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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1936

God give us men ! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor — men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking.

ISAAC H. STURGEON

SKETCH

INCIDENTS

IN THE LIFE OF

ISAAC H. STURGEON

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF

JANUARY, 1900

Born September 10th, 1821
Died August 22d, 1908

ISAAC H. STURGEON, the Comptroller of the City of
St. Louis, Mo., was born in Jefferson County, Ky., on the
10th day of September, 1821. He had two brothers —
no sisters. His elder brother, Edward Tyler Sturgeon, and his
younger brother, Thomas L. Sturgeon, have passed away;
Thomas the 11th of July, 1875, and Edward the 6th of July,
1885. Mr. Sturgeon's father, Thomas Sturgeon, died the 5th
of September, 1822; his son, Isaac, lacked five days of being
one year old, and his molher died the 13th of July, 1833, when
he was only eleven years old, leaving three orphan boys.
Thomas was born the 18th of February, 1823, five months
and thirteen days after his father's death. After the death
of their parents they went to live with Mr. Robert Tyler, the
brother of their mother. Mr. Sturgeon says that his -uncle,
Robert, and his aunt, Mary Tyler, always treated them with
the tenderest affection. The three sons had ample means and
were liberally educated at the boarding-school of Mr. Robert N.
Smith, kept near where their uncle and aunt Tyler lived.
Aftej Mr. Sturgeon completed his education he went to
Louisville, Ky., to reside, and was employed for nearly three
years in the wholesale grocery and commission store of his
mother's cousin, Mr. Willis Stewart, one of the kindest and best
men that ever lived. He was after this employed as a clerk
in the Louisville (Ky.) Chancery Court for over two years,
and roomed in the law office of Guthrie & Tyler. Mr. Guthrie
afterwards became Secretary of the Treasury of the United
States under President Franklin Pierce. Mr. Sturgeon's uncle,
Robert Tyler, was for fifteen years the law partner of the
Honorable James Guthrie. The marshal of the court dying,
Mr". John A.. Crittenden, a nephew of the Honorable John J.
Crittenden, was appointed marshal of the court, and he
appointed Isaac H. Sturgeon his deputy. Mr. Sturgeon
studied law whilst writing in the clerk's office and acting as
deputy marshal, having the use of the splendid law library
of Messrs. Guthrie & Tyler, and in 1845 he was licensed to
practice law in Louisville, Ky., by Judges Alexander H.
Churchill and John J. Marshall.
In June, 1844, Mr. Sturgeon, with his uncle, Robert Tyler,
visited St. Louis to take home Captain William Chambers,

Mr. Tyler's father-in-law, who had been seriously ill. Mr.
Sturgeon was so impressed with the future prosperity of
St. Louis that he resolved to adopt it as his home at an early
day, and in January, 1846, he came to St. Louis with his
brother, Thomas, to make it their future home. He was at
once licensed by Judge Alexander Hamilton, of St. Louis, to
practice law in St. Louis, but he and his brother soon engaged
in the lumber business and other pursuits and he did not prac
tice his profession. »
The City of St. Louis then had only six wards, with a popu
lation of about 35,000. At the city election in April, 1848,
he was nominated to represent his ward as alderman and was
elected, overcoming the usual Whig majority of about one
hundred by a majority of nearly two hundred. He was
re-elected in April, 1850, and again in 1852, always running
far ahead of his party ticket. In August, 1852, he was nomi
nated for the State Senate and elected, running ahead of his
ticket. This necessitated his resignation as alderman, and
his brother, Thomas L. Sturgeon, was elected as alderman in
his place.
When serving in the City Council, in May, 1849, he intro
duced and had passed, unanimously, a preamble and resolu
tions calling a national convention in St. Louis in favor of
the construction of a national Pacific railroad and telegraph
line from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. The
convention was held in St. Louis in October, 1849, Senator
Stephen A. Douglas presided over it and Colonel Thomas H.
Benton made his great speech in favor of the proposition.
The convention .unanimously passed the resolutions in favor
of the measure.
On the 13th of March, 1853, President Pierce appointed
Mr. Sturgeon United States Assistant Treasurer at St. Louis,
Mo., and this necessitated his resignation as state senator.
He was reappointed by President Buchanan March 23d, 1857,
and remained until his term expired in 1861. Although
Mr. Sturgeon had, up to the war for the Union, been a Demo
crat, he at once espoused the Union cause, and whilst acting
as United States Assistant Treasurer brought the first United
States troops to St. Louis to protect the United States arsenal

