THE ancestors of MAJOR HENRY S. TURNER were among the most respected of the old Dominion, his mother being a Randolph, a name than which no brighter stands upon the records of Virginia.
He was born in King George county, Virginia, April 1, 1811. His early education received that strict attention which gentlemen of the period were accustomed to bestow upon their children, and every preparation was made to prepare him to fill a course in life at once honorable to himself and worthy of the stock from which he is descended. After the usual preliminary course of studies, he finally entered the military academy at West Point, where he remained four years, successfully passing through the physical and mental ordeal, to which cadets are subjected before they are admitted as officers in the military service of the United States.
As an officer, he soon won most honorable distinction, and was finally honored by being selected, with two others, to attend the Royal School of Cavalry, at Saumur, France, for the purpose of studying the cavalry tactics, which the French, under such military leaders as the first Napoleon and his marshals had carried to remarkable perfection. He creditably acquitted himself of his honorable mission, and after a residence of fifteen months at this famous school, he returned to the United States in 1840, to give his country the benefit of his labors. The better to effect this end, Major Turner, and Lieutenant Eustis, who had been with him at the school at Saumur, were detailed by the Secretary of War to translate the French cavalry tactics they had learned, and, by judicious alterations and modifications, adapt them to the requirements of the American cavalry service. So accurately did these officers perform the duty required of them, and so highly was their work esteemed, that a board of officers of high rank, specially convened, unhesitatingly approved it, and their "Tactics of Cavalry" became standard authority for the cavalry branch of the service. The time occupied in the translation and preparation of this work, which consisted of three volumes, was four months. Joel R. Poinsett was then Secretary of War, and Martin Van Buren was President.
In February 1841, Major, then Lieutenant Turner, married Miss Julia M. Hunt of St. Louis, the daughter of Theodore Hunt and Ann Lucas [below], a lady of most admirable qualities, and much beloved by all who know her. His family consists of ten children, five sons and five daughters.
After his accession into the ranks of the United States army as an officer, but little opportunity had been afforded Lieutenant Turner to gain military glory, something dear to the soul of every soldier. During the war with Mexico, which added the Lone Star State to the Union, Lieutenant Turner was an active and chivalrous officer, serving during the entire campaign, and receiving as a reward for his valuable services the rank of Captain. In 1848 he was breveted Major, as the records of the War Department testify, "for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of San Pasquel, San Gabriel and Plains of Mesa in California."
The same year Major Turner resigned from the army, and turned his attention to the pleasing pursuits of agriculture, near St. Louis. He remained thus engaged until 1850, when he received the appointment of Assistant Treasurer of the United States in this city, which office he held until 1853, when he resigned, and going to California, established the banking house of Lucas, Turner & Co. This financial institution remained in operation until 1857. Major Turner, however, returned to St. Louis in 1853, and became a member of the banking firm of Lucas & Simonds, in which he continued until the dissolution of the co-partnership in 1858.
During his career in St. Louis, he has filled many important and trustworthy offices, and has ever held the entire confidence of his fellow-citizens. In 1858, he was elected to the General Assembly of the State. He was president of the Union National Bank of St. Louis, and served in that capacity from 1857 to 1870. He was elected president of the Lucas Bank, and served from 1870 to 1874. He was elected to the City Council in 1874, and is at present one of the most honored and efficient members of that honorable body. In all of the above positions Major Turner commanded the esteem and regard of his associates.
On account of his high personal standing and acknowledged responsibility as a citizen, he was appointed executor of the late Louis A. Benoist, which trust he has managed with great care and safety to those personally and publicly interested. He also has charge of the private business of Mrs. Hunt, as well as one-third of her large estate, and, also manages the private interests of Mrs. James H. Lucas — all places of great trust and personal responsibility.
Major Turner is popular with all classes of our citizens. He is a zealous advocate of works of a public character, and is ever ready to promote internal improvements. He is practical in his ideas, earnest in action, and is known as one of the most efficient of citizens. He was one of the incorporators of the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association, and one of the most trusted members of that organization. In the different vocations of life he has been called upon to fill, Major Turner has acquitted himself with honor and credit; as a banker he is honorable and above reproach; as a legislator he is broad, liberal and practical in his views, and as a military officer, the official documents of the War Department bear testimony to his merit. A good citizen and honorable man, he well deserves all the honors his fellow-citizens have showered upon him.
