History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 187

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

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"PRAY FOR THOMAS AND ANN BIDDLE."

The officers of Maj. Biddle's regiment passed a glowing tribute to his memory, and the associates of Spencer Pettis at the bar did the same. At the meet- ing to arrange for the latter's funcral Hon. Thomas H. Benton presided, and Augustin Kennerly was ap- pointed secretary. The following gentlemen were chosen to compose the committee of arrangements :

1855

FAMOUS DUELS.

Joseph C. Laveille, Edward Dobyns, T. Andrews, John Shade, Charles Keemle, Capt. J. Ruland, R. H. McGill, Daniel Miller. Mr. Pettis was buried on Sunday, August 29th, and old inhabitants still spcak of the funeral as the largest they cver witnesscd.

Some time passed before another ducl occurred near St. Louis. The Republican of July 7, 1838, de- scribes an affair which took place near Alton, Ill., August 4th, between a Mr. Le Lange and R. G. Tates, on account of some personal difficulty which occurred in St. Louis. They met by moonlight, cight yards distant, and at the first fire Mr. Le Lange was wounded in the arm. Here the matter ended.

The duels thus far described were fought with the traditional pistols, but during the last week in Sep- tember, 1845, Bloody Island witnessed a broadsword duel between two German gentlemen. Mr. Heister- hogen wounded his adversary, Mr. Kibbe, in the face, and blood being drawn, the matter was brought to a close, much after the fashion in vogue at the German universities.

This brief record of some of the most interesting ducls fought near St. Louis would be incomplete with- out reference to an amusing farce in which Francis P. Blair took part. The Missouri Republican of March 6, 1849, contained the following item, which explains the result of what most persons at the time supposed would be a tragic event: " We understand that F. P. Blair, Jr., yesterday evening, for the first time since the recent publications in the newspapers, met Mr. L. Pickering, editor of the Union, on Second Street, and gave him a personal chiastiscment. The meeting, we are told, was entirely accidental, and but for the system of non-resistance adopted by the latter might have been serious."

A full account of the causes which led to the bloodless affair would involve a history of Missouri politics at the time. Blair was a defender and ally of Benton. The Union, which Loring Pickering then edited, had long been somewhat hostile to the Benton party. The difficulty with Blair began in January, 1849. A letter published from him in the Republican of February 1st gives, as shown by the concurrent testimony of Col. George Knapp, of St. Louis, and Thomas T. Gantt, the noted lawyer, a fair account of " the duel that did not come off." Col. Blair says,-

"I published a series of articles in the Republican, which were scrupulously devoted to a criticism upon political events, and couched in the most respectable phraseology when individ- uals were referred to. This is the testimony of men of all shades of political opinion who have read them. They have had, in some measure I believe, the effect I designed. The parties against whom they were directed soon, at least, became uucom-

fortable, and let off repcated explosions of wrath and ribaldry against the author. As I kept the even tenor of my way, how- ever, something elsc must be done. To this end Mr. Pickering was put forward to demand my name from the editor of the Republican, on tho pretense that I had made a personal attack on him. As a preliminary, however, to the surrender of my name, the editor of the Republican required Mr. Pickering to pledge himself that he desired my name because he considered the article a personal attack, and that he would hold me ‘ per- sonally responsible.' This is the language of Mr. Pickering's note, which I subjoin ; but that there might be no mistake as to the meaning of phrases, it was then explained and assented to that he would either prosecute ine in a suit at law, or require satisfaction at my hands under the code of honor. Mr. Cham- bers (editor of the Republican) informed me by note of the de- mand, and I forthwith assented to its being complied with, and awaited a call from Mr. Pickering. But it seems that such was not his purpose. It was only a trick he had invented to get my name, that he might discharge his wrath upon me by name in his newspaper in a senscless string of epithets. This conduct sufficiently exhibited him both as a knave and poltroon, but in order to display him in still broader relief I asked my friend, Mr. Gantt, to take a note to him for me. . . . I must prefix, however, one or two circumstances of unwritten history. Mr. Ladew, who brought Mr. Pickering's notes, told Mr. Gantt that Pickering had at first thought of making it a running fight with bowie-knives, but had settled, finally, on the place of meeting on the corner of Fourth and Pine Streets. I think, however, it will be obvious to all that the last was as clear an evasion of the meeting as the running fight would have been, for no man of true courage would appoint a place of combat so liable to interruption, and especially when the danger to other people would be so imminent as in one of the crowded streets of a city. In this light Mr. Gantt treated it, and replied that he was a contemptible poltroon. I do not make this publication vaingloriously, for I do confess I had felt very much ashamed whilst I put on a warlike aspect towards Pickering, and it has been a subject of mirth with me and my friends during the whole progress of the correspondence "

