USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > St Joseph > History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. : from the time of the Platte purchase to the end of the year 1915 biographical sketches of noted citizens, living and dead > Part 26
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There was no race track connected with the New Era Exposi- tion, but this class of sport was provided by the Lake Shore Com- pany. A half-mile track was built at Lake Contrary and a grand- stand with a seating capacity of 3,000 was erected. Mayor H. R. W. Hartwig was president of the company and Capt. Charles F. Ernst secretary. The first meeting was held September 17, 18, 19 and 20, 1889. Several meetings were subsequently held, but the ventures were not profitable.
During the years 1890 and 1891 there were no fairs in St. Jo- seph. In the summer of 1892 the St. Joseph Fair Association was formed, with John S. Brittain as president and Homer J. Kline as secretary. The capital stock was $50,000. It was the era of fast harness horses and odd-shaped tracks and people excited over the performances of Nancy Hanks, Martha Wilkes and the other rec- ord-breakers. The association catered to the popular enthusiasm by building a mile track and offering purses of $1,000 and $500 to attract the best horses. Although a main hall was built, the fair was subordinated to the horse-race. Nancy Hanks and Martha Wilkes were both secured for exhibition work, and the best stables in the country were represented in the general entries. September 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 were the days. The weather was perfect, the attendance was large and the turf performances were of a high. character. On the first day Jim Wilkes won the 3-minute trot, $1,000 purse, in three straight heats, his best time being 2:221/2. John R. Gentry won the 3:35 pace, $500 purse, in three straight heats, his best time being 2.191/2. On the second day Lobasco, a. magnificent horse, the property of James Ladd of Beatrice, Neb., won the free-for-all trot, $1,000. Four heats were trotted and Lobasco's best time was 2:1034. He was driven by McHenry, and broke a great record by trotting the fastest mile heat that had been done up to that time by a stallion in a harness. On the third day, Thursday, seventy-five thousand people witnessed Hancy Hanks' effort to break her record of 2:07. The wind was a trifle too high, however, and the brave little mare did not triumph, but she made
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the mile in 2:071/2, which was considered good enough by the crowd, and the enthusiasm was unbounded, both Nancy and her driver, Bud Doble, being covered with floral tributes. The next day Martha Wilkes went against her record of 2:08, but she, too, failed, making the mile in 2:091%. This effort was none the less appreciated by the immense crowd, however, and the floral decorations were as profuse as those that fell to Nancy Hanks. The last day was given up to unfinished harness races and jockey efforts. The association paid every obligation and was a goodly sum ahead.
In 1893 the weather was bad and the World's Fair had drained the purses, so that there was some loss connected with the fair. The association was officered as during its first effort. In 1894, with John S. Brittain as president and Matt F. Myers as secretary, a third effort was made with indifferent success. The fourth fair, with John S. Brittain as president and John Combe as secretary, was a financial success. In 1896, with James N. Burnes, Jr., as president and John Combe as secretary, the attendance was small, owing to the weather and other conditions. The association then dissolved. The grounds and buildings reverted to the owners, from whom they had been leased.
Race meetings were managed after that by W. T. Van Brunt and Palmer Clark. On October 14, 1897, Joe Patchen went a mile in 2:03 and Star Pointer covered the distance in 2:02. In 1897 and 1898 Messrs. Van Brunt and Clark successfully managed "old- fashioned fairs."
In 1899 the street railway company erected permanent exposi- tion buildings at Lake Contrary, and for about three years held annual events there, generally in September.
In the spring of 1902 the St. Joseph Horse Show Association was formed by William E. Spratt, Morris W. Steiner, Jesse I. Rob- erts and others. The first show was held in August of that year at the baseball park on South Sixth street, and the second was held in July, 1903, in an especially constructed tent, and was reckoned one of the most successful events of the kind ever attempted in St. Joseph.
In 1906 the live stock interests held a stock show in South St. Joseph. It became one of the leading shows of the country, and continued until the close of the year 1911.
The grounds at Lake Contrary then attracted the attention of those interested in fall festivities. The Old Fashioned Fair, con- duced by a number of public-spirited business men, was held there in 1913-14.
CHAPTER XXVI.
INDUSTRIES OF THE PAST AND WHAT SOME OF THEM. HAVE LED TO IN THE PRESENT-HEMP RAISING, MILLING AND PORK PACKING-BREWERIES-THE FIRST FOUNDRY-FURNITURE FACTORIES-THE NA- TIVE LUMBER INDUSTRY - DISTILLERIES - THE STARCH FACTORY-THE STOVE WORKS, TOBACCO FACTORY AND STEEL CAR WORKS-OTHER INDUS- TRIES THAT FLOURISHED AND FADED-THE OLD- TIME HOTELS OF ST. JOSEPH.
