History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 196

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 196

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BRIDGETON LODGE, NO. 8, F. AND A. M .- This lodge was organized under a dispensation in 1845. It reccived its charter Oct. 14, 1846, with James McClure, W. M .; Benjamin B. Edmondson, S. W .; and Henry Cole, J. W. The lodge first hield its

1 General history of Bridgeton by D. V. Baber.

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

meetings in the house of James McClure, but in 1849 the present lodge-room on Main Street was fitted up.

The Worshipful Masters since James McClure have been Benjamin B. Edmondson, R. T. Edmond- son, George R. Mokc, J. H. Garret, R. E. Bland, D. L. Bassett, C. L. Young, T. T. Craig, and the present Master, J. H. Garrett. The Senior Warden is S. W. Henley; Junior Warden, D. V. Baber ; Secretary, Jefferson Van Gundy ; Treasurer, John D. Parsons. The lodge has enjoyed uniform prosperity from the time of its organization. The present mem- bership is thirty-three.

ST. MARY'S CHURCH (CATHOLIC) .- Mass was first celebrated in Bridgeton by the Jesuit Father J. L. Gleizel, in 1851, in the house of Dr. Moore, now owned by Judge Henderson. In 1852 a mission was established and attended by the following priests : Revs. Dennis Kennedy, 1852; James Murphy, 1856; Park Brady, 1858; Thomas Clary, 1862; L. Smitlı, 1864; J. B. Jackson, 1865 ; B. Messelis, S.J., 1867 ; P. J. Clark, 1868; M. Welby, 1869 ; Patrick Healy, 1871; E. Smith, 1873; James Dougherty, 1874; F. P. Gallagher, 1876; J. D. Powers, 1877; Jos. Schroeder, the present pastor, 1878. The church edifice was erected by Father Gleizel in 1852. It is a brick structure, fifty by forty-four fect in size. A parsonage was erected near it in 1868 by Rev. Father Messelis. The cemetery adjoins the church.

BRIDGETON METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH .- It is not known that there was any society of Methodists liere prior to 1842, though there were members of that denomination residing here. At about that time a society was organized, and it wor- shiped at first in the old school-house on the com- mons. In 1844 a brick church edifice, forty by sixty fect in size, was erected, and in 1855 this was ex- changed for the old Episcopal Church, which had been purchased for school purposes. This is a brick building, with a scating capacity of two hundred and fifty. The society has no debt. This was a charge on a circuit till 1872, when it was made a station. Since that time the following clergymen have been in charge here: Revs. F. A. Morris, 1872; J. R. Fra- zier, 1876; B. R. Thrower, 1878; F. A. Morris, 1878; Joseph Dines, 1881; and the present pastor, W. II. Hensley, 1882.

ST. JOHN'S BAPTIST CHURCH (COLORED) .- This society was organized in 1870, with forty inembers and Rev. William Dorsch, pastor. Mr. Dorsch was succeeded in the pastorate in 1873 by Rev. James W. Powell, who left in 1875, since which time the society has been without a pastor. The present

membership is forty-two. In 1873 a framed church edifice, with a seating capacity of two hundred, was erceted. The church has no debt.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHI (COLORED) OF BRIDGETON .- This was organized in 1874. The first place of worship was the Ferguson school-house, on the St. Charles Rock road; then the house of J. H. Woolfolk, in Bridgeton. In 1882 a wooden house of worship, twenty-six by thirty-six feet in size, was erected in Bridgeton. The pastors have been Revs. J. H. Woolfolk, 1874; W. E. Wilson, 1878; A. Coleman, 1880; C. M. Keeton, 1881; and the present pastor, B. Pullum, 1882. The member- ship is twenty, and the church has no debt.

Pattonville .- This village is located on the St. Charles Rock road at its junction with the Fee-Fee road, fourteen miles from St. Louis. A post-office had been in existence here under the name of Fee- Fee, which is said by some to be a French corruption of the word fife, which was the original name of Fee- Fec Creek. No village existed here prior to 1869. A blacksmith-shop was started by T. T. Lucas in 1860. In 1866 this shop was converted into a car- riage manufactory, and in 1869 a church and store were built, and within a year another church was crected. These buildings, with a few residences, com- prise the present village. A post-office was established in 1876. It was named Pattonville, from a family by the name of Patton that resided here. In 1879 a fine school building was erected near the village, in which an excellent school is maintained.