and the United States treasure in his hands, and has, since the
beginning of the effort to break up the Union, acted with the
Republican party.
Towards the close of Mr. Sturgeon's term as United States
Assistant Treasurer under President Buchanan, in 1861, he
felt that the secessionists in St. Louis and Missouri were medi
tating the seizure of the arsenal and the funds in his hands
in the sub-treasury, so one day when Major Bell, then in
charge of the arsenal, came to his office, as he often did, Mr.
Sturgeon casually asked Mr. Bell what munitions of war were
stored at the arsenal. Major Bell said at once, "Sixty thou
sand stands of arms, 200 barrels of powder, cannon, cannon
balls, etc., etc." Mr. Sturgeon said that he made no comment
whatever on the information given- him, but felt what a volcano
St. Louis stood upon. He at once wrote a private letter to
President Buchanan, saying that if it was the purpose of the
United States to protect the arsenal and the treasure in his
hands (nearly one million of dollars) no time should be lost in
taking steps looking to this end. President Buchanan ordered
forty men to St. Louis under the command of Lieutenant
Robinson. The late Major Justin McKinstry reported ' the
arrival of the troops to Mr. Sturgeon, and they had some dis
cussion as to where they should "be placed. Mr. Sturgeon
thought it best to place them at the arsenal, but Major
McKinstry thought that they should be quartered in the vacant
upper rooms of the postofnce, then located at the southeast
corner of Third and Olive Streets, and as Mr. Sturgeon was
not made aware that they were to be placed where he directed,
he acquiesced. Mr. Sturgeon was at this time also president and general
superintendent of the North Missouri Railroad, now the
Wabash, and after his interview with Major McKinstry he
went out on the road and did not return until in the after
noon. He then resided at Eleventh and Olive Streets. He
had been at home but a little while when Lieutenant Robinson
and Mr. Nathaniel Paschall, then editor of the St. Louis Repub
lican, called and desired to know if the troops quartered at the
postofnce could not be removed elsewhere. Mr. Sturgeon
asked what power he had in the premises to say anything as
to where they should be located, and then Lieutenant Robinson

produced the order that they were to be placed where the
Assistant Treasurer should direct. Mr. Sturgeon at once
directed their removal to the arsenal, and that they put them
selves in as complete a state of "defense as possible.
The second day after Lieutenant Robinson took up quarters
at the arsenal he came to the office of Mr. Sturgeon, then in
the old postoffice building, Third and Olive Streets, to inquire
whether there was any loyal force in St. Louis that could be
relied upon to rally to his support in case of an attack upon him
to take the arsenal. Mr. Sturgeon then replied that he knew
of none, but that during the canvass for President in 1860 he
learned that two Republican organizations existed, known as
the "Wide-Awakes" and the "Black-Jaegers," and that they
were armed. He sent for Francis P. Blair, Jr., to inquire of
him, but he did not know. He said he would find out and
report to Lieutenant Robinson at ten o'clock the next morning
at Mr. Sturgeon's office. He learned they were armed and
would act with Lieutenant Robinson. For a time after this
matters seemed to quiet down, but as the days went by Mr.
Sturgeon became satisfied, from the knots of secessionists
gathered on the corners of the streets in earnest discussion and
seeming conference, that plans were under consideration for
overcoming the little force under Lieutenant Robinson and
taking the arsenal. Mr. Sturgeon was greatly perplexed to
determine what he had best to do. Just at this time his friend,
Major David Hunter, afterwards General Hunter, arrived at
the Planters House and took rooms on the first floor on the
Chestnut Street front. Mr. Sturgeon at once called upon him
and stated his apprehensions and discussed matters very fully,
but General Hunter was unable to advise him what course to
pursue. The time was fast approaching for Mr. Lincoln's inaugura
tion, and General Hunter confidentially revealed to Mr. Stur
geon that he and Major-General John Pope had been selected,
among a few others, to be a bodyguard to Mr. Lincoln in
getting to Washington. General Pope was the uncle of
Mr. Sturgeon's wife.
During the day matters seemed to grow more and more
ominous and portentous, so after supper Mr. Sturgeon again
visited General Hunter at his rooms to further confer. Whilst

there Captain Nathaniel Lyon, afterwards General Lyon, came,
and Mr. Sturgeon was introduced to him. A question arose
as to the possible loyalty of the commandant at Jefferson
Barracks, Major Hagner, as he was a Virginian, when General
Lyon remarked that if he could be placed there the question
of loyalty would be settled, and General Hunter told him that
he intended to have him put there as soon as possible.
As Mr. Sturgeon talked on with General Hunter the thought
came to General Hunter to ask Mr. Sturgeon if he knew General
Winfield Scott personally. Mr. Sturgeon at once responded,
"Yes, very well." He added that in the spring of 1859 he
and his wife and her sister, Miss Lucretia Allen, afterwards the
wife of Mr. George D. Hall, traveled to New Orleans, La., on
the steamboat "Eclipse," commanded by Captain Edward T.
Sturgeon, from Cairo, 111., to New Orleans, and that General
Scott was oh board; that they played cards and dined together
every day, and that General Scott had promised to be the
guest of Mr. Sturgeon if he should visit St. Louis. "Then,"
said General Hunter, "write to him a private letter detailing
all you have said to me. Do not write to President Buchanan.
He may be loyal, but he is so hedged about with secessionists
that your letter might fall into secessionist hands and thwart
what you are trying to prevent — the seizure of the arsenal
and the treasure in your hands. We know that Scott is loyal,
so write him a private letter." Mr. Sturgeon went at once to
his residence and wrote the letter, and walked from his home
at midnight to place it in the postoffice at the corner of Third
and Olive Streets.
Mr. Sturgeon advised General Scott to have all of the three
or four hundred troops at Jefferson Barracks removed at once
to the arsenal to reinforce Lieutenant Robinson, but not to
do so by telegraph unless there seemed urgent need, as the
secessionists might take it off the wire and at once attempt the
seizure — best to give the order by mail. As soon as the letter
could reach St. Louis the order came from General Scott to
move all the troops to the arsenal from Jefferson Barracks,
and it was done without delay, thus ending the further discus
sion of the taking of the arsenal.