In reviewing the industries of the past it will not be improper to speak of hemp first, because of the prominence of this product in the early days. Hemp was the great staple before the war. Dr. Silas McDonald of St. Joseph claims the distinction of having pro- duced the first crop of hemp in the Platte Purchase. In 1840 he procured seed from Clay County, and he sold the yield to Charles A. Perry, who was then located at Weston, at $80 per ton. Nothing raised in the country, either before its introduction or since its abandonment, paid so well as hemp. The average price for years was $100 per ton, and the average yield per acre 800 pounds. Aside from the remunerative character of the crop, many advantages con- tributed to its popularity. Being invariably cut before it went to seed, it did not, as with other crops, impoverish the soil; indeed, it was a generally admitted fact that from the decomposition of the foliage, old hemp land, instead of deteriorating in quality from con- stant cropping, steadily improved, and 1,000 pounds to the acre on such lands was no uncommon yield. Much of the hemp was manu- factured into rope, but the most of it was shipped in bales to St. Louis and Louisville. Hemp breaking was hard work and the abo- lition of slavery made it difficult to secure labor for this. Hemp rope was formerly used as ties for cotton bales and for making sails for ships. The invention of the hoop-iron cotton tie, the sub- stitution of steam for sails on vessels and the introduction of cheaper fibers for rope and twine, took hemp from the head of the list of our staples.
Milling was the pioneer industry, and the primitive mill gen- erally formed the nucleus of a settlement. The early mills of Bu- chanan County were located along the streams, water furnishing the motive power. Going to mill in those days, when there were no roads, no bridges, no ferries, and scarcely any convenience for trav- eling, was no small task, where so many streams were to be crossed, and such a trip was often attended with great danger when the streams were swollen. Generally the grain was packed on horses
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to the mill. In cases where the mill was operated by horse power, each patron furnished his own power.
In 1838, Harrison Whetson built a mill on Platte River in Platte Township and operated it until 1843, when it was bought by John Bretz, who held it until it was consumed by fire on Feb- ruary 28, 1845. It was at once rebuilt on the opposite side of the river in Jackson Township. In 1857 the mill passed into the hands of William M. Matney. In 1867 it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt, and still stands, being operated yet by Mr. Matney and known as Matney's mill.
It is generally conceded that the first mill in Crawford Town- ship was Clowser's, operated by John Clowser. The site of this mill was two miles east of Halleck. It was destroyed by a great freshet in 1858. Dr. Silas McDonald erected the first steam mill in the township, which has long since passed out of existence. Edward M. Davidson also built a steam saw and grist mill, which was de- stroyed by fire in 1868, after having been operated for seventeen years. In 1856 Brown & McClanahan built a steam saw mill north of Halleck. This was converted into a grist mill by Daniel Clowser, and in 1865 passed to Faucett & Ferrill, who made a famous flour- ing mill of it. It was destroyed by fire in 1881. Nathan Turner built a mill in 1838 in the same neighborhood, but it was not suc- cessful.
Stephen Field built the first mill in Bloomington Township in 1838. It stood three miles from DeKalb and was operated by horse- . power. Later on John T. Martin built a water-power mill on Sugar Creek, which was afterward converted into a steam mill and oper- ated by Phillip Guerner, who also carded wool. The building is still in existence. In 1860 J. H. and B. Sampson erected a mill on Contrary Creek, two miles northeast of DeKalb. A saw mill was connected therewith.
The first mill in Rush Township was built by Flannery & Son on Lost Creek, which stream supplied the power. Nothing remains of this mill, nor of a small cornmill and distillery operated during the same period of Sylvester Hays, better known in those days as "Boss." M. H. and S. F. Floyd built a good steam mill at Rush- ville in 1868, which burned in 1873. The McFarland mill at Rush- ville was built in 1875.
Agency Township had a mill as early as 1838. It was located two miles above Agency Ford, on Platte River, and was known as Dixon's mill, its builders being Benjamin and James Dixon and James Gilmore. It ceased to exist many years ago. In 1864 Smith Brothers built a mill at Agency, which afterwards passed into the hands of Boone & Yates,, and is still in operation. V. C. Cooley built a mill on Platte River, three miles southeast of Agency, which stood in 1880, but has since disappeared.
