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      Fall/ Winter 2020
         vol. 12, no. 1

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pg. 1

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Fall/ Winter 2020
                                                                                                                                                                        A publication of Lindenwood University Press                         vol. 12, no. 1

                                           EDITORIAL BOARD                 STAFF                                                                                                           CO N T E N TS
                  Mark Abbott, harris stowe state university               editor, Jeffrey E. Smith, PhD
                     Steve Belko, missouri humanities council              art director & designer, Michael Thede
                             Lorri Glover, saint louis university          archivist, Paul Huffman
              Andrew Hurley, university of missouri-st. louis
                       Meredith Marsh, lindenwood university
                                                                           SUBSCRIPTIONS                                                     pg.   2
              Robert J. Moore, Jr., gateway arch national park
               Kristine Runberg Smith, lindenwood university               ISSN 2150-2633 The Confluence is a nonprofit semi-annual
                                                                           publication of Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Missouri.
Andrew Theising, southern illinois university edwardsville
                                                                           All rights reserved. The Confluence and Lindenwood University
                                               Kenneth Winn
                                                                           are not responsible for statements of fact or opinion expressed
                                                                           in signed contributions. Requests to reprint any part of                                                                               pg.   15                                       pg.   38
                                       ACKNOWLEDGMENTS                     The Confluence should be sent to Editor, The Confluence, c/0
                                                                           Lindenwood University, 209 South Kingshighway, St. Charles,
          An undertaking like The Confluence doesn’t happen without        Missouri 63301, or via email to confluence@lindenwood.edu.
        the help of many people, both within Lindenwood University
                                                                           © Lindenwood University 2020
    and beyond. We owe particular thanks to Provost Marilyn Abbott
             and the Board of Trustees at Lindenwood for supporting        Manuscripts. Any manuscripts should be sent to Editor,
         this venture. We’d like to take this opportunity to extend our    The Confluence, c/o Lindenwood University, 209 S.
        gratitude to the following people, institutions, and companies     Kingshighway, St. Charles, Missouri 63301, or via e-mail
                for their contributions to this issue of The Confluence;   to confluence@lindenwood.edu. Print submissions should be           In this issue:
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                                                                           guidelines, citation format, and other particulars, consult
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                                                                                                                                                         2                                    15                               38
                                            Campbell House Museum                                                                                        Nature Much Improved:                Krekel & Kribben–                Joseph Robidoux III,
                                                        Paul Huffman       Have you moved? Let us know if you have or will                               The Curation of a                    Diverging Views on               the 1780 Battle of
                                                   Library of Congress     be changing your address so you don’t miss an issue                           Nineteenth-Century                   the Future of Slavery            St. Louis, & the St. Louis
                                     Missouri Conference on History        of The Confluence.                                                            Neighborhood                                                          Robidoux Legacy
                                          Missouri Historical Society                                                                                    and Greenspace
                                                                           Subscription Rates. One year, $20.
                                St. Charles County Historical Society
                                                                           Visit us on the web at:
                                                                                                                                                         by   shannan c. mason                by   steve ehlmann               by   stephen l. kling, jr.
                                             St. Joseph Museums, Inc.
                                                   Stanford University     http://www.lindenwood.edu/confluence.
                                                                                                                                                         Shannan Mason uses the               Steve Ehlmann explores           The Robidoux family has
                                  State Historical Society of Missouri     ISBN 978-0-9600179-1-1                                                        Lucas Place neighborhood as          the evolving views of            been part of the history of
                                                       Michael Thede                                                                                     a case study to understand           two German politicians           Missouri on both sides
                                                    THGC Publishing                                                                                      the early movement of                on slavery as the Civil          of the state dating to the
                                                                           COVER IMAGE                                                                   wealthier St. Louisans to            War approached.                  Revolutionary War period.
                                                                                                                                                         the outskirts of the city                                             Stephen Kling places
                                                                           The intersection of 16th Street and Lucas Street in 1914, the                 and their role in rejecting                                           Robidoux’s role into
                                                                           site of the Lucas Place subdivision and Missouri Park. By the                 crowded urban sensibilities                                           historical perspective.
                                                                           time William G. Swekosky (1894–1963) took this photo, Lucas                   for expanded greenspace.
                                                                           Street had been renamed Locust Street, and Lucas Place had                    This article won the Morrow
                                                                                                                                                         Prize for the Best Student
                                                                           largely become a business district. For more on Lucas Place,
                                                                                                                                                         Paper on a Missouri
                                                                           see “Nature Much Improved: The Curation of a Nineteenth-                      Topic from the Missouri
                                                                           Century Green Space.” (Image: Missouri Historical Society)                    Conference on History
                                                                                                                                                         in 2020.

                                                                                                                                                  The Confluence is a regional studies journal published by Lindenwood University, dedicated to the
                                                                                                                                              diversity of ideas and disciplines of a liberal arts university. It is committed to the intersection of history, art
                                                                                                                                                  and architecture, design, science, social science, and public policy. Its articles are diverse by design.
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fall/winter ’20

pg. 2

        Nature Much Improved:
        The Curation of a Nineteenth-Century Neighborhood and Greenspace
                                                                                                                                                             pg.3

                           by   s ha n n a n c . m a so n

                                                                           In John O’Sullivan’s 1845 Democratic Review article
                                                                           “Annexation,” the columnist and editor claimed that land in America
                                                                           represented opportunity, and that the burgeoning nation’s “manifest
                                                                           destiny” was to be fulfilled by the patriotic march westward, with the
                                                                           “Mississippi valley – [as] the natural facility of the route.” 1 Such calls for
                                                                           the spread of the United States and Americans across the continent were
                                                                           not only economically and politically motivated, but socially motivated
                                                                           as well. Portrayals of the domination of nature and greenspace represented
                                                                           a Romantic sense of cultural refinement. To possess commodified
                                                                           edifications of nature, such as landscape paintings, garden-scape
                                                                           wallpapers, and dried horticultural specimens represented Victorian
                                                                           Americans’ desire to possess land and vicariously control nature. Calls
                                                                           for expansion encouraged Victorian Americans to treat nature itself as a
                                                                           commodity, one to be possessed both physically and symbolically.
                                                                           Just four years after the Democratic Review published O’Sullivan’s
                                                                           “Annexation,” St. Louis elites James H. Lucas and his sister Anne Hunt
                                                                           began cultivating inherited land on the westernmost side of St. Louis,
                                                                           Missouri, for neighborhood habitation. They were attempting to create a
                                                                           secluded park-like atmosphere where only the most socially adroit and
                                                                           economically elite would reside. This study examines the sentimentality
                                                                           surrounding the creation of their elite suburban residential enclave,
                                                                           Lucas Place, primarily to understand the neighborhood as a transition in
                                                                           Lucas and Hunt’s relationship with the natural world and to better
                                                                           understand how urban elites saw their role in shaping nature into a more
                                                                           ideal version of itself. I seek to answer these questions by looking at the
                                                                           development of the Lucas Place neighborhood, its attached greenspace,
                                                                           Missouri Park, and St. Louis from the 1820s to the turn of the twentieth
                                                                           century to better understand how St. Louis’ urban population created
                                                                           greenspace through its consumption of nature.
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pg. 4
                                                                                                                                                Lucas Place was a new type of residential community,                                                              pg. 5