Shortly after this the secessionist governor, Claiborne
Jackson, was in St. Louis, and in a conversation, with Mr.
Sturgeon said that if his advice had been taken the arsenal
would have been seized, as there was a time when he could
have walked in with ten armed men and taken it, but that to
take it now would cost the lives of many men and the possible
destruction of the city. Mr. Sturgeon said to Governor
Jackson that his statement was true. Mr. Sturgeon has
always felt certain that if it had not been for his timely action,
taken on his own responsibility, without communicating with
anyone except, as stated, with General Hunter, the arsenal
and its contents and the treasure in his hands as United States
Assistant Treasurer would have fallen into secessionist hands,
and the opinion of Mr. Sturgeon was confirmed by the capture
of a letter addressed to Governor Jackson by General Daniel M.
Frost, saying that he had seen Major Bell, in charge of the
arsenal, and that Bell was with the secessionists heart and
soul and would turn the arsenal over to him (Frost) at the
proper time. But Mr. Sturgeon's action defeased their plans,
and soon Generals Lyon and Blair came on the scene and the
Germans flocked to the arsenal, organized under General Lyon,
and on the 10th day of May, 1861, General Lyon and General
Blair captured "Camp Jackson," and ran Jackson and his
secessionist legislature out of the State with General Sterling
Price, who had joined them.
Had the arsenal, with all its munitions of war, and the
treasure in the sub-treasury fallen into the hands of the seces
sionists at the beginning of the war for the- destruction of the
Union, who can tell what might have been the consequence
or the result of the war? And the credit belongs to Mr. Stur
geon for averting this calamity.
President Grant many times, unsolicited, appointed Mr.
Sturgeon United States Commissioner to examine railroads
built with government aid. At the breaking out of the war,
Mr. Sturgeon was president of the North Missouri Railroad,
and General Grant, then Colonel Grant, performed his first
military service on the road under Brigadier-General John Pope,
late of the United States Army, who was an uncle of the wife
of Mr. Sturgeon.

When the whiskey frauds of 1875 broke upon the country
General Grant appointed Mr. Sturgeon United States Collector
of Internal Revenue for the First District of Missouri. He
entered on the duties of the office on the 1st day of July, 1875,
and served for the balance of President Grant's term. He was
continued by President Hayes and also by President Garfield
until the latter's death, and by President Arthur after the death
of President Garfield, to the expiration of his term; was con
tinued by President Cleveland from the 4th of March, 1885,
to the 10th of November, 1885, serving in that position ten
years, four months and ten days. In that time he collected
$49,505,110.04 and paid the same into the treasury of the
United States, and there was never a discrepancy in his
accounts. On the 3d of February, 1890, he was appointed Assistant
Postmaster under President Harrison and served until the
31st of March, 1893, when he resigned to become the candidate
of the Republican party for Comptroller of the City of St. Louis.
He was elected by a majority of nearly two thousand votes
over his friend, Governor Robert A. Campbell, who had made
a popular Comptroller prior to his race against Mr. Sturgeon.
Mr. Sturgeon was renominated for Comptroller by the Repub
licans in March, 1897, and Captain Joseph Brown, who had
been Mayor of the city and City Auditor from April 1st, 1893,
to April 1st, 1897, was put up by the Democrats against him.
Captain Brown, like Governor Campbell, was a warm personal
friend of Mr. Sturgeon, and frequently during the canvass his
nephew would 'come into the Comptroller's office and tell
Mr. Sturgeon's son, Beverley A. Sturgeon, that all his uncle
disliked in this election was that he had to beat so good a man
as his father. To this Mr. Sturgeon's son jocularly replied,
"That is all my father dislikes about it — that he has to defeat
so good a man as your uncle," and they would laugh, jolly
and joke about it. When the election was over Mr. Sturgeon
had a majority over his friend Brown of 20,430 votes. The
first person to come in and congratulate Mr. Sturgeon on his
election was Captain Brown, and Mr. Sturgeon said, "Well,
Captain, no one has heard me say one word except in your
praise during the canvass," and Captain Brown responded that
it had been the same with him; and so it was in the canvass

