History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 7

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 7

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" High freights we must also make war against, and the rail- ways be forced to remove the onerous and unjust bridge arbi- trary charge, which, ranging from two to five cents per one hundred pounds, adds fifty-five to one hundred and twenty- nine miles to the actual mileage distance of St. Louis from castern points. It may be we shall get relief from this only when a new bridge is built, but that may come at no distant day, for the Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway, which is now locating an extension line to St. Louis, has under con- templation the construction of a bridge at Chain of Rocks, with a view to making its terminus on this side of the river, and billing freight to and from St. Louis, instead of East St. Louis, as all the other roads do. There is equally as much need for competition on the river ; the barge rates especially having been maintained during the past summer at a mark which made the river route steadily more expensive than the lake and canal route from Chicago.

"I must stop here," says Mr. Knapp, in conclusion, "for, though I have named but a few of the forces operating to retard and limit the city's growth, these are fair examples. Such hindering obstructions as we may not hope to remove are, after all, of the kind that all other cities find in their way ; and we must remember that the struggle for commercial su- premacy is always a hot contest, in which victory belongs where energy and enterprise are most vigorously developed, so we need not despond because we cannot find an exclusive and easy path to metropolitan greatness devoted to our sole usc. All progress is a battle with adverse influences, and we have the encouragement of past successcs to persevere, bearing con- stantly in mind that the struggle will cease only when progress ends. Let, therefore, no faint-hearted yearnings for peace and quiet tempt us from the strife, but let us build up a sensible self-respect, encourage reasonable and intelligent confidence in our future, and stimulate a bold and aggressive policy, forcing competition at every point, with a fearless determination to grasp all that is possible. Remember that we have one great advantage in that there is no rival market as near to St. Louis as there is to every other leading city,-Milwaukee sitting almost in the doorway of Chicago, and Louisville in the back yard of Cincinnati, while New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Bal- timore crowd under each other's noses. Chance having thus kindly secondcd the favors of nature in our geographical situa- tion, we have a better opportunity to combat the opposing

1014

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

forces than most other citics, and it is only for us to make the niost of it, to keep a sleepless watch ahead, and attack with united earnestness every impediment rising in the city's path."

The Growth and Population of St. Louis .-- This history of St. Louis has been written in vain if the readers do not rise from its perusal firm in the conviction that the population of the city is stronger in character, energy, and social and civic virtues of every sort than it is in numbers. This point has been elearly and beautifully illustrated by Col. George E. Leighton, in his reeent annual address as president of the Missouri Historical Society,-the address being a plea for more earnest support for the society and greater attention to and veneration for the memories and records of the men who founded St. Louis. A philosophieal history of the place, he said, was needed :

"It is a work yet to do, to analyze the operating causes of our development. How the French trading post became the village; why the settlement of Laclede at St. Louis was more prosperous than that of Blanchette Chasseur at St. Charles, of Beaurosier Dunegant at Florissant, or that of Delor de Tregette at Carondelet, or that of George Morgan at New Madrid; how the village was socially and politically affected by the succes- sive dominion of France, Spain, and the United States, or by the personal influence of the successive Governors of Upper Louisiana; how the first couriers from the Eastern States, like Easton and Bent and Clark, weak in numbers but strong in in- dividuality, sowed the seeds of American manners and methods, and awakened the spirit of commercial life; how the succeed- ing emigration from the States, of which Benton, Hempstead, Barton, Riddick, Bates, and Charless were the representatives, impressed its social and political character ; how the later emi- gration from New England, with its exalted appreciation of the value of educational and associated benevolent work, affected its development; how the German emigration, following the revolutionary movement of 1848, full of grand ideas of politi- cal and religious freedom, impressed its influence upon it ; how this city affected and was affected by the civil war; the history of the development of our public works; the effect of the in- stitution of slavery on the growth and development of the city, and many others which might be stated, are questions for ex- haustive study, not to be solved by the mere compilation of commercial and manufacturing statistics or the mere narrative of concrete events.

