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Clark Brown
by Sue Cooley Blesi ©1996
Excerpted from an article entitled Four Historians
Preserved the Past of Franklin County for the Future -- Gert Goebel, Clark
Brown, Herman G. Kiel and Ralph Gregory that first appeared in the
February 10/11, 1996 issue of the Washington Missourian. This is
the Brown portion of that article:
Clark Brown was born in Illinois, but came to Franklin
County by covered wagon in the fall of 1869, settling on a farm on Big
Creek, four miles east of Gerald.
At age 15, Brown was forced to quit school. At 17, he began
an 11-year teaching career. In 1887, Brown moved to Union with the intention
of studying law, but two men, William Meyersick and Charles L. Moore, talked
him into starting a newspaper.
Brown had no experience in newspaper work and only enough
money to cover his room and board for a few months. After borrowing startup
money, he bought Our County Paper from J. J. Shelton. It was a
struggling publication with only 50 subscribers, but Brown built it up and
two years later, purchased The Record from William Lieser. Changing
the name to the Tribune, he served as editor for 20 years. January 1,
1907, Brown also bought the Republican, a Washington paper.
After taking an active role in county politics for several
years, Brown was appointed postmaster of Union July 1, 1897. Three years
later, April 20, 1900, he married Amanda Stierberger, a teacher and Union
native.
Progressive and zealous in his support of any endeavor he
felt would benefit the community or the public school system, Brown gave
space in his newspaper to many civic causes.
In 1915, the Tribune wrote "For the last several
years, Mr. Brown has been gathering material for a county history which he
expects to publish in a few months. He is spending much time and money in
the work and the history will no doubt be worth reading when completed.
Clark Brown died in 1926. His book was never published, but
the many historical articles he researched and published in the Tribune are
of real value to the present-day researcher.
Note: Newspapers
published by Clark Brown are available to researchers on microfilm. See
Microfilmed Newspapers
on this website. |
|
Gert Goebel
by Sue Cooley Blesi ©1996
Excerpted from an article entitled Four Historians
Preserved the Past of Franklin County for the Future -- Gert Goebel, Clark
Brown, Herman G. Kiel and Ralph Gregory that first appeared in the
February 10/11, 1996 issue of the Washington Missourian. This is
the Goebel portion of that article:
Gert Goebel was the first significant Franklin county
historian. his book, Laenger als ein Menschenleben in Missouri, was
published in 1877. It was translated to English many years ago by Anna Hesse
of Hermann. The English title is "Longer Than a Lifetime in Missouri."
In his book, Goebel wrote about the development of Missouri,
particularly the "Duden settlement" and Franklin county. his descriptions of
pioneer life are of great interest to the modern historian.
Goebel was born April 11, 1810, in Germany. In 1834, he
immigrated to the United States with his parents, David and Henrietta (Kessel)
Goebel. David Goebel was a well-educated scholar, astronomer and surveyor
and has been credited with plotting out the City of Washington in 1842.
Gert Goebel's marriage to Caroline Becker produced ten
children, three of whom died in infancy. Surviving were August, Julia,
Emilie, Cecilie, Adolph, Charles, and Edward Goebel.
The records show that Gert Goebel was a surveyor at
Campbellton from 1851 to 1855, a state representative from 1862 to 1864, a
state senator from 1864 to 1869 and chief clerk of the state register in
1870 and 1871. During the Civil War, Goebel served in the Franklin County
Home Guard.
Gert Goebel died in Franklin county in 1896.
Ralph and Clifford Goebel of Washington are great-grandsons
of Gert Goebel, as is Lloyd Goebel, who recently moved to St. Peters. |
|
Ralph Gregory
Ralph Gregory was born in Washington, September 27, 1909. At
birth, he was named "Randolph Henry Gregory," but has since shortened it to
"Ralph." His parents, Roy R. and Rose Virginia (Engelhardt) Gregory, lived
on the family farm west of Krakow.