                                                                                                                                                          de vel op e d pre dom i nant ly by t he ne w ly we a lt hy,
                                                      Lucas Place        Missouri Park
              1856 Colton Map                                                                                                                           w here ol d mo des of hi g h fashi on and t astes bl ende d
                                                                                                                                                                  w it h i n novat ive m i dwester n st y l es .
                                                                                                This map is a section from the 1856
                                                                                                Colton Map, copied from the David
                                                                                                Ramsey Map Collection Online. All
                                                                                                additional information was added by           In the early nineteenth           and Sixth streets and Olive           westernmost edge would have
                                                                                                Shannan Mason. Summit Square, Lucas       century, St. Louis, was in            and Pine.4 Because of the city’s      been considered distant, despite
                                                                                                Market, Lucas Place and, Missouri Park,
                                                                                                all outlined in white were built          transition, rapidly shifting from     swift growth, however, Hunt’s         the neighborhood’s easternmost
                              City of                                                           in that order, starting in 1828 and
                                                                                                continuing well into the 1870s.
                                                                                                                                          a French frontier settlement          development at Summit was             edge being just a block away from
                             St. Louis                                                          (Image: David Ramsey Historical Map       to a rising mercantile metropolis.    absorbed by intense urban             the city limits, but a mile from
                                                                                                Collection, Stanford University)          By the 1850s the city had             expansion and commercialization,      the riverfront. To further
                                                                                                                                          quickly prospered and expanded;       largely due to a lack of zoning       create a private and exclusive
                                                                                                                                          however, it was increasingly          restrictions. Its residents soon      atmosphere, the deed restrictions
          No wards past Seventeenth Street              Lucas Market       1828-Summit Square                                             confronted with the problems that     moved elsewhere.5 Nearly              were designed to make the
          – but signs of future development
                                                                                                                                          accompany urban development,          two decades later the Lucas           neighborhood into a separate
                                                                                                                                          such as disease and overcrowding.     family developed another set of       residential “place.” With
                                                                                                                                          These conditions provided the         parcels in the former site of a       the structure of the deed
                                                                              Portrait of                                                 animus for residents to move          well-known meadow surrounded          restrictions, greenspace, and
                                                                      James H. Lucas in
                                                                     1878 by John Reid.                                                   further westward onto undeveloped     by “natural growth” known as          mandatory housing setbacks
                                                                        (Image: Missouri                                                  lands, expanding the city limits      “Lucas Grove.” 6 The grove            from the road, the development
                                                                      Historical Society)
                                                                                                                                          through the creation of new           was destroyed, reshaped, and          would be a healthful alternative
                                                                                                                                          residential areas such as Lucas       renamed “Lucas Market,” which         to the sickly and disease-ridden
                                                                                                                                          Place, located between the city       featured attractive permanent         downtown area, especially after
                                                                                                                                          blocks of fifteenth and twentieth     buildings. The natural space of       a particularly deadly Cholera
                                                                                                                                          streets on the westernmost            the Meadow surrounded by trees        epidemic in 1849.
                                                                                                                                          edge of St. Louis.                    was transformed and valued for
                                                                                                                                                                                its commodification, or economic
                                                                                                                                              Lucas Place was a new type of     potential. As a grove, the land
                                                                                                                                          residential community, developed      only represented the potentiality
                                                                                                                                          predominantly by the newly            of speculative wealth, but while in
                                                                                                                                          wealthy, where old modes of high      operation, the market was widely
                                                                                                                                          fashion and tastes blended with       lauded as “one of the finest”
                                                                                                                                          innovative midwestern styles.         markets in the city, “a handsome
                                                                                                                                          St. Louisans in the mid-nineteenth    edifice, built of most durable
                                                                                                                                          century abandoned the traditional     materials in every part. . . .
                                                                                                                                          row house in favor of a more          Everything about it . . . betokens
                                                                                                                                          experimental single-family detached   the most liberal spirit, and desire
                                                                                                                                          style of city home, which             to secure permanent prosperity
                                                                                                                                          favored the creation of front yards   to that section of the city,”
                                                                                                                                          and side lots.2 In Lucas Place,       due to its attractive exterior
                                                                                                                                          “there emerged a preference for       and spaciousness.7
                                                                                                                                          detached homes surrounded
                                                                                                                                          by landscaped grounds.”                   In 1849, with the success
                                                                                                                                          “Spaciousness would become            of Lucas Market, James Lucas          Anne Lucas Hunt. This is the same image
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          used to carve her likeness on her
                                                                                                                                          a guiding principle” in the           and Anne Hunt decided to              gravesite in the city’s Calvary Cemetery.
                                                                                                                                          American West, because land           develop another plot of land,            (Image: Missouri Historical Society)
                                                                                                                                          was not as limited as it was along    a neighborhood called “Lucas
                                                                                                                                          the coast and in Europe.3             Place.” Unlike Summit Square,            The land proposed for
                                                                                                                                                                                it would remain viable and            Lucas Place was forested; it was
                                                                                                                                              Out of desires to create a        desirable for the long term,          untamed, wild, and unlivable.
                                                                                                                                          “self-contained world,” in            hence the creation of a series of     However, by “improving” the
                                                                                                                                          1828, Anne Hunt (1796–1879)           thirty-year deed restrictions on      rough “idle waste” and creating
View of St. Louis from Lucas Place, labeled as 1854. This is a cropped version                                                            had developed a residential           the land.8 The proposed site for      private places such as Lucas
of the image, eliminating an informational border along the bottom of the image
that contained incorrect labeling. (Image: Missouri Historical Society)
                                                                                                                                          neighborhood referred to as           the neighborhood straddled both       Place, people could be a part
                                                                                                                                          “Summit Square” between Fifth         city and hinterland as it resided     of nature, but in a strictly
                                                                                                                                                                                on the outskirts of town, and its
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pg. 6                                                                                                                                                                                                           pg. 7

        controlled environment. This           Over this twenty-five feet, the      harkening back to the idea of a
        sense of control and community-        owners have entire control           pastoral or gardenesque landscape.
                                               as to the manner in which it
        led regulation makes the                                                    The Sarah Collier residence at
                                               may be adorned, but they
        re-modeling of the untamed into        cannot build upon it. . . . The      1603 Lucas, built in 1858, is an
        a more ideal form of nature a          space at present set apart           example of this French style, with
        consumptive practice, as the           for this purpose embraces            its free-standing home surrounded

                                                                                                                                                                                         The Sarah Collier
                                               about eighty lots, and if these
        destruction of nature was                                                   by a garden-like environment.11
                                               should be improved in the
        then followed by the sale and          manner proposed, it will make        The Collier residence included
        construction of residential
        buildings, designed by and for
                                               it one of the most healthy and
                                               beautiful parts of the city. As
                                                                                    a new fledgling garden, complete
                                                                                    with trees and a manicured                                                                           residence at
                                                                                                                                                                                         1603 Lucas,
        the wealthy. Such distinction was      yet it is unimproved and the         lawn. Such depictions of saplings
                                               opportunity is thus afforded
        reinforced by Hunt and Lucas’          of erecting dwelling houses          at the site of Lucas Place are
        choice of name for the residential     of such a character and in           ironic—they represent the                                                                            bui lt i n 1 8 5 8 , is an
        enclave; by using the moniker          such style, as will distinguish      destruction and reshaping of
                                               it from all other parts of the                                                                                                            ex ampl e of t he
        “Place,” they were likely                                                   land that was previously known
        intentionally attempting to sell it
                                               city. A magnificent street,
                                                                                    as Lucas Woods.12 All signs of                                                                       Fre nch st y l e, w it h
                                               wide sidewalks and beautiful
        as a place outside of the danger,      groves of trees, will ensure the     older growth, however, were                                                                          it s f re e - st and i ng
        decay, and disorganization of the      circulation of fresh air, while it   removed and destroyed prior to                                                                       home sur round e d
        city. The later 1854 addition of       may reasonably be supposed           construction in favor of a curated
                                               that the houses to be erected                                                                                                             by a g ard e n- l i ke
        a park at the easternmost edge                                              version of a carefully manicured
        of the neighborhood physically
                                               will combine architectural
                                                                                    ideal vision of nature. Trees were                                                                   env i ronme nt.
                                               beauty and every comfort
        solidified its separation from the     which wealth can command.            desirable, but only in specifically
        thoroughfare of the city.9 Yet the     We hope the project will find        selected locations, appropriately
        park was not the only actions          general favor with the public        distanced from each other and
                                               . . . it must become the most
        Hunt and Lucas took to give the        attractive part of the city.
                                                                            10      likely specifically selected based
        impression of a private landscape                                           on their uniform rate of growth
        for residents. One of the                 The Missouri Republican was       and appearance. In this way, the
        neighborhood’s unique features        projecting the imagery and            natural world was not necessarily
        was the requirement that owners       benefits of a park-like boulevard,    desirable, but individual elements
        create a 25-foot easement. This       where construction has a healthful    of it such as trees, flowers, and
        setback was unique, because it is     benefit to the city due to its        shrubbery— once properly
        the first recorded instance of such   much-needed addition of fresh         selected and controlled by man
        a restriction in St. Louis. The       air and sidewalks aplenty to enjoy    —were desirable.
        easement had two effects: it          it. However, it was not the idea
        created a front yard for residents                                              Similarly curated versions of
                                              of the outdoors itself that was
        to have grass or small gardens,                                             the community were depicted in        Sarah A. Collier Residence in 1868, at 1603 Lucas Place,
                                              lauded for its “fresh air,” but                                             On the northwest corner of Lucas Place and Sixteenth Street.
        while simultaneously causing the                                            the newspapers, advertisements,       (Image: Missouri Historical Society)
                                              instead healthfulness created by
        street to have the broader, more                                            and print media such as the wood
                                              a specifically curated space.
        majestic appearance of a boulevard                                          engraving of Lucas Place entitled
                                              Only a particular type of
        rather than a thoroughfare. In                                              View on Lucas Place. Dated
                                              natural space was restorative and
        1850 a Missouri Republican                                                  1860, it offers us more than just
                                              healthy—the natural that had
        editorial justified the setback’s                                           a “view”; it is an example of
                                              been improved by men.
        establishment, even before the                                              the picturesque model of an
        development’s first house had            Because of St. Louis’ French       idyllic version of Lucas Place.
        been completed in 1851. Claiming      roots, Lucas may also have been       The choice to have a carefully
        it would make the surrounding         envisioning the open pastoral         manicured and picturesque lawn
        area a more “attractive” and          French village style as a model       was not only an aesthetic one,
        “healthful” portion of the city,      while planning Lucas Place,           but a moral sentiment as well.13
        the editorial stated:                                                       Americans perceived the disorderly
                                                                                    wilderness as a danger, indicative
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pg. 8
                                                                                                                                     Lucas Street and Missouri Park at its easternmost point                                                                  pg. 9

