This Month in St. Louis History

Jazz's Wheatstraw and the Whiskey Ring

Among St. Louis' historical highlights of past Decembers were the birth of an early great in St. Louis jazz and an indictment in a whiskey ring involving President Ulysses S. Grant.

Jazz musician Peetie Wheatstraw was born Dec. 21, 1902. His real name was William Bunch, born in Ripley, Tenn. But, he spent a big portion of his musical career in St. Louis and East St. Louis, Ill.

The history of President Grant is very much linked to St. Louis. His rise to being the commanding general of Union forces in the Civil War started in St. Louis.

Also, the Ulysses S. Grant National Historical Site is located in south St. Louis near Grant's Farm.

But, one less than flattering chapters in Grant's life also centered here. That was the infamous Whiskey Ring. In December, 1875, a St. Louis grand jury indicted Grant's personal secretary, Gen. Orville E. Babcock, for his part in the "ring."

Other December highlight included a Missouri Supreme Court ruling in a landmark case involving racial covenants in housing. Also, in December, 1763, Pierre Laclede Liguest and Auguste Chouteau arrived to found what is now St. Louis.

These are some of the highlights from St. Louis and Missouri history for Decembers past. They are provided to Young Saint Louis.com by the Missouri History Museum. For more, visit the museum's website at www.mohistory.org.

Jazz great Peetie Wheatstraw

Musicians in the early years of jazz often resorted to gimmicks to bring attention to their new type of music.

For some, that involved stunts such as playing their instruments behind their heads or between their legs. Others promoted the urban myth that their music was a "gift" from the Devil.

For instance, both Tommy Johnson and Robert Johnson claimed they got their musical talent directly from the Devil. They said they exchanged their souls for the ability to play jazz.

Peetie Wheatstraw was one of those that promoted his alleged link to the Devil. He often billed himself as "The Devil's Son-in-law" or the "High Sheriff of Hell."

But, he started life on Dec. 21, 1902, as William Bunch, the son of poor Southern parents. Shortly afterwards, the family moved from Ripley, Tenn., to Cotton Plant, Ark.

By 1927, he was traveling throughout the Deep South as an itinerant musician. But, he moved to St. Louis in 1929. St. Louis was a destination for many former sharecroppers looking north for a better life.

It was in St. Louis that he took his new name, Peetie Wheatstraw. He took the name from an old African-American folktale.

He was adept at both the piano and guitar, often playing both in the same concert.

Although he was popular as a performer, he also had enormous influence on jazz as a vocalist and songwriter. He was instrumental in establishing a new urban jazz sound. That was different than the original country blues.

Robert Johnson is considered to be one of the most important blues musician in the 1930s. Many of his recordings were re-working of Wheatstraw's tunes.

Wheatstraw died at age 39 when his car was hit by a train at a crossing in East St. Louis..

For more about is life, visit cascadeblues.org/history/PeetieWheatstraw.htm.

Grant and the Whiskey Ring

President Grant was a Civil War hero and was elected president on a platform that promised peace, prosperity and progress. But, how those goals were achieved were often under question.

One of those bad episodes came to a head in St. Louis.

In December, 1875, Grant's long-time friend and personal secretary was indicted for his part in the "whiskey rings." That friend was Gen. Orville E. Babcock.

The "whiskey rings" involved avoiding federal taxes on whiskey and sending those funds to Grant's Republican Party.

The idea was that whiskey distillers, distributors and sellers combined to under-report whiskey production to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Thus, they avoided a 70-cent-per-gallon federal tax.

The money was then funneled to Republican Party candidates who backed Grant.

The original indictments came in St. Louis because that's where the whiskey rings started. However, by indictment time, whiskey rings were in many states.

Eventually, they had outgrown the political origins and were strictly a criminal activity.

Among people indicted in St. Louis were a variety of IRS supervisors and agents. Also indicted was William McKee, proprietor of the St. Louis Globe newspaper.

Babcock became involved when telegrams he sent seemed to support those indicted.

Although the indictments involved persons high in Grant's administration, the president avoided indictment.

Racial Housing Covenants

In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional those housing covenants that banned home sales on racial grounds.

The test case was Shelley vs. Kraemer and started in St. Louis.

The house involved is still standing at 4600 Labadie Ave. in St. Louis. The modest two-story building is on the National Historic Landmark registry.

The story began in the 1930s when J.S. Shelley purchased the home from an owner who agreed to ignore the neighborhood racial covenant. That said the owner couldn't sell to anyone except another Caucasian. The Shelley family was black.

Another property owner in the neighborhood, Louis D. Kraemer, sues to stop the sale.

A local St. Louis court ruled in the Shelleys favor. But, on Dec. 9, 1946, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned that decision, siding with Kraemer.

Then, on May 3, 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Missouri court's decision. That decision put an end to racial housing covenants, a landmark civil-rights decision in our country's history.

For more Shelley case information, see www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/mo1.htm and www.umsl.edu/services/library/blackstudies/shelley.htm.

Laclede and Chouteau arrive

Pierre Laclede Liguest and his 13-year-old clerk, Auguste Chouteau, arrived at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in December, 1763. Laclede had been given a grant to establish and manage a trading post here.