St. Louis: Future Great City of the World, 1875
IN this year of our Lord, 1875, when centennial celebrations are taking place or are in preparation all over our land, there is living in St. Louis, with faculties almost as bright as in girlhood, a lady, whose recollections extend into that almost traditionary period when this city was a hamlet, and a few determined men maintained the supremacy of civilization inside the fortification that gave them security.
MRS. ANNE L. HUNT, the only daughter of Hon. J. B. C. Lucas, and sister of the late Hon. James H. Lucas, is a relic of the grace and culture of the earlier times. With unclouded recollection and choice descriptive phrase, she can now trace the little incidents and circumstances that fill in the picture of the early French settlement, the kindly spirit, the transplanted cultivation, the proper pride, that made up the charm of a community never lacking in the graces of social life.
John B. C. Lucas, a Frenchman, by birth, the father of Mrs. Hunt, was educated in the law at Caen, Normandy. His father before him was a King's Counsellor at Pont-Audemer. When Benjamin Franklin was received at the French Court and accorded so high distinction in one of the proudest and most polite capitals of the world, Mr. Lucas came to the determination of pushing his own fortunes in that new world where merit was the measure of success. Himself a younger son, and bounded in by restrictions of which he was impatient, he came to America. When the United States acquired possession of the vast territory of Louisiana, he was living near Pittsburg, and was a Representative in the United States Congress. He had previously visited St. Louis, and his wife was highly desirous of making their home in a French colony, and averse to a residence in Washington, where his public duties called him. He resigned his seat in Congress, and was appointed United States Commissioner for the adjudication of land titles in this district, then known by the name of Upper Louisiana. He was first appointed judge and commissioner for the adjustment of land titles in 1805, and was from time to time re-appointed, until the admission of Missouri as a State in 1820, when he retired from public life. His duties during that period were arduous and delicate, involving, as they did, the adjudication of land claims growing out of loosely defined grants under different occupations. Early in the month of June 1805, he embarked with his family in a flat-boat for his new home beyond the Mississippi. Arriving at the mouth of the Ohio, the rest of the voyage was made in a keel-boat, and the whole journey occupied about three months, as he landed in this city early in September. Anne Lucas was born on the 23d of September 1796, and was at the time of this voyage an observing child of eight years of age. The dangers of the trip were by no means contemptible. The Indians, though not hostile, were not to be depended on, and Mrs. Hunt remembers that when passing Shawneetown in the night, her mother was much terrified at the yells with which they were celebrating some extraordinary occasion.
The St. Louis of 1805 that Mrs. Hunt remembers, would be to the eyes of the present, a very queer, old-fashioned town. The landing was about Market street, and above that point extended a bluff upon the river front. A high wall protected the rear from the treacherous savages. On the inside of the wall were steps that the soldiers climbed to look over the top for observation. At the corners of the wall were towers. But three or four houses in the place enjoyed the luxurious distinction of having plank floors, most of them being floored with puncheons. There was no saw-mill in St. Louis or its vicinity, and plank had to be brought from a distance. So, too, there was no painting done, and but two of the trading houses or stores had painted signs. These were "Faulkner & Coinages," and "Hunt & Hankinson's New Cash Store." These, the imported specimens of a foreign art, were spelled over and over again by the children, and seemed to them the emblems of metropolitan dignity. The stores kept all classes of goods. Everything they had to sell arrived by the most costly transportation — over the mountains from the East, and then down the Ohio by flat-boat, and up the Mississippi by keel-boat. The passage across the mountains was dangerous. Even up to 1814, and later, gentlemen crossing the Alleghanies would unite in parties, and hire guides and escorts for their protection. The first English school was taught by a man named Rotchford, who joined the expedition of Aaron Burr, which came to such an untimely end in the pursuit of a dazzling dream of empire. Rotchford was succeeded by Tompkins, and the latter has been frequently spoken of as the first teacher of an English school.
Hon. J. B. C. Lucas' family consisted of his wife, who came with him from France, his sons, Robert, Charles, William and James, and an only daughter, Anne, who subsequently became Mrs. Hunt. The younger boys attended the village school, but the mother charged herself with the instruction of the girl up to the time of her death, when a teacher was employed in the family. When Mr. Lucas first came to St. Louis, he built a house on Second street. Later, about 1812, he built anew on what is now the corner of Seventh and Market streets, and was thought by some to be imprudent in living out so far, and exposing a grown daughter to the danger of being stolen away by the Indians. It was he who laid out the town from Market to St. Charles street, and from Fourth to Seventh streets, about 1827 or 1828.
