History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 193

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

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 193

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The Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of St. Louis County, Mo., was organized by members of the Concord Farmers' Club, and a few other farmers in the neighborhood, in the months of February and March, 1875, and duly incorporated on the 1st of April, in the same year, under an act of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, entitled " An Act providing for the incorporation and management of local insurance companies," approved March 27, 1874. The following-named gentlemen were elected the first board of directors : Thomas J. Sappington, C. D. Wolff, William A. Weinrich, John P. Litz- inger, John H. Horst, Charles Mehl, Martin Rott, and Henry Crecelius. At a meeting held by the said board of directors, April 3, 1875, Thomas J. Sap- pingfon was elected president, C. D. Wolff secretary, J. Henry Zelch vice- president, and Martin Rott treas- urer. The first policies were issued on the 12tli day of June, 1875, and since that time the business of the company has been steadily increasing. They have at risk nearly half a million of dollars, extending all over the county of St. Louis, and they hold premium notes amounting to over one hundred thousand dollars, be- sides the sum of four thousand dollars cash, and no liabilities. There are now one thousand policies in force. The success of this company is chiefly due to the good management of the board of directors and the efficiency of the president, Thomas J. Sappington. The present board is composed of twelve directors,- Thomas J. Sappington, C. D. Wolff, John Heintz, Frederick W. Sternes, Henry Crecelius, John P. Litzinger, George Greb, James A. Eddie, J. Henry Zelch, Martin Rott, Perry Sappington, and Julius Nolte.

The officers are Thomas J. Sappington, president; J. Henry Zelch, vice- president ; C. D. Wolff, secre- tary ; and Henry Crecelius, treasurer.

German Evangelical St. Paul's Church .- In 1838 this society was organized, one mile west from Oakville, on the Baumgartner road. In 1845 the present church building was erected. It is a log struc- ture, thirty by forty feet in size, and the congregation worshiped in it as it was originally built during many years. In 1840 it was weather-boardcd outside, ren- ovated and ceiled within, and a gallery was added, making the seating capacity three hundred, and it has now the appearance of a framed structure. It stands

in a cemetery, which was established at the time the church was erected. It is furnished with a pipe-organ, the cost of which was four hundred and twenty dol- lars. The present number of constitutional members of the congregation is sixty-two. The pastors of this church have been Revs. E. L. Nollau, 1838 ; G. W. Wall, 1846; Gotthilf Weitbrecht, 1852; J. M. Kopf, 1853; - Jung, 1858; William Fromm, 1860; John Will, 1864; Heinrich Schmitz, 1867; - Schmidt, 1878; and the present pastor, C. V. Wargowski, 1881.

A parochial school, taught in the German language, has been maintained from the first. It is kept in the basement of the parsonage. The church has no debt.

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Vir- gin .- This is located near Mattis Creek, where as early as 1842 mass was celebrated by Rev. Father Fischer, of St. Louis. In that year seven acres of land on the Mattis road, one mile from the Lemay Ferry road, were purchased, and a log church was built. The congregation at that time consisted of seven families, and was supplied by Father Fischer, from St. Mary's Church, St. Louis, during two years. In February, 1844, Rev. Joseplı Melcher became resi- dent pastor, and in that year a log parsonage was built. This was afterward used as a school-house, then as a teachers' residence, then as a stable, and in 1879 it was burned. Father Melcher was succeeded in 1846 by Rev. Father Zeller, who was followed in 1847 by Rev. Simon Sigrist. In 1849, Rev. Joseph Blaarer came, and was succeeded in the same year by Rev. Remegius Gebhart, who died in 1852, and was fol -· lowed in 1853 by Rev. John Reis. In 1858, Rev. Matthias Leutner became pastor, and in 1859, Rev. Henry Broekhagen came. He remained till 1871, and was succeeded by Rev. Henry Plebs, who re- mained two years. In 1873, Rev. Peter Bremerich took charge, and in 1875 he was followed by Rev. William Sonnenschein, who left in 1878, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Joseph Pope.

The original log church was used till 1848, when the present brick church was built, and the log house became a school-house, for which it is still used. The present church has a seating capacity of two hundred.

In 1871 a brick parsonage near the church was built at an expense of sixteen hundred dollars, and in 1874 a teacher's residence, also of brick, was erected at a cost of five hundred dollars.

From the first a parochial school has been main- tained by this congregation, and it is now under the charge of the Franciscan Sisters. In this school in- struction is given in both the German and English languages. The parish has no debt.

