History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 20

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 20

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By the exercise of his excellent judgment and keen

foresight, together with his indomitable energy, he accumulated a large fortune, which he bequeathed to his brothers and sisters, or their descendants. He was never married. Mr. Christy died of paralysis Aug. 11, 1869.

In 1832 the steam ferry-boat " Ozark" was added to the vessels of the ferry company ; then, as the busi- ness increased, the " Vindicator" and the "Icelander" were put on, the latter being destroyed by fire in 1844. The " Wagoner" was built in 1846, and then the " Grampus." The "St. Louis" was added in 1848. Her boilers exploded Feb. 21, 1851, killing thirteen persons, including the engineer, a daughter of Mr. Jarvis, the pilot, and Captain Trendley's son, who had just arrived from California, having been in the city but two days. The accident occurred at the foot of Spruce Strcet, just after the boat left the landing. After the "St. Louis" there followed in turn, as occa- sion demanded, the "Illinois," " John Trendley," " Illinois, No. 2," lost in the ice in 1864, the " Amer- ica," and the " New Era," which became the flag-ship " Essex" of Admiral Foote, and saw hard service in the civil war. In addition to these were the " Charles Mulliken," " Samuel C. Christy," " Cahokia," " Bellc- ville," "Edward C. Wiggins," "East St. Louis," " Springfield," " Edwardsville," " Ram," " Lewis V. Bogy," and the tugs "H. C. Crevelin," "S. C. Clubb," and "D. W. Hewitt." The " Vindicator" was wrecked in 1871, and in 1875 the "S. C. Clubb" 'was nearly destroyed by fire, but was afterwards repaired.

Owing to the difficulty and danger experienced by the ordinary ferry-boats in crossing the river when encumbered by ice, the company, in July, 1839, con- tracted with a boat-builder at New Albany, Ind., for an ice steam ferry-boat, with which they would be " able to cross the river at all times, except when the ice is stationary." The vessel was to be constructed after plans prepared by Mr. Mulliken, of Mulliken & Pratte, merchants of St. Louis, with an iron bow, " in such a manner as to admit of her being driven through any amount of floating ice." The boat was completed in the following fail, and arrived at St. Louis on the 3d of December. She was about one hundred feet in length, forty feet beam, and four feet hold. Her hull was plated with sheet-iron one-sixth of an inch in thickness, with an iron cutwater scven inches thick. She carried four hundred tons and drew twenty-five inches of water.

In 1842 a new ferry company was formed, as ap- pears from the following announcement in the Repub- lican of February 5th of that year : " We understand that the new ferry company have contracted with the Dry-Dock Company for a ferry-boat. This company

1072

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

have obtained the right of ferriage from the foot of Spruce Street, and from a road laid out by the author- ities of St. Clair County to the river-bank."

In 1847 the landing-place of the ferry at St. Louis was at the foot of Locust Street, but complaint was made that this location was inconvenient, and that delay was caused by the crowding of other boats " into the landing at that point."

On the 22d of January, 1848, it was announced that a new steam ferry had been established at Car-

said island to St. Louis, and generally to engage in any busi- ness required by the exigencies of a eity proprietorship. ·

"The city on Bloody Island, with all its wharves, lots, streets, and alleys,' would probably belong for many generations to come to this incorporated company. St. Louis has felt, and Cairo has felt, and both cities now feel the evil of having a great mass of their property in the hands of one man or a few men."

When Samuel Wiggins sold his franchises to the company in 1832, he transferred to them about eight or nine hundred acres lying between Brooklyn and the Cahokia commons. The company leased the river front of the Cahokia commons, embracing between five and six thousand acres, and gave the Ca- hokians a free ferriage to and from St. Louis and three hundred dollars per year for twenty years. On the expiration of the lease the Cahokians re-leased a portion of the lands to in- dividuals, the revenue of which went " to the support of schools and law- yers." The commons extended from the ancient city of Cahokia to the Pittsburgh coal landing at the dike opposite Choutcau Avenue, and were extremely fertile.

CAHOKIA IN 1840.

ondelet across the Mississippi River. This, it was added, would open a new line of travel to all Southern Illinois. The distance from the Kaskaskia road to the river was about two miles, and between these points a substantial road was built. " By this route," said the announcement, " travelers avoid the difficulties of crossing the American Bottom."

On the 7th of January, 1852, the Republican stated that the ferry company had " with their usual liberality placed their ferry-boats at the disposition of the railroad company for the transportation of persons to and from the demonstration to be made to-day. The boats will be free to persons going to or return- ing from the celebration."