Washington Township had a mill on Contrary Creek in 1840, owned by Waymire & Gilmore, of which nothing remains. Isaac Waymire owned a mill on One Hundred and Two River in the
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early days, where Corby's mill now stands. The old Campbell mill on Platte River was purchased by Charles Czech in 1877 and re- modeled. The proprietor failed and the mill was afterwards de- stroyed by fire. Corby's mill, at the crossing of One Hundred and Two River, east of the city, is the only one of the old water mills that remains as it was built. It was erected in 1852 by the late John Corby at a heavy expense. It had been an early ambition with Mr. Corby to be the owner of a good mill, such as he had seen in Ireland when a lad, where the prosperous miller was a man of high reputation in the community. When Mr. Corby had accumulated a large fortune in other lines he set about to realize the dream of his youth. The mill was the best of its kind in the West, but it never paid, owing to its location and distance from the city. Dr. Keedy built a mill south of the city in the earliest days, mention of which is made in a previous chapter.
Joseph Robidoux built a water mill on Blacksnake in 1841, the timbers of which are yet to be seen near the mouth of Blacksnake sewer. Creal & Wildbahn owned the mill afterwards. James Cargill built a steam flouring mill near the site of the Central Medi- cal College, north of the custom house, late in the forties, which was burned after the war. Dillon's saw mill, built in 1855, was located on Blacksnake Creek, near the present site of the City Workhouse. John Fairclough built the Star mills at Second and Francis streets in 1864; the plant was burned in 1872. The Excelsior mills, at Sec- ond and Franklin streets, were built in 1865 by Hauck Bros. North- cutt & Anthony built the City mills, near Third and Louis streets, in 1860. Wm. Ridenbaugh and I. Van Riley operated them in 1868. In 1869 R. T. Davis purchased Mr. Ridenbaugh's interests and aft- erwards became sole proprietor. In 1882-83 Mr. Davis and Robert H. Faucett built what is now the Davis mill at Second and Edmond streets. At the completion of this plant the City mills were aban- doned. The Faucett mill, at Seventh and Olive streets, now oper- ated by the R. H. Faucett Mill.Company, was built on a small scale by Captain F. B. Kercheval in 1867-68. In 1881 it was known as the Eagle mill. In 1888 it was remodeled and amplified to its pres- ent capacity. The mill at Tenth and Jackson streets was built in 1883 and was first called the Model mill. It was afterwards oper- ated by the St. Joseph Milling Company. In 1890-94 Stephen J. Burns and others operated on oatmeal and hominy mill in what was formerly the Buell woolen mill, on Third street, north of Michel.
The Buell woolen mills, above referred to, were started in 1860 by Norman Buell and George Buell, who operated a woolen factory on North Third street. Buell & Dixon operated a flouring mill and woolen factory on Second street, between Isadore and Antoine. The same firm operated a general store at the corner of Second and Antoine streets. Norman Buell was the father of George Buell, later head of the woolen mills. The mills on Third street were en- larged and operated until 1882, when they were abandoned for the
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large establishment at the foot of Eleventh street, which was occu- pied in 1883.
Pork packing was a prominent industry in St. Joseph as early as 1846, when John Corby was engaged in the business. Fother- ingham's city directory for 1861 shows the following pork pack- ers : Carter Hughes & Co., Third street; James Hamilton, Jr., Ed- mond street, between Third and Fourth streets; Pinger & Hauck, Grand avenue. The latter firm also manufactured soap and candles. The firm was composed of David Pinger and Jacob Hauck. Captain Posegate's directory of 1875 shows the following: Hax & Bro. (Fred and John P.), Fourth and Mary streets ; Krug & Hax, Fourth and Monterey; D. Pinger & Co., Jule and Levee streets, and the Valley Packing Company. In 1878 the E. O. Smith Packing Com- pany was in operation in the building afterwards used for the glu- cose works. Connett Brothers built a house east of the Smith plant in 1881, and operated it for about ten years. Hax Brothers retired from business in 1890.
At the present time there are six meat packing houses in opera- tion-two in St. Joseph and five at the stockyards south of the city. Those operated in the city are by the Krug Packing Company and Hoefer Packing Company, the latter being the old Pinger plant, near the mouth of the Blacksnake. At the stockyards there are five plants, two of which, those of Swift & Company and Nelson Mor- ris, compare with the most extensive in the country. Two others are operated by the Hammond Packing Company, and the fifth by Viles & Robbins.