Miss Anne Lucas and Captain Theodore Hunt were married in June 1815. Mrs. Hunt had, by this marriage, eight children, only three of whom lived beyond the age of childhood, and these, a son and two daughters, are now living. Captain Hunt had been a naval officer, but resigned and came to St. Louis. Here he held the office of recorder for many years, until the election of General Jackson led to another appointment. Subsequently he was engaged in trade with Manuel Lisa. St. Louis was the depot for the goods with which they purchased furs. The furs were shipped to New York by the way of New Orleans. Captain Hunt died in 1832, and four years later Mrs. Hunt married Wilson P. Hunt, a cousin of her first husband. Wilson P. Hunt was one of the early merchants of St. Louis. In 1809, he had crossed the Rocky Mountains, and in the pursuit of trade, had gone to the mouth of the Columbia River. He died in 1842, leaving no children.
The clearness of Mrs. Hunt's early recollections received a striking confirmation in 1844, when, with her husband, she visited her birthplace for the first time since she had left it forty years before. The picture of it which she carried in her mind was as distinct and sharply cut as the outline of a cameo that might be held in the hand. From her description they were able, by no other clue, to find the old place — changed indeed, yet, in all its permanent features, the very original of which her recollection carried the copy.
It is not impossible that to the resolute character of Mrs. Hunt's mother, to which may have been added something of prophetic light, may be traced the foundation of some of the noblest fortunes of our city. Mr. Lucas never exhibited a desire to own real estate, but she, on the contrary, was anxious to own lots. Once, when they lived near Pittsburgh, he had taken a lot for a debt when he found he could get nothing else, and had afterward traded it for a horse. In time the same piece of ground came to bear a value of thirty thousand dollars, and Mrs. Lucas held the opinion that much the same character of rise would take place in St. Louis. She certainly had all the argument on her side, in view of the one piece of experience she could quote, and Hon. J. B. C. Lucas, instead of lending out his salary as he had been accustomed to do, bought a lot two arpens in width, commencing at Fourth street, and running back to what is now Jefferson avenue, twenty-four streets from the river. In time he bought seven of these lots, extending from Market street to near what is now St. Charles street. This territory, covering over one hundred of the most valuable blocks in the city of St. Louis, cost him then about a dollar and a half an acre. Had he been gifted with an actual prescience he could have made no more productive investment for his children.
Mrs. Hunt, after six years of wedded life with her second husband, was again a widow in 1842. Her cares and duties have been found within the domain that bounds true womanly ambition — in the family and social life. Blessed with a fortune unusually large, and happy in an interesting family that now numbers among its members almost a score of grandchildren, and nearly as many great-grandchildren, her life has been one of practical beneficence and unostentatious liberality. Possessing in a marked degree the strong vitality and quick apprehension which distinguish the family to which she belongs, she has taken a deep interest in the improvement of the city that holds the objects of her hope and love, and which has achieved every stage of glory during the period of her lively recollection. Her charities have doubtless been more extended and munificent than those of any other individual now living in St. Louis. Were it permitted to name a probable aggregate, or to specify single instances of munificence, few could fail to be astonished, and none could withhold admiration. Yet all this has been unostentatiously done, as becomes one who had in view but the gratification of a pure and noble impulse.
St. Louis: Future Great City of the World, 1875
| Images of Robert Campbell's House provided by the Campbell House Museum |
Built in 1851, the first house in the elegant Lucas Place neighborhood, the Campbell House was the home of renowned fur trader and entrepreneur Robert Campbell and his family from 1854 until 1938. The museum contains hundreds of original Campbell possessions including furniture, paintings, clothing, letters, carriages and a unique set of interior photographs taken in the mid-1880s.
The Campbell House Museum is one of the most historically significant Nineteenth Century buildings in St. Louis [today]. The museum preserves its National Register listed buildings and important collection of original mid-Nineteenth Century Philadelphia furnishings, family possessions, photographs, and archival material as a center for educational and community outreach programming.