with Governor Campbell. It may safely be said that never
was there a more honorable and friendly canvass conducted
than in Mr. Sturgeon's race with Governor Campbell and
Captain Brown, and all were devoted to each other as friends.
Mr. Sturgeon, in his busy official life, was some twelve years
president and general superintendent of the North Missouri
Railroad, now the Wabash; was a director in the Ohio &
Mississippi Railroad; was a director in the old Bank of the
State of Missouri on the part of the State, and also in the old
Southern Bank of this city.
He served under Presidents Pierce, Buchanan, Grant,
Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland and Harrison — eight Presi
dents in all — giving entire satisfaction to the public and the
government. Mr. Sturgeon was an original Union man and is entitled to
the credit of having the first Union meeting held that was ever
deemed necessary to preserve the Union. Being in Washing
ton during the pendency of the Compromise Measure of 1850,
he espoused their adoption and had frequent talks with the
Honorable Henry Clay in regard to them. He was a Demo
crat at that time, and Mr. Clay the leader of the Whig party.
Seeing the struggle Mr. Clay was having as chairman of the
Committee of Thirteen, to pass his measure for the pacification
of the country, Mr. Sturgeon, young man as he was, ventured
to suggest to Mr. Clay that if Union meetings were gotten up
all over the country in favor of the measure, it would aid in
their passage, as there were so many members of Congress in
doubt as to whether their constituents would sustain them,
and if this doubt could be removed they would become active
supporters of this measure. Mr. Clay said, "Yes, but you see
the whole burthen of this debate is on me as chairman of the
committee, and after Congress adjourns each day I am too tired
and worn out to undertake to write letters for this purpose.
I must get all the rest I tan to renew the battle for another
day." "Then," said Mr. Sturgeon, "will you allow me to write
to Louisville and St. Louis and suggest the holding of such
meetings, saying that I write with ¦ your approval?" He
assented and Mr. Sturgeon at once wrote to Mr. James Guthrie,
leader of the Democracy of Kentucky, and .George D. Prentice,

editor of the Louisville Journal (Whig), who published certain
portions of the letter with the editorial comment that "this
letter was from a young Democratic patriot." The meeting was
called and Mr. Guthrie presided over it. It was an immense
gathering, irrespective of party, and it passed ringing resolu
tions in favor of the measures. A similar meeting was held in
St. Louis, over which, the Honorable Henry S. Geyer (after
wards a United States Senator) presided, and General Nathan
Raney acted as secretary. Union meetings followed all over
the country and the measures were finally adopted, so that
Mr. Sturgeon can claim the credit of inspiring the holding of
the first meeting to perpetuate the Union ever deemed neces
sary to be held in this country.
Mr. Sturgeon had been an ardent friend of Cuban independ
ence since August, 1851, when his friend, Colonel William L.
Crittenden, with fifty comrades from Kentucky, were captured
and shot by the Spanish soldiers. He at once, on the news
reaching St. Louis, got up a public meeting to denounce the
act. (See the Missouri Republican of the last days of August,
1851.) Crittenden and his comrades had gone to Cuba to join
General Lopez in his effort to give independence to Cuba.
Lopez was captured and garroted and Crittenden and his com
rades were captured and shot to death by Spanish soldiers on
the 15th of August, 1851. Mr. Sturgeon was chairman of the
Committee on Resolutions at a meeting held at the court
house in St. Louis the last of August, 1851, and when the
present effort to liberate Cuba, which has at last culminated
in her independence, was under way, a meeting of her friends
in this city was held in the chambers of the House of Delegates
in the old City Hall, over which Mr. Sturgeon was called to
preside, and no man in all the country is more gratified than
he is that his country has at last given to the people of Cuba
their independence. He was, for fifty years before it took
place, in favor of the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, and
has ever been an earnest advocate of the construction of the
Nicaragua Canal and has written many articles published on
the subject. In 1877 he sent memorials to Congress, which
were presented in the Senate by Senator Cockrell and in the
House of Representatives by the Honorable Erastus Wells, in
favor of its construction.

«
Mr. Sturgeon since his arrival in St. Louis in January, 1846,
has ever labored for the best interests of St. Louis and his
country, and he feels that it is a shame that the construction
of the Nicaragua Canal should have been so long delayed.
He says that it should be built as fast as men and money can
build it; that it should be owned and controlled by the United
States and made a free ship canal for all vessels of the United
States, with a moderate toll on all foreign vessels using it,
sufficient to pay the interest on the bonds issued for its con
struction and the creating of a sinking 'fund to retire them at
maturity. And after the bonded debt is paid off, then let it
be free to the vessels of all nations, with the exception of a
small charge sufficient to keep the canal in repair. No person
can estimate the value of its construction to the United States.
On the 29th of October, 1849, there arrived in St. Louis
two young Frenchmen, who registered at the old City Hotel
at the northeast corner of Vine and Third Streets, kept by
Theron Barnum, known as Gonsalve and Raymond de Montes
quieu. They had been traveling through Illinois, amusing
themselves hunting grouse, quail, etc. They were visiting the
country for recreation and pleasure. About ten o'clock at
night Gonsalve took his gun and stepped into the hall from his
room and fired at the first two persons he saw,, killing Albert
Jones and Kirby Barnum, a nephew of the proprietor of the
hotel, and wounding others. It created a great panic in the
hotel and the two Montesquieus were at once arrested and very
roughly handled before the police officers could get them to
jail. When Gonsalve was questioned as to why he did the act
he said God had told him to kill the first two men he saw, and
that he acted in obedience to God's command to him.
Mr. Albert Jones was a warm personal friend and patron
of Mr. Sturgeon and Mr. Sturgeon attended his funeral, riding
in a carriage with three other gentlemen. On the way to the
cemetery one of the gentlemen in the carriage remarked, "We
will fix the Montesquieus after dark to-night," and added
that there was a perfected organization to be led by Bob
O'Blenis, who would take them from the jail and hang them.
Mr. Sturgeon says his first thought was to feign sudden illness
and ask to leave the carriage, and return home at once to the
pity to avert, if possible, the disgrace to the city of hanging