The Lucas carriage-factory at Pattonville was first a small blacksmith-shop, started by Thomas T. Lucas in 1860. In 1865 this shop was removed and en- larged, and the manufacture of carriages, at first on a small scale, was commenced. From that time to the present the business has steadily increased, till now sixty vehicles of all kinds are annually made. In 1879 the manufacture of sulky plows was added to the business, and since that time two hundred of these have been turned out from the establishment.

MIZPAH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, at Pattonville, was organized Nov. 20, 1842. The original con- stituent members were James Patton, Agnes Patton, George Patton, James Quinsenburg, George L. Lack- land, Eliza E. Lackland, Ann Lackland, Jacob Brown, Ellen B. Brown, Joseph Brown, and Sarah McClure.

The place of worship during nearly thirty years was the old Fec-Fee Baptist Church, half a mile from Pattonville. In 1869 the name of the society was changed to its present designation. The present house of worship at Pattonville was erected in 1870. It is a brick structure with a stone basement, and it covers

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COUNTY OF SAINT LOUIS.

an area of fifty-five by thirty-eight feet. In 1870 a parsonage was erected near the church. Ten acres of ground are included in the lot on which these build- ings stand, and the cost of the property was ten thou- sand dollars. The society has no debt.

The pastors of this church have been Revs. R. Finley, 1843; John Lyon, 1847; - Beebe, 1848; Pettigrew, 1849; H. A. Booth, 1850; Noble, 1857; T. C. Smith, 1860; W. J. Lapsley, 1868; Alfred E. Grover, 1876 ; William M. Stratton, 1878; and the present pastor, T. C. Barrett, 1880.

Ferguson .- Ferguson Station is at the junction of the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railroad with a branch running to Union Depot, St. Louis. The place had little importance previous to 1878, but at about that time a rapid growth commenced, and now it contains about sixty families. It has a post-office, a hotel, two stores, thrce machine-shops, and two churches. The population is largely composed of railroad employés and their families, who find here a convenient and pleasant place of residence. By reason of the absence of marshes in the vicinity and the excellent quality of the water, the village is remark- ably healthy.

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH .- Of the churches in Fergu- son, St. John's (Catholic) is now (1882) in process of ercction. It will be a neat wooden structure, with a seating capacity of three hundred and fifty. Rev. Father D. S. Phelan is the pastor.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. - The Presbyterian Church at Ferguson Station was erected about 1873. It is a tasteful frame edifice, with a seating capacity of between three and four hundred. The society has been supplied by different clergymen, and with com- mendable liberality it has opened the doors of its house of worship to other denominations.

PUBLIC SCHOOL .- In 1877-78 a brick building was erected for a public school. It has two school- rooms on the first floor, and in the second story a hall, which is to be divided into school-rooms as future exigencies requirc. The cost of the building was fifty-six thousand dollars. A Kindergarten school is also kept in the village.

The place has one physician and thrce attorneys, one of whom, T. G. Allen, is a State senator, and another, C. P. Ellerby, is a member of the House of Representatives in the State.

In 1882 a cheese-factory was erected in the village, with all the latest improved machinery and appliances for establishments of that kind. It has facilities for handling three thousand gallons of milk daily, and for cooling the milk it has an ice-machine with a daily capacity of three tons of ice.

It is the property of a stock company, with J. C. Cabanné manager. This company has adopted the plan of furnishing farmers in the vicinity with cows on conditions arranged between the parties.

Black Jack, about three miles east from Florissant, is a hamlet containing two stores and two mechanics' shops. It has a post-office, and is in a fine farming region. It was named from the abundance of the species of oak known in common parlance as " black jack" which grows there.

Brotherton was formerly a small village on the bank of the Missouri River, opposite to St. Charles. It was named from Marshall Brotherton, who owned the land and established a ferry there between St. Charles and the terminus of the St. Charles Rock road. The river has so encroached on the land that the little village has nearly disappeared.

Boufils is a post office on the Wabash and Kansas City Railroad, sixteen miles from St. Louis.

BONHOMME TOWNSHIP.

The township of Bonhomme lies between St. Fer- dinand, Central, and Carondelet townships on the east and Meramec on the west. The Missouri River forms its extreme northern boundary, and it joins Jefferson County on the south. Its greatest length between north and south is sixteen miles, and it has an average width of eight and one-half miles, and it includes an area of about one hundred and twenty square miles.