The museum is dedicated to continually reinterpreting its collections for exploring issues such as; the development of the fur trade, exploration and development of the west, the growth of urban economies, emigration, historic preservation, principles of Victorian interior design, and the urban issues that continue to shape our region today.
| From the Emil Boehl Collection of St. Louis Photographs |
This building, situated at the northwest corner of Fifteenth and Olive Streets, was built in 1855, and was considered then an elegant structure. It is yet a good building, but not large enough for the growing educational demands of the city. It is built on a lot 150x106 feet, the size of the house being 84x67 feet, leaving ample space for yards on two sides. The building is three stories high, contains eleven rooms, and was erected at a cost of about $40,000. The lot cost $35,000. It is well ventilated, has all the modern conveniences, and is heated by furnaces. Mr. Horace H. Morgan has, for several years, ably filled the position of principal, and is assisted by Brandt V. B. Dixon, George B. MacLellan, Wm. S. Bryan, H. W. Jameson, Mary Shafer, Della M. Bray, Sue V. Beeson, Fannie Waters, Lucy S. Richardson, Denton Snider, Wm. H. Rosenstengel, Elizabeth Willich, and Lizzie B. Gow. The course of study embraces the higher branches of English literature, higher mathematics, Latin, Greek, German, and French. Some of these studies are optional, but, during the four years’ course, the student can thoroughly prepare for business life, or to enter the sophomore class of any of the American colleges. Many of the young professional men of St. Louis, and ladies occupying important positions in society, received their education in the High School.
Pictorial St. Louis
| Image of the Kayser House when occupied provided by the Campbell House Museum |
Image of the Kayser House before demolition in the 1930s provided by the Campbell House Museum |
Mary Institute, a very successful young ladies' school, although a part of [Washington] University, is in a separate building. The course of study is quite extended. It was founded May 11th, 1859. The location is now on Lucas Place. Prof. C. S. Pennall has been principal of this department since 1862.
Pictorial St. Louis
| Image of the Lucas House provided by the Campbell House Museum |
Image of James H. Lucas |
JAMES H. LUCAS was born at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1800, and was consequently aged seventy-three at his decease. His father, John B. C. Lucas, was a native of Normandy, received a liberal education at the University of Caen, and visiting Paris after the close of the American revolution, adopted the recommendation of Dr. Franklin, and with other chivalric, ambitious young Frenchmen, emigrated to America. James le Ray du Chaumont, at whose father's house, near Passy, Franklin and Adams were domiciled, also came to the United States about the same time, and bought immense tracts of land in Otsego and Jefferson counties, New York. Mr. Lucas went to Pennsylvania, and settled in Pittsburg, where he subsequently was appointed judge of the District Court, was efficient in enforcing the law during the whiskey rebellion, and represented the State in the National Congress. Before the year 1800, he was sent on a special mission, by Mr. Jefferson, to the then Territory of Louisiana, to sound the people in regard to the acquisition of the country by the United States, and thereby give unobstructed navigation to the mouth of the Mississippi for our commerce. On this mission he became impressed with the site of the "future great city," but Ste. Genevieve being then the most important point, he went there, and had a conference with Francis Valle, the Spanish commandant. The object of his diplomatic visit was concealed, and it is said that he went under the assumed name of Du Panthro. After the acquisition of Louisiana, he was appointed by President Jefferson one of the judges of the Territory, and, in conjunction with Governor Wilkinson and Return Jonathan Meigs, commissioner to adjust land titles. He removed to St. Louis with his family in 1805, the tedious journey being made on keel-boats down the Ohio and up the Mississippi.
St. Louis was then, with some exceptions, merely the residence of the indolent trapper or most desperate adventurer. Then there were no indications of public spirit, or any desire other than that of accumulation with the least possible exertion. The houses, mostly of wood daubed with clay, or built of stone in massive style, gave an idea of antique fortresses. Chouteau hill is described in the chronicles of the time as a barren waste over which the winds whistled and wild animals roamed. The streets were in a horrid condition. In this pristine period of the city young Lucas passed his boyhood days. In after years he related having seen wolves prowling about near the present site of Nicholson's establishment, on Sixth and Chestnut. They came out of the woods during the cold winter of 1808. The boys trapped prairie chickens where the Laclede Hotel stands, also in the fields near Twelth and Olive, where the Missouri Park is located. In 1814 young Lucas went with his father to Washington City. They traveled the entire distance on horseback, avoiding Vincennes on account of the Indians. It required from thirty to forty days to travel to Philadelphia. The traveler who then made a journey to the Atlantic States did not resolve upon it without mature deliberation. Months of preparation were required. Kind wishes and prayers were offered for the safe return of the voyagers by those who remained behind. There would have been some interest in announcing the departures.
