Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about the history of St. Louis, Missouri, family history, classic film, and miscellaneous history.
On September 15, 1919, St. Louis citizens woke up to read about the death of one of their oldest citizens, Alexander Baptiste. Just a few months before his 101st or 102nd birthday depending on which source you believed, Alexander Baptiste passed away from intestinal disease. For years, Alexander was known as one of the fittest St. Louisans. An early advocate
My grandfather’s first cousin, Julius W. “Joe” Johannpeter, was one of St. Louis’ airplane pioneers. Julius, who was known in the family as “Punks”, joined the Air National Guard in the mid-1920s. He would be commissioned as a Lieutenant. Julius flew planes for both the military and civilian air corps. Most of the men in his unit, which included Charles
During the last week of December 1902, William Rudolph, a recently returned miner to Franklin County, and George Collins robbed the Union Bank in Union, MO. They robbed it overnight, when no one was present by blowing up the safe. Rudolph returned to his parents’ cabin in Stanton, MO. He and his accomplice hid out until the Franklin County Sheriff
On February 10, 1897, 60-year-old William H. Stewart, a civil engineer, died in St. Louis City Hospital. Stewart passed away from a morphine overdose. St. Louis Police originally thought it was a case of suicide or accidental overdose. Stewart lived with his son-in-law F.C. Bennett at 2634 Dickson Street. Mr. Bennett categorically denied Mr. Stewart used drugs of any kind.
On Wednesday, January 10, 1900, St. Louis Police Officer Paul Girard was standing at the corner of S. Taylor and Lindell Boulevard, when he saw a man jump from the second floor of 4511 Lindell Boulevard. Aware of recent burglaries in the wealthy Central West End neighborhood, Girard approached the man. When the limping man saw Girard, he ran towards S.
Over his 17 year career, St. Louis Chief of Detectives William Desmond dealt with many criminal’s family members. Some family members were as bad or worse than the criminal Chief Desmond and his men had locked up. However, many family members were honest, hard-working people, who struggled to understand what went wrong with their loved one. Early in his career
On the morning of Wednesday, July 8, 1885, the Coroner’s Clerk Jimmy Spaulding rushed into the Police Court at the Four Courts building. Spaulding announced one of the jail inmates waiting in the holding pen had just escaped. While most of the members of court sat stunned, Detective Billy Desmond jumped to his feet and rushed out of the courtroom.
Roland V. West bought the rights and directed The Bat (1926), one of the first “old dark house” mysteries for United Artist in 1926. Arthur Edeson was the cinematographer for both this film and The Old Dark House (1932), which share similar Expressionist elements. Both films are set in large mansions, which have seen better days. The key to the
The Tuesday Evening, February 18, 1919, edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch detailed the arrest of two men and two women for the theft of numerous luxury items. Aware that a shoplifting ring was working a couple of the local jewelry stores, the St. Louis Police Department assigned several undercover police women to follow the suspects. Their work resulted in the
St. Louis Chief of Detectives William Desmond was known for his ability to gain confessions from criminals. Unlike other detectives, who would sometimes use physical intimidation, Desmond eschewed the “third degree”. Chief Desmond believed information obtained by beating suspects was completely unreliable. Desmond would start a discussion with the suspect. After putting him or her at ease, Desmond would let