two strangers in our city from a foreign nation — one crazy and
the other an innocent man. The idea horrified him, but he
felt, after reflecting on the matter, that he had best say nothing
and go on to the grave and trust to returning in time to save
them and save the city from disgrace.
As he returned he was left alone in the carriage and he
directed the driver to go rapidly to the ladies' entrance of the
old Planters House, right opposite the court house. As he
arrived he saw Mr. Tat LaBeaume, then the sheriff of St. Louis
County, just leaving for his home for the day. Mr. Sturgeon
¦hailed him and quickly told him what was to happen and that
it must be prevented. They at once called a carriage on the
stand and drove rapidly to the residence of Judge J. B. Colt,
who was at his supper, but upon being told what was to happen
he left his table, and the three drove rapidly to the court house,
where the judge at once began to write the order to the sheriff
to remove the Montesquieus from the jail to a place of safety
from any mob violence. Whilst the judge wrote the order a
discreet deputy sheriff was sent to the jail to very privately
inform the jailer to have the prisoners ready for removal. In
a few minutes the deputy sheriff returned, cheeks blanched
with alarm, and said that the jailer said it would be impossible
to remove them. To attempt it was sure death to the prisoners
and those who would try to protect them; that more than one
thousand people now surrounded the jail and that if an attempt
was made to remove them they would be torn to pieces. Judge
Colt excitedly jumped from his chair and said, "It is all over —
we can do nothing." But Mr. Sturgeon begged him to com
plete the order for their removal, and he got the sheriff, Mr.
Tat LaBeaume, to go and see the jailer and ascertain if there
was not a back gate to the jail opening into an alley by which
they could get them out privately. Mr. LaBeaume soon "
returned, saying that there was a door opening into the alley,
and right opposite the door was another, opening into the back
yard of the Right Reverend Bishop Cicero Hawkes' residence,
the Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and that Bishop Hawkes
had consented to allow them to be brought into his back yard
and up into his parlors, where two persons could go down with
one of the prisoners and after a little two more with the other

one, and that this would attract no attention. So, armed with
the order, Sheriff LaBeaume proceeded to carry out the removal
Mr. Sturgeon was to get two Cabs and be ready with them at
Fourth and Walnut Streets. He did not have to wait long
before the sheriff appeared with his prisoners. The carriages
were taken at once, and, as Mr. LaBeaume spoke French well,
Mr. Sturgeon asked him to explain that they were friends and
removing them to prevent the mob getting hold of them, which
seemed to comfort Raymond very much. They drove rapidly
to the arsenal, at the southern extremity of the city, then in
charge of Major Bell of the United States Army. Upon arriv
ing there Major Bell said he could afford no protection, as he
had but one man to walk the grounds to keep out intruders,
and advised that they take the prisoners to Jefferson Barracks,
where there was a large number of troops under the command
of Colonel Lovell. This was a trip of some twelve miles and
their carriages were too light for so long a journey, so Mr.
Sturgeon quickly returned to the city, and at the livery stable
of William Walton, Third and Walnut Streets, got two heavy
carriages, and with them the trip was made to the Barracks,
where Colonel Lovell cordially received the party, assuring
them that the prisoners would be safe in his hands. It was
breaking day when Mr. Sturgeon and his party got back to
the city, and thus St. Louis was saved the disgrace of putting
an innocent and a crazy man to death by mob violence.
The Montesquieus were tried and a hung jury the result.
They were defended by most able counsel, the eloquent and
able Edward Bates, afterwards United States Attorney General
under President Lincoln, and Sir Charles Gibson, and it was
through the power and influence of the latter that Governor
Austin A. King pardoned them and sent them back home to
France. Gonsalve never regained his health, and died a few
years ago in an insane asylum in Paris. The Consul of France
at New York came to St. Louis to attend the trial, and he and
Raymond came to Mr. Sturgeon's office to thank him for his
great service.
The character of the Montesquieus was not at first known,
but when it was learned that they belonged to the best French
families and were of noble birth, with the title of "Count,"