"The colonists were represented by such names as the Chou- teaus, Gratiots, Soulards, Vallés, Sarpy, Chenies; later, the Morrisons, who came from the French settlements; still later Irish enterprise was represented by the Mullanphys, Rankens, Dillon, the Campbells, the Walshes, Whittaker; Scotch thrift by Mckenzie and Nicholson ; German intelligence and mercan- tile sagacity by Palm, Kayser, Barth, Kim, Steitz, Angelrodt, Anheuser, Lemp; the Southern States by Benton, Gamble, Geyer, Polk, Charless, the Blows, Kennetts, and Blairs, Harri- son, Lucas, Beverly, Allen, Hunt, McPherson, the Carrs, Von Phuls, Chambers, Paschal, Farrar; the Northern States by Bent, Easton, Carr Lane, Filley, Smith, Cavender, Rhodes, Blood, Field, Spaulding, Collier, Bridge, Dickson, Gale, Davis, the Lindells, Ames, Thomas Allen.

"Other names will readily occur to you, and if it were proper to allude to living men, the list could be indefinitely extended. Some men count for nothing in human progress; some men count for one, some for ten, some for one hundred. There will

be no dissent when I say that each of those I have named, and many others that could be named, counted for more than one in the forces which mark the progress and development of our commercial, industrial, and intellectual interests. Is it to be said of us that we will allow the record made by these men to pass into oblivion as those who knew them pass away? An hundred men fill their places to-day,-themselves to pass, by the same neglect, into the same oblivion. Is it of no impor- tance to us that some permanent record should be made of their place in our local history ? It is no record of such muen that they lived and died. Municipal history, or State history, or national history is in its last analysis but the record of the men who have conceived and exccuted projects that lift the city, or State, or nation over the years and push it forward in the march of civilization."

All this is profoundly true, and it is the sort of truth which we should welcome, for it bears fruit when we act upon it as a guiding principle. Men are the authors of institutions, and these again refleet men. Growth, decay, birth, death, prosperity, and decline of eities, all are summed up in the character and qualities of the men who inhabit countries and the institutions they construet. St. Louis, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, all were inhabited by other races before the white man eame to occupy them. But scarcely a trace remains of that former inhabit- ancy. Nature and natural forces were the same, cli- mate and advantages of site were the same, man only was different. We must not forget this when we hasten to ascribe all things to nature, and are willing to leave all things with nature.

The population of St. Louis, as has been shown elsewhere, has always been curiously mixed. In 1800, French was the predominant, Spanish the offi- eial language, and French was still the common speech in 1818. In 1883, German is taught in all the schools alongside English, and in some quarters of the eity it is the most familiar tongue and the one heard most often.

The following are the first American censuses of St. Louis :

1810. Third United States Census, Missouri Territory .- Dis- trict of St. Charles, 3505; St. Louis, 5667 ; Ste. Genevieve, 4620; Cape Girardeau, 3888; New Madrid, 2103; Hope and St. Francis, 188; Arkansas, 874; total in Territory, 20,845.

1815. December 9th, by John W. Thompson, Sheriff .- Town of St. Louis, 2000; whole county, 7395; gain in two years, 1200.

1820. August Ist, United States Census .- Town, about 4000; whole county, 9732.

White male population in Missouri as reported to the Governor under the acts of Assembly of Jan. 18, 1814, and Feb. 1, 1817; also showing number of votes taken for members of the State Convention from the counties from which returns were received in May, 1820 :

SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.

1015

Cooper.

5,744

Ste. Genevieve.

1,705

Boone. ..

7,890

Washington.

6,236

Wayne ..

3,009

Cole ..

2,478

Cape Girardeau .. 6,507

Gallaway

4,517

Jackson

2,029

Ray ......

1,843

Pike ......

4,763

Scott.

1,610

St. Louis

11,980

Montgomery

3,254

Lincoln ..

2,826

Gasconade.

2,199

Ralls ....

2,450

Lafayette

2,203

New Madrid.

1,893

Clay ..

4,376

Perry.

2,743

Chariton.

3,263

New Madrid.

1548

669

No return.

314

Cape Girardeau ..

2062

2593

No return.

837

Ste. Genevieve.

1701

2205

No return.

......

Washington

1010

1245

No return.

453

St. Louis.

3149

4725

......