In 1853 the Wiggins charter, granted in 1819, ex- pired, and application was made to the Legislature for a renewal. Commenting upon this application at the time (Fcb. 3, 1853) the Republican said,-

" Under their charter and various amendments since obtained they have been doing a highly prosperous business. They have managed to keep the field and destroy measurably all compe- tition. They are now applying to the Legislature for an im- mense addition to their powers. They are asking the Legisla- ture to re-charter them with a capital of one million, and witlı power to own fifteen hundred acres (three hundred of coal land), and also with power to build a eity on Bloody Island, to charge wharfage fecs, to build and to run any number of ferry-boats from

Notwithstanding the opposition to the company's application for a new charter and addi -. tional franchises, a perpetual charter for ferry purposes was granted to Andrew Christy, William C. Wiggins,1

1 William C. Wiggins, brother of Samuel Wiggins, was born in 1783 at Newburgh, N. Y., and the early portion of his life was spent in the cities of New York and Albany. He then removed to Charleston, S. C., where he lived ten years and was married. After this he returned to the city of New York, remained there some years, and in 1818 started for the West, arriving in St. Louis in the same year. In 1822 he took charge of the " Wig- gins Ferry," of which he remained in charge for thirty years. He was the last of the original purchasers of the stoek of the company, and realized from his exertions and industry a hand- some fortune. Mr. Wiggins died on the 25th of November, 1853.

Samuel B. Wiggins, son of William C. Wiggins, was born in Charleston, S. C., Dec. 11, 1814. He first commenced business in Illinois, but subsequently returned to St. Louis and opened a house in company with S. C. Christy, under the style of Christy & Wiggins. Wlien Mr. Christy retired, Mr. Wiggins carried on the business alone until he took his brother into partnership, the new firm being known as S. B. Wiggins & Co. After con- tinuing for some time it was again reorganized under the name of Wiggins & Anderson, and was a prominent grocery and dry-goods firm. It was dissolved in 1859, and Mr. Wiggins. withdrew entirely from active business life. During the period of his eommereial career and afterwards he occupied various important positions in business eireles. He was a direetor in the Southern Bank, in the Pacific Insuranec Company, and for fifteen years in the Citizens' Insurance Company. For

1073

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.

Adam L. Mills, Lewis V. Bogy, and Napoleon B. Mulliken.

The company, although it enjoyed for many years a practical monopoly of the ferriage business, appears, on the whole, to have pursued a liberal poliey. The entire river-front of East St. Louis, for a distance of four miles, was owned by it, and in 1875 its property was estimated to be worth several millions of dollars. The company contributed greatly to the development and growth of East St. Louis, and co-operated with the railroad companies in providing additional traveling facilities for St. Louis by granting suitable grounds for tracks, depots, warehouses, yards, and machine- shops. For eighteen years Hon. Lewis V. Bogy, afterwards United States senator from Missouri, was president of the company, and Capt. John Trendley,1 after whom also one of the ferry-boats was named, served the company continuously from the 7th of May, 1825, for a period of more than half a century.

In 1865 the average number of passengers carried daily by the ferry fleet to and from St. Louis was from 1000 to 1500; bushels of coal, 10,000 to 15,000; transfer-wagons, 500 to 600 ; farmers' and market- wagons, 100 to 150; omnibuses, 30 to 40. The ag- gregate receipts for 1865 were very little less than $300,000, while in 1873 the aggregate receipts were largely over $500,000. At this time (1873) there were 10,000 shares, representing nominally a million of dollars, " but," remarked a newspaper writer, “if any one desires to know how much they are worth at a marketable or selling priee over the par value of $100, he can do so by wanting to purchase." In addition to the eight ferry-boats and three transfer- boats which the company then owned, the East St. Louis real estate and wharf franchises were very valuable. Much the largest amount of stoek was held by the Christys, which had been sub-divided, and was then represented by perhaps twenty-five heirs. The sales of real estate subsequent to 1865 and up to 1873, none being sold prior to 1865, and all of it having been purchased by Capt. Samuel Wiggins at

several years he was president of the Wiggins Ferry Company, in which he was a large stockholder. He died on the 24th of July, 1868.