                                                                                                                                        were l i n e d gen erousl y w ith tre es , cre at i ng a u n i qu e i mpre ss i on
                                                                                                                                           of t he hous es b ei ng i n t he cou nt r y or s itu ate d i ns i de of a
                                                                                                                                                           p ark or v i l l a r at her t han t he cit y. . .

                                                                                                                                 of darkness, decay, and chaos,           series of improvements to Missouri        east, the rows of stately trees and
                                                                                                                                 while cleaner, more orderly spaces       Park. Their work showcased the            stately houses, the aristocratic
                                                                                                                                 were recognized as Godly and             continual investment of the city          tide which streamed from its
                                                                                                                                 pure.14 Such conceptions are on          and the desires of the area’s residents   doors, the smart carriages, and the
                                                                                                                                 display in the photograph of the         to maintain the greenspace as a           constant hospitality of its gracious
                                                                                                                                 Collier residence as well. The           showpiece. Lucas also used the            inhabitants.” 22 Lionberger’s
                                                                                                                                 neat, orderly lines of Sarah Collier’s   opportunity to remind the Board           statement illustrates Lucas Place’s
                                                                                                                                 manicured lawn, representing             of Parks Commissioners of the             unique composition of rows of
                                                                                                                                 good and Godliness, are sharply          city’s promise to permanently             trees, stately homes, and the
                                                                                                                                 contrasted against the disorder          maintain and improve the land             park to the east–all markers to
                                                                                                                                 and darkness of the weeds and            that he and his sister had privately      outsiders of how well J.H. Lucas
                                                                                                                                 shrubbery directly opposite it,          developed (and generously                 and his Lucas Place residents had
                                                                                                                                 especially during a time when            donated).19 The letter then               created a park-like atmosphere.
                                                                                                                                 the existence of yards in the front      personally congratulates the
                                                                                                                                 or side yards between urban              superintendent for his supervision             The curation of the land and
                                                                                                                                 homes was fairly rare.15                 of the installation of a public           its transition from “idle waste,” as
                                                                                                                                                                          fountain inside of the park.20            it had been previously referred to
                                                                                                                                      Lucas Street and Missouri           Such interactions illustrate the          by the Missouri Democrat, to an
                                                                                                                                 Park at its easternmost point            concern and connection residents          accessible and productive land was
                                                                                                                                 were lined generously with trees,        of Lucas Place felt with the              evident by 1854.23 The Missouri
                                                                                                                                 creating a unique impression of          greenspace of Missouri Park.              Republican’s editors even instructed
        Wood cut engraving
        View on Lucas Place                                                                                                      the houses being in the country          These connections simultaneously          other city residents to conduct
        of the northwest                                                                                                         or situated inside of a park or villa    encouraged development while              a voyeuristic homage to the site
        corner of Lucas Place,
        dated 1860. Note the                                                                                                     rather than the city, especially         gently reminding the city of its          of development and examine
        representation of Sarah                                                                                                  when one looked from the east            responsibility to continually             the location, stating that “in its
        Collier’s residence (the
        first house on the left)                                                                                                 across Missouri Park towards the         maintain the public space as a            natural state, it is most beautiful,
        in direct contrast to the                                                                                                neighborhood. To create the park         healthful and desirable location          and when improved . . . a more
        wild and unmanaged
        lot across the street.                                                                                                   as a utilitarian greenspace and          for the neighborhood.                     pleasant neighborhood will not
        (Image: Missouri                                                                                                         buffer against through traffic, the                                                be found in the country. Valuable
        Historical Society)
                                                                                                                                 city spent $1,357 to grade and               In 1877, maintenance and              improvements are already going
                                                                                                                                 fill the land in 1858.16 After this      careful attention to the greenspace       up on some of the lots, and others
                                                                                                                                 construction, commonly referred          was still apparent. Regular               have been enclosed, and in a little
                                                                                                                                 to as “heavycutting,” was conducted,     inventories were taken of the trees       while it will present an enchanting
                                                                                                                                 the earth was then relocated to          and shrubs that lined the park,           appearance.” 24 Both the editorial’s
                                                                                                                                 the riverfront wharf for removal.17      creating the impression of a vast,        tone and the language used to
                                                                                                                                 To assemble a substantial amount         verdant landscape. This effect            describe the land prior to its
                                                                                                                                 of land to create the park on the        was especially apparent along             development and in the anticipation
                                                                                                                                 easternmost end of Lucas Place           the boulevard-like atmosphere             of development are striking. The
                                                                                                                                 alongside Lucas Market, Lucas            looking westward down Lucas               land in its “natural state, it is most
                                                                                                                                 and Hunt additionally purchased          Place. Until 1870, Missouri Park          beautiful,” an appreciation solely
                                                                                                                                 several buildings and land along         had been the only city park with          for its beauty to be sure, but this
                                                                                                                                 the eastern edge of the “place.”         gas lighting. It operated with an         statement is placed after it has
                                                                                                                                 By 1854, the duo had donated the         annual budget of about $1,000.21          been commodified as a “for sale”
                                                                                                                                 land to the city for use as a park       Many St. Louisans remembered              listing. The second point of interest
                                                                                                                                 in perpetuity. 18                        its carefully crafted beauty. For         here is the authors’ reliance and
                                        Lucas Place, 1875, from Richard J. Compton and Camille N. Drye, Pictorial St. Louis,
                                                                                                                                                                          example, St. Louis resident Isaac         appreciations of “improvements”
                                            the Great Metropolis of the Mississippi Valley; a Topographical Survey Drawn in          In 1870 James Lucas and other        Lionberger (1854–1948) claimed,           to the “lots.” Here we can see that
                                    Perspective A.D. 1875. View looking Northwest. In the bottom right corner of the image       Lucas Place residents wrote a            “We who have lived a little while,        despite the natural beauty of the
                                          is Missouri Park. It is clear that by 1875, Lucas place was surrounded on all sides.
                                                                                            (Image: Campbell House Museum)       letter to the Board of Parks             recall the quiet charm of Lucas           land, it becomes “enchanting” and
                                                                                                                                 Commissioners, congratulating            Place: the pleasant park upon the         “improved” only when the land is
                                                                                                                                 it on the job well done on a
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pg. 10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            pg. 11