The entire correspondence on the subject is con- tained in a five-column article in the St. Louis Re- publican of Sept. 2, 1875. An incident known as the "umbrella affair" occurred a month later, and both parties published their versions, Pickering's being as follows :

"I recognized F. P. Blair, Jr., as the person who had jostled me, and asked him what he meant by the supposed insult. He said something in reply which I did not comprehend, and in- stantly struck at me with his umbrella, the point of which en- tered my left eye near the inner angle, partially blinding me. I immediately returned the blow with iny umbrella, when the assailant retreated some ten steps and stopped, at the same time placing his right hand in his bosom as if to draw a weapon. I also, at that moment, scized the handle of my bowie-knife, but Judge Blair, exclaiming to his brother, ' Come along,' or words to that effect, the assailant turned and quickly walked off up the street."

On March 10th, after a political meeting, while returning home, Blair was hailed and fired at three times before he could unbutton his overcoat and secure his own weapon. His assailant was about ten feet distant, but as soon as Blair returned the fire the

1856

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

former fled. Cireumstanees pointed to Piekering, and he was indicted before the grand jury, charged with an assault with intent to kill. Blair, on mature re- flection, declined to prosecute.

MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.

St. Louis has been from the earliest period of its history the scene of great military activity at different epoehs. Bellefontaine Cantonment and afterwards Jefferson Barracks was an important point for the concentration of troops, and the presence of United States offieers and their active participation in the social life of St. Louis has greatly aided in keeping alive the military spirit. Among these officers none was more highly esteemed than Gen. Daniel Bissell, who built the cantonment at Bellefontaine.

Gen. Bissell was born in Connecticut about the ycar 1768. His aneestors, of English stock, were early settlers of Connecticut, and related to many of the oldest and best families of New England. His father was a Revolutionary veteran, who served with gallantry for eight years in the colonial army. Though barely old enough to shoulder a musket, Gen. Bissell ardently embraced the cause of the patriots, and rose by his bravery through the vari- ous grades of promotion from a private to the rank of brigadier-general. His five brothers served with dis- tinction throughout the Revolutionary struggle, and four of them afterwards in the regular army. One of them died on board a prison-ship, and one, Maj. Russell Bissell, died at Fort Bellefontaine, near St. Louis, in 1807, where he had been stationed for many years. No finer record of service by a single family ean be shown than that of his father, brothers, and himself, whose military service amounted in the aggregate to one hundred and twenty years.

Gen. Bissell, while a young officer of the Revolu- tion, was once assigned the duty of carrying important dispatches from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. He made the journey on foot, unattended, and was often compelled to secrete himself from the hostile Indians, to go without food and endure bitter cold, to swim streams, etc. He delivered the dispatches safely, and won the hearty thanks and praise of the commanding officer, who could searccly believe that he had made the perilous journey without an escort. His military career was an unusually aetive and brilliant one. As an officer of the regular army, he participated in many of the important battles on the Western fron- tier, and was with St. Clair in his memorable defeat. While he was in command of Fort Massac, an im- portant military post on the Ohio River above Cairo, and during the administration of Thomas Jefferson,

the province of Louisiana was ceded by France to the United States. He was immediately appointed military commander of that portion of the Territory now embraced in the States of Missouri and Illinois. As heretofore stated, he built by government order the " cantonment of Bellefontaine," and was after- wards for several years commandant of that post.

As military commander, he was intrusted with both military and civil functions, and he left the indelible impress of his strong and honest character upon the measures leading up to the organization of the great States of Missouri and Illinois. He was a warm per- sonal friend of Daniel Boone, and as military eom- mander extended to Lewis and Clark in their famous expedition the hospitality of the Territory, aiding them greatly by his ripe counsel and experience.

Gen. Bissell, after leaving Fort Bellefontaine, was commander of many important points in the South, among which were Mobile, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. He had the honor of commanding in the last battle, that of Lyon's Creek, of the war of 1812. He was mustered out of service in 1821 at Baton Rouge.

After his retirement from the army, he was strongly urged to accept prominent eivil positions under the government, but deelined to do so. He entered a large tract of land near St. Louis, on the Bellefontaine road, to which he added from time to time by pur- chase until his cstate numbered two thousand three hundred acres.