At the proper age young Lucas was sent to school. He first attended St. Charles College, in charge of the Dominican Order, at Harrisburg, Kentucky. Among his schoolmates at this institution were Jefferson Davis, Louis A. Benoist, Bernard Pratte, Gustave Soulard and Bion Gratiot. Mr. Lucas next attended school about 1816, with his brother William, at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and it was while there that he received news of the death of his brother Charles, killed in a duel with Colonel Benton. The subject of the sketch taught school and studied law at Hudson, New York. He also visited various parts of New England, and pursued his law studies with Judge Reeves, of Litchfield, Connecticut, and among the students attending at the same time were Governor Ashley, Ichabod Bartlett, of New Hampshire, and N. P. Talmadge, afterward United States Senator from New York. During one of his vacations he spent some time in Franklin, New Haven, where he was known as the "Young Frenchman," a designation given him from his habit of wearing in the morning a robe-de-chambre, which was a novelty in the way of dress in those parts.
Becoming satisfied that the East was not the place suited for him, he returned to St. Louis, and casting about for a place to settle he started on a keel-boat in 1813 for South America, having for companions Governor Ashley and another young man. They landed at Montgomery Point, on the White River, and changing their destination, went up the White River in a pirogue, passed through the "Cut-off" to Arkansas Post, where Mr. Lucas located for a time, and also at Little Rock. He turned his hand during this period to various avocations. He taught school and practiced law, passing his evenings in study. He worked for a time on the Arkansas Gazette, and set type to help out Mr. Woodruff, who was then editor of that sheet. He became the owner of a plantation, and had a ferry, when he would convey foot-passengers over the river opposite his farm at a cost of twenty-five cents. He worked his way slowly up, and was appointed by Governor Miller Probate Judge. He has since related that as judge, he did a fair business in marrying people. He officiated at the wedding of Albert Pike, the poet-lawyer and statesman. On one occasion, he married a couple, using instead of a Bible to satisfy the scruples of the party, a Webster's spelling book. In May 1832, he married Miss Mary E. Dessuseaux, the daughter of an early settler of Arkansas and a native of Cahokia, Illinois, who survives him. Among other positions filled by him at this period was that of Major in the Territorial militia of Arkansas, an appointment also tendered him by Governor James Miller in 1825.
He continued to prosper, when, on the death of his brother William at St. Louis, in 1837, he received a letter from his father, Judge Lucas, requesting him to come and settle in St. Louis, as he was the only son who was living, and he was desirous that he should be near him. He obeyed the wishes of his father, and forsaking his prospects in Arkansas, removed to St. Louis, since which time he has been identified with its growth and prosperity. He arrived in 1838, having been here on a visit the year before. His father gave him what he called his farm, of thirty acres of land, then valued by the old gentleman at $30,000, and also placed him in charge of his estate. Mr. Lucas cultivated the farm, and had his residence near the fountain in Lucas, now called Missouri Park.
Judge J. B. C. Lucas died in 1843, and James H. Lucas and his sister, Mrs. Anna M. Hunt, succeeded to the estate.
The original tract owned by the estate was bounded north by St. Charles street, on the east by Fourth, south by Market, and west by Pratte avenue. That embraced the Lucas property up to 1837. The last acquisition made by the old Judge was Cote Brilliante, consisting of 240 acres, which was bought for $150 in gold, and comprised the undivided land owned by Mr. Lucas and Mrs. Hunt. Mr. Lucas had also another farm, the New Madrid location, his country seat, called "Normandy," on the St. Charles Rock road, nine miles from the city. This portion, now belonging to the Lucas estate, comprises 800 acres. Also, at the mouth of the Missouri river, there are 643 acres belonging to the estate. This is an old Spanish fort, where the battle of Bellefontaine was fought, in which fight Charles Lucas participated as Colonel. There is also the Courtois tract, consisting of 400 arpents, near Eureka station on the Meramec, still undivided; also, 20 acres on the Clayton road, the old Barrett place. In the management of the city portion of his vast estate in building and improvements, Mr. Lucas devoted the remaining years of his protracted life, and but rarely engaged in the turbulent excitement of political affairs.
He, however, consented to run for State Senator in 1844, and, being elected, served four years with credit to himself. He secured the passage of an act reducing the statute of limitations in ejectment cases from twenty to ten years.