the best people of our city, especially the old French families,
visited them in jail and administered to their comfort in every
way possible.
The mob referred to did not believe that the prisoners had
been removed until a committee was permitted to enter the
jail, examine the cells they had been in, and see the judge's
order for removal. The jailer told them that Sturgeon had,
with the sheriff, taken them away, and that he had no idea
where they had taken them.
Mr. Sturgeon says that he has ever felt grateful to God for
putting it in his power to do this act. He says the thought
came to him of how horrible he would feel if in a strange country
and had a brother to become suddenly insane, and he, a sane
man, were to be hanged for his crazy brother's act, and he
resolved to go to their rescue and save them,, if possible, and
he thanks God that he was able to save their lives.
Mr. Sturgeon was married to Miss Ann Celeste Allen,
daughter of Beverley and Penelope Pope Allen, on the 16th of
December, 1858. Her father, Beverley Allen, died the 10th of
September, 1845. He was one of the ablest lawyers of his day.
He was appointed United States District Attorney for Missouri
by President John Quincy Adams. He represented the City
of St. Louis in the Missouri State Senate, and ran as a Whig
for Congress, but Missouri being then overwhelmingly Demo
cratic, he was defeated. His wife was the daughter of Judge
Nathaniel Pope, of Illinois, a brief sketch of whose life is worth
presenting in the relation which Mr. Sturgeon bears to him,
having married his granddaughter, Ann Celeste Allen. Mr.
and Mrs. Sturgeon have had born to them in the years of their
married life eleven children, eight of whom are spared to them,
viz.: Beverley A., Robert Tyler, Pope, Penelope Pope, Tyler,
Clara H., Lockwood and Lucretia Hall Sturgeon. The three
who have passed away were Thomas Edward, the eldest,
Elizabeth Tyler and Nannie Allen Sturgeon. Beverley is his
father's second assistant comptroller; Robert T. is assistant
cashier of the Merchants- Laclede National Bank; Pope has
long been an honored clerk in the Mechanic's Bank; Tyler is
connected with the electric lighting department of the city,
and Lockwood is now a lawyer. He graduated with high
honors from the High School of St. Louis and was elected
president of the class.

The late Judge Nathaniel Pope, of Illinois, so long dis
tinguished as United States District Judge of Illinois, was the
father of Mrs. Beverley Allen, the mother of Mrs. Sturgeon,
who is still living in St. Louis, and Major-General John Pope,
late of the United States Army, was his son, the brother of
Mrs. Allen and the uncle of Mrs. Isaac H. Sturgeon.
June, 1883, was the last visit of General and Mrs. U. S. Grant
to St. Louis. They had accepted an invitation to dine with
Mr. and Mrs. Sturgeon a1: their residence, No. 913 Garrison
Avenue, just opposite the residence of General W. T. Sherman,
on the evening of June 14th, 1883.
On June the 13th, 1883, General Grant called at Mr. Sturgeon's
office, corner Third and Chestnut Streets, in St. Louis Republican
Building, as the United States Internal Revenue Collector's
office was located there, and after chatting awhile, General Grant
proposed a walk. The General lit his cigar and they walked
up to the Union Market on Broadway, when Mr. Sturgeon said
to General Grant that if he had no objection he would like to
introduce him to his butcher, Mr. James Ball, who would
esteem it a great compliment. General Grant readily assented
and they walked in, and as Mr. James Ball was absent, Mr.
Sturgeon introduced him to his son, Mr. William Ball. As they
stood chatting, General Grant noticed a pair of scales in front
of Mr. Ball's stand and jocularly inquired of Mr. Ball if those
were the scales he bought by or the ones he sold by, when
Mr. Ball laughed and said, "General, we do both with them."
"Well," said General Grant, "I would like to get weighed, as
I have not been weighed for some time." Mr. Ball proceeded
to weigh him. General Grant weighed 186 pounds. Mr.
Sturgeon then stepped on the scales and -weighed 174 pounds.
Mr. Ball followed, and weighed 134 pounds, when Mr. Fritch,
the good old German market master, stepped on the scales
and weighed 234 pounds, and as he stepped off he laughed and
said that he was a bigger man than General Grant, anyhow,
and they enjoyed the joke. General Grant, after the weigh
ing was over, said to Mr. Ball that he thought he had an honest
pair of scales, as he weighed a little less than when he last
weighed, and felt that he had been losing a little flesh.
On the evening of the 14th of June, 1883, General and Mrs.
Grant, with their friend, Mrs. Rogers from New York, who

accompanied them, dined with Mr. and Mrs. Sturgeon at their
residence, No. 913 Garrison Avenue. There were present at
the table Colonel Henry C. Wright, an old neighbor of General
Grant when he resided in St. Louis County, General John
W. Noble, Honorable and Mrs. John C. Orrick, Mrs. Lucretia
Yeatman, an aunt of Mrs. Sturgeon and sister of her mother
and of her uncle, Major-General John Pope, and Colonel John
M. Harney, son of General William S. Harney of the United
States Army. As the dinner progressed, in course of conversa
tion Mrs. Sturgeon remarked that she never did like to get up
early, and an hour's sleep in the morning did her more good
than all the rest of the night. General Grant, who sat next
to her, said, "I quite agree with you, Mrs. Sturgeon; I never
liked to get up early. Now, when I used to haul wood to town
from the farm below Carondelet, I would be coming to town
with my load when the other fellows were coming home. They
had jumped up with the chickens, catching the chills, and
there was no sense in it, for they could make but one load a day
and I did the same taking it easy." Mrs. Sturgeon was quite
delighted to have such an able supporter in her habits, and
she remarked that it was not how early one got up, but what
they accomplished after they arose. "Now," said she, "my
grandfather, Judge Pope, would get up by daylight and arouse
everybody for an early breakfast and then go to bed after
breakfast; that cured me of jumping up with the chickens."
And she said she accomplished as much in her household affairs
as the early risers. So General Grant and Mrs. Sturgeon were
in accord, and after that Mr. Sturgeon said he gave up all
contention for early rising and Mrs. Sturgeon ruled in her house
hold on this question and in almost everything, so far as the
comforts of her family were concerned.

