Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about the history of St. Louis, Missouri, family history, classic film, and miscellaneous history.
Eduard Mosblech is my maternal great-grandfather. Eduard was born in St. Louis, Missouri on October 24, 1884, to German immigrants Gustave Mosblech and Bertha Mosblech nee Monse. Often written as Edward but pronounced like putting together aid and ward, Eduard was as unique as his name. I struggled with writing much about him because the stories I heard about him
When it comes to machine politics and organized crime, Kansas City has always outshone St. Louis. Kansas City’s Pendergast political machine helped land Harry S. Truman in the White House. Kansas City was also home to several high-profile gangland shootings. St. Louis’ last organized crime leader was arrested for playing cards. We did have a Democratic party political machine around
21-year old Charles Merrell had already served a term in the Missouri Penitentiary for stealing a car in Scotland County, when he got the idea to hold up the Morris Packing Company on Saturday, April 22, 1922. Merrell could not pull the job by himself, so he recruited another ex-convict, 33-year-old Hugh Pinkley. Merrell was employed as a mechanic at
Weeks ago, I was looking for a copy of Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott from my grandfather’s old library. Grandpa Gilbert P. Ellis had a library that he gave me in the early 1990s. These books and his desk are treasures that will stay with me until the day I die. As a kid, I used to sit in his
Before he was the “Sherlock Holmes of St. Louis”, St. Louis Chief of Detectives William Desmond was Detective “Billy” Desmond. One of the most talented detectives in St. Louis Police history, Desmond met one of the most famous international criminals in history, Eddie Guerin, in the mid-1880s. Guerin robbed the American Express Office in Paris in the early 1900s. French
On the morning of Saturday, April 22, 1922, a green Paige automobile pulled up in front of the Morris Packing Company at 3000 S. Broadway. One man emerged, looked around and waived for his companion to exit the back seat. After hesitating for a few seconds, the other man exited as the automobile crawled down the busy street. The time
On December 1, 1938 at 5:15 pm, former professional wrestler and all-around athlete George Baptiste passed away at 74 years of age. While enjoying robust strength his whole life, Baptiste’s doctor discovered he had stomach cancer in June 1938. The doctor operated on Baptiste but was unable to remove all the cancer. Baptiste had been living at his country home
Last Monday, I was able to scratch a big item off my bucket list. I attended a Liverpool Football Club game in person. Liverpool FC came to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri on August 1, 2016 to play a preseason game with AS Roma. My daughter Caity attended the match with me, which made the day extra special. I
Buildings are just piles of boards and bricks without the stories that are attached to them. During November 1912, St. Louis Police Officer Arthur Huddleston was killed by paroled murderer Albert Whitefield. Whitefield had surprised his common-law wife, who was entertaining another gentleman caller. Whitefield attempted to kill her before two St. Louis Police Officers responded to her cries for
On Tuesday, November 5, 1901, St. Louis Police captured Ben Kilpatrick and Laura Bullion for their part in the Great Northern train robbery in Montana on July 2, 1901. Before the case was settled, Kilpatrick would serve 10 years and Laura Bullion would serve three and a half years in the Missouri Penitentiary but it would take several weeks for