He married about the year 1793, at Middletown, Conn., Deborah Seba, the daughter of Jacob Seba, who was a native of Holland and a prominent eitizen of Middletown. Gen. Bissell's children were Eliza Seba, who married William Morrison, of Kaskaskia ; Mary, who married Risdon H. Price, one of the pio- neer merchants of St. Louis; Cornelia, who married Maj. Douglass, of the regular army ; James, who died in infancy ; and James R., now residing on the old homestead. Gen. Bissell died of pneumonia at his farm on the 15th of December, 1833. His wife died Nov. 15, 1843. Both are interred in the family burying-ground on the farm.

James Russell Bissell was born in Middletown, Conn., Sept. 12, 1808, and came to St. Louis while a child in 1810. He attended school at Mount Airy, near Philadelphia, and afterwards entered Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ky., from which he was graduated. He married March 7, 1849, Anna Haight Christopher, who was born July 10, 1824, and was the daughter of James Matthews Christopher and Elizabeth Lewis, a daughter of Elisha and Anna (née Haight) Lewis, both of Satterson, Dutchess Co., N. Y. Her father was born April 25, 1799, at Rochester,

V. THE

1857

MILITARY.

N. Y. Mrs. Bissell is a cousin of Governor Haight, of California, and is connected with many of the old Revolutionary families of the East.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bissell are Daniel, born May 4, 1850; Elizabeth, born Aug. 14, 1852, married to Charles E. Ware, of St. Louis ; Sextus Shearer, born Nov. 16, 1856 ; Anna Haight, born Jan. 29, 1855, died Jan. 1, 1856 ; Cornelia Douglass, born Jan. 7, 1859; French Rayburn, born March 30, 1861; Cora Mary, born May 10, 1863; Eloise Morrison, born Aug. 21, 1865.

Mr. Bissell has given his children the advantages of a liberal education, and has always been a strong ad- vocate of education and public improvements. For twenty years he has been a leading member of the Bellefontaine Methodist Church. Politically he is a firm Democrat, but in local matters always supports those who in his opinion are best fitted for the posi- tions sought. He is a large landholder and a success- ful farmer.

A complete history of the militia organizations of St. Louis would of itself fill a volume. Since the year 1808 until the present time the military organizations have borne an active and prominent part in local affairs, and on many occasions they have been called upon to render dangerous service in the interests of city or the State, always responding with true mili- tary zeal and promptitude. If it so happened that there was no organization at the time of the demand, companies and regiments were immediately formed, and did their duty like veterans. In 1808 some of the townspeople subscribed for the purpose of forming a volunteer company of infantry, and at a meeting held at Yosti's tavern on August 21st, Benjamin Wilkinson was elected captain; Risdon H. Price, lieutenant; John Voorhees, ensign ; and François Vin- cent Bouis, quartermaster. At this time Capt. Pierre Chouteau commanded a troop of horse. In the same month Governor Merriwether Lewis issued general orders to the militia of the Territory to muster accord- ing to law. In November, Governor Lewis, in com- pliance with the requisition of the Secretary of War, ordered a uniform draft of the militia throughout the districts of the Territory of Louisiana to be made. The quota of the Territory of the one hundred thou- sand men ordered by the President of the United States was three hundred and seventy seven, and of these the district of St. Louis was required to furnish ninety-eight men,-seventy-seven infantry and nine- teen riflemen. In April, 1809, the companies of Capts. Ellis and Bouis, of Cape Girardeau district, Capt. Otho Shrader, of Ste. Genevieve, Capt. Pierre Chouteau, of St. Louis, and Capt. Mackey Wherry,