Mr. Sturgeon's youngest daughter, Lucretia, married Dr.
John Green, Jr., son of the celebrated oculist, Dr. John Green,
who bears an international reputation. Of this union three
children were born — Helen Celeste, Harmon and John Green.
These children were the greatest source of Mr. Sturgeon's
pleasure in his declining years.

Mr. Sturgeon's body lies in beautiful Bellefontaine Ceme
tery in St, Louis, whose people loved and honored him so long,
and his spirit has passed across the dark river to be greeted
on the other side by his wife and three children who went
before him. The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

A few characteristic reminiscences of Mr. Sturgeon, taken
from the newspapers at the time of his death:
St. Louis Gkbe-Democrat, August 24th, 1908.
STURGEON BURIAL TO-DAY

FUNERAL SERVICES IN ROOM IN WHICH HE WAS MARRIED IN 1858

HE WAS KNOWN FOR CHARITY

MANY REMINISCENCES TOLD OF AGED ST. LOUISAN'S LIFE-
DELAYED WEDDING FOR DRESSES

The funeral of the late Isaac H. Sturgeon, who died Saturday at his
home, 1410 East Grand Avenue, in his 87th year, will take place this
afternoon from the residence at four o'clock. The services will be con
ducted by Rev. B. T. Kemerer, rector of St. George's Church. In com
pliance with the wishes of Mr. Sturgeon, the services will be held in the
library of his home, the room in which he was married in December, 1858,
to Miss Ann Celeste Allen. There will be no music, but he requested that
the words of one of his favorite hymns, "Nearer, My God, to Thee," be
read at his grave. This request will also be carried out.
The pallbearers will be City Comptroller James Y. Player, Louis Fusz,
Capt. Robert McCulloch, A. J. O'Reilly, James Lockwood and J. B.
Gazzam. Burial, which will be private, will be at Bellefontaine Cemetery.
Mr. Sturgeon is survived by three daughters, Mrs. John Green, Jr., Miss
Penelope P. Sturgeon and Miss Clara H. Sturgeon, and five sons, Beverley
A., Robert T., Pope, Tyler and Lockwood. He is also survived by three
grandchildren, Helen C, Harmon and John Green. The only fraternal
order of which he was a member was the Masons.
Mr. Sturgeon's life was filled with interesting incidents and many
characteristic reminiscences are related about him. A story which Mr.
Sturgeon often told on himself was repeated by Capt. Robert McCulloch,
to whom Mr. Sturgeon had related it one evening while at dinner at Mr.
Sturgeon's home. In telling the story Mr. McCulloch uses the words
of Mr. Sturgeon. The story related to the evening Mr. and Mrs. Sturgeon
were married.

"At that time the bus line which ran along Broadway was subject to
many delays, and on this occasion, which was December 16th, 1858, the
night was bitter cold. All preparations for the wedding had been made,
and there were to be eight bridesmaids, two of whom were from Springfield,
111., and one of these is the widow of the late Gen. John M. Palmer. The
dresses for the bridesmaids were all made in St. Louis, and as the hour for
the ceremony to take place drew near, which was eight o'clock, there was
considerable uneasiness in the air because these dresses had not arrived.
The guests were waiting, the bride was waiting, likewise myself, but no
dresses were forthcoming. Well, what could we do? I knew the girls
would be very much disappointed, so I just called to them, and, before the
guests, announced that the wedding would not take place until those
dresses came. DRESSES FINALLY ARRIVE.
"At about twelve o'clock a messenger who had lost his way, and who
had to walk from Bremen Avenue, brought the dresses, and after a few
more minutes delay, the ceremony was performed. I told them that the
ceremony would not be performed until those dresses arrived, if they did not
get there until the next morning. It would never have done to disappoint
those girls. I did feel sorry for the bride, though, for her dress was so fine
that she had to stand up all that time."
Comptroller James Y. Player tells a story which illustrates Mr.
Sturgeon's love for children. " In company with the late James
E. Yeatman," said Mr. Player, "while Mr. Sturgeon was United States
Sub-Treasurer, we paid a visit to Mr. Sturgeon at his office, and there on
his desk was a little pile of coins of small denominations, such as dimes
and half-dimes. They were all new. Mr. Sturgeon had a custom of
getting some of his personal money changed into these small denomina
tions, and when children came in he would give them a, few coins. This
was only one of the many manifestations of his great love for children."
Col. R. J. Rombauer, who was Chief Clerk in the Internal Revenue office
under Mr. Sturgeon, said of him: "In the ten or twelve years during
which time I worked in the office with Mr. Sturgeon, his fidelity to duty,
such as promptness on reporting at the office, was frequently commented
upon. He treated every one with the same uniform courtesy."
Albert Blair, an attorney, tells the following of Mr. Sturgeon:
"In the early 50's, when Erastus Wells, father of Mayor Rolla Wells,
ran a bus line on Broadway, Mr. Sturgeon crossed the river on a ferry boat,
and found an Irishman trying to beat his way across. The captain of the
boat would not let him land when he found out the man was trying to get
across without paying, and Mr. Sturgeon, hearing this, asked the man
his story. He told him that he was penniless, and was trying to get
across the river in hopes of getting work. Sturgeon told him that if he
would come back with him he would try and get him a job. The man
came back and secured a position under Erastus Wells as driver for one
of his- buses. After a while the man sent to Ireland for his wife and
family, and, when they came, he opened up a hotel."