In 1847, Mr. Lucas was brought forward as the candidate of the Whig party for Mayor, his opponents being W. M. Campbell, Native American, and Judge Bryan Mullanphy, Democrat. Mr. Lucas was drawn into the canvass unwillingly, being drafted as it were, but having become a candidate, entered into the contest with spirit. The result was that Judge Mullanphy was elected, the vote being — Mullanphy, 2,453; Campbell, 1,829; Lucas, 962. The Whig party was then in its decadence, and the putting forward of Mr. Lucas as its candidate was in the nature of a forlorn hope in its struggle for existence.
Immersed in the concerns of the large business connected with his immense property, he found time for, and was identified with, many public enterprises. He was an early champion of railroads in Missouri. He was among the original subscribers to the stock of the Missouri Pacific Railroad to the amount of $33,000, and was the second president of that company. In 1868 he was again elected president. He was instrumental in purchasing the State's lien at $7,500,000, and with James Harrison negotiated a loan on the bonds. He was the first president and organizer of the St. Louis Gas Company. He was a director in the Boatmen's Savings Institution; an extensive stockholder and director in many of the various moneyed institutions of the city, and was intrusted with many responsible positions.
In 1857 the banking firm of Lucas, Symonds & Co., of St. Louis, and the branch in San Francisco, under the firm of Lucas, Turner & Co., went under with the financial panic of that year. In these financial troubles Mr. Lucas assumed the entire liabilities, and paid off every creditor, with ten per cent. interest, the loss to him amounting in the aggregate to about half a million of dollars. The debtors of the banking houses he never sued, but accepted whatever was offered.
In 1856 Mr. Lucas sought a temporary relaxation from his labors in an extensive tour through Europe, his traveling companions being his son William and his daughter, Mrs. Hicks, now the wife of Judge Hager of California. He visited the home of his ancestors in Normandy, and bought the old homestead near Pont-Audemer. Returning home he attended with assiduous industry to the management of his business. Under the transforming hand of time and the rise in the value of real estate, his riches increased with the rapid progress of St. Louis.
At every corner and in every nook, houses, great and small, have risen, like exhalations from the ground. Structures were reared and finished before one was aware that they had been commenced, and from the little fur trading post, with four thousand inhabitants, the city has grown up to a size of metropolitan grandeur, with hotels, churches and palatial residences rising on every side. Mr. Lucas has seen all this, bore a part of it, and his name will long be associated with these monuments of our history and prosperity. He owned two hundred and twenty-five dwellings and stores previous to the division of his property in 1872. His taxes last year on his portion of the estate were $126,000. He had in all three hundred and odd tenants. Before the division two years ago of two millions to his wife and eight children, the income was $40,000 per month, amounting to nearly half a million annually. After giving away the two millions, the portion of the estate left is estimated by good judges at five millions. He was also largely interested in the Pilot Knob Iron Company, owning one-fifth of the stock, which he gave away to his children, being $25,000 to each, and not included in the two millions given them as before stated. At an early day his father, Judge Lucas, lived in a stone house on Seventh street, between Market and Chestnut, and he also had a farm residence in the woods, on the site of the First Presbyterian church, and one of the apple trees of the old orchard is yet standing.
The residence of Mr. Lucas was for many years on the south-east corner of Ninth and Pine, known now as the "Porcher mansion," but of late years he resided in an elegant dwelling on Lucas Place, bought of John How in 1867.
Mr. Lucas, though the possessor of vast means, was many times a borrower of money. He was at some periods what is called "land poor." About twenty years ago, while attending a meeting at the Planters', he told a well-known citizen that he was worth two millions in real estate, but that he frequently had not money enough to do his marketing.
Many instances might be given of Mr. Lucas' liberality, but a few will suffice:
He projected and built Lucas Market, an enterprise, it is true, that tended to advance his own property adjoining. He gave a quit claim deed to the old jail lot. He donated to the Historical Society a lot valued at $10,000, situated on Locust, between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets.He donated $11,000 toward building the Southern Hotel. Recently he encouraged the New Exchange enterprise by selling a portion of the ground to the association at a low price, and by taking $20,000 stock, with assurances that the Fourth street front, when built, would be equal in elegance and architectural design to the building of the Chamber of Commerce Association. He gave to the city Missouri Park. Two or three times he and Mrs. Hunt gave lots for a Cathedral, besides giving lots and donations of money to numerous charitable institutions.