1883

COUNTY OF SAINT LOUIS.

German Evangelical St. John's Church .- This is located on the Concord School road, one mile northeast from Mehlville. It was organized Jan. 29, 1849, with fifteen members. The first church edifice was a log building, and was erected the same year the society was organized. The parsonage, also a log house, was built the same ycar. A log school-house was erected in 1865. All these buildings were after- wards weather-boarded and painted.

In 1868 a new church was erected on the site of the old one. It is a brick structurc, with a seating capacity of four hundred, and its cost was $10,000. A new bell was placed in the tower in 1883, at a cost of $300. A pipe-organ was purchased in 1881 at a cost of $550.

The parsonage is used as a teacher's residence, and the same old school-house is still in use. A parochial school has been kept here, first in the church, then in the parsonage, and since 1865 in the school-house. The present pastor, Rev. John Will, was the teacher during fourteen years. A teacher is now employed in this school, in which the instruction is given in the German language. It has an average of fifty pupils.

The membership of the church is one hundred heads of families. The pastors have been Revs. G. W. Wall, 1849; E. L. Nollau, 1850; William Ramp- mcier, 1853; Frederick Judt, 1856; I. G. Stanejer, 1860; and the present pastor, John Will, 1863.

German Evangelical St. Lucas Church .- This society was organized in 1880, with eighteen constit- uent members. They first worshipcd in the Rock school-house near Sappington, but in 1881 their pres- ent church edifice was built. It is a frame house, thirty by forty-five feet in size, and its cost was threc thousand five hundred dollars.

The first pastor was Rev. Joseph A. Steinhardt, followed in 1882 by the present pastor, Rev. S. Kruse.

A parochial school, in which instruction is given in the German language, is taught in a part of the church. The attendance at this school is an average of twenty-five.

Church of Jesus Christ .- In August, 1881, Rev. Charles H. Ganthier organized a Sunday-school in the Mckenzie school-house near Afton post-office. This school was conducted by him during a year, when successful efforts to erect a church and organize a par- ish were made by Mr. Ganthier and several members of the Episcopal Church in that vicinity. In August, 1882, a church building was commenced, and in the latter part of the next month services were first held in it. It is a wooden structure of the Gothic order of architecture, twenty by thirty feet in size, and its cost was twelve hundred dollars. Mr. Ganthier has

been the rector from the first, and his labors here have been crowned with great success. The parish has no debt.

Convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Naza- reth .- This convent, a branch of the convent at Carondelet, was established on the Kinger road, two and a half miles southwesterly from Jefferson Bar- racks, in 1872. It was designed as a home for the aged and infirm sisters of the order, and for this pur- pose it has been used. The establishment comprises a farm of eighty acres, on which the convent was erected in the year before named. It is of brick, three stories in height, and it forms three sides of a courtyard. It is fitted up with special reference to the comfort of those who have become infirm from age or any other cause. It has a capacity for thirty patients, and an average of fifteen is the attendance. Mother St. John was the Superior of this house till 1879, when the present Superior, Mother De Chantan, took charge.

Glendale School for Boys was opened Nov. 1, 1882, at Glendale, on the Missouri Pacific Rail- road, eleven miles west from St. Louis, by E. A. Haight, A.M. Hc purchased, for the purposes of his school, a large mansion with fourtcen acres of ground, known as the Col. Leighton property. The school opened with two scholars, and from this small begin- ning it steadily increased till, at the beginning of 1883, it numbered twenty-two. It is particularly designed as a boarding-school for boys, for which its pleasant and healthful location and its easy communication with the city of St. Louis admirably fit it.

Mount Sinai Cemetery .- In 1849 the B'nai El congregation purchased an acre of ground on the Gravois road, just beyond the present city limits, and there interments were made till 1868. In that year the Mount Sinai Cemetery Association was in- corporated under the general law, and an addition to this of six and a half acres was purchased and laid out. Three years later, or in 1872, a brick building was crected there for a chapel and sexton's residence. This is a tasteful building, and the chapel is elegantly finished, frescoed, and ornamented. In this chapel the funeral services of those interred in the cemetery are held. Splendid monuments are scattered through the cemetery, which is well kept and cared for. By the regulations of the association all members of the congregations B'nai El and Shaare Emeth and their families are entitled to free burial in this cemetery, as are also the poor. The cost of the cemetery with its improvements has amounted to cightcen thou- sand dollars. The first president of the association was D. Singer, followed, in 1870, by L. R. Straus,

1884

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

and he, in 1872, by the present incumbent of the office, Louis J. Singer.

