and docks; to regulate and restrain the keeping of ferries." Subsequent amendments and new charters were granted to the city of St. Louis, but none abridged the powers above quoted. In 1877 the present city charter was adopted and approved, and by it the legislative power of the city is vested in the council and house of delegates, styled "The Municipal Assembly of the City of St. Louis." Municipal fran- chises, before this charter, were, and still are, granted by the passage of ordinances by the legislative power of the city. Such ordinances, to be of force, must be approved by the may- or, or, if vetoed by him, passed over his veto by a two-thirds majority of both the city
council and the house 'of delegates. Many municipal franchises have been granted in the past, some of which have expired, but most of them are still in force in St. Louis, and are enjoyed by private corporations, or, more strictly speaking, quasi public corporations, such as gaslight companies, electric light and power companies, telephone and telegraph companies, street railroad companies, termi- nal railroad associations, refrigerating com- panies, cold storage and ammonia companies and conduit or subway companies, all of which franchises have been granted and exist by virtue of city ordinances passed by the legislative department of the city. The enjoy- ment of some of these implies the use of the surface of the public streets and alleys, oth- ers the space above, and still others the space under the surface of streets and alleys .. The respective city charters of St. Louis from the first obtained, in 1822, down to the one now in force, granted express power to the city to regulate the use of all public streets and alleys within its corporate limits. As ap- plied to streets and alleys the word regulate is not confined to the regulation of the travel thereon, but under it the city may allow gas, water, sewer and other pipes to be laid, and may permit the erection of telephone, telegraph and electric light poles thereon, and the laying of street car tracks upon the sur- face thereof, and these uses are consistent with the users for which the streets and alleys are acquired and dedicated.
One of the first municipal franchises grant- ed by the city was in favor of the St. Louis Gas Light Company, a corporation created by the Legislature of Missouri in 1837. The charter of this company made provisions for the city becoming the owner of the plant in 1860, at the option of the city, and if the city failed to exercise the option at that time it might at a subsequent period by taking cer- tain steps become the owner of the plant. Under its charter and the amendments there- of, and by virtue of municipal franchises granted by the city, this company acquired the exclusive right to vend illuminating gas within the corporate limits of the city of St. Louis up to 1890, and to establish and lay pipes and mains in the public streets neces- sary for that purpose, and to make contracts with the city for the lighting of its public streets. It was permitted by its charter to charge $10 per thousand feet, and in fact did
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FRANCISCAN MONASTERY-FRANCIS.
charge $3.50 per thousand feet for a consid- erable part of the time.
Subsequently the Laclede Gas Light Com- pany was chartered, and in 1889, by purchase, acquired all the mains, apparatus and fran- chises of the St. Louis Gas Light Company, and since such purchase the Laclede company has exercised the exclusive monopoly of fur- nishing illuminating gas in the city of St. Louis except in that portion lying south of Keokuk Street. This part of the city is sup- plied by the Carondelet Gas Light Company.
In 1857 the Missouri Railroad Company was organized, and acquired a municipal franchise from the city for the operation of a street railway on Olive Street, and in the same year three other companies were in- corporated and obtained municipal franchises for similar purposes. This was the beginning of the era of granting street railway fran- chises.
There have been several companies char- tered by the State for furnishing electric light and power to the city of St. Louis, and these have acquired municipal franchises to use the public streets and alleys for setting poles to carry their wires.
Special privileges have also been acquired by telephone and telegraph companies to set poles and string wires over streets and alleys, terminal railroad associations to lay tracks and operate cars upon such streets and alleys and conduit or subway companies to lay pipes, connected with manholes, for carrying underground electric and other wires beneath the surface of the streets and alleys. These special privileges have been conferred on the respective corporations by city ordinances, and are known as municipal franchises.
SENECA N. TAYLOR.
Franciscan Monastery .- This monas- tery, located at 3140 Meramec Street, in St. Louis, was founded in 1862 by Father Servi- tius Altmicks, O. F. M., who built the edifice and the church adjoining. The order is 600 years old, and has taken a prominent part in European affairs. One of its members was in the expedition of Columbus that discover- ed the New World. It has three provinces in the United States, St. Louis being the head- quarters of one of the provincials, Father Theodore Arentz, O. F. M. There are thirty- five students in the monastery, who pass four years in study to prepare themselves for
priests. The parish school has 630 children, and there is also a school of St. Joseph, kept by ten sisters and one male teacher. They have a church-St. Anthony's-with a parish comprising 600 families.