The following instance of his liberality may also be mentioned in this connection: At the close of the war, in 1865, a man came up here from Little Rock, with $8,000 in "starvation bonds," which he endeavored to sell, in order to meet his pressing wants. The only offer he received was twenty cents on the dollar for the bonds. Mr. Lucas took them at their face, making only one request, that the party selling them would, on his return to Arkansas, give "Old Larky," who was in indigent circumstances from the war, and whom he knew, some meat and flour. The bonds he subsequently gave away to old Dr. Price to pay his taxes with, as they were good in Arkansas for that purpose.
Mr. Lucas was a man of marked capacity and decided character, and of the most undoubted integrity. He was modest and unassuming in his deportment, and retiring in his habits, with no disposition to put himself forward, but in whatever position he was placed he was emphatic and decided.
With all these elements of a strong character, he was fitted to assume the responsibilities devolved upon him by his father to manage a great estate, which, by his prudence, foresight and industry, has been largely increased in value and kept intact for the benefit of his family.
Mr. Lucas died November 9, 1873, and his remains were buried on the 13th, from St. John's Roman Catholic Church, thence to Calvary Cemetery.
St. Louis: Future Great City of the World, 1875
| A parade in Lucas Place in 1895. Image provided by the Campbell House Museum |
Widow of Edgar Ames. President of the Ames Real Estate Company.
President of Boatman's Saving Bank (see Plate 1).
Dealer in oils, paints, and drugs. Proprietor of Barstow & Whitelaw (see Plate 22).
Washington University (plate 42) owes its existence primarily to the efforts of Hon. Wayman Crow, who, while a member of the State Senate, in 1853, without consulting his friends, drew up a charter authorizing in general terms the organization of "The Eliot Seminary." The corporators and first board of director's were: Christopher Rhodes, Samuel Treat, John M. Krum, John Cavender, George Partridge, Phocian R. McCreery, John How. William Glasgow, Jr., George Pegram, N. J. Eaton, James Smith, S. A. Ranlett, Mann Butler. Wm. G. Eliot, Hudson Bridge, Samuel Russel and Wayman Crow. An organization was effected on the 22nd of February, 1854, when the directors met and elected Dr. William G. Eliot president and Wayman Crow vice-president. S. A. Ranlett was chosen secretary and John Cavender treasurer. Mr. Cavender served six years, when he resigned, and Mr. Ranlett was made treasurer as well as secretary. This is the only change yet made in the officers of the board. The organization, was preceded by the adoption of a constitution, and followed by a brief address by President Eliot. The name inserted in the constitution was Washington Institute. The name was selected because Dr. Eliot thought his usefulness would be increased if the institution did not bear his name, and from the accidental circumstance that the charter was approved on the 22nd of February, Washington's birthday. Later, as the plans came to be more fully developed, and various departments were added, the name "University" was adopted as the only term sufficiently comprehensive.
The wise foresight of Hon. Wayman Crow in building a bulwark for the protection of his protege against sectarian and partisan strife—a bulwark the value of which has been more than once apparent—is the eighth article of the constitution. which declares: "No instruction either sectarian in religion or partisan in politics shall be allowed in any department of the University, and no sectarian or partisan test shall be used in the election of professors, teachers or other officers of the University; nor shall any such test ever be used in said University for any purpose whatever. This article shall be understood as the fundamental condition on which all endowments of whatever kind are received."
Three years later an Act of the State Legislature amended the charter by making the name "Washington University," and incorporating the article above, thus securing the University forever from all opportunity for theological or politicaI discussion. Teaching was actually commenced in the winter of 1854-55, and the formal inauguration took place on the 22nd of April. 1857, when Hon. Edward Everett delivered an oration to a large audience in Mercantile Library Hall [see Plate 21]. It was publicly stated at this time that the gifts to the University exceeded $200,000, chiefly contributed by directors and their friends in St. Louis.
In 1857, the chemical laboratory building was erected, and in the autumn of 1858 work was begun on the building intended for the O'Fallon Polytechnic Institute [see Plate 24], on the corner of Chestnut and Seventh Streets. The land for this purpose was given by Colonel John O'Fallon. On the 12th of June, 1867, this latter building was completed, and dedicated with appropriate ceremony. The cost of the building has been estimated at between $350,000 and $450,000. Costly as it was, however, it proved unsuited to the wants of the University, and was sold to the Board of Public Schools, the terms including an agreement on the part of the public schools to sustain indefinitely, and according to the original intention, the Polytechnic Evening Schools. Meanwhile a collegiate department had been organized, and a college building had been erected on Washington Avenue.
Pictorial St. Louis