         essentially owned and subsequently        Lucas Place and its adjoining park      recognizing the impetus to                                                                 Taken by William G. Swekosky (1894–1963) in 1914, this image looks east on the
                                                                                                                                                                                 Intersection of 16th Street and Lucas Street (which had been renamed by that point
         shaped or transformed by man. As          were a gem to its residents and the     change, decided to move. Unable                                                          to Locust Street). The neighborhood had dramatically changed by the turn of the
         a wilderness, it yields little utility,   city, but in the same year the city     to sell their stately mansions to                                                        century into an urban business neighborhood. (Image: Missouri Historical Society)

         but as a commodity to be “sold            had made several attempts to cut        individual homeowners, they
         and improved,” it increases in            a thoroughfare through Missouri         unanimously voted to remove the
         attractiveness because it increases       Park, much to the dismay of             deed restrictions put in place to
         in commercial and social value.           residents and the press. Directly       protect the neighborhood from
         The editorial also lends to the           petitioning the city through the        outside influence. As early as 1883,
         idea of an exclusionary aspect of         Globe Democrat, the proposed            some St. Louis residents in a St.
         the development. Outsiders are            alteration was described as             Louis Post Dispatch editorial aptly
         instructed to go to the site to           an “impairment,” and residents          titled “Westward” were already
         imagine its potential and their           lamented the inevitable                 considering the neighborhood for
         potential inclusion, or others’           devaluation of the surrounding          its potential utility as a “business
         exclusion, from the residential           land as a result, writing: “The first   street.” 29 Prominent St. Louisans
         enclave. Even before it is fully          remonstrance against the extension      seeking the same sort of verdant
         developed, its potentiality for           of either Lucas Place or Locust         environment Lucas Place
         the cultural and social capital           Street through Missouri Park            represented in its earlier years
         that could be gained through its          was received by the Street              moved westward along the
         construction is understood and            Commissioner yesterday. The             outskirts to areas such as Forest
         celebrated. Nature itself garners         objections raised to the extension      Park and the Vandeventer
         no respectability for residents;          are that it would greatly impair        Neighborhood. Because of the
         man’s command over nature                 the value of Lucas Place, and that      demands of urban sprawl, a
         is what makes it desirable                it is the belief of the petitioners     de-emphasis on nature and
         and exclusive.                            that the city cannot open either        greenspace downtown occurred in

                                                                                                                                   Prominent St. Louisans
                                                   of the streets named without            tandem with an increased interest
             Even as late as 1880,                 forfeiting their right to the           in the land’s productive economic
         descriptions of Lucas Place and           property used as the park. . . .” 26    utility rather than its social or
         Missouri Park focused on the              Later attempts at cutting a street      cultural utility. In 1903 the city      s e ek i ng t he s ame s or t of verd ant
         greenery and the careful                  through Missouri Park were              finally followed through with its       env i ron ment Lu c as Pl ace repres ente d
         maintenance of the social and             similarly referred to as “vandalism”    proposals to connect Lucas Street
         physical curation of the space,                                                                                           i n it s e arl i er ye ars move d west ward
                                                   to be “resisted vigorously,”            with Locust by paving over the
         such as the following October             as it would represent the               middle portion of Missouri Park. 30     a l ong t he out sk i r t s to are as
         1880 “sketch” of “Lucas Street”           “disfigurement of the only              And after the completion of the
         from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
                                                                                                                                   su ch as Forest Park and t he
                                                   breathing spot near the crowded         St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, the
         It says the development is                and smoky section of the city.” 27      city constructed a Carnegie Library     Vande venter Nei g hb orho o d.
                                                   Despite such appeals in April of        over half of Missouri Park. 31 The
          one of those places which
                                                   1880, a month later the city            stately houses that lined its streets
          a certain class of reporters
          delight, once a year, to speak           commissioner determined the park        were then torn down one by one,
          of as “the lungs of the city,”           and its “fountains” and walking         replaced with boarding houses              of nature and its role in society      their quest for social and cultural       O’Sullivan’s calls for Manifest
          one of the city’s “breathing             paths were an obstruction to city       and further business development           —in the city, in the region, and       capital, prominent St. Louisans           Destiny through westward
          places,” etc. . . . Missouri Park        traffic and ordered them to be          until only one house remained.             nationally. As St. Louis began to      simultaneously adopted and                expansion. 32 Yet such movements
          abounds in shrubbery. . . .
          At Fourteenth Street begins              removed for the betterment of           It still stands today as the               grow and prosper economically,         rejected the natural world.               did not occur in a vacuum; the
          one of the beauty spots of               the city itself. 28 Concerns had        Campbell House Museum.                     the city’s inhabitants constantly      Seeking social respectability,            land was cut, cultivated, and
          St. Louis, commonly known                shifted as the space no longer                                                     re-negotiated their relationship       St. Louisans sought to create a           curated, essentially to be harvested
          as Lucas Place. . . . All the            represented the refinement gained           Lucas Place neighborhood               with nature and its role in            curated version of the idealized          not for its nutritional bounty but
          houses are large and                                                             represents a unique opportunity
          handsome, and the shade
                                                   through the curation of the natural                                                garnering respectability. As the       form of the natural world in ways         instead for the potentiality for
          trees the best the city can              space. Rather, that conception          to explore westward expansion in           city continued to thrive, businesses   that enhanced the its residents’          the social and cultural capital that
          show. The street is paved with           had given way to a larger, more         the “Gateway to the West” and              and industry were pushed further       social status and health. The             its “improvements” represented in
          large blocks of limestone, and           powerful narrative of industrial        the beginnings of suburbanization          westward, transforming land yet        movement westward from the                the nineteenth century. Ultimately,
          is, consequently, very clean.
                                                   urban growth and development.           in St. Louis. It also offers a             again from residential curated         crowded, dirty downtown area              St. Louisans created and cultivated
          It is an intensely quiet spot,
                                                                                           unique opportunity to examine              versions of nature to what the         not only represented a trend to           an “improved” greenspace
          and if children live there they
          are kept within doors and                   Industrial development and           the development and heritage of            contemporary individual would          escape the unhealthful effects            through their consumption
          are never allowed to make                time were not kind to the Lucas         not only a neighborhood but also           recognize as a downtown urban          of the riverfront, but also larger        and destruction of the
                                     25
          mud pies in the gutter.                  Place neighborhood. Residents,          nineteenth-century conceptions             industrialized metropolis. In          national trends towards land              uncultivated natural world.
                                                                                                                                                                             acquisition exemplified in John
A publication of Lindenwood University Press Fall/Winter 2020 - Fall/Winter 2020 | Lindenwood University
fall/winter ’20

pg. 12                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                pg. 13