Francis, David Rowland, Governor of Missouri from 1889 to 1893, and Secretary of the Interior during the closing six months of President Cleveland's second administra- tion, was born October 1, 1850, in Richmond, Kentucky, son of John Broaddus and Eliza Caldwell (Rowland) Francis. His father, John B. Francis, was at one time sheriff of Madison County, Kentucky; later engaged in mercantile pursuits in Richmond, and still later engaged in farming in Lincoln County, Kentucky. The later years of his life were spent in Missouri to which State he removed in 1882, and he died at his home near St. Louis in 1894. He was a fine type of the old-fash- ioned Southern gentleman, and came of an old Virginia family, seated originally near Richmond. The earliest representatives of the family in Kentucky were pioneer settlers in that State, and the grandfather of Gov- ernor Francis, Thomas Francis, was a Ken- tucky soldier in the War of 1812. Through his mother Governor Francis is descended from David Irvine, of Lynchburg, Virginia, whose ten daughters were numbered among the distinguished pioneer women of Ken- tucky and left the impress of their individual- ity indelibly stamped upon the history of that commonwealth. The Irvine family tree was planted in Virginia at an early date, and the colonists who bore the name to this country were of distinguished lineage. Through ante- cedent generations extending back to the days of Robert Bruce, the history of the fam- ily was closely interwoven with the history of the noblest achievements of the Scottish peo- ple. In the time of Bruce, William de Irvine was awarded a part of the royal forest of Drum in consideration of his valuable serv- ices to the Crown. Captain Christopher Irv- ine commanded King James' Light Horse at the battle of Flodden. Alexander Irvine closed the gates of Londonderry in the face of another King James and his army, and the Edinburgh "Review" has said of this action that it entitled him to be called one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen. The American descendants of these Scottish heroes have on numerous occasions proven
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FRANCIS.
themselves worthy of their name and ances- try, and the names of General William Irvine, of Revolutionary fame ; William and Christo- pher Irvine, and Christopher, son of William, pioneers of Kentucky, occupy prominent places on America's roll of honor. A rich en- dowment of physical and intellectual vigor was the chief inheritance of Governor Francis when he began life for himself. Before leav- ing his old home in Kentucky he had ob- tained an academic education in Richmond Academy, taught at that time by Rev. Robert Breck, somewhat famous as a Kentucky edu- cator. In 1866 he entered Washington Uni- versity, of St. Louis, and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1870. After that he was employed for five years as a ship- ping clerk by the firm of Shryock & Rowland, of St. Louis, and then became junior member of the same firm. In 1877 he founded the D. R. Francis & Bro. Commission Company, and later engaged extensively in the whole- sale grain trade. His genius for the conduct of affairs soon made him a conspicuous figure in the business circles of St. Louis, and his uniformly successful operations long since caused him to be recognized as an astute financier and a business man of broad capa- bilities. He was made vice president of the Merchants' Exchange in 1883, and in 1884, at the end of one of the most spirited contests in the history of that famous association of merchants and traders, he was elected to the presidency of the exchange. In a business way he has been identified with some of the most important corporate interests of St. Louis, chief among them being the Missis- sippi Valley Trust Company and the Mer- chants'-Laclede National Bank, in both of which institutions he holds the office of vice president. Having always taken a somewhat active interest in politics as a stanch ad- herent to the Democratic faith, he was made the nominee of his party for mayor of St. Louis in 1885. Four years before this the Republican candidate for the mayoralty had been elected by a majority of 14,000, and Mr. Francis faced this adverse majority in enter- ing upon his contest. Notwithstanding the odds against him, his vigorous and effective campaign carried him into the mayoralty by a majority of 1,200. As head of the city gov- ernment his superior ability was no less strik- ingly evidenced than it had been in the con- duct of his private affairs. His was a business
administration, and during his official term he reduced the rate of interest on the mu- nicipal indebtedness of the city from 6 and 7 to 4 per cent, compelled payment of a judg- ment of one million dollars which the city had obtained against the Pacific Railroad Company, and inaugurated reforms in the conduct of the different departments of the city government which have been of incalcu- lable benefit to St. Louis. After a prolonged and bitter fight against the St. Louis Gas Light Company, which at that time had a mo- nopoly of lighting the principal business and residence portion of the city, he forced that company to reduce the price of gas to con- sumers from $2.50 to $1.25 per thousand feet. He also urged and pushed to passage the bill which provided for an extension of the water supply of the city, and was the active advo- cate of the establishment of the new pumping station and capacious reservoirs at the Chain of Rocks, in North St. Louis. During his en- tire administration he vigorously puslied the reconstruction of the city streets in the face of the stubborn opposition of many influen- tial property-holders. The position which he took in connection with that important work gave an impetus to street reconstruction in its incipiency and at a critical period in its history, and the present system of durable down-town streets and splendid boulevards was the result. He also earnestly recommend- ed the adoption of the ordinance which made provision for the sprinkling of every thor- oughfare in the city and relieved the people from the plague of dust which had become al- most unendurable and threatened to serious- ly retard progress and development in every direction. He was a forceful and energetic leader in every movement calculated to ad- vertise the resources of St. Louis or to add to its prominence and prestige, and headed many of the delegations through whose ef- forts St. Louis was made famous as a con- vention city. He appointed and headed the delegation which secured for St. Louis the National Democratic Convention for 1888, the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1887, and the Triennial Conclave of the Knights Templar in 1886. The National Convention of the Christian En- deavor Society, a National Cattlemen's Con- vention and many similar gatherings were also held in St. Louis during his administra- tion, and he was not only active in bringing
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FRANCO-AMERICAN CLUB.