The development of St. Joseph as a live stock market and meat packing center is due mainly to the efforts of John Donovan, Jr. Prior to 1887 the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company had maintained stockyards on Walnut street, between Sixth and Elev- enth streets. In that year the St. Joseph Stockyards Company was organized by C. B. France, Samuel M. Nave, Henry Krug, Jr., E. Lindsay, John Donovan, Jr., J. D. McNeely, M. A. Lowe and C. M. Carter. There were 440 acres in the original tract and seventy-two acres were subsequently acquired. Of this about eighty acres have been given as bonuses to packers who have erected plants. In 1888 the company erected a pork packing plant, which was leased to Allerton & Co., of Chicago. In 1890 the company erected the beef packing plant and leased it to the Anchor Packing Company. About three years after the yards had been established the company was reorganized as the St. Joseph Stockyards and Terminal Company and the capital stock was increased to $1,000,000. In 1892 the com- pany built a third house, which was leased to the Moran Packing Company.
The Moran company failed in 1895, and the packing plant be- came a subject of litigation for over two years, when possession was regained by the stockyards company. In the meantime the corpora- tion had encountered obstacles that could not be surmounted, and
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the yards went into the hands of receivers. John Donovan, Jr., and R. R. Conklin were appointed receivers, and as soon as the affairs of the company could be straightened out to some extent the prop- erty was sold at receiver's sale and purchased by the Jarvis-Conklin Mortgage and Trust Company for the bondholders.
The company was reorganized with a capital of $500,000, and again assumed the old name of the St. Joseph Stockyards Company. Mr. Donovan induced Swift and Company, of Chicago, to operate the Moran plant. This deal also resulted in Swift and Company purchasing a majority of the stock in the St. Joseph Stockyards Company on January 18, 1897.
In June, 1897, Nelson Morris & Co. purchased a large block of the stock in the St. Joseph Stockyards Company, and thus became interested with Swift and Company and the other packers in im- proving the capacity of the yards and the local market. Two months later both Swift and Company and Nelson Morris & Co. began the erection of the two largest plants at the stockyards, both of which were completed and opened for business the early part of April, 1898. The Hammond Packing Company leased the Moran house when Swift and Company vacated it, and subsequently leased the Anchor house. In 1900 the Hammonds completed the construc- tion of the third large plant.
The people of St. Joseph celebrated the expansion of the live stock and packing industries in a jubilee, which continued for three days, May 11, 12 and 13, 1898, and which attracted thousands of people.
Since then the stockyards have been placed upon a strictly modern, high-grade basis, a bank has been organized, and a popu- lous suburb has grown up. A live-stock exchange has been built at a cost of $100,000, and various allied industries have grown up.
Joseph Kuechle, long dead, was the pioneer brewer of St. Jo- seph. He had learned his art in Germany, and after working at Louisville, Ky., came to St. Joseph, arriving here per steamboat in the summer of 1849. He purchased the ground from Capt. F. W. Smith and built his brewery on the site of the ruins of what was last known as the St. Joseph brewery, on Charles, between Seventh and Eighth streets. Water for beer and also for drainage are essen- tial to breweries, and there being neither waterworks nor sewerage, the early brewers located along the streams. Smith's branch was a lively creek in those days, flowing from the northeastern hills swiftly to the river. Kuechle's brewery was located on this stream and the pioneer brewer was fortunate in finding an inexhaustible. spring of pure water on his premises. This spring still exists and is walled up in the ruins of the dismantled brewery. After Mr. Kuechle's death the plant was operated by his heirs until the forma -. tion of the St. Joseph Brewing Company, which leased the plant for some years and abandoned it in 1894. The older buildings were:
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condemned two years afterward and torn down. The malting house and some of the others still remain, and there are several cellars in good preservation.
Henry Nunning was the second brewer. He came from La Porte, Ind., in 1854, and established himself at Eleventh and Faraon streets, also near Smith's branch. After a time business outgrew the old establishment and he built a modern brewery on Faraon street, near Fifteenth. This plant is now operated under lease by the St. Joseph Brewing Company.
In 1858 X. Aniser, Joseph Aniser and Wm. Ost built a brewery on Frederick avenue, near Thirteenth street. During the early part of the rebellion it was operated by D. W. Fritzlein, who was killed by a soldier near Wathena. Fitzlein's widow continued the busi- ness for some time. Later the plant was leased by Jacob Wingerter, but it has not been used as a brewery for many years, a carriage factory being located in the building now.
In 1859 Max & Goetz started the City brewery at Sixth and Albemarle streets. This is now one of the largest breweries in the West, having been developed by Michael K. Goetz and his sons. It is now known as the M. K. Goetz Brewing Company.
