St. Louis Missouri

Biographical Sketch of James Durrett Simms

The subject of this sketch was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, January 6, 1880, his parents being James M. and Mary Durrett Simms. While a child his parents moved to Missouri and his education was received in the schools of that state. In September, 1900, he went to St. Louis, studied shorthand there, accepted a position in a law office in February, 1901, and took up the study of law, attending the lectures of the Benton College of Law at night. In June, 1902, he was admitted to the bar in the city of St. Louis. He resided in St. … Read more

Biography of Louis H. Waltke

Louis H. Waltke, president of the firm of William Waltke & Company, soap manufacturers, succeeded his father as the head of the business and has since given his attention to administrative direction and executive control of one of the important productive industries of St. Louis. In this city he was born June 1, 1855, a son of William and Anna (Kohring) Waltke, extended mention of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Louis H. Waltke was educated in the Lutheran parochial schools and at Walther College, from which he was graduated in 1872. Subsequently he attended the Jones Commercial College and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of R. L. Alsaker

R. L. Alsaker graduated from Loyola University, Medical Department, with the M. D. degree. He located in Denver, Colorado, and practiced his profession there several years. In 1913 he removed to St. Louis, Missouri. He has written extensively on health educational topics, especially for “Physical Culture Magazine.” He is the author of “Maintaining Health” and “Eating for Health and Efficiency.” as well as several smaller books. He is an authority on foods and feeding.

Biography of Hon. Moses Hartmann

Hon. Moses Hartmann was born in the city of St. Louis, November 26, 1872. He attended the Madison school, and later the Bryant & Stratton Business College. In February, 1886, he entered the law office of Hon. Charles Nagel. Taking up the study of stenography he continued in the law offices of Nagel & Kirby until January, 1897. While in the office of Nagel & Kirby he studied law, graduating from the law department of Washington University in June, 1896. After his graduation he opened a law office with Lambert E. Walther, and continued the practice of law with Mr. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Stones

William Stones was born in Oldham, England, February 13, 1815. He sailed from Liverpool November 8, 1840, for America, and was blown back by a storm. The 16th of the same month they again sailed for America and landed safe in New Orleans January 3, 1841. He remained there ten days and then went to St. Louis, where he dug stone coal for eight or nine years. In April 1850, he set out with others for California by ox teams, and were eight months on the road. Twenty-six of their number died on the way of cholera. They had sixty-four … Read more

Escape From The Robber Band

Monday, Nov. 8, 1819.–The disappointment experienced from the unmanly conduct of Dr. Hill had a happy effect on our little company. It bound us more firmly and nearer together, and, I may add with truth, almost fitted us for the field of battle. The hour of 9 o’clock had now arrived, the night uncommonly dark and cloudy. On our going into the house one of the strangers went into the yard and gave the Indian warwhoop three times very loud. About 10 o’clock they took their six rifles, went into the yard with a candle and shot them off one … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John McGhee

John McGhee, a native of Ireland, married Margaret Adams, who was born in England. They settled in Shelby County, Ky., where they had Lynch, Emily, Margaret, James, Washington, Nancy, and Rice. Lynch was a physician. Re-married Margaret Shackelford, and settled in Louisville, Ky., but removed to St. Louis, Mo., in 1838. Washington married Julia Sibley, of Kentucky, and died in 1828, leaving a widow and four children Mary H., Robert L., Harriet, and Epsey. Mrs. MeGhee and her children settled in Montgomery County, Mo., in 1841, and she is still living, in her 76th year.

Biography of Aaron S. Rauh

Aaron S. Rauh has since 1912 filled the position of vice president of the RiceStix Dry Goods Company of St. Louis, controlling one of the mammoth mercantile enterprises of the city, the business being capitalized for six million, eight hundred thousand dollars. Close study of the trend of the times, individual enterprise and long experience have enabled Aaron S. Rauh to contribute in large measure to the continued success of this undertaking. Mr. Rauh is a native son of Tennessee. He was born in Memphis on the 26th of November, 1872, his parents being Samuel and Jeannette (Rice) Rauh, both … Read more

Biography of George Louis Zollmann

George Lewis Zollmann, who since 1905 has been engaged in the commission business in St. Louis, is now president and treasurer of the George H. Zollmann Fruit & Produce Company. He has been a lifelong resident of this city, his birth having here occurred January 20, 1887. His father, George H. Zollmann, was born in St. Charles, Missouri, June 23, 1866, and came to St. Louis in 1878. Here he engaged in clerking in a grocery store until 1890, when he organized the firm of G. H. Zollmann & Company, commission merchants. The new enterprise prospered as the years passed … Read more

Biography of Samuel Brownlee Fisher

Samuel Brownlee Fisher of Parsons, consulting engineer of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company, is one of the eminent railway engineers of America. He had had nearly fifty years of active experience and had been identified with the construction of various railway lines in the West and East. He comes of an old Scotch family of Covenanter stock. On the maternal side his ancestors were the Brownlees, who were Covenanters in Scotland and were exiled because of their religious belief and settled in Pennsylvania. Mr. Fisher’s great-great-grandfather in the maternal line, George Wilie, was a soldier in the Revolutionary … Read more

The Kribs Family of Prairie du Rocher Illinois

Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Kribs

The best teacher, it is said, is experience. C. J. Kribs, circuit clerk of Randolph County, has had varied experiences. He was born February 19, 1867, in Belleville, Illinois. He attended the parochial and public schools, after which he learned the trade of harness maker in St. Louis. After a residence of five years in this city he went to Chicago and worked for four years as assistant store-keeper in the Illinois Steel Works. Then he went to Prairie du Rocher, and after a short stay went to St. Louis, working for the Metropolitan Insurance Co. He was promoted and … Read more

Biography of Harry C. Bohrer, M. D.