         ENDNOTES                                                                                                                                                                             Morrow Prize
         1
          John L. O’Sullivan, “Annexation,”            7
                                                         “St. Louis,” St. Louis Republican, March   10
                                                                                                       “Lucas Place,” Daily Missouri            22
                                                                                                                                                  Isaac Lionberger, as quoted in James        This article received the 2020
         Democratic Review (July–August 1845),         10, 1846, as cited in Joseph C. Thurman,     Republican, November 11, 1850, 3. The       Neal Primm, Lion of the Valley (Boulder:      Lynn and Kristen Morrow Missouri
         5–11.                                         “James H. Lucas: Eminent St. Louis           paper has changed names several times       Pruett Publishing Company, 1990), 362.
                                                       Entrepreneur and Philanthropist”             throughout the course of its run; the
                                                                                                                                                                                              History Student Prize, awarded for
         2
           Richard Allen Rosen, “St. Louis, Missouri   Missouri Historical Review 101, 3            titles listed below are alternate names     23
                                                                                                                                                   “City Items – St. Louis Enterprise – No.   the best student paper on an aspect
         1850–1865: The Rise of Lucas Place            (2007), 129–45.                              the paper operated under in the             5,” Daily Missouri Democrat, September        of Missouri history presented at the       Missouri
         and the Transformation of the City                                                         nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.   29, 1854, 3.
                                                                                                                                                                                              Missouri Conference on History.           Conference
         from Public Spaces to Private Places”         8
                                                         The deed restriction was established       In 1919 the paper was sold to the
         (Ph.D. thesis, University of California,      at the sale of each parcel of land, so       St. Louis Globe Democrat. For more          24
                                                                                                                                                  “Cote Brilliante Property,” Daily           The annual Missouri Conference on         on History
         Los Angeles, 1988). Richard Allen             they would be expiring at different times    information, see “Daily Missouri            Missouri Republican, March 19, 1854, 2.       History brings together teachers
         Rosen, “Rethinking the Row House:             throughout the neighborhood. In              Republican,” State Historical Society                                                     of history and other professional
         The Development of Lucas Place,               1888 a petition was created to end the       of Missouri, https://digital.shsmo.org/     25
                                                                                                                                                   “A Street Sketch,” St. Louis
         1850–1865,” 22.                               deed restrictions on the street, and it      digital/collection/dmr (accessed            Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1880, 4.           historians to share in the presentation
                                                       successfully attained the necessary two      March 31, 2019).                                                                          of the results of research, to exchange
         3
             Rosen “Rethinking the Row House,” 22.     thirds of landowners needed to sign it,                                                  26
                                                                                                                                                  “City Hall Matters,” St. Louis              information on teaching and
                                                       according to “Real Estate Market,”            Sarah Collier Residence, Photograph,
                                                                                                    11
                                                                                                                                                Globe-Democrat, April 25, 1880, 13.
         4
           Despite Anne’s early attempts to            Missouri Republican, May 16, 1888, pg.       Missouri Historical Society, Lucas
                                                                                                                                                                                              curriculum, to consider ways to
         develop the square on her own, in later       9, col 7. The deed for the land specified    Place Collection, https://mohistory.org/    27
                                                                                                                                                   Editorial comment, St. Louis               promote interest in history and the
         developments, she was typically listed as     four major restrictions: “First, No          search?text=Lucas%20Place                   Post-Dispatch, April 28, 1880, 2, 4.          welfare of the profession, and to
         co-owner, though many times it was her        tenement of any description shall be
                                                                                                                                                                                              discuss other concerns common
         property being sold. Most transactions,       erected” and created a setback                “Along Olive Street,” St. Louis
                                                                                                    12                                          28
                                                                                                                                                  “The Missouri Park,” St. Louis
         however, were made under the name of          “twenty-five feed to the front line of       Post-Dispatch, December 11, 1887, 21.       Post-Dispatch, May 24, 1880, 4.               to all historians.
         her brother James H. Lucas (1800–1873)        said premises. . . . second, For the
         or his business. But in terms of land         term of thirty years . . . [prohibits]       13
                                                                                                       Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass            29
                                                                                                                                                  “Westward,” St. Louis
         ownership, typically, if James owned one      any Family Grocery, Apothecary shop,         Frontier: The Suburbanization of the        Post-Dispatch, December 7, 1883, 2.
         half of the block, Anne would then own        Coffee House, Eating house,                  United States (New York: Oxford
         the other side. Their father, Judge John      Restaurant, Dram Shop, Theatre, Circus,      University Press, 1985), 55.                30
                                                                                                                                                  “To Make Locust A Handsome Street,”
         Baptiste Charles Lucas (1758–1842),           or any other business of amusement, or                                                   St. Louis Republic, May 14 1903, 2.
         equitably distributed the land in his         of the bargain or sale of any description    14
                                                                                                         Ibid., 55.
         estate between his son and daughter.          of goods, wares, or merchandize.” It                                                     31
                                                                                                                                                     Ibid.
                                                       then prohibited any construction of any      15
                                                                                                         Ibid.
         5
          The land used for Summit Square was          of the above-mentioned businesses                                                        32
                                                                                                                                                   Others who have written on the
         gifted to Anne by her father after her        after thirty years without the express       16
                                                                                                      “City Engineer’s Report – 10 May          development of St. Louis’ residential
         marriage to Theodore Hunt. See Laws           approval of all the owners on Lucas          1858,” Daily Missouri Republican,           areas have similarly argued that
         of the State of Missouri, Chapter 85,         Place. If an owner of the land was found     May 18, 1858, 4.                            St. Louisans were increasingly
         dated 11 Dec. 182,8 in Laws of a Public       in violation of any of these restrictions,                                               seeking alternatives to housing above
         & General Nature of the State of              their property would then be reverted        17
                                                                                                         Ibid.                                  the downtown area of shops and
         Missouri passed between 1824 & 1836,          to the hands of James Lucas and his                                                      industry. However, they posit that such a
         Jefferson City, 1842, 2:139.                  heirs, according to the deed. See James      18
                                                                                                       Lucas Market consisted of the block      change occurred because of class
                                                       H. Lucas to Carlos S. Greeley and Daniel     to the west of today’s St. Louis Public     anxieties and a concern for the social
         6
           The market’s location is described as       B. Gale, Missouri History Society Library,   Library, along the street we now refer      issues that emerged from blending
         a meadow as late as 1842, according to        Treadway Papers Collection, January 1,       to as Tucker Blvd. to the west of where     residential and business social spheres.
         the “Annual Review, History of St. Louis,     1853; Charles Savage claims the architect    Tucker now widens.                          Glen E. Holt, “The Shaping of St. Louis,
         Commercial Statistics, Improvements           George I. Barnett worked with Lucas                                                      1763-1860” (PhD dis., University
         of the Year, and Account of Leading           to introduce the deed restrictions on        19
                                                                                                      James H. Lucas, et al., Letter to the     of Chicago, 1975) 317-318, 325;
         Manufactories, Etc.,” from the Missouri       Lucas Place. See Charles C. Savage,          Board of Park Commissioners, Missouri       Richard Allen Rosen, “St. Louis,
         Republican, January 10, 1854 (St. Louis,      The Architecture of the Private Streets of   History Museum Archives, St. Louis,         Missouri, 1850-1865,” 93.
         Chambers & Knapp), 1854, 43; for the          St. Louis: The Architects and the Houses     October 29th, 1876.
         quotation about the meadow and its            they Designed (Columbia: University
         surrounding of timber, see Elihu              of Missouri Press, 1987) 13.                 20
                                                                                                         Ibid.
         Hotchkiss Shepard, The Early History
         of St. Louis and Missouri (St. Louis:         9
                                                         Savage, The Architecture of the            21
                                                                                                       Swekosky papers, S.1.7.2a, Missouri
         Southwestern Book & Publishing Co.,           Private Streets of St. Louis, 8–9.           History Museum.
         1870), 136.
A publication of Lindenwood University Press Fall/Winter 2020 - Fall/Winter 2020 | Lindenwood University
fall/winter ’20

pg. 14                                                                                                                                                                     pg. 15

                                                                                            KREKEL & KRIBBEN–

                                                                             DIVERGING VIEWS |
                                                                                      | ON THE FUTURE OF SLAVERY
                                                                                                                                                      by   stev e ehlmann

                                                                               In 1848, Arnold Krekel and Christian Kribben were young, free-thinking
                                                                               lawyers and aspiring Democratic politicians, whose families had emigrated
                                                                               from Prussia to St. Charles County, Missouri, in the 1830s. Like most German-Americans,
                                                                               both initially opposed the spread of slavery into the territories, but neither was an
                                                                               abolitionist. In 1854 they began moving in opposite directions.