Frederick W. Islaub had a brewery on Michel street, between Main and Water streets, in 1858-60, and Peter Walter had a brew- ery and garden at the southwest corner of Fourth and Edmond streets during the same period. Louis Koerner, who had been Wal- ter's brewer, started in business for himself on Main street, near Faraon, late in the sixties as a malster. Afterward he made beer and sold it by the measure at the brewery. Duemcke & Hund sub- sequently used his buildings as bottling works and the site is now occupied by the Chicago Great Western freight depot.
In 1865 Andreas Ohnesorg and Francis Eger formed a part- nership and built the New Ulm brewery. Mr. Ohnesorg had been operating a weiss-beer brewery and garden on the north side of Felix street, near Eighth, adjoining the ground now occupied by the Hughes building. These parties also owned the grounds that were afterward known as New Ulm Park, though the park was developed by Louis Streckebein, who conducted it for sixteen years. The brew- ery was located on the hill east of the park and stood until 1890, when it was destroyed by fire. The cellars are still intact. It was a modern brewery in its day, representing an expenditure of $80,- 000, and was operated by Ohnesorg & Eger until 1876, when it was leased to Rosemund & Schaefer, who continued it until about 1881, when it was abandoned. The property now belongs to Mrs. Mar- garet Burnside.
Contemporaneous with the early history of the New Ulm brew- ery was an effort on the part of the firm of Koehler & Diedrich, two young Germans, who had come from Palmyra, Mo., to operate an ale brewery here. They built a cellar and a plant east of Third near Louis street, costing nearly $20,000. The project failed, and all that is left of the investment is the cellar, the entrance to which, built of stone, is plainly visible from Third street.
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John Jester built the Pateetown brewery at Thirteenth and Sacramento streets, in 1881, and still operates it.
One of the earliest enterprises in the way of manufactures in St. Joseph was the foundry, established on St. Joseph avenue, 1855, by T. W. Keys. This, with the exception of a small foundry at Lexington, was the first plant of the kind west of St. Louis. The power of Keys' foundry was furnished by oxen. The first pig iron melted in St. Joseph was run in 1856. This foundry was operated till 1858, when Mr. Keys erected, on the corner of Eighth and Mes- sanie streets, the building now (1915) occupied by the foundry of Crowther & Rogers. Mr. Keys leased this in April, 1863, to John Burnside. The firm afterward became Burnside, Crowther & Co. Mr. John Burnside subsequently retired from the partnership. The foundry of J. W. Ambrose & Co., on the corner of Eighth and Mon- terey streets, was established in 1871.
The Louis Hax furniture factory was one of the successful and famous institutions of the city for many years. It was located at Seventh and Angelique streets from 1866 until December 13, 1890, on which date the western portion of the plant was destroyed by fire. Mr. Hax did not rebuild, but converted the eastern portion into tenements. The factory is now located at South St. Joseph.
In the days when freight rates from the north were high and when the native forests were yet rich in trees, the manufacture of native lumber was an important industry. There were two exten- sive saw-mills in St. Joseph during the life of the industry, both located on South Fourth street, below Messanie, near the river. James P. Hamilton operated the lower mill and Venable & Kent the one near Messanie street. Logs were brought down the river in rafts. Another saw-mill of magnitude was erected at Lake Con- trary, near where the southern road strikes the lake. This was operated at one time by J. A. Piner, William Swope and John F. Tyler, who also had a lumber yard in the city. A large number of men were employed there and quite a settlement, called Lake City, sprang up near the mill. This, like the Hamilton and Venable mills, is a thing of the past.
In 1866 Edward R. Brandow, associated with other enterpris -. ing citizens, established a sorghum manufactory on lower Edmond street. It was proposed to make sugar out of the product of the cane, and farmers were urged to the importance of raising large quantities. The enterprise, after the production of a small quantity of sugar, was absorbed by larger interests.
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Before the war A. M. Mitchell built a distillery upon the site of what was afterward a packing house and later a gluecose works. The venture was not profitable. Several distilleries were in opera- tion in and near St. Joseph after the war and until about 1875. The largest was that of Edward Sheehan, on upper Blacksnake, a short distance south of New Ulm Park, which was built in 1868 and operated until 1874. Abraham Furst and S. Adler, who were for many years the leading wholesale liquor dealers in this city and St. Louis under the name of S. Adler & Co., built a re-distilling house in 1871 at Third and Louis streets, which was operated until 1876. The building is still in existence. After the enactment of the pro- hibitory law in Kansas, in 1880, a distillery plant was moved from Lawrence and located south of the city, below the railroad tracks on the road to the stockyards. This property was purchased in 1885 by Jacob Schloss. Subsequently it fell into the hands of the whisky trust and the plant was moved away.
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