Public Schools .- The inhabitants of the township of Carondelet have not been unmindful of the im- portance of education as a means for developing and moulding the characters of their children. In many parts of the township may still be seen the primitive log school-house, which sprang into existence as soon as there were a sufficient number of children in a neigh- borhood to constitute a school. These unpretentious temples of science were reared long before the public school system was established, and when this system was provided they were utilized under it as district school-houses. As time has gone on and better edu- cational facilities have come to be necessary, larger and more tasteful buildings have been erected, and now the traveler through the township secs in differ- ent localities houses that, in capacity, convenience, and elegance, will compare favorably with those of any region in the country.

In accordance with the customs in their native lands, many of the foreign immigrants have main- tained parochial schools for the education of their children in their own cherished faith, but these have not been permitted to supersede the public schools.

St. Louis Quarantine Hospital.1-In 1854 tlie city of St. Louis purchased from Augustus Langkopt fifty-eight acres of land on the western shore of the Mississippi River, a mile and a quarter south from Jefferson Barracks, and twelve miles from St. Louis. On this ground stood an inn, which is now used as the residence of the superintendent of the quarantinc.

Buildings were erected for hospital purposes near the river. They were one-story wooden buildings, and were at first used for general hospital purposes. On the occurrence of the yellow fever in 1878 these were used for the reception and treatment of yellow fever patients, and upward of one hundred cases were received and treated herc. A recurrence of the disease was expected the next year, and it was de- termined to erect buildings farther from the river and on more elevated ground, for the reception of patients. These buildings were therefore burned early in the summer of 1879, and six new pavilions were erected about three hundred yards west from the river, on ground sixty feet higher than that on which the ones burned stood. Thesc pavilions or wards are each twenty-five by fifty feet, and have excellent facilities for ventilation. They are supplied with water from a reservoir that was built that year, and

which lias a capacity of one hundred and sixty thou- sand gallons. Into this reservoir water is pumped from the river, and from it distributed to all parts of the grounds where water is needed. On the river- bank stands a bath-room, to which patients are con- veyed from boats, stripped of their infected clothing, and after a warm or cold bath, as their condition requires, they are wrapped in clean .new clothing and conveyed to the wards. A short distance from this is a fumigating-house, where various disinfectants and appliances for fumigating boats, trunks, bedding, and clothing are kept. About two hundred yards up the river from this is the place where the infected bed- ding and clothing of patients is taken to be burned. About three hundred yards west from the wards spoken of, on still higher ground, stand. two small- pox wards that had been previously erected. These have a capacity for fifty patients each, and they are at all times kept in readiness for the reception of cases as they may occur. In addition to these the neces- sary buildings for the use of the superintendent, phy- sicians, employés, nurses, etc., have been erected, and the establishment is considered complete in all its parts. It is used as a quarantine whenever it is neces- sary to enforce quarantine regulations, and at all other times as a hospital for the treatment of patients af- fected with infectious diseases.

A few years prior to the yellow fever epidemic a gen- eral desire was felt to dispense with the quarantine, because of its expensiveness and the belief that it was unnecessary. Better counsels prevailed, however, and the experience of that year fully demonstrated the utility of the establishment and silenced the clamor for its abolition. The necessity for its maintenance at all times was shown by the experience of 1882, during which year five hundred cases of smallpox were treated in its wards.

It is worthy of remark that the National Board of Health visited this quarantine station in 1881, and pro- nounced it the best in the Mississippi valley, and second to none in the United States.

The superintendents of the establishment have been Dr. R. S. Anderson, Dr. H. C. Davis, who died of yellow fever here in 1878, and since that time the present superintendent, Daniel O'Madigan.

TOWNSHIP OF ST. FERDINAND.

St. Ferdinand is the northeastern township of St. Louis County. It, as well as the church at Floris- sant, was named in honor of one of the kings of Spain, to which country the territory belonged during many years after its settlement. Its boundaries are the Missouri River on the north and west, Mississippi

1 Information furnished by Daniel O'Madigan, present super- intendent.

1885

COUNTY OF SAINT LOUIS.