1 A newspaper writer, describing the ferry at an early period, says, "There was no levee at that time, and the boat was landed under the cliffs and roeks. A road led down from the village (St. Louis) to the ferry landing. Capt. Trendley used fre- quently to run in under the eliffs to get out of a shower. The ferry landing at that early time on the Illinois shore was at the old brick tavern then kept by Dr. Tiffin (which has sinee been swept away), and about two hundred yards west of the Illinois and Terre Haute round-house. The fare at that time was a ' long bit' for a footman, a market-wagon seventy-five eents, and for a two-horse wagon one dollar."

the government price of one dollar and twenty-five eents per acre, amounted to almost one million dollars, and what was left was considered in 1873 to be worth more than the whole estimated value of 1865.

In 1875 the officers of the company were N. Mul- liken, president; F. M. Christy, vice-president ; S. C. Clubb, general superintendent ; Henry Sackman, assistant superintendent ; John Trendley, agent ; first grade directors, N. Mulliken, F. M. Christy, S. C. Clubb, J. H. Beach, Ernest Pegnet. In 1882, Samuel C. Clubb, president ; F. L. Ridgely, viee- president ; Henry L. Clark, secretary and treasurer ; E. C. Newkirk, assistant secretary ; direetors, Sam- uel C. Clubb, F. L. Ridgely, Charles Shaw, Ernest Pegnet, and Charles Wiggins, Jr.

The St. Charles ferry was established by Marshall Brotherton 2 and John L. Ferguson.

The South St. Louis and Cahokia ferry was estab- lished in 1870, and opened to travel on the 19th of June of that year. The following account of the inauguration of the ferry was printed in a St. Louis newspaper of the 20th :

"The tow-boat ' Florence,' Henry Kuter, captain, left the foot of Anna Street yesterday afternoon for Cahokia with a large excursion party on board. The occasion was the celebra- tion of the opening of a ferry between South St. Louis and

2 Marshall Brotherton was born in Erie County, Pa., Jan. 6, 1811, and when an infant was brought out into the wilds of St. Louis County by his parents. The family located upon a piece of ground not far from St. Louis, and Mr. Brotherton, the elder, lived there as a thrifty farmer up to the time of his death. James Brotherton, a brother of Marshall, was elected sheriff of St. Louis County, and Marshall, then a young man, removed to St. Louis and worked in the office of his brother as deputy. When James died, Marshall, who had made a very efficient officer, was elected sheriff, and occupied that office for several terms. He then engaged in mercantile pursuits in St. Louis, his business being mainly that of a lumber dealer. He was also interested in other matters, notable among them being a partnership with John L. Ferguson in the ownership of the St. Charles ferry. At various periods he held the offices of sheriff, county judge, fund commissioner, and president of the board of managers of the House of Refuge. About 1854 or 1855 he was put forward as a candidate for the mayoralty, but was not eleeted. He was uniformly successful in business, owing to his sound judgment, active habits, and great popular- ity. At the time of his death, which occurred in the latter part of November, 1875, his ferry interest and the North Mis- souri Planing-Mill, situated on the river-bank, at the foot of Bremen Avenue, were the only active operations which he still controlled. He was, however, president of the Bremen Savings- Bank, which position he had held ever since that institution was organized.

In early manhood Mr. Brotherton married Miss Ferguson, a sister of his partner, John L. Ferguson. His wife died a few years after they were married, and in 1840 or 1841 he married Miss Herndon, a daughter of Rev. John C. Herndon, by whom he had two daughters, afterwards Mrs. Oscar Reed and Mrs. Stephen M. Yeaman.

1074

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

Cahokia. The South St. Louis and Cahokia Ferry Company was established in March last, with a nominal capital of two hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dol- lars; each share to receive the hencfit of one lot twenty by one hundred and forty feet in what is denominated Southeast St. Louis, to wit : a sand-bar, a portion of Cahokia commons, and so much of the Mississippi River as may be recovered by a contemplated dike from the main shore to Cobb Island 'by accretion.' The lease of these lands has been obtained by the ferry company for ninety-nine years. About seven hundred acres of land is comprised in this lease, for which the company is to pay twenty-five dollars per acre per annum, and the present inhabitants of Cahokia to pass over free during their lives. This privilege does not extend to their offspring, and it accordingly behooves the beneficiaries to live on to a good old age. The lease was made also on condition that one thousand dollars be expended by the company for improvements within eight months, and that at least one ferry-boat be put in operation within fifteen months.

"The officers of the company are Robert J. Rombauer, presi- dent; Henry Saenger, secretary and treasurer, with the follow- ing directors : George Bayha, E. W. Decker, George Rathwaitc, Antoine Faller, John D. Abry, of East St. Louis ; E. H. Illin- ski, of Cahokia ; Francis Mohrhardt. The bargain on the part of the Cahokians was signed by Francis Lavallee, supervisor, and George Labenhoffer and John Palmer, trustees."