Gregory graduated from Washington Grammar School, Blair
School and Central High in St. Louis. After moving to St. Louis, he was
required to attend Blair elementary for a few months to be sure he was
prepared for high school.
Like Clark Brown, Gregory left school at age 15. His first
job was in a shoe factory. His father worked for United Shoe Machinery
Corporation and traveled between factories, repairing their machinery.
Because of his father's employment, the Gregory family moved to Hannibal and
later to Nashville.
Young Gregory became proficient at building radio sets,
graduating to shortwave equipment, then to a radio transmitter. A licensed
amateur radio operator, his call letters were W9FGJ. In 1930, he
communicated with the Byrd Expedition at the South Pole.
In Kansas City, Gregory represented radio manufacturers and
put up radio stations while working with Bob Cooper, later going into
business for himself in Nashville. In addition, Gregory owned and operated
an amateur radio station, call letters W4CSE. World War II broke out and
Gregory's business was ruined since radio products were channeled to the war
effort. Once again, he was working in a shoe factory, this time as a
shipping clerk, while attending classes at Watkins Institute, where he
taught a radio class.
Recruiting officers were urging radio operators to
volunteer, offering a good starting rank and other advantages. Gregory
volunteered, but was turned down because of poor vision in one eye. He
enrolled in a sheet metal school in addition to his work at Watkins and his
job.
Gregory was again called for a physical and was accepted. He
served as a radar man, radio operator and gunner. In October, 1943, while on
his 29th combat mission in a B-25 bomber, Gregory was wounded and a crew
member was killed by "flak" when one engine was shot out and the other
damaged in a bombing raid on German airfields in Greece. The pilot was able
to belly-land on the coast of Turkey, but the surviving crew members were
interned in Turkey for almost six months.
Following his honorable discharge, Gregory bought a farm
near Nashville and attended college, preferring the quiet of the academic
world.
After his mother's death in 1947, Gregory and his father
returned to Missouri and bought a farm south of Washington.
During the 1950's, Gregory became interested in Missouri
history. As founder of the Washington Museum Society, Gregory was elected
curator and historian. He published A History of Washington, Missouri to
the Civil War in 1961, followed soon after by Washington, Missouri --
The Civil War Years.
April 17, 1960, at age 50, Gregory married Adele Brehe.
Their only child, Nancy, was born August 3, 1961.
Gregory was appointed curator of the Mark Twain Memorial
Shrine in Florida, Missouri, in May, 1960, a position he held until October,
1974, when he became curator at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum at
Hannibal, Missouri. During this period, Gregory was a proliferate writer,
producing, among other works, Mark Twain's First America.
Since his retirement in May, 1977, Gregory has served as a
consultant for various museums in the state. In addition to his duties as
curator of the Washington Museum, Gregory has served as co-curator of the
Warren County Museum and as president of the Phoebe A. Hearst Society.
Gregory has received numerous awards and honors. He is a
life member of the Washington Historical Society and its library has been
named in his honor. He was recognized in 1973 for his outstanding
contribution to German-American culture by the Society for German American
Studies. In 1993, he was presented with the Author Recognition Award by
Governor and Mrs. Mel Carnahan for outstanding contributions to Missouri
literature. In 1988, Gregory received the Washingtonian Award from the
Washington Missourian.
At 87, Gregory is the most knowledgeable and esteemed local
historian in Franklin county. Gregory's work reflects his ability to put
local events in perspective with national and world events of the era he is
writing about, resulting in a clearer view of "the big picture" for his
readers.
Blessed with an unusual energy level, he continues to
maintain an active role in the historical community while caring for his
wheelchair-bound wife and aging stepmother.
Ralph Gregory continues to research and write history and
attends many historical events in Franklin and Warren counties.
