Eleventh in a series

Names that live on buildings, streets, etc.

(Editor's note: This is the 11th in a series about famous St. Louisans buried in local cemeteries. Information for this article is from St. Louisan Kevin Amsler's book, "Final Resting Place: The Lives and Deaths of Famous St. Louisans.")

St. Louis likes to keep the names of famous forbearers alive by putting them on current buildings, streets and schools. Thus, the names of Sappington, Duchesne, Shaw, De Smet and Kiel are familiar to current residents.

And, of course, sports figures are included.

Famous Missourians named in this article are buried in a variety of local cemeteries.

(You can read earlier articles by clicking on Past Stories on the YSL.com home page. The series started in October, 2006, and has continued each month. The series will end in September, 2007, with an article about famous St. Louisans buried elsewhere.

(To buy Mr. Amsler's book, visit a local bookstore or visit www.STL-Books.com.)

Joe Sappington
(?1750-September 10, 1815)

Joe Sappington was with Gen. George Washington from the time his beleaguered army camped at Valley Forge to the final victory in the Battle of Yorktown that ended the war.

After the war, Sappington moved his family to Kentucky where he was a farmer and active in state politics. He served in both the Kentucky House and Senate. After 20 years in Kentucky, he moved to St. Louis in 1805.

Sappington Cemetery

He purchased 1,920 acres along Gravois Creek for $800. The land is now the site of the Crestwood Plaza, the huge South County mall. He died in 1815 and is buried in Sappington Cemetery. That cemetery is the third oldest burial ground in St. Louis.

The Sappington name lives on various streets and public venues.

Sr. Rose Philippine Duchesne
(August 29, 1769-November 18, 1852)

Sr. Rose Philippine Duchesne

Mother Duchesne was born to wealthy parents in Grenoble, France. Educated in a monastery, she decided to become a nun. She was active in the French Revolution, when religion increasingly became unacceptable and finally was outlawed.

She was allowed to come to America to work with the Indians. Bishop Louis DuBourg of New Orleans asked her order, the Society of the Sacred Heart, for assistance. She and four other nuns took at 73-day sea voyage to New Orleans, which included an attack by river pirates.

They came to St. Louis in 1818 and then moved west to the village of St. Charles. There, they began the first free school west of the Mississippi. A tuition-based academy opened just weeks later.

She was then moved to Florissant where she opened schools and a novitiate where girls could become nuns. She ultimately supervised six schools in Missouri and Louisiana.

At age 72, she lived with Potawatomi Indians in Sugar Creek, Kan.

She died at 83. Her burial is in the chapel at the Academy of Sacred Heart in St. Charles.

Henry Shaw
(July 24, 1800-August 25, 1889)

Henry Shaw

Henry Shaw worked for two years in the hardware business before, at 19, he left Europe to settle in St. Louis. He started a hardware store and, by age 40, had amassed a considerable fortune.

He sold the business and traveled through Europe for 10 years. He was impressed by botanical gardens throughout the continent. When he returned to St. Louis, he set aside property dedicated to cultivation of plants and flowers.

In addition to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, his name lives on with the Shaw Nature Preserve as well as Tower Grove Park.

After his death, Shaw was buried in a previously built mausoleum in front of his garden home. The Missouri Botanical Garden is a leading research center for botanists. Included in the Garden are the world's first geodesic dome greenhouse and the largest Japanese garden in North America.

Father Peter De Smet
(January 30, 1801-May 23, 1873)

Father Peter De Smet

Father De Smet migrated to the U.S. at age 20 from his native Belgium. He was in a Jesuit novitiate in Baltimore before being transferred to Florissant, then a village of 400.

He and fellow Jesuits established the Jesuit Province of Missouri. In 1827, De Smet and other Jesuits set out to establish a college in St. Louis. It became Saint Louis University. De Smet was treasurer and a professor of English there for years.

He also was a missionary for both whites and Indians. He earned the nickname of "Blackrobe." Others knew him as the "apostle of the Rocky Mountains."

When he died in 1873, he was buried in the Museum of Western Jesuit Missions at 700 Howdershell. That was the former St. Stanislaus Seminary.

Henry Kiel
(February 21, 1871-November 26, 1942)

Henry Kiel

Henry Kiel was a native of St. Louis and worked as a bricklayer in his father's construction business. After taking over the company, Henry was responsible for construction of Soldan High School, the Post-Dispatch building and the Ambassador Theater.

He entered ward politics and was elected mayor for the first time in 1913. He was the first one to serve as mayor for three 4-year terms. After retiring from office in 1931, he was named president of the St. Louis Police Board.

He was active in civic affairs and was the "father of the Municipal Opera." In fact, the Municipal Auditorium was renamed the Kiel Auditorium. He is buried on the second floor of the mausoleum at the Oak Grove Cemetery.

George Sisler
(March 24, 1893-March 26, 1973)

George Sisler is in baseball's Hall of Fame and undoubtedly was the best St. Louis Browns player ever. Of him, Ty Cobb said, "Sisler could do everything. He could hit, run and throw and he wasn't a bad pitcher either."

He studied engineering and played baseball at the University of Michigan. His coach was Branch Rickey. When Sisler graduated, Rickey was manager of the Browns and immediately signed Sisler.

Despite fighting in World War I, Sisler amassed 2,812 hits and a lifetime batting average of .340. His 41-game hitting streak in 1922 lasted until Joe DiMaggio set the new standard of 56 games in 1941.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in the first year the hall was established at Cooperstown, N.Y.

After he died in 1973, he was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Joe Medwick
(November 11, 1911-March 21, 1975)

Joe Medwick

Joe Medwick came to the major leagues in 1932 at the age of 20. He became one of the leaders of the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gas House Gang." By 1934, the Cardinals had won the World Series over the Detroit Tigers.

Medwick made some unwanted history in the 7th game of that series. He made a hard slide into 3rd base into Tiger Marv Owens. The two fought and, when Medwick went to his outfield position, Detroit fans pelted him with fruit.

Major League Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis was at the game. He ordered Medwick removed from the game. It was said the removal was to insure Medwick's safety. But, many people thought the game wouldn't continue until Medwick was gone.

In 1937, Medwick won the Triple Crown for home runs, RBI's and batting average. He also led in nine other categories and was named the Most Valuable Player that year.

After his playing days, Medwick was a minor league manager. He then opened his own insurance business. But, in 1966, he returned to coaching as the Cardinals' hitting instructor.

In 1975, while as a hitting instructor in the Cardinals' spring training, Medwick suffered a fatal heart attack. Medwick is buried in the churchyard of St. Lucas United Church of Christ. He had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968.