The officers of the Cahokia and St. Louis Ferry Company in 1882 were Julius Pitzman, president, and W. S. Hopkins, secretary.1

In addition to the foregoing, the following ferry companies have offices in St. Louis :

Madison County ferry, landing foot of North Market Street; boats ply between St. Louis and Venice, Ill. ; president in 1882, John J. Mitchell.

St. Louis and Illinois Railroad ferry, from foot of Chouteau Avenue to the coal dike, East St. Louis.

1 In 1864 Arsenal Island, containing about one hundred and twenty acres of ground, was allotted by the Secretary of the Interior and the commissioners of the general land office to the St. Louis public schools, and in 1866 the school board sold it to the city for thirty-three thousand dollars. It was occupied for hospital purposes by the city until 1869, when the hospitals were removed to Quarantine. In 1874, Benjamin Segar settled on the island, and put part of it in cultivation, and continued to live there under a lease granted him by the city. The island for a number of years had been moving down stream, and finally fronted on a parcel of gronnd in the Cahokia commons on the Illinois shore, owned by Judge Rombauer, as trustee for the Cahokia Ferry Company. When the island had reached a point in front of the ground mentioned, the ferry company claimed the right to extend their north and south lines across it to the water's edge on the western side thereof, and to take possession of so much of the island as was contained within those lines, and they entered on the island and built a wire fence on their north line. This fence was torn down as soon as its existence came to the knowledge of the city authorities, and sign-boards were erected warning all persons from trespassing there. Sub- sequently an action was instituted in the Circuit Court at Belle- ville by Judge Romhauer, as trustce, against M. Segar, the tenant of the city, to recover the possession of the fifty acres of ground embraced within the lines spoken of.

The St. Louis and Illinois Coal Company and Ferry was originally chartered in 1841 under the style of the "St. Clair Railroad Company," and under that name continued until 1865, when the present company was organized, and became the pur- chasers of the franchises of the St. Clair Railroad Company. The incorporators were William C. An- derson and John D. Whitesides. The company does a general coal transportation and ferry business. Joseph W. Branch was elected president in 1865, and has ever since continued to hold that position. The present capital stock is one million five hundred thou- sand dollars. The board of directors consists of the following : Joseph W. Branch, Adolphus Meier, C. S. Greeley, W. A. Hargadine, N. Campbell, John D. Perry, George Knapp. The officers are Joseph W. Branch, president; Adolphus Meier, vice-presi- dent ; P. T. Burke, secretary and treasurer.

Waterloo Turnpike Road and Ferry Company, W. H. Grapevine, superintendent ; ferry landing, foot of David Street ; transfer, foot of Franklin Street, Car- ondelet.

The Great St. Louis Steel Bridge across the Mis- sissippi River.2-The first proposition for the erection of a bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis was made by Charles Ellet, Jr., in 1839.3 Mr. Ellet proposed a suspension bridge having a central span of twelve hundred feet, and two side spans of nine hun- dred fcet cach ; but the city fathers stood aghast at the enormous estimate of the cost, seven hundred and thirty-seven thousand six hundred dollars, for a high- way bridge alone. Mr. Ellet revived his project in September, 1848, but nothing was accomplished. In January, 1853, it was stated in one of the St. Louis newspapers 4 that " some years ago Mr. Charles Col- lins obtained the passage of a law authorizing the building of a suspension bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis, and if he had lived there is every reason to believe that he would have accomplished it ; but with him died all the enterprise of the northern part of the city, and nothing has been heard of it since."5

? For the history of the construction of the great bridge, the author is mainly indebted to Professor C. M. Woodward, of Washington University.

$ The first bridge to span the Mississippi River was a wire suspension bridge at Minneapolis, Minn., built in 1854 by Thomas M. Griffith, at a cost of nearly fifty thousand dollars. 4 Republican, Jan. 13, 1853.

5 " Yesterday," said the same paper of March 17, 1854, " we examined the drawing and profile of a bridge for the Mississippi River, drawn by B. Andreas, engineer, corner of Second and Chestnut Streets, over Ellis & Hutton's. He has located it across the river at or near the shot-tower above Carondelet, and has

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ST. LOUIS BRIDGE.

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1075

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.

