Amedée Péting, the president of the G. D. Barnard Stationery Company of St. Louis, has for many years been one of the foremost factors in connection with the stationary trade in the Mississippi valley. Forty-three years ago, in a minor capacity, he became connected with the business of which he is now the head. He closely studied every phase of the trade, familiarizing himself with the business in principle and detail, and his developing powers won him promotion from time to time, bringing him at last to the position of administrative direction that he now fills.
He was born in St. Louis, June 9, 1860, and is a son of Amedée and Celestine (Aymond) Péting. The father, a native of France, resided for a number of years in St. Louis and afterward became a resident of New Orleans, where he remained until, his death, which occurred several years ago. The mother survives and is now living in St. Louis at the advanced age of eighty-one years. She, too, Is a representative of one of the old French families. The father was United States district assessor for Carondelet, the then known French settlement of St. Louis, under the administration of President Grant in the ’10s, and later he conducted operations in real estate. His family numbered four children, of whom a son and a daughter died in infancy, while one son. Ernest Péting, passed away In 1906 at the age of forty-two years.
Amedée Péting of this review, the only surviving member of the family, spoke only French at the age of nine years when he entered a private school to take up the study of English and later he entered the public schools of the city. He started upon his business career as an employe in a telegraph office and later was connected with a grocery store. In September, 1877, he entered the employ of George D. Barnard Stationery Company and has continued with this concern in all departments to the present time, covering a period of forty-three years. There have been various changes in the personnel of the firm and also in the location of the business but for the past twenty-four years the house of George D. Barnard Stationery Company has been located at Laclede and Vandeventer avenues. Mr. Péting is today president of the corporation, which is capitalized for a million dollars and does business all over the globe, employing five hundred people.
In St. Louis, on the 6th of December, 1882, Mr. Péting was married to Miss Mary Virginia Diggs and they became the parents of four children, of whom two passed away in infancy, while Hazel Virginia is the deceased wife of Arthur Woodson Sullivan, who is now in the employ of the First National Bank of St. Louis. At her death she left two daughters. The surviving daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Péting Is Lillian Gertrude, a young lady still under the parental roof. Mr. Péting’s Interest centers In his family and he is particularly proud of his little granddaughters.
His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and his religious faith is that of the Catholic church. In 1880 he was a member of the National Guard of Missouri and during the recent World war be was active in promoting the sale of bonds and in supporting all those Interests which were of value to the American army. He is a past grand regent of the Royal Arcanum of Missouri and his local membership Is with Forest Park Council, No. 844. He also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Travelers’ Protective Association. In his business career he displays untiring energy, is quick in perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution and his close application to business and his excellent management have brought to him the high degree of prosperity which 1s today his. It is true that he became Interested In a business already established, but in controlling and enlarging such an enterprise many a man of even considerable resolute purpose, courage and industry would have failed, and he has demonstrated the truth of the saying that success Is not the result of genius, but the outcome of clear judgment and experience.