Engraving from William Still’s 1872 book The Underground Railroad Records,
with modern watercolor enhancement. (Image: Shutterstock)
A publication of Lindenwood University Press Fall/Winter 2020 - Fall/Winter 2020 | Lindenwood University
fall/winter ’20

pg. 16                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         pg. 17

          By July 1863, in the midst of a               Both men joined the Democratic         resolutions to ensure slaveholders’
          Civil War that would determine                Party to oppose anti-immigrant         right to take their slaves into
          the slavery question, William                 and anti-Catholic Nativists in         the new territories. Senator
          Tausig, Presiding Judge of St.                the Whig Party. While both came        Thomas Hart Benton opposed
          Louis County, reported to the                 from Catholic families, each           him, insisting the future of the
          Neue Zeit that President Abraham              became free-thinking anti-clerics.     country depended on free soil
          Lincoln had asked him, “Why                   Political opponents would use          and free labor and warning that
          don’t the Germans of Missouri                 their German origin and support        the slavery issue could destroy
          stand still?” Krekel had not stood            for “Red Republican doctrines          the Union. In 1848 Claiborne
          still and now favored emancipation            of Europe” against them as the         Fox Jackson passed the Jackson
          in Missouri, while the Neue Zeit              debate over slavery intensified. 3     Resolutions in the Missouri General
          described Kribben as someone                                                         Assembly, opposing Benton and
          who had stood still but explained                 After a rally for Democratic       asserting Congress had no power
          he had not “receded more than                 presidential candidate James K.        to limit or prohibit slavery in
          the times have advanced,” but                 Polk in 1844, the pro-Democrat         the territories. 7
          “no longer understood the times;              Missouri Republican reported
          that was all.” 1                              that Kribben spoke “in a brief,            That year, while both shared
                                                        but spirited and eloquent manner,      Benton’s concerns, Kribben went
                                                        showing the importance of the          a step further than Krekel. After
                                                        present contest and the magnitude      the New York State Democrat-
                                                        of the Texas question.” 4              ic Party refused to endorse the
                                                        Missouri’s U.S. Senator Thomas         Wilmot Proviso, a faction known
                                                        Hart Benton, who had opposed           as Barnburners opposed the
                                                        the Texas Annexation Treaty,           Democratic nominee Lewis Cass
                                                        was forced to work hard to win         and joined with others to form
                                                        re-election that year. Kribben         the Free Soil Party, nominating as
                                                        was nominated for St. Louis city       their candidate former President
                                                        attorney in 1846, but the Whigs        Martin Van Buren. Kribben
                                                        nearly swept the municipal             signed a Barnburner Call insisting,
                                                        elections that year and elected        “He was an enemy of slavery and,
                                                        the first nativist mayor of St.        if he were able to drive it out of
                                                        Louis.5 The following year, Krekel     Missouri with a wave of his hand
                                                        was elected St. Charles County         or a nod of his head, he would
         Arnold Krekel (1815-1888) emigrated from       surveyor as a Democrat, receiving      do so in a second. He drank his
            Germany in 1832 at age 17 and moved
         to St. Charles, Missouri. His lengthy career   65 percent in the three townships      hatred for slavery from his
         included editing a newspaper, working as       with highest percentages of            mother’s breast and inherited it
             an attorney and a surveyor, serving
            in the Union Army, presiding over the       German voters.6                        from his forefathers!” 8
          1865 Missouri Constitutional Convention,
                 and as a U.S. District judge.              Kribben enlisted as a lieutenant       Even though Benton opposed
             (Image: St. Charles County Archives)
                                                        in an all-German artillery unit        it, passage of the Compromise
                                                        under the command of General           of 1850 defused somewhat the
              Arnold Krekel, born in 1815,
                                                        Alexander Donovan after the            slavery issue. That year, Kribben
          was six years older than Christian
                                                        outbreak of the Mexican War in         was in Europe and Krekel was an
          Kribben. Each received schooling
                                                        1846. During the war, the United       unsuccessful candidate for the
          in Germany before immigrating
                                                        States House of Representatives        State Senate. The following year
          to Missouri with their families at
                                                        passed the Wilmot Proviso, which       Krekel was elected city attorney       Christian Kribben studied law under Thomas Cunningham, attorney and mayor of St. Charles,
          age seventeen. Both eventually
                                                        would have excluded slavery from       for St. Charles, but the legislature    who published this notice of slave sale in 1844. (Image: State Historical Society of Missouri)
          studied the law in St. Charles,
                                                        any new territories gained in the      denied Benton re-election to the
          where Kribben began his practice
                                                        war. When the matter reached           Senate. A month later, Krekel
          in 1843, as did Krekel in 1844, the
                                                        the United States Senate,              began publishing the St. Charles
          year Kribben moved to St. Louis.2
                                                        Senator John C. Calhoun offered        Demokrat, the first German
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pg. 18                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          pg. 19

                                                Forecasting political death for the Democratic Party, this cartoon imagines a funeral
                                            of its standard-bearers with Senators (left to right) Sam Houston, Thomas Hart Benton,
                                                       carrying a slip of paper with the words, “Last of the Family Reign,” and John
                                               Calhoun, carrying a manacle labeled “Slavery,” serving as pall bearers for the bodies
                                                                   of Martin Van Buren and Lewis Cass. (Image: Library of Congress)

                                                                                                                                                            Founded in 1852, the Demokrat was published by Krekel for four years, after
                                                                                                                                                                which it was edited by his political allies. (Image: Steve Ehlmann)