all of them to the city, but as chief magis- trate of the municipality was at all times untiring in the entertainment of its guests. On every occasion he appealed to the local pride of the citizens and incited them to un- wonted effort to promote the fame of St. Louis. His energy and earnestness had an inspiring effect, and it was this infusion of new life and vigor into the conduct of city affairs which prompted some chronicler to write of this period as the beginning of a new era, and to apply to the rejuvenated city the term "New St. Louis," which has clung to it ever since. Mr. Francis was not only zealous, but fearless and aggressive in his guardianship of the interests of the city, and in the face of what appeared to be at the time a popular demand for its approval, he vetoed what was known as "the Electric Ele- vated Railway bill," because it did not com- pensate the city adequately for a valuable franchise. Criticised at the time, this action was almost unanimously approved by the people, and a precedent was established which has been of great value to the city. An interesting event of his administration was the visit of President Cleveland to St. Louis in the fall of 1887 and his entertainment at the home of Mayor Francis, an occasion remembered as one of the leading social events in the history of the city. His ad- mirable administration as mayor of St. Louis made him the nominee of the Democratic party for Governor in the fall of 1888, and on the 14th of January, 1889, he was inaugu- rated chief executive of the State. His ad- ministration of State affairs was signally suc- cessful, practical views and common-sense methods governing his action in every de- partment of the public business. In every- thing he was intensely loyal to the interests of Missouri, jealous of her good name, and earnest and forceful in promoting measures designed to call attention to the resources of the State and further their development. Ad- mirable as it was viewed from the business standpoint, his administration was no less commendable for social features, which brought the people of Missouri into intimate and delightful relationship with the man whom they had elevated to the highest of- fice in their gift. His hospitality had the charm of warmth and spontaneity, and dur- ing his residence at the State capital the Gov-
ernor's home was the scene of many delight- ful social events. When he retired from the governorship he turned his attention to his business affairs, and did not re-enter official life until the summer of 1896, when he was called into President Cleveland's cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. He had sat in the convention which first nominated President Cleveland in 1884 as delegate-at-large from the State of Missouri, and had been regard- ed as one of his warmest personal and politi- cal friends during all the years of his promi- nence in national politics. When called to a place in his cabinet he felt compelled to ac- cept the appointment, and, although his term of service as a cabinet minister was com- paratively short, he left his impress on the department of the government over which he presided and added to his well-earned fame as a public man. Trained to business pur- suits, he has nevertheless been a careful stu- dent of social and governmental problems, of art and literature, and as a result he is a man of numerous and varied accomplishments. He is a forcible and attractive public speaker, has much of that magnetism which makes men natural leaders of men, and his democratic tastes and charming cordiality of manner are attractive features of his personality. When the movement was inaugurated to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the pur- chase of Louisiana by holding a World's Fair in St. Louis, Governor Francis became one of the chief promoters of the project, and is now bending all his energies toward making a suc- cess of this vast undertaking. He married in 1876 Miss Jennie Perry-daughter of John D. Perry, of St. Louis-a lady whose social and domestic graces have contributed not a little to the success of her distinguished hus- band. Six children, all boys, have been born of this marriage, named, respectively, John D., Perry, David R., Jr., Charles Broaddus, Talton Turner, Thomas and Sidney R. Fran- cis, Jr.
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