River and the city of St. Louis on the east, Central township and St. Louis city on the south, and a small portion of Bonliomme township on the west. It is drained by Cold Water, or St. Ferdinand Creek, which rises near its southern boundary and pursues a ser- pentine course northeasterly, to discharge its waters into the Missouri River, and by Maline Creek, which also rises near the south line of the township, and passes eastward, then southward, and empties into the Mississippi. Fee-Fee Creek crosses a small portion of the southwestern corner of the township.

The surface is rolling and the soil fertile. Agri- culture is the principal industry of the township, and Indian corn and wheat are the staple crops.

The principal roads which traverse the township and converge toward the city of St. Louis are the Bellefontaine road, which leads to Spanish Pond, a little lake lying north from St. Louis, and the Hall's Ferry road, which leads across the township in a north- westerly direction, and touches the Missouri River below Mullanphy Island. The latter was once a plank- road, but, as in case of other roads of that kind, its planks have been worn out or removed and replaced by other materials. The old Hall's Ferry road diverges from this toward the east at a point a few miles from the city, and pursues a tortuous course toward the same point on the Missouri. The Natural Bridge road extends in a nearly direct line from St. Louis to Bridgeton, and thence to its junction with the St. Charles Rock road. A branch also extends northward from Normandy to Florissant. These roads were constructed as plank-roads by a company about 1850, but after a few years they became county roads, and, as in other cases, the planks were removed. The St. Charles Rock road crosses the southwestern portion of the township in a northwesterly direction, and terminates on the Missouri River at Brotherton, opposite St. Charles.

The St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railroad crosses the township between St. Louis and St. Charles. College View Hill, Ferguson, Ashland, Graham, Bridgeton, Bonfils, and Brotherton Stations on this road are in this township.

The West End Narrow-Gauge Railroad has its northern terminus at Florissant, and gives that city direct communication with St. Louis. This road has stations in this township at Carsonville, Scudder, Gra- ham's, Taylor Road, and Florissant.

St. Ferdinand was first settled by French immi- grants, and although soon after its settlement the entire French possessions west of the Mississippi came under the dominion of Spain, it continued to be essentially a French settlement. By an examina-

tion of the baptismal register of the Church of St. Ferdinand, the family names of most of the original or early settlers may be found, and of these a large portion are still represented in the township, either in the paternal or maternal line. Among them are the names of Lefevre, Rivière, De Hetre, Primault, Marechal, Mercier, Lachasse, Dubreuil, Rapun, Menard, De Lisle, Martin, Dejarlais, Carico, Billiot, Peltier, Tesson, Hubert, Montreuil, Moreau, Crilis, Aubuchon, Ouvrey, St. Germain, Brant, Tourville, Bennet, Payant, La Bonne, Alair, Wedington, Ba- rada, Thibaut, Courtois, Gendrom, Bourk, St. Cin, Beaudoin, Presse, Musick, James, Burk, Chovin, Brazeau, Chaput, Derosier, Lorain, Miles, Pera, Smith, Robidou Vasquez, Fortin, Gailloux, Tayon, Latoure, Weaver, Clement, Sanguinette, Chouteau, Walton, Brisette, Pilaire, Denoyer, Dolson, Read, Castello, St. Cyr, Mullanphy, Chambers, La Violette, Hodromont, L'Esperance, Beaufils, Laramie, Bellville, Vacha, Mulhall, Stevenson, Geno, Goss, Graham, Dillon, Taylor, Rapreux, Hyatt, Clark, Stergers, Higgins, Fremont, Hanly, McMenemy, Grace, Har- nett. Other pioneers were Magill, Brown, Arch- ambault, Richardson, Long, Hubbard, Hume, Bates, Harris, Stuart, Jamison, Hodges, Seely, Patterson, Sullivan, Utz, Howdeshell, Carter, Evans, Putnam, Reardon, Todd, Fugate, Quick, Whiteside, Hall, Walker, Yosti, and Worthington.

The father of Judge Hyatt was an early settler in St. Ferdinand, and both father and son have been prominent, active, and useful citizens. James Rich- ardson and Thomas Musick, if not the first, were very early settlers in the southern part of the township. The first came from Virginia, and he was instrumental in bringing here many American settlers, whom he aided in many ways. He was a saddler, and it is said that he once presented to the Spanish alcalde a side-saddle for his wife, for which the alcalde in return presented him a grant of a thousand arpens of land, of which Patterson's Settlement is a part. He came to be a very large landholder.

