This Month in St. Louis History

A Famous Lincoln Speech Mentions St. Louis

Abraham Lincoln made one of his famous speeches in 1837 when he was only 28 years ago. The speech called for total obedience to the law and included a reference to a mob lynching in St. Louis.

Lincoln made the speech on Jan. 27, 1837, at the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, Ill. The speech helped early-on to identify Lincoln as having a broad outlook on life in the United States.

Other historical items from past Januarys in St. Louis include:

--The start of the famous trial on Jan. 3, 1935, of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, the kidnapper of Charles Lindbergh's baby.

--The auction on Jan. 12, 1999, of the historic baseball St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire hit for his 70th roundtripper of the 1998 season. The ball sold for over $3 million.

--Irishman Robert Campbell began his trip to St. Louis in January, 1824. He would become a legendary local business leader, whose life is commemorated by the Campbell House Museum.

These are some of the highlights from St. Louis and Missouri history from Januarys 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.

Lincoln's 1837 Speech on Mob Violence

In 1837, Abraham Lincoln only recently had moved to Illinois' capitol city of Springfield. His January 27 speech to a Young Men's Lyceum audience began to mark him as someone whose influence eventually would extend far afield.

The speech had a rather dry title of "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions."

But, the subject was far from dull.

He spoke of a rising lawlessness in the country. He used two examples. The first involved a Mississippi mob that lynched some river gamblers without any trial.

Then, Lincoln said, in his speech:

"Turn then, to that horror-striking scene in St. Louis. A single victim was only sacrificed there. His story is very short; and is, perhaps, the most highly tragic, if anything of its length, that has ever been witnessed in real life."

He talked about the burning death of a Negro named McIntosh who was chained to a tree and set on fire.

Lincoln said these were two examples of people taking the law into their own hands. And continued erosion of the rule of law in the U.S. could be the country's undoing.

He said, "There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law."

Lincoln went on to admit there were bad laws. But, the answer was working through government to repeal such laws, not give in to mob violence.

For other interesting things about Lincoln, see www.AbrahamLincolnonline.org.

The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapper Trial

St. Louisan Charles Lindbergh made aviation history when he flew non-stop from New York to Paris. When his baby, Charles Jr., was kidnapped, that received world-wide attention also.

On Jan. 3, 1935, Bruno Richard Hauptmann went on trial for the kidnapping and murder of the tiny tot.

The five-week trial and subsequent appeals captivated millions in the U.S. and Europe.

Eventually, after appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hauptmann was electrocuted April 3, 1936.

The kidnapping occurred March 1, 1932. The baby's body was found two months later about 4 1/2 miles south of the Charles and Ann Morrow Lindbergh's home in New Jersey.

Hauptmann was convicted primarily on circumstantial evidence.

For much more on the kidnapping, see www.charleslindbergh.com/kidnap/index.asp

McGwire's 70th Home Run Ball Nets $3 Million

It's been six years since the Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball was auctioned. An audience at a Madison Square Garden auction saw the ball sell for just over $3 million.

That was the highest amount of money paid for a sport artifact. The previous record had been had been set minutes before when Sammy Sosa's 66th home run ball sold for $150,000.

Prior to that auction, the highest price paid had been $126,500. That was for the ball Babe Ruth hit for his first home run in Yankee Stadium.

For more about McGwire auction, see www.cnn.com/US/9901/13/mcgwire.01.

Robert Campbell, a St. Louis Business Legend

In the 1800s, St. Louis was growing by leaps and bounds. Among the business leaders who helped with that growth was Irishman Robert Campbell.

The story of his life and times can be explored by a visit to the Campbell Historic Museum. It is located at 1508 Locust St. in downtown St. Louis. For information, call (314) 421-0325.

Campbell was born in County Tyrone in present day Northern Ireland. In early life, he was frail and gave little indication he would ever life to be famous.

He sailed for the U.S. in 1822 at the age of 18. After staying with relatives in Virginia, he arrived by steamboat in St. Louis in January, 1824.

After getting ahead in business but suffering from ill health, a doctor urged him to move the mountains in the west.

There he founded trading companies and built forts that became trading centers. He was involved in Indian wars. He became friends with noted frontiersmen such as Kit Carson and Jim Bridger, as well as the Crow Indian chief Rotten Belly.

He returned to St. Louis in 1835 and went into the retail and wholesale business. He also invested in real estate. He is credited as being one of the founders of Kansas City.

After that, he owned steamboats, gold mines, cattle and hotels. One of his steamboats, the A.B. Chambers, gave Mark Twain his first job as a river pilot.

For more, visit http://stlouis.missouri.org/501c/chm/campbell.htm.