In 1855,1 Josiah Dent organized a company, with Maj. J. W. Bissell as engineer, and a second plan for a suspension railway bridge was proposed. The cost was estimated at one million five hundred thou- sand dollars. For the want of financial support the scheme was soon abandoncd. The incorporators of the company, which was known as the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge Company, were: St. Louis, John How, J. H. Lucas, John O'Fallon, Samuel Gaty, An- drew Christy, Josiah Dent, S. J. Smith, D. A. Janu- ary, William M. Morrison ; Illinois, J. A. Matter- son, Curtis Blakeman, J. D. Morrison, S. B. Chand- ler, William C. Kinney, Gustavus Koerner, William S. Wait, Vital Jarrot, William N. Wickliffe, John M. Palmer, John D. Arnold, Joseph Gillespie.

" In 1867 the time seemed to have arrived for com- mencing operations in earnest. Strangely enough, after nearly thirty years of inactivity, two rival com- panies appeared in the field ; one was regularly organ- ized (in April, 1867) under the laws of Missouri, and included among its managers several prominent citizens of St. Louis ; the other claimed an exclusive right under a charter granted by the State of Illinois, and was controlled by a well-known bridge-builder of Chicago. James B. Eads was the chief engineer of the St. Louis company (known as the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge Company) ; L. B. Boomer was mana- ger of the Illinois company, which was known as the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company.

The Illinois company was incorporated Feb. 21, 1867, the incorporators being Josepli Gillespie, John M. Palmer, Jesse K. Dubois, William Shepard, John Williams, William R. Morrison, L. A. Parks, Levi Davis, T. B. Blackstone, H. C. Moore, Peter H. Wil- lard, R. P. Tansey, Gustavus A. Koerner, C. P. Hea- ton, L. B. Boomer, Fred. T. Krafft, L. B. Parsons, John Baker, and A. H. Lee.

The officers were L. B. Boomer, president ; R. P. Tansey, secretary ; directors, L. B. Boomer, R. P.

Tansey, George Judd, William R. Morrison, and C. Beckwith. The location selected by the Missouri Company was at the foot of Washington Avenue, where the width of the river at ordinary stages is but little over fifteen hundred feet, and the plan consisted of three steel arches, supported by two masonry piers in the river and an abutment on each shorc. All the foundations were to be sunk to the rock, which was known to be nearly ninety feet below low-water at the site of the east pier. The Illinois company, on the other hand, had selected a location about half a mile above, and proposed to build an iron truss-bridge, the longest spans of which should be three hundred and fifty feet, supported by picrs formed of cast-iron col- umns, those nearest the Missouri shore to be sunk to the rock, and those on the east side bedded in the sand fifty or sixty feet below low water. For a time the contest between these two companies was very sharp, though confined principally to the newspapers and the courts. In March, 1863, the controversy was terminated by the nominal consolidation of the two companies, and the actual absorption of the Illi- nois company by its rival, to which the former had sold out, the new corporation taking the name of the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company. The officers of the old St. Louis company retained their positions in the new organization, and Capt. James B. Eads continued as chief engineer and a principal stock- holder.

From the first Capt. Eads was the leading spirit in the enterprise. As chief engineer during the entire period of seven years (from 1867 to 1874) occupied by the building of the bridge, he was responsible for every novelty, both of design and execution, and his personal genius impressed itself upon every detail of the structure.

Col. Henry Flad? was Capt. Eads' first assistant

made his drawings to correspond. We understand that his plan is made with strict regard to the measurement of the river at that point in width and the elevations on either side. He proposes to cross the river by five spans, each three hundred and fifty feet, the base of the carriage-way to be sixty feet above the high water of 1844, or one hundred and twenty feet above ordi- nary low water, the bridge to rest on piers of rock or cast iron. The superstructure is to be of lattice-work of wrought iron, well secured together, with two ways in breadth and two for use, one placed above the other, the low ways for railroad tracks and the upper for the ordinary travel of horses, carriages, wagons, etc."

1 " Last winter," said the Republican of July 11, 1855, "the Legislatures of Missouri and Illinois, anticipating the necessity which might exist for bridging the Mississippi at this point be- fore the time for reassembling should again come round, passed the requisite legal provisions for such a purpose."

2 Henry Flad, one of the most distinguished engineers of the West, was a graduate of the University of Munich, and his first professional engagement was in connection with hydraulic works on the Rhine. He came to America at the time of the German revolution of 1848, and for a period of eleven years was connected with some of the most important railroads in the country. In 1854 he removed to Missouri, and was employed as resident engineer of the Iron Mountain road, a considerable portion of which was constructed by him. He also made sur- veys for several other roads in Missouri.

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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 20

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