Its surface is rolling, but while it is more uneven than that of the townships lying east of it, it is less hilly than that of Meramec on the west. A water- shed divides it between north and south, passing through nearly its central portion. Its northern part is draincd by Crève Cœur Creek, the waters of which pass through the lake of the same name, to empty into the Missouri River. Meramec River pursues a tortuous course through the southern part of the township, and reccives affluents on both sides. Crève Cœur Lake is in the northern part, about one mile from the Missouri River. This lakc has a length of between two and three miles, and an average width of about half a mile. A short distance west from this is a smaller body of water known as Upper Crève Cœur Lake, connected with its larger neighbor by a small stream. The origin of the name of this lake, like that of the township, is involved in uncertainty. Many legends have been written or told concerning both, but all these bear such unmistakable evidences that imagination rather than reality was a prominent factor in their production that even their partial ac- ceptance must be with many grains of allowance.

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

Elsewhere an account is given of the improvements that have recently been made at this lake, and the prediction is safe that this will become an important point in the not distant future.

The township is traversed by several highways, which pass through it from west to east, and converge toward the city of St. Louis. The Central or Olive Street road passes westwardly through the northern part of the township, and unites near its western boundary with the Conway road, which comes from St. Louis and traverses the township farther soutlı. Through the central portion passes the Manchester road, which is the principal avenue of travel and transportation for the people living some distance north and south from it. The Clayton road passes through the township between the Manchester and Conway roads, and unites with the latter in Central township. The Gravois road crosses the southeastern corner of the township. These are rock roads, and are the avenues of transportation to market for the produce that is raised in the township.

The Missouri Pacific Railroad crosses the southern portion of the township, running for some distance nearly parallel with the Meramec River. This is of course the great avenue of communication between that part of the township and St. Louis.

The early settlers in the northern portion of the township were Joseph Conway, who was scalped by the Indians in Kentucky during the Revolution, but who recovered, migrated to this township, and was the progenitor of the Conway family here ; James Kincaid, Jonathan Wiseman, - Smith, Greene B. Baxter, - Hempstead, - Hibler, - Cor- dell, Frederick Bates, afterwards Governor of the State ; . Lanham, John Ball, Henry Mason, one of the first magistrates ; William Bacon, William Hannah, and others whose names cannot be recalled.

In the southern part were - Eoff, George and Robert King, John Hardecker, James Richardson, Archibald Harbison, Thomas Keebly, Nathan Shot- well, Thomas Williams, George Sipp, Caleb Bowles, Rudder, - Longwith, Samuel T. Vandover, John Mclaughlin, Jabez Ferris, Peter Breen, - Kuntz, Samuel Stowey, Richard Low, - Jones, and others. These early settlers were mostly immi- grants from Kentucky and Virginia. At the time they settled here the township was principally prairie, and the wild denizens of the region abounded. All these people, as they slept in their cabins, were seren- aded by the wolves, and their corn-fields and pig-pens were often invaded by bears. The wants of these early inhabitants were not as numerous as those of people in later times, and the abundant resources of

the fertile soil readily supplied the few which they felt, and they were contented and happy. The popu- lation of the township was in 1850, 1842; 1860, 3629; 1870, 6162 ; 1880, 7043.

The pioncer mills in the township were what were known as horse mills. They were introduced at a very early datc, and took the place of the primitive mortars for grinding corn. They were established in various parts of the township, and it was not till a comparatively recent period that steam-mills took their place. A short distance from Fenton a steam grist- mill was erected by William Head about 1854. It existed only a few years. In 1852, Smizer's grist- mill and distillery was erected on the Meramec River, a mile south from Meramec Station. This establish- ment ceased to be operated twenty years since, and the building has been converted into a barn.

At Meramec Station, on the Missouri Pacific Rail- road, is located the Meramec Mill. This was first built in 1874 by G. H. Timmerman, with two run of stones, one for flour and one for corn. It was both a custom and a merchant mill, and another run of stones was soon added. C. F. Leonard afterward purchased the mill, and added to it another run of stones for grinding wheat. In June, 1881, H. B. Eggers purchased the establishment, and added to its former machinery seven sets of rollers, with other machinery, for the manufacture of roller flour. The machinery is driven by an engine of eighty horse- power, and the daily capacity of the mill is two hun- dred barrels of flour. It is wholly a merchant mill. A cooperage is attached to it, and eighteen hands are employed at the establishment. An elevator is in process of construction, and this, when completed, will have a capacity of thirty thousand bushels.

