This Month in St. Louis History

Missouri as swing election state

The state of Missouri has a unique place in the country's November elections. It is often one of what election experts call "swing states."

A "swing state" is one where elections are likely to be closely contested. And, in Missouri's case, whichever presidential candidate the state's voters favor is likely to be the national winner.

In the last 100 years, Missouri has been on the winning side in all but one presidential election. And that one was way back in the 1950s.

A couple other historical notes from past Novembers include author Mark Twain and seamstress Elizabeth Keckley. The later bought herself out of slavery and also served as dressmaker for President Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary.

Mark Twain was born Nov. 30, 1835, in Florida, Mo., a small two in northeast Missouri near Hannibal.

Twenty years later, on Nov. 13, 1855, Elizabeth Keckley bought herself out of slavery for $1,200.

These are some of the highlights of St. Louis and Missouri history for Novembers 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.

Missouri as a "swing state" in elections

Although "swing states" often vote "right" as far as national elections go, very few have large populations. Many of them are less populated states in the Midwest.

CBS News has identified Missouri as one of 15 "swing states" that are likely to have large influence in the 2004 presidential election.

In a "swing state," the makeup of the population often is similar to the whole U.S. population.

In Missouri's case, that means the state has a couple big urban population centers, St. Louis and Kansas City. But, it also has a lot of small-town and rural areas. Generally, the urban centers vote Democratic and the rural areas, Republican.

Oftentimes, it is the suburban and small city residents determine whether the whole state goes either Republican or Democratic.

For more about elections, visit www.cbc.ca/news/background/uselection2004

Mark Twain's birthday is November 30

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on Nov. 30, 1835, in Florida, Mo. That was a northeast Missouri town that was just 200 miles from Indian Territory.

He was the sixth child of John Marshall Clemens and Jane Lampton. He was four when his family moved to nearby Hannibal, Mo., right on the Mississippi River.

Hannibal was a city that combined elements of the rugged frontier and also a Southern tradition, including slavery.

These childhood experiences had a lot of influence on his later writing, under the name of Mark Twain. That included his famous "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

Twain's formal schooling ended at age 12. But, his learning didn't.

First, he was an apprentice in a printing shop and then a sub-editor at the Hannibal Journal newspaper. After years of traveling as a journalist, he took time out to become a licensed river pilot.

He also signed up as a Confederate soldier but soon deserted and fled west. There, he tried his hand at mining and then got back into writing.

For more, visit www.gradesaver.com Then, click on classic notes and on authors. Finally, go to the Mark Twain item.

Elizabeth Keckley buys her freedom in 1855

Elizabeth Hobbs was born a slave in Virginia in 1818. The property of a Colonel Burwell, she was 14 when she was sent to work for his son, a Presbyterian minister in North Carolina.

Later, she went to live with Annie Burwell Garland, a married daughter of the Burwell family. She finally completed the process of buying her freedom from the Burwells in November, 1855.

In St. Louis, she married James Keckley. But, she later moved to Washington, D.C., where she became a dressmaker for President Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary.

She was with the Lincolns during the Civil War and during the assassination of the President by John Wilkes Booth.

Elizabeth Keckley published her autobiography, "Thirty Years as a Slave," in 1868.

For more, see www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/usaslavery.htm Then, click on Elizabeth Keckley.

Also, there's a section on Elizabeth Keckley in the "Seeking St. Louis" exhibition at the Missouri History Museum. She's included in Step 7 of the "Seeking St. Louis African American History" section

 

From "St. Louis World's Fair 365"

November was 1904 Fair's final month

November was the last full month of the historic 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Highlights included a visit from President Theodore Roosevelt and the end of the Liberty Bell's fair display.

Total attendance at the fair went over 18 million. And pygmies at the fair announced they wanted to buy an airship to help them become better elephant hunters.

These are some of the 110 news items listed in the November 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 November items from Sonderman's book:

November 3: The first Igorot born in the United States came into the world at the Philippines exhibit. The child was born to Sebella, the wife of Apoquet. The infant was to be named in honor of Governor T.K. Hunt, who was in charge of the Igorot Village. The baby's father was 28-year-old and was reported to have taken the heads of five men.

November 5: The Globe reported that the pygmies wanted to buy an airship. After seeing one at the fair, they were convinced an airship would make them great elephant hunters. They asked the official in charge of the village to negotiate for them, promising him the first three elephant tusks they would bag from the air.

November 11: For the first time in America, wireless messages were sent to a balloon. Paul Knabenshue, a De Forrest telegraph operator and a newspaper reporter ascended two miles into the air over the World's Fair grounds. A constant stream of telegraph messages were fed to the balloon and the operator recorded each one.

November 12: Two masked men held up the train on the fair's miniature railroad. They stopped the train at the point of a revolver and robbed passengers of about $100 in valuables. It happened as the train was making the final trip of the evening, just outside the Boer War entrance on Skinker Road. The manager of the line repaid the passenger losses.

November 19: A flame flickered to life under a heater in the kitchen of the Missouri Building. Within minutes, a blaze engulfed the structure. A crowd of 20,000 watched 21 fire companies fight the fire. Volunteers saved 8,000 library books and Marines saved a bell bought by donations for the battleship Missouri. Many valuable paintings were reported lost.

November 19: The Liberty Bell returned to Philadelphia. The Mayor and five regiments of infantry escorted the bell from the train station through the streets as an immense crowd cheered. A hammer flipped over and lightly tapped the bell, as it was re-installed at Independence Hall. The trip to St. Louis was the longest the bell had ever made.

November 20: Gabriel Anastasia won the race from Europe to the World's Fair. About 60 people entered under the auspices of the International Tourist Club of Paris. Anastasia left Brussels on September 12 and walked to Antwerp. He boarded a ship and walked from New York to St. Louis. Gabriel admitted that he "grew tired sometimes."

November 26: Amid tight security, President Roosevelt's train pulled into a siding near the Palace of Transportation at 4 a.m. It was four hours ahead of schedule. The president had breakfast on the train and arrived on the fairgrounds at 9 a.m. President Francis accompanied Roosevelt on a whirlwind tour of the foreign buildings, stopping only for lunch.

Over 600 people attended an evening banquet in honor of the President at the Tyrolean Alps. Roosevelt said he regretted that the buildings could not be made permanent. He declared that the fair was "a credit to the United States." After the banquet, the President made a late night tour of the state buildings.

November 27: Two very big days pushed the total attendance at the fair to 18,317,457. The latest figures showed 181,829 admissions on Thanksgiving Day and 163,757 on President's Day.