Photograph of Chestnut Street in St. Louis looking west from Fourth Street. The court house is on the left and the Planter's Hotel is on the right., This image of the Planter's Hotel matches another looking north on Fourth Street in 1872. By 1874, the hotel was renovated and expanded.
Political cartoon illustrated by T.H. Nash. "A Government of the people, for the people, and by the people" - that can not protect the people, shall perish from the earth.
"GO ON" -- U. S. Grant
The constitution of the United States must and shall be preserved - and protected.
Improvement of Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas Rivers. United States Snag Boat J. N. Macomb. Designed by and built under the direction of Major Charles R. Suter. Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. 1874. Longitudinal Section Through Centre.
20x16 in photograph of the Cracker Castle at the corner of St. Ange and Chouteau in 1870. The house was built in 1868 for Jonathan O. Pierce, who gained his wealth through the selling of hardtack during the Civil War. Within a few years, the home was sold to Fidelio C. Sharp, a lawyer and partner in the firm of Sharp & Broadhead.
Front Page of Frank Leslie's Illustrirte Zeitung from the 13th of July, 1872, depicting a concert hall and its auditorium where a singing festival was held. The caption below the auditorium specifically mentions the reception concert. The illustrations were done by Joseph Ferdinand Keppler. The text is from "Herrn Mahlhuber's Reiseabenteuer" by Friedrich Gestäcker (Gestaecker).
14.75x13 in photograph of 4th Street in St. Louis looking north toward Chestnut Street. The streetscape includes the front facade of the Planter's Hotel, the offices of the Vandalia Line, and a museum.
A political cartoon featured on the front page of Frank Leslie's Illustrated newspaper, published on January 8,1876. The cartoon depicts the formal discharge of special prosecutor General John Brooks Henderson from the case involving the indictment of General Orville E. Babcock. General Babcock served as private secretary under President Ulysses S. Grant from 1869-1877 and during that time was accused of and indicted for his alleged involvement in the political scandal known as the Great Whiskey Ring. Babcock was acquitted of the charges brought against him after a defense provided by President Grant.
16x20 in photograph of the first public high school in St. Louis at the corner of Fifteenth Street and Olive Street in 1870. The building was built in 1855 in the Lucas Place neighborhood.
Light on the River - August 18, 1880. The Steamer Chas. P. Chouteau, lying at the foot of Market street, attracted considerable attention along the levee last evening by its two electric lights, which shone forth with intense brightness. The Chouteau is the first steamer at this point on the Mississippi River to substitute an electric llight for the old fashioned pine-torch illuminators, and the enterprise is one that will amply repay the owners of the boat for the expensive outlay. There were two lights on the boat, near the bow one on each side pendant upon the end of a boom about 30 feet long. The lights were surrounded by a crystal globe similar but smaller than the one used on 6th street. The experiment was made under the direction of Mr. H. Heisler who was present with a corps of assistants, managing the engine and regulating the lamps. The engine used is of 6 horsepower of the Smith & Rankin make, an upright piece of machinery and a little beauty. It requires three horsepower for each light, which is of 10,000 candle power. When the engine was first put in motion the lights were disposed to flicker, owing to the unsteady running of the engine, caused by the slipping of the band as it stretched. This difference was obviated by tightening the band, after which the light burned steadily and without difficulty. It was a fine exhibition, taken all in all, and the officers of the boat as well as the spectators generally expressed their satisfaction with the experiment.
Emil Boehl was a St. Louis photographer who primarily focused his camera on St. Louis streets, buildings, and locales. Born in Calvoerde, Germany, in 1839, Boehl immigrated to St. Louis in 1854. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Boehl returned to St. Louis in 1864 and opened a photography studio with Lawrence Koenig that spring. With Koenig focusing on portraiture, Boehl became one of the most prolific St. Louis scenic photographers active in the latter half of the 19th Century. The Boehl/Koenig partnership lasted until 1897. Boehl retired from photography in 1919 and died later that year on the 12th of December.
The Emil Boehl Collection consists of three series. The collection contains images dating from 1850 to ca. 1906. The collection’s archival materials include photographic prints and negatives. According to historians Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn, Boehl’s career was from 1864 to 1919, and he was known to sell prints of Thomas Easterly’s daguerreotypes. In light of those facts, some dates in the Boehl Collection may be labelled incorrectly and/or some images may not be Boehl’s.
This retained manuscript copy of an autograph letter by Thomas Neill to the sisters Sophia and Catherine German, was an attempt to secure their release from Cheyenne Indians that had captured the girls., John and Lydia German, as well as their seven children, were moving by wagon via the Smoky Hill Trail to Colorado when they were attacked by a hostile Cheyenne war party. Both parents and three of the seven children were killed and scalped. Four girls were taken captive. The two youngest girls, Addie and Julie, aged 5 and 7 respectively, were rescued in a military raid in November 1874.
After the rescue of the two youngest girls, a letter was written, addressed to Sophia, aged 12, and Catherine, aged 17, by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Neill. The letter advised the sisters to read it Grey-Beard or Stone-Calf to secure the sister's release and for the Cheyennes to submit themselves to the mercy of the government. The sisters were rescued in March 1875 and reunited with their sisters at Fort Leavenworth.