The early inhabitants of this township, and even those living here at a comparatively recent period, had primitive habits and customs. Their wants were few and easily supplied ; the fruitful soil of the region en- abled them to raise the necessaries of life easily, and the mild climate did not necessitate those preparations for winter that are required in more northern lati- tudes. St. Louis afforded a market for the wood or little surplus produce which they wished to exchange for the few luxuries in which they indulged, and they pursued the even tenor of their way, undisturbed by tlie bickerings and jealousies which creep into mod-

1886

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

ern society, or by the vanities which fashion engen- ders. Each rejoiced in the prosperity of his neigh- bor, or sympathized with him in his adversity. They were contented and happy, and in their dealings with each other they were honest to an extent hardly known in modern times. It is said that the first im- migrant who placed a lock on his smoke-house excited a high degree of indignation among the inhabitants by that act. They looked on the loek as a standing insult, equivalent to a direct accusation of dishonesty, and were disposed to remove it from their sight by summary process. The population of the township was in 1860, 4289 ; 1870, 7214; 1880, 7923.

Fort Bellefontaine, or Old "Fort St. Charles, the Prince."-Fort Bellefontaine was established at the mouth of Cold Water Creek, or St. Ferdinand River, in 1806, by Gen. Wilkinson, then Governor of the newly-acquired Territory of Louisiana. It was during many years the frontier military post, and it was from this point that Lewis and Clark left the bor- ders of civilization on their celebrated tour of explora- tion. It was occupied by the United States till the establishment of Jefferson Barraeks, in 1827, when the troops stationed there were removed to the latter post. The works have gone to decay, and the exact location of the fort is, not now discernible.

The following memoranda, gleaned from different sources, give a history of the earlier and later trans- fers of the land on which stood this fort :

" Governor Zenon Trudeau granted to one Hezekiah Lard (or Lord) a concession of one thousand arpens (850.77 acres) of land on the Missouri River, in the north part of this county, through which runs the Cold Water Creek, dated Sept. 10, 1797. H. Lard huilt a house, etc., a saw- and grist-mill, and made a farm of the land, and died on it late in 1799. At the request of the widow, an inventory of the estate was taken hy James Mackay, commandant of St. Andrew's, hy order of the Gov- ernor, Nov. 9, 1799, as follows : One thousand arpens of land, seven hundred dollars, with house and farm, saw- and grist- mill and apparatus, five hundred dollars ; personal, eight hun- dred and seventy-three dollars,-two thousand and seventy- three dollars.

"The widow, whose maiden name was Catherine Sullivan Purcell, subsequently married one Morris James, and John Lard, hrother of the deceased, having an interest in the mill and farm, the parties petitioned the Governor for a settlement of the estate. With his consent the widow appointed Wm. Musick and John Patterson to act for her, and John Lard appointed Richard Chitwood and John Allen on his part. The Governor named James Richardson umpire, April 2, 1803.

" These parties met at the place on April 23, 1803, in pres- ence of Joseph Hortiz, notary, to superintend and record, and Samuel Soloman to interpret, sent up hy the Governor for that purpose. They decided that the farm and land helonged to the es- tate of Hezekiah Lard, deceased, and that John Lard was entitled to two hundred and fifty-nine dollars. ' John Lard, when he lived with his brother on the farm, sold a horse for eighty dollars and a bull for thirty-five dollars, which they leave to the Governor to

decide whether he shall repay it; and sixteen hundred feet of hoards sold hy John Lard he must pay for to the estate. Signed hy all the parties, John Lard, Morris James, C. Sullivan Pur- cell James, John Allen, Wm. Musick, Richard Chitwood, John Patterson, James Richardson, Joseph Hortiz, notary. Costs of arbitration : Hortiz, $5.50; Governor, $2; deed, $4; total, $11.50.'

"The sale of the property of the estate took place on the 10th and 24th of the month.

Six hundred arpens of land at the point, house, farm,

saw- and grist-mill, etc., to William Massey, for .... $1650

Two hundred arpens to Mrs. Morris James, for 250

Two hundred arpens to Vincent Carrico, for. ... 290

Total $2190

Hortiz's Bill of Sale.

Three days of judge, $5.50 $16.50

Four days of horse-hire, $1.50 6.00

Decree and signature. 2.00

Three signatures, in hills, 50 cents .. 1.50

Seven leaves of writing, 25 cents 1.75

Heading and footing ... 1.00

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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 193

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