Martial Artist, Historian and Writer
Posts about miscellaneous history topics.
Last week, I was picking up my oldest son Kenneth from his new job. Kenneth’s workplace is located next to the Baptist church, where he and his brother Caleb attended preschool. I tried to remember how we discovered the preschool because we didn’t attend the church nor were we Baptists. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember how we
Thomas Kinney would be elected a Missouri State Senator before his untimely death in 1912. The 43-year-old State Senator was responsible for several pieces of legislation, which benefited the poor and working class in Missouri. Prior to his service, however, St. Louis knew a different Thomas Kinney. Tom “Snake” Kinney was how Kinney was known in
After Theodore Roosevelt won reelection in his own right during November 1904, TR impetuously announced he would not run for another term. His inner circle, particularly his wife Edith, would think the decision a mistake. However, once Theodore Roosevelt made a pronouncement, he intended to keep his word. Roosevelt picked his Secretary of War and former
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther performed one of the most courageous acts of a church man in the Sixteenth Century. He nailed a protest, his 95 theses, to the door of the Wittenberg Church. His act directly challenged Papal authority and the practices of indulgences. Historically, it is often seen as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
On Labor Day 1902, September 1st, six members of the local Naval Reserve decided to take a skiff out on the Mississippi River for Labor Day. The men ranged in age from 18 to 20 years old. The owner of the skiff hesitated to rent them the skiff due to the Mississippi river level rising to dangerous levels for
On a snowy February afternoon in St. Louis during 1905, a St. Louis streetcar struck pioneering female physician Dr. Augusta Smith. Dr. Smith had spoken with a neighbor and crossed Etzel Avenue to catch the Page Avenue Streetcar. Workmen had excavated a hole in the street and Dr. Smith was standing on a pile of dirt
George Baptiste spent about twenty years serving as St. Louis’ resident all-around athlete before taking over the company, Baptiste Tent and Awning, founded by his father Alexander Baptiste. Besides plying his trade as an occasional but accomplished professional wrestler, Baptise was a powerful swimmer. On August 11, 1900, Baptiste used his swimming skills to save another St. Louisan
St. Louis Chief of Detectives William Desmond’s success in capturing many desperate criminals made him a celebrity of sorts particularly among aspiring detectives. When Edgar Allan Poe wrote three tales based on the exploits of fictional detective C. Auguste Dupin, detective fiction captured the attention of readers. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle popularized the genre permanently with his fictional
On Thursday, January 14, 1903, a fire broke out in the basement of the St. Louis Orphan Children’s Home at 903 Aubert Avenue in the Fountain Park neighborhood. The fire sparked around 3:30 pm and quickly filled the home with smoke. The matron Tena Williamson sounded the alarm. At the time of the fire, 98 children
On January 27, 1904, six laborers entered a manhole at Second and Plum Streets to clean out the sewer. The tunnel was only about two and half feet in diameter. After the men had travelled about 150 feet, sewer gas started to over come the men. Realizing the danger of their situation, the men started backing down the