Dr. Harry C. Bohrer, a St. Louis surgeon, who though among the younger representatives of the profession, has attained a prominence that many an older physician might well envy, was born in Macon, Missouri, October 8, 1890. His father, the late George W. Bohrer, was also a native of this state and a representative of an old Pennsylvania family that was established in Missouri in pioneer times. The grandfather was David Bohrer, who came to Missouri long prior to the Civil war and devoted his life to agricultural pursuits here. George W. Bohrer was reared and educated in Kansas and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ernest Lucas

Ernest Lucas, secretary of the Rubelmann-Lucas Hardware Company of St. Louis, was born in Gasconade county, Missouri, on the 2d of February, 1860, and is a son of George and Amelia (Prosch) Lucas. He supplemented his public school education by study in Johnson’s Business College and thus qualified for the active and responsible duties of life. He started upon his business career as a salesman in his father’s grocery store in 1877 and after three years’ preliminary training there of a thorough character he came to St. Louis in 1880 and entered the employ of Rubelmann & Company, hardware dealers, … Read more

Biography of Robert Burns, Jr., M.D.

Dr. Robert Burns, Jr., physician and surgeon of St. Louis, with offices in the Lister building, was born August 17, 1879, in the city which is still his home. His father, Robert Burns, Sr., was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, and comes of a family that has been distinctively American in its lineal and collateral branches for several generations. He is now a patent attorney of Chicago. He married Emily Mary St. Gem, who was born in Fredericktown, Missouri, the ancestral record of her family dating back to the early part of the seventeenth century. They came to the United States … Read more

Biography of Hon. Frank Landwehr

Hon. Frank Landwehr, judge of circuit court at St. Louis, was elected to this position in 1918 and since taking his place upon the bench has displayed the most scrupulous care and exact justice in the performance of his judicial duties. St. Louis claims him as a native son, his birth having here occurred February 8, 1884. His father, Frank Landwehr, came to America when a lad of fifteen years, during the late ’40s, making his way direct to St. Louis, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1893, when he was fifty-two years of age. He devoted … Read more

Biography of Henry Craig Morrison

Henry Craig Morrison, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Morrison Lee Mining & Development Company, president of the Contract Waterproofing Company and also secretary of the Arkansas Mining & Mercantile Company, has won a most creditable position in business circles in St. Louis, his native city. He was born July 22, 1888, and is a son of John W. Morrison of St. Louis, whose birth occurred in Georgetown, Kentucky, and who comes of an old family of English lineage. The first representatives of the name landed at Plymouth during the early colonization of Massachusetts, and for a century the. … Read more

Biography of Walter A. Johnson

Walter A. Johnson, president of the Missouri Life & Accident Insurance Company, with offices in the Metropolitan building, was born on a farm near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, November 23, 1869. His father, B. P. Johnson, is a native of Tennessee and is now a farmer near Waco, Texas. An uncle, Willis Johnson, was killed while serving with the Confederate forces in the Civil war. The mother of Walter A. Johnson bore the maiden name of Ella Norman and was born in Tennessee. The family has been represented in America through several generations. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson was celebrated … Read more

Biography of Thomas Keith Skinker

In a history of the representative members of the legal profession in St. Louis it is imperative that mention be made of Thomas Keith Skinker, owing tc the prominence which he has attained as a most able member of the bar. He is also widely known as a citizen of progressive spirt who in various ways has contributed to the upbuilding and development of city and state. A son of Thomas and Jane (Neilson) Skinker, who came from Virginia to Missouri and settled in St. Louis in 1838, he was born in this city on the 9th of June, 1845. … Read more

Biography of Webster Colburn

Webster Colburn is the vice president and general manager of the Dorris Motor Car Company of St. Louis and is one of the progressive and representative manufacturers of the city who holds to high standards which if universally followed would prevent all strikes and labor unrest. His course has ever been one of justice and fairness with his employes and his success has been the merited outcome of his industry and ability. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 9, 1876, Mr. Colburn is a son of Webster J. and Ada Elizabeth (Brabson) Colburn. The father was born in Fredonia, New York, … Read more

Biography of Arista Tarvin Hayman, M. D.

Dr. Arista Tarvin Hayman, a physician and surgeon of St. Louis, was born July 8, 1874, in Monticello, Missouri, a son of Ervin E. Hayman. The father, a native of Missouri, was a son of Peter Deshields Hayman, a pioneer settler of St. Louis, who was a native of Kentucky and at an early day removed to Missouri, becoming a pioneer merchant of Monticello. Ervin E. Hayman was reared and educated in Monticello and became a pharmacist, devoting his life to that business. In politics he was a democrat and served as county treasurer of Clark county, to which position … Read more