Bonhomme Presbyterian Church .- Bonhomme Church was organized by Rev. S. Giddings, Oct. 16, 1816, withı sixteen members. It was the second Presbyterian Church that was established west of the Mississippi River, Concord (Bellevue) Church having been organized on the 3d of the preceding August.

During ten years the church had a hard struggle for existence. Its membership in 1825 was fourteen, and in 1827 it was dissolved and its members united with the church at St. Louis. It was reorganized, with ten members, by Rev. John S. Ball, Nov. 5, 1828, and in 1831 the membership had increased to fifteen.

The records of the church were burned some years since, but it is remembered that during many years it owned no house of worship, and that its services were held in private residences and school-houses. The present church edifice, which stands at the junc-

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COUNTY OF SAINT LOUIS.

tion of the Conway and White roads, eighteen miles from St. Louis, was erected about 1840 by Messrs. James Sappington and John Baxter, under the su- perintendenee of Judge Joseph Conway. It is a stone building with a basement, and its size is thirty by forty-four feet. Services have been regularly held in this building sinee its ereetion.

The first elergyman who ministered to this ehureh was Mr. Giddings, who visited it from St. Louis from time to time. Soon after its reorganization in 1828, a young lieentiate named Hodges was engaged to preach to the congregation for a year, but he died before the expiration of that time. The next preacher was Rev. John Gilbreath, under whose ministrations the church grew and prospered during a number of years. He was followed by a Mr. Beebe, who re- mained but a short time. Next came Rev. John Lyon, a native of Philadelphia, and a young man of great promise, but his health soon failed, and he was taken by his friends to the place of his nativity, where he soon afterwards died. He was succeeded by Rev. R. P. Farris, of St. Louis, a talented preacher and an able writer. Revs. Henry A. Booth, William H. Parks, A. Shotwell, and James A. Smith followed in order. The present membership of the ehureh is fifty.

Evangelical Lutheran St. John's Church is located at Ellisville, a hamlet on the Manchester road, in the western part of Bonhomme township. It was organized in 1852 with only a few constituent men- bers, and services were first held at Ballwin in private houses. In 1854 a small log church was built a mile and a half southwest from Ballwin, and in this the society worshiped during seventeen years. In 1871 a brick church edifice, thirty by fifty feet, was ereeted on the south side of the Manchester road at Ellisville. The building eost four thousand three hundred dollars, and it is not eneumbered with a debt. In 1872 a brick parsonage was built at a eost of eleven hundred dollars. A parochial school build- ing was ereeted near the ehureli in 1878. A parochial school had been maintained during fifteen years prior to the ereetion of this building, and in this school instruction has been given in the German and Eng- lish languages, and now forty scholars on an average are taught in it.

The clergymen who have served this congregation have been, in suecession, Revs. J. A. F. W. Mueller, - - Lehmann, F. P. Pennekamp, Theodore Burzin, August Sehnessler, and the present pastor, E. T. Richter. The membership is fifty.

St. Monica's Church (Catholic) at Crève Cœur was ereeted, and the parish organized in 1872, and mass was first celebrated on Christmas of that year.

The parish was founded and the church ereeted by Rev. H. Muhlsiepen, vicar-general. The church edifice is a neat briek structure, with a seating capae- ity of one hundred and twenty, and its eost was two thousand five hundred dollars. In 1873 the Franeis- can Fathers took charge of the parish, and continued till 1881, when Rev. Joseph Diel became resident pastor. In June of the same year Rev. H. S. Aert- ler, the present pastor, assumed charge. The parson- age was ereeted in the autumn of 1881, at a cost of two thousand dollars. A parochial school was estab- lished in 1873, and a brick school building was ereeted near the church. In this a school has ever since been maintained, and the average attendanee is forty. In- struetion is given in both the German and English languages. The congregation consists of sixty-five families.

Christian Church of Crève Cœur .- A society of this denomination was organized in the vieinity of Crève Cœur in 1875, with twenty members. It has built no house of worship, but has held services in the Crève Cœur school-house. The pastors of the society have been Revs. J. H. Garrison, 1875 ; J. H. Stuart, 1878 ; and the present pastor, J. H. Owen, 1880.