                                                                                                                                        votes, becoming the first German       Nebraska and guarantee “popular           Benton,” causing the pro-Benton
                                                                                                                                        immigrant elected to the Missouri      sovereignty,” whereby the people          Neue Zeit to editorialize:
                                                                                                                                        General Assembly and an opponent       of each territory would decide
                                                                                                                                        of the Jackson Resolutions. While      whether to allow slavery. Shortly           When a German tramples
                                                                                                                                        the legislature had passed a           thereafter, Representative Krekel           under foot all the traditions
                                                                                                                                        statute requiring observance of        attended a meeting allegedly                of his native land, all the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           achievements of philosophy,
                                                                                                                                        the Puritan Sunday practiced by        “composed of the confidential               of enlightenment and humanity,
                                                                                                                                        English-speaking Protestants,          friends and mouth-pieces of                 which he has brought with
                                                                                                                                        closing theaters, concerts, beer       Benton,” opposing what became               him from his old home—when
                                                                                                                                        halls, and wine gardens —all           known as the Kansas-Nebraska                a German obtrudes himself
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           to be the advocate and
                                                                                                                                        significant to Germans, who            Act. The abrogation of the                  representative of slavery and
                                                                                                                                        observed the “Continental              Missouri Compromise provoked                all its consequences—when
                                                                                                                                        Sunday,” during which even             a strong reaction from                      he degrades himself to a
                                                                                                                                        religious Germans enjoyed beer,        opponents of slavery. 17                    Thompson German, and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           becomes the servile hod-carrier
                                                                                                                                        wine, music, and the theater on
                                                                                                                                                                                   Anti-slavery Germans were               of slavocrats, then there is an
                                                                                                                                        Sunday—Krekel did not attack                                                       end to all mercy, and such
                                                                                                                                        the Sunday, or any other existing      further alarmed when Congressmen            an exemplary exception of a
                                                                                                                                        law, “regarded with sacredness         from slaveholding states, including         German must be placed
         language newspaper in St. Charles        personalities out of the game.” 1 0        campaign.” 12 But Kribben, having          by the American people.” 15            Senator John B. Thompson, a                 before public opinion in his
         County, and praised Benton               Neither did, and to oppose                 changed his mind while in Europe,                                                 Whig from Kentucky, attempted               entire nudity, to serve as a
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       19
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           horrid example to others.
         for his opposition to Calhoun’s          the Whig candidate for state               parted ways with Benton and                    Kribben married Edith Delafield    to amend the Homestead Bill by
         resolutions, which “contained all        representative, St. Charles                Krekel on the slavery issue, and           in St. Louis in February 1854.         confining benefits to “heads of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             About the same time, a
         of the principles and tenets that        County Democrats were forced               supported Bogy. 13 Heinrich                Edith, a non-German, had been          families” and to “citizens of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Krekel critic, citing the German
         the Missouri legislature later           to choose between Maj. George              Boernstein, editor of the                  born in Ohio, and the Kribbens         United States.” Many German
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Progressive Party’s support for
         passed in the infamous Jackson           W. Huston, “a bitter Anti-Benton           pro-Benton Anzeiger, decried               did not own slaves. Krekel and his     men, who had left their families
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         several “Red Republican doctrines
         resolutions.” His primary concern        man,” and Krekel, “a Bentonian,”           the pro-Whig Republican for                wife, Ida, also a German immigrant,    in Germany until they could pay
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         of Europe,” as well as opposition
         was that they “were intended to          causing one observer to state              supporting Bogy, suggesting it             owned two slaves. They, like most      their passage, would not have
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         to the extension of slavery and
         prepare the split of the union.” 9       sarcastically, “This is the kind           “has a particular inclination and          Missouri Germans, had reached          the right to homestead prior to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         support for the Homestead Bill,
                                                  of ‘union and harmony’ that                tenderness for the most regular            an accommodation with slavery          naturalization. 18
             Missouri Democrats reconciled                                                                                                                                                                               charged him with “anti-American
                                                  prevails all over the state.” 11           [Democrat] Christian Kribben               where it existed, but they feared
         in 1852, running an anti-Benton                                                                                                                                          Benton announced his                   sentiments” and “exciting the
                                                                                             and for the more than regular              its spread could lead to disunion.
         candidate for governor, while                That same month, after Krekel                                                                                            candidacy for the Senate seat to          Germans against American
                                                                                             ‘Democratic Press.’” Indeed,               They were reassured that the
         pro-Benton men were nominated            had seen the new Demokratische                                                                                               be filled by the legislature after        institutions,” whether it involved
                                                                                             Boernstein charged, “Mr.                   Missouri Compromise, which
         for down-ticket offices. When            Presse edited by Kribben, he                                                                                                 the election. The Anzeiger’s pages        Sunday or slavery. Krekel, who
                                                                                             Kribben is opposed to Benton,”             prohibited slavery in territories
         Benton ran for Congress against          again called for reconciliation,                                                                                             bristled with editorials assailing        had repudiated the party, alleged
                                                                                             and “Bogy is the representative            north of Missouri’s southern
         Democrat Lewis Bogy and a Whig           commenting, “We hope that Mr.                                                                                                Douglas, with whom Kribben                “deliberate villainy” and accused
                                                                                             of the Southern nullifiers —               border, would stop the spread of
         candidate, Krekel editorialized,         Kribben, a good advocate/lawyer                                                                                              clearly had cast his lot. Kribben         his critic of attempting “to
                                                                                             the ultra-slave-holders —the               slavery into new territories. 16
         “We hope this split within the           who grew up in this area, will                                                                                               spoke in favor of Senator Douglas         excite the religious feeling of
                                                                                             faction that would destroy
         party will be completely mended          not use his talents for personal                                                         However, in early 1854, Senator     and the Kansas-Nebraska Act,              Catholics by charging that I am
                                                                                             this glorious Union. . . .” 14
         once the outstanding men of both         squabbling, but to vigorously and                                                     Stephen Douglas of Illinois,           urging Germans not to go like             opposed to them.” 20
         branches, who are partly responsible     jointly represent the interests of            On Election Day, Benton was             hoping to ease sectional tensions,     a “herd of sheep to vote for
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             While Krekel was mentioned
         for the split, will finally, decide to   the Democracy, particularly in             elected to Congress and Krekel             proposed legislation to establish
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         as a possible pro-Benton candidate
         make the small sacrifice of leaving      view of the upcoming election              was elected to the House by six            the territories of Kansas and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         for Congress that year, after
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pg. 20                                                                                                                                            pg. 21

                           We would much
                           rather give our
                                 vote to a true democrat.

         stating, “We would much rather        Missouri, Benton supporters,           election in August 1857. After
         give our vote to a true Democrat,”    now called Free Democrats,             National Democrat Robert
         he endorsed the Whig candidate        continued to work for free soil. In    Stewart, a native of New York
         because he opposed the Kansas-        1857 State Representative Gratz        State, announced his candidacy to
         Nebraska Act. 21 Regarding            Brown, editor of the Missouri          be elected governor on the same
         Benton, Krekel assured readers        Democrat, called for the gradual       day, the Glasgow Weekly Times
         of the Demokrat, “We are warm         emancipation of the slaves,            explained, “Black Republicans             To promote a
                                                                                                                                northern route for the
         friends of the old hero, and do not   citing economic rather than            prefer Northern men. They know            transcontinental railroad
         feel ourselves at liberty to strike   humanitarian reasons. When             their love of slavery is lip-love,        that would benefit his
                                                                                                                                Illinois constituents
         him down, either for his vote on      declining health forced Benton to      whereas a southerner stands by            Senator Stephen A.
         the Nebraska or Texas question.”      retire from public life, many of his   the cause of the south, upon principle.   Douglas wanted to
                                                                                                                                organize the territory of
         As to Benton’s detractors, Krekel     supporters joined Francis P. Blair,    Kayser and Kribben know what              Nebraska, which would
         pointed out that Benton had           who had been elected to Congress       they are about. . . . They are all        have become a free
                                                                                                                                state under the Missouri
         passed the Homestead bill in          and announced a plan in 1858 to        against slavery, and they know            Compromise. Douglas
         the House of Representatives          emancipate the slaves and remove       if Stewart is elected, they will          proposed creating Kansas
                                                                                                                                and Nebraska to gain
         and asked, “Is it for this you        them from the country. After           have an approachable person ‘at           Southern support, leaving
         bloodhounds howl upon his track,      Free Democrats joined other            court.’” 27 The same paper later          it up to the settlers and
                                                                                                                                providing an opportunity
         and seek to dabble your thirsty       anti-slavery factions in opposition    complained about “Van Burenites           for Kansas to be the
         jaws in the old man’s gore, and       to the National Democrats,             like Kribben—that supports such           complimentary slave
                                                                                                                                state, thus preserving the
         riot on the carcass of him under      they could not agree on a name         abolition papers as the German            balance in the Senate.
         whose fostering care the              and became known simply as             Chronicle, which supports the             (Image: Library of
                                                                                                                                Congress)
         Democracy have acquired all           “The Opposition.” 25                   New York Yankee for governor,
         their glory and renown.” 22                                                  because ‘he was not a slaveholder’
                                                   Meanwhile, another split was       and would be the ‘first to lend his
            Benton was not sent back to        developing between those who           hand’ toward its abolishment.” 28
         the Senate, and his forces were       wanted the Democratic Party
         not even seated at the 1856           to remain a national party                 Proponents of slavery reminded
         Democratic National Convention.       and those who wanted it to protect     German audiences that many
         When Benton ran for governor          the sectional interest of the          abolitionists were also nativists.
         that year, Krekel ran as the          South. The issue was especially        When a jury quickly acquitted
         pro-Benton candidate for              intense in Missouri, given its         Kribben after a Grand Jury indicted
         attorney general, opposing those      proximity to “bleeding Kansas,”        him for “false pretense,” even
         who became known as “National         where the pro-slavery Lecompton        though the supposed victim stated
         Democrats.” After Kribben spoke       Constitution was approved at an        he had no complaint against him,
         in German, the Republican noted,      election boycotted by anti slavery     the Republican called it “Failure of
         “the Germans of Quincy still          voters. The Columbia Democrat          the Free-soil Know-Nothings to
         maintained their proud position       asked, “Are our Pro-Slavery, and       Reduce a Political Opponent to
         upon the old national Democratic      as they claim, National ‘Americans,’   their Own Level.” 29 In St. Louis
         platform.” 23 However, when he        prepared to cooperate with             on Election Day, Stewart lost by
         spoke in English across the river     Blair, Brown, Boernstein, Krekel       1,500 votes and Kribben, whom
         in Hannibal, a nativist identified    and company, in their efforts to       one newspaper described as “Bob
         Kribben as a “Red-Republican          ‘demonstrate to the Union’ that        Stewarts’s Major General,” lost by
         Dutchman” and advised, “The           the subject of emancipation            444 votes. Stewart, however, won
         democracy had better let such         will be agitated in Missouri until     statewide by less than 300 votes
         men as Kribben stay at home for       she has become a free state?” 26       over Opposition candidate James
         American citizens cannot learn                                               Rollins and, in January, appointed
         the duty they owe their country           Kribben announced his              Kribben Division Inspector for
         on advice from a foreigner.” 24       candidacy to fill a vacancy in the     the 1st Military District of the
                                               St. Louis delegation to the            Militia in St. Louis, with the rank
            While National Democrats           Missouri House at a special            of colonel. 30
         swept the state offices in
fall/winter ’20

pg. 22
                                                                                                                                Jayhawkers had been                                                                                                         pg. 23