St. Charles

1696

2866

1664

628

In St. Louis township, out of the city,-

Free white males. 1,009

Free white females. 839

Slaves, free persons of color, etc .. 359

2,207

In Bonhomme township,-

Free white males 976

Free white females. 906

Slaves, persons of color, etc. 352

2,234

In St. Ferdinand township,-

Free white males. 1,024

Free white females. 919

Slaves, persons of color, etc .. 496

2,439

Total ... 11,880

A newspaper of that day, commenting upon the rate of growth exhibited by the above figures, said,-

" After the cession of Louisiana to the United States, that part of the ceded territory north of the Missouri River was designated and known as the St. Charles district. This appella- tion it retained for several years, the body of country now the most flourishing part of the State forming but one county. Among the papers of the sheriff of 1805 is found a census of the inhabitants of the county, taken in that year, from which it appears that the total number then in that district was fifteen hundred and sixty-four whites, fourteen slaves, and seven free . blacks. We have had the curiosity to contrast this census with that taken in 1828, and find that the same district of country now embraces seventeen counties, and is inhabited by a popula- tion of near seventy thousand persons."

In 1836 the sheriff took a county census, and the population returned was,-

St. Louis City and

suburbs. 10,486

Bonhomme township .... 2,271

St. Ferdinand township 3,139|

The preliminary report upon the census of 1840 was the following :

" GRAVOIS, ST. LOUIS Co., Oct. 30, 1840. "A. B. CHAMBERS, EsQ. :

" Dear Sir,-Agreeable to request, I herewith furnish you with a copy of schedule of mines, agriculture, commerce, manu- factures, etc., exhibiting a full view of the pursuits, industry, and resources of the county of St. Louis, excluding the city and township of St. Louis, taken by me for the United States, as deputy, under the marshal of the Missouri district. I found but little difficulty in exacting answers to the many inquiries enjoined upon me by law to propound during the course of my avocations. You may, therefore, depend upon this state- ment being as near correct as was in my power to arrive at.

Jefferson. 2,367 Franklin 2,852

Madison 2,276

Marion ... 2,409

St. François. 2,030

St. Charles 3,514 Howard 9,730

Free White Males in

Number of Votes for

Members of Conven-

tion in May, 1820.

COUNTIES.

Number of Free White

Males in 1814.

1817.

1820.

Of the character of the immigration about this period, the Missouri Gazette remarks under date of Oct. 26, 1816,-

" Missouri and Illinois exhibit an interesting spectacle at this time. A stranger to witness the scene would imagine that Vir- ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas had made an agreement to introduce us as soon as possible to the bosom of the American family. Every ferry on the river is daily occu- pied in passing families, carriages, wagons, negroes, carts, etc. Respectable people, apparently able to purchase large tracts of land, come on. We have millions of acres to occupy, provisions are cheap and in abundance."

In 1819 the Irish were strong enough in St. Louis to meet in October of that year, organize a Hibernian or Erin Benevolent Society, and make arrangements for celebrating the next St. Patrick's day. The or- ganization of that society was as follows: Jeremiah Connor, president ; Thomas Hanly, vice-president ; Hugh Rankin, treasurer ; Lawrence Ryan, secretary ; Robert H. Catherwood, Thomas English, Hugh O'Neal, Joseph Charless, Sr., and Thomas Forsythe, standing committee.

In 1828 there was another State census, with the results stated below, as given in a contemporary ac- count :

" According to the returns made to the secretary's office by the sheriff's of the different counties, the whole number of inhabi- tants in the State on the 1st of November amounted to one hundred and twelve thousand four hundred and nine. Under the next general census, even should the ratio of representation be increased to sixty thousand, the State will then be entitled to two representatives in Congress. We give below the aggre- gate number in cach county of the State :

Saline. 1,659

1529

......

...

Arkansas

827

......

...

1090

359

Lincoln

772

248

Pike

Jefferson

......

Franklin.

......

1227

...

Madison

......

674

Wayne

......

...

Lawrence

In the city of St. Louis,-

Free white males. 2,179

Free white females.

1,589

Slaves, free persons of color, etc ... 1,232

5,000

Howard.

3386

3862

1735

Cooper ..

2688

796

Montgomery

......

1229

492

265

....

Maramec township .. .... ... . 692

Carondelet township ..... 1,854 St. Louis township ....... 1,127

1016

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

" The population of the county, excluding the city of St. Louis and township, is 11,380.

Value of the products of the dairy. $12,283

orchard 18,465

.. home- made or family goods .. 13,495

produce of market gardeners .. 20,331

" " nurseries and florists. 2,025

LIVE-STOCK.

Number of horses and mules

3,740

" ncat cattle .... 13,193

" sheep 8,478

" swine

22,649

Estimated value of other property of all kinds. $11,233

GRAIN.

Number of bushels of wheat

58,677

barley

1,865

oats .. 91,956

66 66

buckwheat

1,908

Indian corn 451,144

VARIOUS CROPS.