Note: Ralph's books are
available through the Washington Historical Society. Go to the
Books page of this website or the the
Washington Historical Society
webpage for ordering information. |
|
Herman Gottlieb Kiel
by Sue Cooley Blesi ©1996
Excerpted from an article entitled Four Historians
Preserved the Past of Franklin County for the Future -- Gert Goebel, Clark
Brown, Herman G. Kiel and Ralph Gregory that first appeared in the
February 10/11, 1996 issue of the Washington Missourian. This is
the Kiel portion of that article:
"Herman Gottlieb
Kiel and his twin sister, Mary, were born February 22, 1866, in Franklin
County. Raised on the family farm at Cedarfork, Kiel attended rural
schools.
After taking coursework at Warrensburg and Kirksville, Kiel
graduated from the normal school at Cape Girardeau in June, 1887. He
enrolled at the University of Missouri, earning a Bachelor of Letters
degree in 1893. An avid German scholar, Kiel later took a course at the
University of Breslau in Germany.
In January 1888, while Kiel was serving as principal of
the Union school, he met J. Wooldridge and his assistants, who were
working on the 1888 history that was published by Goodspeed Publishing
Company. Their work inspired Kiel to begin his own research.
Kiel developed a friendship with Clark Brown and the two
spent many hours sharing their interest in county history. Both men wanted
to spur community involvement in preserving and recording history. They
continued to correspond and cooperate in their research until Brown's
death.
In 1889, Kiel was elected county school commissioner, an
office later called county school superintendent.
The Oklahoma land rush beckoned to Kiel, who left MO to
homestead 160 acres. He married Ottilie Egg in Meyersville, TX September
26, 1900. Kiel taught school in Texas until 1907, when he was given a
political appointment to a position in the Adjutant General's office in
our nation's capitol.
Although Kiel lived far from Franklin county, he spent
every spare moment researching county history, recruiting family members
to help him sort his data. He collected old newspapers, wrote hundreds of
letters of inquiry to older residents and descendants of Franklin county
pioneers, and to various government agencies. He shared his research
freely, writing numerous articles that were printed in area newspapers.
Because of the trust Kiel had earned, the early files of
the Washington Observer and the German Post were turned over to him. Kiel
painstakingly cut apart the Observer, filing items in envelopes. He read
the German paper, made notes, and eventually gave the original newspapers
to the Library of Congress.
In 1925, Kiel published The Centennial Biographical
Directory of Franklin County. This book contains census records, lists of
slave owners, automobile owners, men who served in several wars, names of
city officials, postmasters, members of various organizations, bankers,
teachers and much more.
Floyd Shoemaker, president of the Missouri Historical
Society for many years, said he could not praise the book too highly,
adding that it was "the product of decades of labor by a painstaking,
conscientious scholar . . . the fruit of the author's love for his subject
and his people.
Floyd Shoemaker, president of the Missouri Historical
Society for many years, said he could not praise the book too highly,
adding that it was "the product of decades of labor by a painstaking,
conscientious scholar . . . the fruit of the author's love for his subject
and his people."
After 70 years, few copies of this valuable research
tool remained in circulation. The Washington Historical Society recognized
the need and reprinted the book.
After publishing his "directory," Kiel continued to
research and write articles, adding to his copious files. In 1936, at age
70, Kiel retired, with the intention of publishing another book. He died
April 2, 1938, without completing the second work.
Clark Brown wrote about Kiel in the August 30, 1907,
issue of his Franklin County Tribune, stating, "He is one of the most
original characters Franklin county ever produced. His biography, if ever
written, will be a varied career, but it will be mighty interesting reading. "Herman Hansen of Union, whose efforts to encourage
others to preserve Franklin county history have not gone unnoticed, was
entrusted with the care of Kiel's files and eventually turned them over to
the Washington Historical Society.
The dedicated members of the society have been working
for several years, compiling Kiel's notes into notebooks. These are housed
in the Ralph Gregory Library of the museum, where they are available to
the public.
Note: To order a copy of Kiel's
book, go to the
Books
page of this website or to the
Washington Historical Society
website.
|
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Captain Charles E. Ruge
[County Assessor, Post Office, Holstein]
Captain Ruge, a native of Denmark, born
December 9, 1831, was principally reared in Franklin county, MO, to which
his parents emigrated with their family in 1839. He was the son of Dr.
