Edmond Koeln, revenue collector for the city of St. Louis, where he was born September 10, 1866, is a son of the late Peter Koeln, a native of Germany, who came to America with his parents in 1840, when but seven years of age, the family making their way direct to St. Louis, where he was reared and educated and resided until his death, passing away June 6, 1896, when sixty-one years of age. He was a sawyer by trade and he was a Civil war veteran, espousing the cause of his adopted country at the time of hostilities between the north and the south. He married Elizabeth Bollinger, a native of Germany, who came to the new world when eighteen years of age, making the trip alone in 1867. They were married in St. Louis and Mrs. Koeln still survives, being hale and hearty at the age of eighty-three years. She became the mother of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, of whom ten are living.
Edmond Koeln, the fifth child of the family, was educated in the public schools of St. Louis to the age of sixteen years, when he entered the employ of his father to learn the trade of a sawyer. He afterward secured a position in the steel mills and was thus employed to the age of twenty-eight years, when he became an active factor in the public life of the city. He first represented the republican party in city organization work, and in 1899 he was elected a member of the St. Louis house of delegates, where he served for two years. During the same period he was also engaged in the hotel, restaurant and bar business, which he conducted successfully until 1907. He then entered the motion picture business, in which he engaged until March, 1920. In 1909 he was elected to his present office, that of revenue collector, in which he has now served for four consecutive terms, being elected each time by a large majority. He is also a trustee of the Grand Central Amusement Company, of the Grand Central Film Company and the Maritona Amusement Company and thus has important and profitable business interests outside of office.
On the 4th of August, 1896, Mr. Koeln was married in St. Louis, Missouri, to Miss Annie Jodd, a native of St. Louis and a daughter of Michael and Frances (Becherer) Jodd, both of whom have passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Koeln have become the parents of four children, Frances, Geraldine, Margaret and Edmond, who are with their parents in a pleasant home at No. 3624 Loughborough avenue.
In politics Mr. Koeln has always been a republican, very active in party ranks. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks and the Loyal Order of Moose, and he also has membership with the Liederkranz, the Missouri Athletic Association, the Riverview Club, the Western Rowing Club, the Century Boat Club and various other social organizations, including in all twenty seven different clubs. He is very popular by reason of a pleasing personality, a genuine regard for the rights and opinions of others and an unfeigned cordiality.