Pounds of wool

8,651

" hops

435

" wax

1,758

Bushels of potatoes

81,310

Tons of hay .. 4,147

" " hemp and flax .. 9,905

Pounds of tobacco gathered 197,045

The number of bushels of bituminous coal raised is 233,000, capital invested.

$11,600

There are four tanneries, capital invested ... 2,500 Thirteen grist- and seven saw-mills, capital.

12,050 Three distilleries.

" Respectfully,

" Your obedient servant,

" JOHN C. DENT."

These figures caused some dissatisfaction, and led to the following in a contemporary journal :

"There are many causes that retard the growth and pros- perity of towns and cities which might be removed by the ju- dicious management of its citizens. One great barrier to the rapid growth of St. Louis and many other towns is the fact that many fine squares and lots of ground lie unimproved and unproductive. By reason of this much of the real capital of onr citizens lies dead, and contributes nothing to the general prosperity of the community. Within the corporate limits of St. Louis there are unimproved lots and squares worth several millions of dollars, and which would sell for that money. This is so inuch dead capital, so far as the business of the com- munity is concerned."

In 1845 another census was taken by the assessors of the wards. From this census it appears that the total number of inhabitants fell a fraction short of thirty-six thousand, divided among the several wards as follows :

First Ward 6,900

Fifth Ward 6,260

Second Ward 6,566

Sixth Ward 6,200

Fourth Ward 5,321 35,930

It was about this time that James Gordon Bennett, in the flippant vein which he so much affected, and which he seems to have mistaken for wit, wrote the following sketch of his visit to St. Louis :

"ST. Louis, Nov. 20, 1846.

"St. Louis, regarded as a business place, may present in- ducements almost unparalleled to business men. Its advantages and its situation render it so. Planted on a rocky foundation, the Mississippi passes by it quietly, while above and below this strange stream cuts a channel where it pleases. It is a city destined to command an influential place in the mercantile and manufacturing interest, while its growing morality will give it a high rank in the religious world. But of what a mixture is its population composed ! And to what growth do mushrooms attain ! I have spent much time in Gotham, in Philadelphia, and in Washington, where this vegetable is to be found of a pretty good quality, but I must confess, with all my Eastern predilections, that I am forced to give this Western city the credit of producing it in perfection. There are forty thousand people living here, and about four-fifths of them are descend- ants of the best families, and can trace their ancestry back to -Adam !

"Korponay is here, endeavoring to impress the public mind with the importance of the polka, bolero, mazourka, and other fancy dances. And he takes wonderfully, for I am told he had a juvenile pupil the other orening, learning the first prin- ciples of the former, and she was only turned five-and-forty. Her agility was regarded as something extraordinary, even here.

" The taste for literature is increasing vastly. The first of a series of lectures before the Mercantile Library Association was to be delivered a few evenings since. Present, twenty-five per- sons. It was postponed. Two squares below some sable min- strels were giving a concert to an audience of several hundreds of the élite. Serenades are popular, and in Fourth Street 80- journers are greeted nightly with heavenly strains from violins and flutes.

"On the score of economy the fathers of the city cannot be excelled. Such a thing as lighting the streets at night, except by the moon, is considered a work of supererogation. And then it helps trade, for each citizen is provided with a lantern to thread the streets when the 'moon's in her shroud.' There was a man killed a night or two ago by falling into a quarry in the upper end of the city. That's nothing, however: he was & stranger, and might have made inquiry. The city authorities are old residents,-what need have they for light? Street crossings are too much of a novelty, and none but old persons and crippled ones get more than ankle-deep in mud when that commodity abounds, as it does always after a little rain.

"The summer season, as elsewhere, is the best time, in the surrounding country, to see and appreciate the beauties of nature. Naturalists have a great field for research. Mos- quitoes, ranging in size from a pin's head to a large pea, can be taken in coveys without difficulty. Their music at night is a most excellent imitation of the sounds produced by pumping an accordeon without touching the keys, and if one is unpro- vided with a bar-an article of bed-furniture indigenous to the West-there is little work left for 'cuppers, lecchers, and blceders' in the morning. Another of the 'beauties' is that pendulum of nature, vibrating between heat and cold, the ague. But, as in other cases, its familiarity has bred con- tempt, and it is considered beneath the notice of the people. In my travels, a short time ago, I stopped to refresh at a public- house. The landlord was sitting over the fire with a blanket over his shoulders. 'How are you?' 'Very well, sir.' ' Is it sickly about here ?' 'Oh, no, nothing of the kind.' ' What ails you ?' ' I have a touch of the ague.' 'How long have you had it ?' 'Thirteen months.' 'Can I get something to eat?' 'Not now, stranger ; this is shake day, and the whole family is taking turns.' I mounted my horse and departed."