Charles J. and Caroline (Krag) Ruge, his father a prominent physician of
their native country and afterwards of Franklin county. In 1857 they crossed
over into Warren county, where they made their permanent home. Dr. Ruge died
in 1876 while on a visit at Washington, in Franklin county. His wife died
the same year. Captain Ruge, the subject of this sketch, came to Warren
county with his parents in 1857, and the same year was married to Miss
Charlotta Duebbert, a daughter of J. F. Duebbert of St. Charles county, but
formerly of Germany. Capt. Ruge was engaged in farming until the war broke
out when he went bravely to the defense of the Union. He served as a
private, lieutenant and captain under Gens. Fremont, Sherman and Grant, and
was in some hard fought battles. After the war Captain Ruge engaged in
farming, but his health broke down, resulting from the exposures and
hardships he had endured during the war. He was therefore compelled to quit
farming, and in 1870 the people, appreciating his high character as a man
and his business qualifications, elected him to the office of county
assessor. He discharged the duties of this office so acceptably that he was
again elected in 1872 and has been continuously re-elected every two years,
and still holds the office. This speaks more for his standing in the county
as a citizen and officer than anything that could be said here to his
credit. In 1876, Captain Ruge lost his first wife, who had borne him five
children, namely: Julius P., a regular graduate of medicine and a practicing
physician of Holstein; Annette, Antony, Carl and Talitha. In 1878, Captain
Ruge was married to Miss Anne Staudinger, a daughter of Louis Staudinger, of
St. Louis. There are two children by this union: Maximilian and Clementine.
Source: Goodspeed's History of St.
Charles, Montgomery and Warren Counties, Missouri, approximately1888. |
|
Henry W. Ruge
[Farmer and ex-Assessor of Warren County]
Mr. Ruge was a lad five years of age when his
parents, Karl and Karoline Ruge, immigrated to America with their family
from Denmark, their native country. They settled in Franklin county in 1839,
where Henry W. grew to manhood and learned the carpenter's trade. At the age
of 23, in 1851, he came to Warren county and continued to work here at his
trade until 1861.
He then enlisted in the Union service,
becoming a member of Co. B., Third Missouri, under Gen. Fremont, continuing
in the service until the summer of 1864 when he was honorably discharged. He
was early promoted to the rank of sergeant, which he held until the close of
his service. He was in a number of heavy engagements, and was severely
wounded at Missionary Ridge, GA.
After his discharge Mr. Ruge engaged in
merchandising at Holstein, in which he continued until 1870, when he opened
an agricultural implement house, and also became a dealer in and shipper of
grain. In 1880 Mr. Ruge bought the farm where he now resides, near Holstein,
where he has a comfortable place, including a neat and commodious residence,
well furnished, and is pleasantly situated. He was county assessor of Warren
county for seven years consecutively preceding 1872.
In January, 1867, Mr. Ruge was married to
Miss Louise, a daughter of Dr. Wilhelm Kerstens. Mrs. Ruge's mother was a
Miss Elise Barrez before her marriage, and both parents were from Prussia,
coming thence to Franklin county in 1836, where Dr. Kerstens died in 1855.
Her mother is now the wife of Philip Schieffer, or rather his widow, for he
is also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ruge have three children: Robert, Theodore
and Olga. Four are deceased: Alvin, Elfrie, Waldemar and Eno. Mr. and Mrs.
R. are members of the Evangelical Church. Mr. Ruge was born in Denmark, May
15, 1834, and was the third of eleven children of his parents.
Source: Goodspeed's History of St.