of St. Charles, were ordered to rendezvous at St. Louis. July 26, 1809, Governor Lewis issued his proclama- tion, discharging the militia of the Territory held under his requisition of Nov. 28, 1808, to be again enrolled as before with the ordinary militia. In 1812, Capt. Nathan Boone was commissioned by the Presi- dent of the United States to raise a company of mounted rangers for service on the frontier. In the sante year St. Louis boasted of five companies of mil- itia, commanded respectively by Capts. Joseph Con- way, Joseph H. Burkhart, James Musick, Charles Lucas, William Smith, and David Musick, com- prising almost every man in the place. With the close of the war the necessity for their existence also passed away, and it was not until 1819 that any other efforts were made in that direction. In December of that year a company of light infantry, called the St. Louis Guards, was formed, with the following officers: Henry W. Conway, captain ; George H. Kennerly, first lieuten- ant ; Amos J. Bruce, second lieutenant ; Josiah Bright, third lieutenant ; John B. Sarpy, ensign ; Charles Wahrendorff, orderly sergeant; Charles Keemle, sec- ond sergeant ; William Renshaw, third sergeant ; David B. Hoffman, first corporal ; S. Rector, second cor- poral; Wilson McGunnegle, third corporal ; William Renshaw, treasurer. In 1823, Alexander Gamble com- manded the St. Louis troop. In 1832 the St. Louis Grays were organized, with Martin Thomas as captain. He, however, did not serve actively, and First Lieut. A. R. Easton became captain. Frederic L. Billon and John P. Reilly were also licutenants. Upon the death of the latter, James S. Thomas (afterwards mayor of the city) became lieutenant, as did also James Dougherty. In 1848 the Grays were reor- ganized, numbering about sixty members, and at an election held June 6th the following officers were chosen : Captain, George W. West ; first lieutenant, George Knapp ; second lieutenant, Alexander T. Drys- dalc. In 1843, Montgomery Blair commanded the . Montgomery Guards, and in the same year an artil- lery company, under the command of Capt. Kretsch- mar, was organized. In 1844 the battalion known as the St. Louis Legion was formed. Of this command the Grays formed part, being then officered by Capt. L. O. Coleman, First Lieut. George W. West, Second Lieut. George Knapp. As elsewhere stated, a bat- talion was formed from this material, and volunteered for service in Mexico, with the following officers : A. R. Easton as colonel, Ferdinand Kennett (now de- ceased) as lieutenant-colonel, and F. Schoentellar, also dead, as major. Col. John Knapp was a com- pany officer.

Upon the return from Mexico the St. Louis Grays

1858

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

were reorganized, with George W. West as captain, and he so served three or four years. Upon resign- ing, he was succeeded as captain by George Knapp. After the disbandment of the Grays' battalion, of which George Knapp had become lieutenant-colonel, and John Knapp captain of a company, an organiza- tion was effected of the "First Regiment, National Guard of Missouri," and John Knapp became lieu- tenant-colonel, the command being still vested in Col. Easton. Martin Burke was a line captain. This organization-Lieut .- Col. John Knapp being in com- mand-surrendered to Gen. Lyon, of the United States army forces, when Camp Jackson, commanded by Gen. Frost, was captured.

The old " St. Louis National Guard," which was the pride of every St. Louisan in the olden time, was organized in 1852. On the 16th of July of that year a few persons, actuated by the desire, as expressed in their resolutions, of improving themselves in military exercise and discipline, mct at the office of the Lum- bermen and Mechanics' Insurance Company, and effected a temporary organization by electing James H. Patterson chairman, and Frank H. Tucker secre- tary.

A committee, consisting of Messrs. Pritchard, Obear, Field, Cook, and West, was appointed to re- port a constitution and by-laws, upon the adoption of which the company, which had hitherto borne the name of " St. Louis City Guard," was, on the 29th of July, 1852, fully organized under the name and style of the "St. Louis National Guard," with the follow- ing elective officers : Davis Matlack, president ; James H. Patterson, vice-president ; Alexander J. P. Gar- eschè, secretary ; Frank H. Tucker, treasurer; and C. J. Jackson, Nathaniel M. Parker, Isaac Field, and George West, directors.

At a subsequent meeting, on the 12th of August, Robert M. Renick was chosen captain, John N. Prit- chard first lieutenant, Frank H. Tucker second lieu- tenant, Edward S. Wheaton third lieutenant, and Jo- siah H. Obear fourth lieutenant. Organized under such favorable auspices, and animated with that esprit de corps which ever characterized the Guards, both officers and men vied with each other in their zeal to place the company upon a substantial basis by a care- ful selection of good men, the adoption of a company and a fatigue uniform, and such other requirements as were necessary for a perfect company. Upon the formation of the First Regiment of Missouri Volun- teers, Capt. Renick was promoted to the colonelcy, and Lieut. Pritchard called to the command of the Guards, and subsequently, upon the organization of the brigade in the First Military District, under the com-

mand of Brig .- Gen. Frost, Capt. Pritchard was elected colonel of the infantry regiment, and Sergt. John B. Gray was chosen captain of the National Guards. The martial bearing and thorough drill of the corps was sufficient testimony of the soldierly qualities of Capt. Gray, and the high encomiums which the Guards received, both at home and abroad, were the surest evidence that the reputation and honor of the company were safe in his hands. It was the good for- tune of the Guards, in their excursions to Lexing- ton, Ky., to Cincinnati, and to Quincy, to be placed in line with the best volunteer companies in the country, and it is not too much to say that on every such occasion they sustained their good name and the honor of St. Louis.