                                                                                                                                crossing the border to
                                                                                                                                           free slaves, and Governor Stewart
                                                                                                                                                                                      reluctantly sent militia
                                                                                                                                                                                      units to Bates and Vernon
             A prominent jurist later wrote,     the Germans in his audience that         fifty-eight for the opposition. 38        When the House met to                             counties in Missouri.
         “Few lawyers were better known          James B. Gardenhire, his opponent                                              organize, Representative Sitton
         in his day than Kribben and he          for the legislature, had been a              After Douglas declared the        zeroed in on Representative
         exercised a large influence with        Know-Nothing. A reviewer called          pro-slavery Lecompton                 Kribben from the left, citing
         the German population.” 31              his performance “one of the most         Constitution was a “fraudulent        the same speech and stating
         Members of the German Peters            logical and powerful arguments           submission,” Congress rejected        sarcastically, “If the National
         family hired Kribben to defend          in behalf of Democratic                  it and ordered another election       Democratic Party sent such men
         them after they were indicted for       principles and policy, and               that resulted in a new expression     here he was a National Democrat.” 41
         beating their slave Lucy nearly to      against the conglomeration of            of “popular sovereignty” from         Sitton “divested himself of
         death. With increasing concern          Know-Nothingism and Black                a large majority of anti-slavery      the exclusive proprietary
         in the German community over            Republicanism, here denominated          Kansas voters and seemed to settle    title conferred on him by the
         the plight of slaves, the Anzeiger      [by] the Union Party.” 34 He took        the Kansas question. However,         Republican” and shared it with
         had assured its readers the Peters      the position that, if the Constitution   Jayhawkers had been crossing the      Kribben. The Glasgow Weekly
         family had agreed to manumit            allowed a slaveholder to be              border to free slaves, and Governor   Times now reported the divestiture
         Lucy, and the German community          divested of his slave property, no       Stewart reluctantly sent militia      “created some merriment and a
         could stop raising money to buy         one’s property was safe, arguing:        units to Bates and Vernon             good deal of feeling on the part
         her freedom. The paper was                                                       counties in Missouri. Kribben         of Mr. Kribben,” who explained
         outraged when the family, on the                                                 informed Stewart that he              that, to keep the Germans from
                                                  A man’s abstract notion as to           disagreed with his decision,
         advice of their lawyer, changed its      whether slavery, which had                                                    voting for Gardenhire, he had to              Some pro-slavery Missourians were suspicious of Governor Robert
         mind and noted “a remarkable             been entailed upon us by the            explaining, “The step to send         make a stronger free-soil speech                 Stewart, who had been president of the Hannibal & St. Joseph
                                                                                                                                                                               Railroad, because one of its largest shareholders was the family
         fact that a German family that so        mother country, was right or            troops there now will make a          than him and make sure it was                  of Eli Thayer of Boston, a known abolitionist who had argued the
         cruelly mistreated a poor defenseless    wrong, had nothing to do with           noise in the world; it may give       “good enough Morgan.” 42                      600,000 acres of land along the railroad would be more valuable
                                                  the question now agitating                                                                                                    if Missouri were a free state. (Image: Missouri Historical Society)
         negro woman that even in a slave                                                 our enemies a hold again on the
                                                  the public mind. It was among
         state the law intervened . . . and it    us, and it was not merely a
                                                                                          Kansas question.” 39                      After Sitton thanked Kribben
         is a German who as lawyer for            matter of dollars and cents,                                                  for his youthful service to Van        Stating he had changed his mind            slaves in Missouri by abolitionist
                                                  but a question of good                      After the election, the           Buren and nominated him for
         the family resisted the single step                                                                                                                           after a two-year stay in Europe, he        John Brown. When the Militia
                                                  faith involving personal and            Republican heralded the fact that     speaker, Krekel wrote with some
         that could have redeemed in the          inalienable rights — rights
                                                                                                                                                                       explained, “When I returned, the           Act, appropriating $30,000 to
                                                                                          Representative James O. Sitton        sarcasm of his own: “Mr. Kribben
         eyes of their fellow citizens and        that cannot be disregarded                                                                                           change that had taken place in my          enable the governor to “suppress
                                                                                          from Gasconade County was the         is said to be an able gentleman,
         make right again the injustice           without endangering                                                                                                  mind during my absence was the             and bring to justice the banditti
                                                  our whole social and                    only emancipationist elected to       a good advocate/lawyer, a
         committed on humanity.” 32                                                                                                                                    cause of the difference between            on the western border of the
                                                  political fabric.
                                                                    35
                                                                                          the legislature. But ultra-pro-       German whom he, Sitton, largely        Mr., Benton and myself, prior              state” came to the floor of the
            After Colonel Kribben became                                                  slavery newspapers continued          credits with his election, and         to which time I was his personal           House, Kribben introduced a
         a candidate for one of the ten St.          Kribben, owning no slaves,           to attack representative-elect        Mr. Kribben is sure to make a          friend.” 44 Sitton then ended the          substitute bill increasing the
         Louis County seats in the Missouri      asked the simple question, “If they      Kribben from the right, claiming      splendid speaker!” 43                  charade, criticizing the National          appropriation to $50,000. While
         House in 1858, he informed the          really intend that the Negro shall       that while contending abolition
                                                                                                                                                                       Democratic Party by claiming no            the substitute was defeated, the
         governor of complaints by “the          be free, why do they not set the         was unconstitutional, he had             Kribben said he was ashamed
                                                                                                                                                                       man “can get an office who does            original bill passed and expanded
         German Companies” of the militia,       example by manumitting their             suggested, “if it could be winked     he had supported van Buren and
                                                                                                                                                                       not change ground, holler ‘Nigger’         the powers of the governor to
         writing, “I wish you to remind          own slaves.” 36 That same month          out of the state, he would set        blamed it on his youth, explaining:
                                                                                                                                                                       and commence pulling Negro                 deal with Jayhawkers. 46
         them of their duty as military men      Krekel, who still owned a slave,         his eyes to winking quite fast.”
                                                                                                                                                                       wool over everybody’s eyes.” 45
         and officers,” and to inform them       claimed the National Democrats           One article concluded that such        The predilections of most                                                            Like Krekel earlier, Kribben
                                                                                          a speech “leaves little room to        foreign persons who come to
         that their behavior “is not only        had “sinned against the people                                                  this country, not acquainted
                                                                                                                                                                          Kribben would have an                   had to battle the “Sunday
         reprehensible and unmilitary,           and how no man, who was still            rejoice over the defeat of black                                             opportunity to demonstrate his             fanatics” in the legislature, who
                                                                                                                                 with the institution of slavery,
         but renders them subject to             honest and open about Missouri,          Republicanism in Jefferson             are adverse to it. I do not           anti-abolitionist credentials.             called Kribben “a low-flung,
         Court Martial.” 33                      could still support this party.” 37      City,” while another regretted,        deny that such were my                Governor Stewart sent the                  vulgar Dutchman.” 47 As they had
                                                 On Election Day, Kribben                 “Cordell is endorsed by the            first impressions; but on
                                                                                                                                                                       General Assembly a special                 with Krekel, nativists like
             When Kribben spoke in                                                        National. Kribben is endorsed          subsequent acquaintance
                                                 became one of seventy-four                                                      with its workings I discovered        message detailing troubles along           Representative Charles Drake
         Jefferson City in favor of the          National Democrats elected               by them, and Senator Douglas           its harmony with the                  the border with the Kansas                 used his criticism of the Sunday
         National Democrat candidate             to the Missouri House of                 will be shortly.” 40                   Constitution, and my views            territory, including the freeing of        Law to suggest he was no better
         Enos B. Cordell, he reminded            Representatives, compared to                                                    underwent a transformation.                                                      than an abolitionist:
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