Charles, Montgomery and Warren Counties, Missouri, approximately1888. |
|
William G. Ruge
[Dealer in General Merchandise,
Grain and Country Produce, North Washington)
Mr. Ruge has had a somewhat extended
experience in business and has been satisfactorily successful. He is now
recognized as one of the substantial and prominent business men of the
southeastern part of Warren county. he carries a large and full line of
general merchandise, required by the general trade. He also handles large
quantities of grain, and also buys and ships general farm produce quite
extensively. He pays the best prices for farm products the market justifies,
and buys his goods for cash and sells at the lowest possible figures
consistent with sound business management. He is also a large real estate
owner, having, besides handsome residence and business properties, about
2,000 acres of fine land in Missouri and Arkansas. Mr. Ruge, like his
brother Henry W., and also Charles E., is a native of Denmark, born in
Schleswig, September 6, 1839, and was the fifth in his father's family of
children. An outline of the family history has been given elsewhere. He was
reared in Franklin county and received a common school education at
Washington. In 1861 he enlisted in Company B, Third Missouri, Union service,
as a private, and served until he was honorably discharged in 1864. He was
twice promoted for merit in the service and bravery; first to the rank of
second lieutenant and then to that of first lieutenant. After returning from
the army, he was commissioned first lieutenant colonel and then colonel of
Warren and Montgomery counties regiment of E.M.M., which regiment served
during Price's raid through Missouri. In June, 1865, he engaged in
merchandising at Holstein, where he continued with success for about eight
years. He then removed to Washington, in Franklin county, and shortly
established his present business across the river in North Washington. In
1864 Mr. Ruge was married to Miss Seralda Marshall, a daughter of Henry and
Eliza Marshall, of Warren county, her mother, who was a Miss Barrez, being
of German birth. Mr. and Mrs. R. have six children: Alice, Adelia, Agnes,
Oscar, Ella and Franciska. Mr. and Mrs. R. are members of the Lutheran
Church.
Source: Goodspeed's History of St.
Charles, Montgomery and Warren Counties, Missouri, approximately1888. |
Frederick Wengler
Source: Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, A Compendium of
History and Biography for Ready Reference edited by Howard L. Conard,
Volume VI, The Southern History Company, 1901
Frederick Wengler, a substantial and useful citizen of St. Louis County,
was born September 25, 1821, in Prussia, near Verden, on the River Ruhr,
a tributary of the famous Rhine. His father, William Wengler, immigrated
with his family to America in 1834, first locating in St. Louis, MO and
afterward removing to Franklin County, where he opened a farm near
Fiddle Creek, and where he died from cholera during the terrible
epidemic of 1849. He was a man of probity and industry, and he reared a
family of seven children, all of whom entered upon lives of usefulness.
Frederick, the second of the children, was eleven years of age when his
parents came to America. His education was limited to such as he
acquired in the primary schools in his native land, supplemented with
two months' instruction in a public school in this country. However, his
native abilities and the enterprises in which he engaged, bringing him
into association with busy and capable men, afforded compensation for
school deprivation, and upon attaining manhood he was well equipped for
the active and useful duties in which he engaged from the beginning of
his busy life. Until he was fourteen years of age he remained with his
parents, assisting as far as he was able in the labors of establishing a
home for the familty, and being the second child, and one of but two of
the children sufficiently old to work, his time was entirely taken up
with such efforts.
In 1836, when he was fifteen years of age, he left home and entered
the service of Judge Henry McCullough, at a point on Hamilton Creek,
where is now the town of Glencoe, in St. Louis, County. Judge McCullough
was the most wealthy and enterprising man in the settlement, and the
owner of a tannery, a shoe factory and a bark and gristmill. Young
Wengler remained in the employ of Judge McCullough for two and one half
years, and learned tanning and shoemaking. He then located at Union, in
Franklin County, and took employment as a journeyman shoemaker, but some
months later he was seized with an attack of typhoid fever, from which
he was disabled for six months. After his recovery, he returned to his
friend and former employer, Judge McCullough, to whom he engaged himself
for a term of three years, for an annual wage of $200, with board and
washing. It was during this time that he laid the foundations of his
fortune, through carefully husbanding the returns from his labors, and
by judicious investments at opportune times. In the first year he
entered a tract of 160 acres of land on Boone Creek, in Franklin County,
the remainder of that beautiful valley being entered by John Pyatt,
whose daughter, Agnes, he married shortly after completing his
engagement with Judge McCullough, September 1, 1842.