Their arrival is considered to be the beginning of the city of St. Louis. The town eventually became the fourth largest city in the U.S. in 1900.

When Laclede and Chouteau arrived, this part of the country was under French rule. Two years later, word arrived that France had deeded the port of New Orleans and the Mississippi River area to Spain.

Just a few years later, the Louisiana Purchase turned the area over to the United States.

But, the whole process of building St. Louis started with Laclede and Chouteau.

For a longer essay on St. Louis, visit www.common-place.org/vol-03/no-04/st-louis.

 

From "St. Louis World's Fair 365"

1904 World's Fair attendance was 19,694,855

The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair closed on December 1, with final attendance for the fair set at 19,694,855,

The fair had opened on April 30, with first-day attendance of 178,423. The last day's attendance was 293,101. But, the largest single-day attendance was on St. Louis Day, Sept. 15. A total of 404,450 people attended that day.

These are some of the 83 news items listed in the December chapter of "St. Louis World's Fair 365." The book of fair trivia was written by St. Louis author Joe Sonderman.

(Sonderman has granted permission to Young Saint Louis.com to quote some of the monthly items. If you would like a copy of the book, check local book stores or visit www.booksonstlouis.com)

Here are 10 of the December items from Sonderman's book:

December 1: The Igorots were quietly spirited away, following a threat by the proprietors of a "Filipino midget" exhibition on The Pike. The midget exhibition planned to seek a court injunction keeping the natives in the country. All 69 natives, including the baby born on the grounds, were rushed aboard the Burlington Route's Train #49.

December 1: President Francis spent the day making last visits to the exhibit palaces and the foreign buildings. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company Board of Directors presented him with a gold and silver table service, made by Mermod and Jaccard. The 500-piece set was valued at $17,000. The pieces were engraved with views of the exposition.

As the midnight hour arrived, Francis stood before the Louisiana Purchase Monument, raised his arms and said, "Farewell, a long farewell to all thy splendor." He threw a switch and the lights were gone. The band played "Auld Lang Syne." Fireworks filled the sky and outlined a portrait of Francis with the words "Farewell" and "Goodnight." The 1904 World's Fair was over.

December 4: The Globe-Democrat newspaper reported that the Inside Inn, the only hotel on the fairgrounds, was sold to a construction company for $50,000. The Minnesota Building was headed for the state fair grounds. The Iowa Building would be made into an asylum for inebriates (alcoholics). The Temple of Fraternity was to be rebuilt in New Mexico as the largest sanitarium for consumptives (TB patients) in the world.

December 6: The octuple printing press exhibited in the Palace of Liberal Arts was sold to the publisher of the News in Buffalo, New York. The press could crank out 100,000 eight-page papers an hour. Three of the other presses from the grand prize winning exhibit of R. Hoe and Company already were installed at the (St. Louis) Globe-Democrat.

December 8: The World's Fair Superior jury awarded Mrs. Jessie Tarbox Beals a gold medal for her distinguished services. She probably was the first female photojournalist and was the first woman to be named an official photographer at the World's Fair. She took 2,000 pictures, many of which are the most famous images from the exposition.

December 11: The first snow of the season waited until ten days after the fair had closed. About two inches marked the latest first snow in 21 years, with the exception of 1900. In January, employees would discover a new use for Art Hill. Many of them used the plentiful discarded folding chairs as makeshift sleds. (Sledding on Art Hill remains a favorite St. Louis wintertime activity.)

December 12: The commissioner of the World's Fair Police released the final arrest report statistics. Of 19 million visitors, just 1,439 had been arrested. Theft of property amounted to less than $1,500. There were five murder arrests, 421 arrests for disturbing the peace, 312 for trespassing and one for wife abandonment.

December 20: The official report from the World's Fair directors showed total admissions added up to 19,694,855. Of those, 6,890,239 were free admissions. Officials said the proportion of free admissions to paid attendance was the greatest in the history of international exhibitions.

The report listed the days with the largest attendance (in chronological order):

• April 30 (Opening Day) 178,423
• June 8 (Liberty Bell Day) 144,509
• July 4 179,258
• September 5 (Labor Day) 209,622
• September 15 (St. Louis Day) 404,450
• October 6 (German Day) 184,552
• October 8 (Chicago Day) 163,317
• October 11 (Missouri Day) 179,857
• October 13 (Connecticut Day) 168,286
• November 24 (Thanksgiving Day) 181,829
• November 26 (Roosevelt Day) 163, 758
• December 1 (Francis Day) 293,101

December 23: Japanese officials announced that President Francis would be awarded the highest award from the Emperor. Francis would be awarded the first grade of merit, The Order of the Rising Sun. The award was given for his service to the Emperor in bringing Japan to extraordinary prominence among the nations of the world.

December 29: The skaters had returned to Forest Park. Skating conditions were reported to be very good on Sylvan Lake, which could accommodate about 400 skaters. Many skaters had been disappointed to learn that they couldn't skate on the lagoons at the fairgrounds. They were drained soon after the fair closed.