The officers of the Guards in July, 1859, were Wil- liam R. Biddlecome, president ; John Decker, Jr., vice-president ; E. B. Sayres, secretary ; Henry Mars- ton, assistant secretary ; John L. Lewis, treasurer ; and Messrs. Cabot, Hatch, Childs, Nolen, Senter, and Marsh, directors ; with John B. Gray, captain ; Wil- liam B. Haseltine, first lieutenant ; W. H. Finney, second lieutenant ; and William S. Cuddy, third lieu- tenant.

As evidence of the military standing of the Guards, and of the estimation in which they were held at this time, it may be stated that in the brigade staff of the First Military District they numbered among their members Lieut .- Col. H. J. B. McKellops, as- sistant adjutant-general; Maj. William D. Wood, aide-de-camp; Maj. N. Wall, commissary ; Maj. Cary Gratz, quartermaster ; Maj. John J. Anderson, pay- master; Maj. · W. R. Biddlecome, judge-advocate- general ; and in the staff of the First Infantry, Col. J. N. Pritchard, Maj. E. S. Wheaton, Capt. W. R. Buchanan, adjutant ; Capt. N. Hatch, commis- sary ; Capt. Edgar Ames, paymaster; and Capt. H. W. Williams, quartermaster, being eleven superior officers in the brigade and regimental staffs.

The company uniform was greatly admired for its brilliancy and martial effect, and was almost identical with that of the Queen's Household Guards, which is reckoned the flower of the British army. They num- bered seventy-eight active and one hundred and sixty honorary members. Their armory was on the corner of Third and Pine Streets.

Among the citizens of St. Louis who interested themselves in maintaining an efficient militia organi- zation, Col. Thornton Grimsley was especially promi- nent. Col. Grimsley for forty years cultivated and promoted a military taste and spirit, and was at differ- ent times in command of the various military grades of the volunteer service of the city. He filled all of

1859

MILITARY.

the stations, from an orderly to division inspector. In 1832 he raised a volunteer company and tendered its services to the Governor of Illinois during the Black Hawk war, and in 1836 received from Gen. Jackson a captain's commission in the dragoons of the United States army, which he declined. In 1846, in less than twenty days, he enrolled a regiment of eight hun- dred men for the Mexican war, but as the govern- ment already had a sufficient number of troops in the field the services of the volunteers were declined.

Col. Grimsley, whose father, Nimrod Grimsley, came from Fauquier County, Va., to Kentucky, was born on the 20th of August, 1798, in Bourbon County of the latter Statc, and at seven years of age lost both parents. Three years afterwards he was apprenticed to the saddlery business, and served his inaster faith- fully for eleven years, the only compensation he re- ceived being three months' schooling ; yet, by diligent application to business, and possessing a superior mind, he soon won the respect and confidence of his master, and in 1816 was sent to St. Louis in charge of a valuable assortment of goods, where he completed his term of indenture. On reaching his majority the first act he performed was to return to Kentucky and expend his apprenticeship savings in six months' schooling; then receiving an invitation from his old employer in St. Louis he returned, and took charge of his business for some fourteen months, and in 1822 opened a store on his own account, associating with him William Stark. He married Miss Susan Stark, of Bourbon County, Ky., the same year. Several years of ill health, and the destruction by fire of his three years' accumulations left him in a distressed condition, but he did not waste time in idle regrets, but resolutely set to work to re-establish his business, and very shortly was again advancing prosperously.

The frankness of his disposition and natural good- ness of heart made him hosts of friends, and in 1826 he was elected an alderman, and was the author of the movement to grade the wharf in front of the city, and strongly advocated that the western edge should be raised three fect higher. In 1828, Col. Grimsley was called to the Legislature of the State, where he was a useful and efficient member. He advocated the completion of the national road to Jefferson City, and urged other important measures. In 1835 he was again elected alderman, and did much towards settling satisfactorily the important claim of the St. Louis commons. From this tract was selected Lafayette Park and the spacious avenues about it, and from its liberal dimensions some of the short-sighted citizens called it " Grimsley's Folly ;" now it is one of the chief ornaments of St. Louis. So useful was Col. Grimsley

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 187

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358