He then located near the site of the present village of Allenton, in
St. Louis County, where he proved title on a previous pre-emption on a
160-acre tract of rich farming land, paying the government price of
$1.25 per acre. Upon this he built a house, and with a brother opened a
tannery and shoeshop. He conducted this business until 1849, when the
death of his father made it necessary for him to give his attention to
the care of the paternal estate, which included a hotel and other
interests at Gray's Summit in Franklin County, and, renting his farm, he
removed to the latter named place and conducted the hotel for three
years. At the expiration of that period he returned to Allenton,
attracted by the activity incident to the building of the Pacific
Railroad. He there furnished and superintended teams for grading work,
at the same time managing his farm. During the same period he bought a
town lot in Pacific, upon which he built a store, which he sold a year
later at a satisfactory advance. He also invested in property in
Allenton, and upon one of his lots erected a building for a home. Some
time later he built an addition and engaged in a grocery, dry goods and
clothing business. In 1857 he was appointed postmaster at Allenton, a
position in which he was continued for the long period of thirty-two
years.
Intensely patriotic, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was one of
those in whom General Frank P. Blair reposed implicit confidence, and
under the direction of that distinguished patriot and soldier he applied
himself energetically to the advancement of various measures
contributing materially to the support of the Union cause in his
neighborhood. Among these was the recruiting of a company of Home
Guards, which was effected principally through the efforts of himself
and Robert C. Allen, a younger man than himself, then in his employ, and
when the organization was completed, Mr. Allen was chosen as captain and
Mr. Wengler as a lieutenant. This company was a part of a battalion
commanded by Major William C. Inks, an uncle of Mr. Wengler, and
performed useful service, protecting the persons and property of
loyalists, in encouraging enlistments for the regular volunteer
regiments, and in neutralizing the efforts of the secessionists, but its
most important duty, with which it was particularly charged, was in the
protection of the railway bridges in the neighborhood necessary for
military use. After the expiration of the three months' term of service
for which their company was organized, Captain Allen and Lieutenant
Wengler, with others, attached themselves to the Fremont Guards,
commanded by Major George King, with which they served until that body
was mustered out of service at Jefferson Barracks after General Fremont
was superseded in the command of the Western Department by General
Hunter.
Mr. Wengler then procured the appointment of Captain Allen as United
States mail agent on the Missouri Pacific Railway. The latter named,
however, soon re-entered the military service, and Mr. Wengler succeeded
him in his mail position, in which he continued to serve for about three
years. In 1864 he resigned to give his attention to his home concerns,
managing his farm and superintending the operation of a stone quarry.
In 1870, he was appointed by the County Court of St. Louis County to
the position of superintendent of the county farm, then located within
the present city limits of St. Louis, and served in that capacity for a
period of four years, and until he was retired as a result of a change
in the political complexion of the county court. During his occupancy of
this important office his duties were arduous, but were constantly
performed with punctilious regard for public interests and a feeling of
humane consideration for the great number of unfortunate people
committed to his keeping.
Mr. Wengler was subsequently appointed superintendent of roads in St.
Louis County, and in this position he performed efficient labor in the
construction and maintenance of the various important highways
throughout the county, serving until the adoption of the Scheme and
Charter, in 1876, when the office which he occupied was abrogated.
On retiring from the road superintendency, he turned again to his
personal concerns, including the management of his magnificent farm of
300 acres, and his mercantile business at Allenton, which he yet
continues to conduct in association with his son, Robert E. Wengler,
under the firm name of Wengler & Son.
In politics Mr. Wengler has been an earnest Republican from the
founding of the party, and he has always taken active interest in
maintaining its principles, believing its supremacy to be indispensable
to the stability and prosperity of the people in commercial as well as
in governmental lines. In religion he was reared in the Lutheran faith.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having affiliated with Pacific
Lodge, No. 15, in 1858, and for fifteen years he has served as treasurer
of that body. He also holds membership with Koehler Post, Grand Army of
the Republic, at Melrose, St. Louis County.