Manchester1 was settled very early in the present century, but for many years it was only a small vil- lage. The first settler in the town was an Indian named Bryson O'Hara, who built a eabin at Man- chester Spring, and resided there several years, sub- sisting by hunting, making ox-bows, ox-yokes, ete. The place was first called Hoardstown, from Jesse Hoard, who came quite early from Kentucky and located on the corner of the Manchester road and Crève Cœur Street. The place was called by that name till about 1825, when it began to be spoken of by its present title. An Englishman who settled there about that time christened it Manchester, from the place of his residence in England, and it gradu- ally came to be thus designated by every one. A store was established there at an early date by - - Douglass, on the north side of the rock road, a short distance east from Crève Cœur Street, in a log build- ing, which was at the same time a store and a resi- denee. By the side of this store was a blacksmith- shop, which was carried on by William Triplet, who eame here in 1816 or 1817 from Kentucky. He was a blacksmith in Manchester till his death, and was an active, influential eitizen.

Caleb Carman came from Kentucky to Manchester in 1818, and established a saddlery and harness-shop, where he condueted the business during many years.

1 Data for early history furnished by John Shotwell.

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

He was an excellent mechanic, and to the manufac- ture of saddles and harnesses he afterwards added the business of carriage trimmings.

About one hundred yards east from Crève Cœur Street, on the south side of the rock road, Isaac Mc- Fadden established a shoe-shop in 1818 in a log house, which was also a dwelling. He was the only shoemaker in Manchester during many years. He died at the house of John Shotwell in 1856.

Samuel Hindman came from Kentucky and set up a tannery. This tannery came to be the property of Robert Buchanan and Henry Rollins, who carried on tanning extensively, and in connection with it the manufacture of boots and shoes. At times they employed as many as twelve men in the business. The tannery ceascd to be operated in 1860.

Between Carman's saddlery and Triplet's black- smith-shop Starks Cockrill resided in a log house, a portion of which is still standing, and kept a house of entertainment for travelers. This was the first tavern in Manchester.

Samuel Berry, also a Kentuckian, and, as well as the others, from May's Lick, Mason Co., in that State, carried on the manufacture of brick as early as 1822. His yard was on the south side of the rock road, east from Crève Cœur Street. He not only moulded and burned bricks, but was a bricklayer, and built most of the chimneys that were erected in this vicinity during many years.

In 1820 a carding-machine was brought from Ken- tucky by James Neale and put in a log building that was erected for the purpose in the rear of Mr. Trip- let's house, which stood in the rear of his blacksmith- shop. This machine was propelled by an inclined wheel that was turned by the weight of horses. It was used till 1839, when the building was converted into a church.

Martin Shelton resided in the house that was built by Mr. Hoard, and followed the business of teaming. In those days, and for many years afterwards, all the goods that were sold in Manchester and other places that sprang up in its vicinity were brought by teams of horses or oxen from St. Louis over what is now the Manchester Rock road, and produce was con- veyed to market in the same manner. Mr. Shelton followed this business, which would now be called freighting, during many years.

In addition to these an old man named Kuntz and his wife resided here in 1826, and these constituted the sum total of the families in the place at that time. This Mr. Kuntz was from Pennsylvania, and had located at what is now Meramec Station many years before, and carried on a distillery there.

In 1830, - Burns established the first tailor's shop in Manchester. His shop was a log building near Cockrill's log tavern, on the same side of the street. These were the pioneers in the different kinds of business in the town. Its growth was during many years slow ; as the country around it because settled it had a gradual increase, but in 1880 its population numbered only three hundred and six.

The first frame building in Manchester was erected in 1830 by James Robinson for a hotel, and it was kept as such during many years. It is now known as the " Old Hotel," and stands on the south side of the road, east from Crève Cœur Street.

No great manufacturing industry ever sprang up in this place, and there has been only a local trade to make it a town. The travel that formerly passed through the town has since the Missouri Pacific Railroad went into operation been diverted from this route, and only local travel passes through it now.

In 1850 a brewery was established in Manchester by a Mr. Spoeri. It was located on the south side of the road, at the corner of Church Street. It was conducted a few years by Mr. Spoeri, and then pur- chased by a Mr. Hock. After the death of Mr. Hock the establishment was idle for a time, and was then started by Tobias Fisher. He was succeeded by F. Heim & Co., who purchased the property and con- ducted the business during two years, at the end of which they were succeeded by Michael Hollocker. He sold the establishment in 1866 to F. Smith, who carried on the business till 1867, when the building was destroyed by fire. It was immediately rebuilt, smaller, and the business was conducted by Mr. Smith till 1870, when it was again burned, and was never rebuilt.

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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 196

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