CARES FOR ORPHANS.
Probably one of the most interesting reminiscences of the life of Mr.
Sturgeon is also told by Mr. Blair, who knew personally all the persons
concerne 1
"About the year 1849," he said, "when the cholera epidemic caused
the death of so many hundreds of St. Louisans, a family by the name
of Cluskey all died with the exception of two boys, Tom and Henry. As
was the custom of Mr. Sturgeon, upon hearing of such cases, he personally
paid the bills for medicines, and in case of the death of some destitute
person, he also paid the burial expenses. When he heard of the plight of
the two boys he took one of them into his home, and the other was taken
by the late Dr. Farrar. The boys were lonesome on being separated, so
Sturgeon went to Dr. Farrar and told him he would take care of both the
boys. He gave them their schooling. Tom was given a position as a
teller in the Southern Bank, while Henry was sent to a college in New
Hampshire. In later years Tom worked in the Internal Revenue office.
"During the days when slaves were sold on the east steps of the court
house, Mr. Sturgeon's heart was touched on numerous occasions, and to
prevent the separation of husband and wife, he on one occasion bought
the freedom of one of the slaves and took him to his home, where the
negro's wife was, and gave him his board. Mr. Sturgeon's spirit of justice
was again demonstrated when he saw a woman beating a boy with a stick.
He went up to the woman and asked her if she thought her treatment would
bring about the desired result. She said it was the only thing left to do.
Laying his hand on the shoulder of the boy, he turned to the woman and
said: 'Don't break his spirit or will, for that is all he has to carry him
through life.' "
The old Sturgeon Market, which, until a few years ago, stood on
Broadway and North Market, was named after Mr. Sturgeon, as was the
town of Sturgeon, Missouri.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23d, 1908.
MANY CHILDREN GRIEVE
There was grief among the children in the water tower neighborhood
when the news came that "Grandpa," as they knew Mr. Sturgeon, was
dead. It was his daily practice to walk through a line of children, buying
newspapers from them until a pocketful of pennies had been spent, and
giving the papers back. If some of the children "repeated" and sold him
the same paper twice, the kindly twinkling eyes never seemed to see the
artifice. Perhaps no man has lived in St. Louis whose range of acquaintance was
longer or broader than Mr. Sturgeon's. His life was one of the few remain
ing links between the St. Louis of to-day and the days of Thomas H.
Benton.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 25th, 1908.
ISAAC H. STURGEON BURIED

MANY FRIENDS ACCOMPANY THE BODY TO GRAVE IN BELLEFONTAINE

The funeral of Isaac H. Sturgeon, who died last Saturday, was held
yesterday afternoon at the family home, 1410 East Grand Avenue. The
services, which were held in the library of the historic mansion, the same
room in which Mr. and Mr. Sturgeon were married, fifty years ago, were
conducted by Rev. B. T. Kemerer, rector of St. George's Church. Burial
was in Bellefontaine Cemetery in the family lot. At the grave the words
of Mr. Sturgeon's favorite hymn, "Nearer, My God, to Thee," were read.
The pallbearers were City Comptroller James Y. Player, Louis Fusz,
Capt. Robert McCulloch, A. J. O'Reilly, James Lockwood and J. B.
Gazzam. Mr. Sturgeon is survived by eight children: Mrs. John Green, Jr., Miss
Penelope P. Sturgeon, Miss Clara H. Sturgeon, Beverley A., Robert T.
Pope, Tyler and Lockwood. Three grandchildren also survive: Helen
C, Harmon and John Green.
Among the many friends who were there were Gen. B. G. Farrar,
Walker Hill, Colonel R. J. Rombauer, David Ranken, Hugh Campbell,
J. C. Strauss, Joseph A. Wherry, J. W. Donaldson, Western Bascome,
Hillis Larkin, Alexander Price, Philip Heuer, Fred Churchill, Joseph
Boyce, Allen Trail, Richard Barlow, Theodore Childs, B. Whittemore,
Capt. John F. Baker, Anthony Ittner .and Judge Alexander Hope, of
Alton, 111.
In one of the carriages were the colored servants, who had been with the
family a great many years.

The following extract is taken from the Encyclopedia of
the History of St. Louis, edited by William Hyde and Howard
L. Conard, Volume IV., page 2409, entitled, "War Between
the States," by James 0. Broadhead:
"There can be no doubt of the great value of Mr. Sturgeon's services
in the cause' of the Union. The St. Louis Democrat on the 2d of Feb
ruary, 1861, in an editorial on the subject of the federal officers in the
State, said, 'They eat the bread of the government they are plotting to
destroy;' 'The gentleman who fills the office of assistant treasurer, the
Hon. Isaac H. Sturgeon, is the only one who has the decency to regard
the spirit of the oath by which their fidelity is pledged to the government
which employs and feeds them.' "

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