Third Ward 4,683

rye ......

5,638

1017

SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.

The corporation census of 1847 was a very grati- fying one,-

First Ward .. 9,970

Fifth Ward. . ...... 6,667

Second Ward ... 7,645

Sixth Ward ..

11,453

Third Ward ... 5,744

Fourth Ward. 6,354 47,833

Increase from 1845. 11,903

This was a visible growth. It could be felt as well as seen, and a journal of the day said,-

"In a city like St. Louis, where the community is composed of the most heterogeneous materials, gathered literally from the four quarters of the globe, it takes some little time for people to find out 'who's who' and ' what's what.' The man born in St. Louis, perhaps when it was a small town of a few hundred inhabitants, now finds himself in the midst of a great city, surrounded by thousands of strangers, and knows not whence they came, what their character may be, or whither they are going. And the people from other countries, other States, and other cities, who now mostly compose this vast community, are alike strangers to each other. It follows, therefore, as a neces- sary consequence, that society here is somewhat mixed, that it is in a sort of chrysalis state, that an clevated standard of morals and customs is yet to be formed."

This shows that the great immediate increase of population was apparent to the people themselves, and that the ancient ease and familiar acquaintanceship were disturbed by the great and sudden influx of strangers and aliens. The Republican of Nov. 30, 1848, says of the enumeration of the people made that year that,-

"according to the census recently taken by the sheriff of the county, the total number of free white males it contains is 37,045 ; free white females, 31,222 ; number of free white persons who have been taught to read and write, 42,469; deaf and dumb persons, 23; blind, 18; frec persons of color,-males, 382; fe- males, 486 ; slaves,-malcs, 1981; females, 2346; and the grand total is 73,364.

"The city of St. Louis contains a population of 55,952, of whom 28,779 are free white males, and 24,490 free white females ; there are 10,435 male children under eighteen years of age, and 10,434 females under the same age; of free negroes there are 367 males and 472 females, and of slaves, 698 males and 1146 females.

" Carondelet contains a population of 523, Bridgeton 405, and Florissant 423 souls.

" The State census was taken in 1844 by the sheriff, and the county then contained a population of 47,668 souls. Of this number the city of St. Louis had 34,140, leaving for the re- mainder of the county 13,528 souls, the balance of the incrcase in the four years being all in the city of St. Louis. The total increase in the four years is 25,696, of which 21,812 is the in- ercase in the city of St. Louis.

"We observe, on a comparison of the census of 1844 with that of 1848, that the number of frce negroes has increased, while that of the slaves has diminished. In 1844 there were 673 free negrocs, while the census now completed makes the number 868. In 1844 the number of slaves was 4512, now there are 4327, a decrease in the slave population of nearly 200.

"There is a slight increase of population in the several incorporated towns outside of St. Louis. In 1844 Carondelct contained 468 souls ; now it has 529."

In this year of 1848 the great German immigra- tion began to flow into St. Louis. The revolution begun in Paris with the dethronement of Louis Philippe, and continued in Italy by Garibaldi, in Ger- many by all the forces of society except the nobles, the army, and the bureaucracy, and broken in Hun- gary by the active interposition of Russian armies, had failed also in Germany, but not until it had shaken the thrones of the Hapsburgs and the Hohen- zollerns. The revolutionists were forced to fly and expatriate themselves; Illinois was enriched with men like Gustav Koerner, and St. Louis reinforced. by a Schurz and a Sigel.

The German immigration to the State began sooner than that to the city. Flint mentions a German col- ony to which he preached in the interior of Missouri between 1812 and 1820. Indeed, there was a very large plantation of Germans on the Red River, in Arkansas, in the first half of the eighteenth century, under the auspices of the Regent Duke of Orleans, and the descendants of some of these must have pene- trated into Upper Louisiana. The first vineyards at Hermann, in Gasconade County, according to Michael Poeschal, were begun in 1841. In 1845, fifty thou- sand vines were planted; in 1849 there were over seven hundred thousand.

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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 7

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