Notwithstanding he has reached the advanced age of eighty years, he
is in entire possession of his physical and mental faculties, and
continues to give his personal attention to the management of his
various interests, necessitating frequent visits to the city of St.
Louis and to other points in the vicinity.
His wife, three years his junior, with whom he had lived for the
unusual period of fifty-nine years, died early in 1901. Of their
marriage were born thirteen children, of whom six are deceased. Those
living are as follows: William C., a prominent businessman of Clayton,
whose biography appears in this work; Emily J., widow of Robert C.
Allen, deceased, who was a prosperous farmer and a man of commanding
influence, who served as a captain in the Union Army during the Civil
War, and afterward as judge of the St. Louis County Court, and as
Representative in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second General Assemblies
of Missouri; Frederick A., of Clayton, who was formerly employed in the
office of the county collector; Charles O., for more than twenty years
past a railway postal clerk in charge on the Missouri Pacific Railway
between St. Louis and Kansas City, and who took the first fast mail out
of St. Louis when that service was established; Jacob H., a carpenter at
Allenton; Mamie M., wife of Allen M. Browning, railway postal clerk on
the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway between St. Louis and Monett, and
Robert E., a merchant and the postmaster at Allenton, Missouri.
|
|
William Columbus Wengler
William Columbus Wengler
was born in Meramec Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, October 5,
1844, son of Frederick and Agnes (Pyatt) Wengler. Frederick Wengler, the
father, who was a tanner and shoemaker by trade, located in Allenton,
St. Louis County, in 1859. He engaged in merchandising and still remains
there. William Wengler, the grandfather, immigrated to the United States
in 1835 and located on a farm on Fiddle Creek, Franklin County,
Missouri.Young Wengler acquired a
good practical education in the public schools of his native town, after
which he worked for his father as clerk in his store, and in 1869,
became a partner under the firm name of Wengler & Son. In 1875, he
withdrew from the firm and was appointed a clerk in the internal revenue
office in St. Louis, and later was a clerk in the assessor's office.
From 1876 to 1880 he was agent of the Missouri Pacific Railway at
Allenton. In 1880 he became deputy sheriff under Robert Schnecko, and
held that position two years. In January, 1883, he was appointed deputy
county clerk for St. Louis County, and in 1886 was elected county clerk.
At the expiration of his term he was re-elected to a second term,
holding the office eight years. In 1895 he was elected justice of the
peace for Clayton and served two years. In the fall of 1896 he was
elected treasurer of St. Louis County, and in 1898 was re-elected for a
second term. Mr. Wengler has been an efficient public official, and one
universally popular with his constituents.
He was a member of Company B of Ink's
battalion of the United States Reserve Corps during the Civil War, and
was assigned to duty with the troops charged with the duty of guarding
the railroad bridges from Pacific Junction to St. Louis. He is a member
of Koehler Post No. 159, of the Grand Army of the Republic, and takes a
great interest in Grand Army matters. In politics he is a Republican,
and independent in his religious belief. He is affiliated with the
Ancient Order of United Workmen, Mount Olive Saengerbund, and Central
Township Farmers' Club. He is also a director of the St. Louis County
Bank and president of the Clayton school board. He was married to Miss
Lizzie C. Lamphier, of St. Louis County, October 25, 1869. They have had
ten children -- Allen F.; Almira Agnes, wife of R. Lee Mudd; Catharine,
Emma Alice (deceased); William; Robert Thomas; Jacob Henry; Belle;
Jessie; and Cora Lee Wengler.
Source: Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri
edited by Howard L. Conard, Vol. VI, 1901.
Although there is little mention of Franklin County in this biography,
it is obvious from his father's biography that young William spent time
in Franklin County as a youngster, in addition to having deep pioneer
roots in the county.
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