Saturday, April 18, 2009

Francis Glanville Reed in St. Louis

After William Reed's death in 1891, Frances Glanville Reed must have had a hard time with so many young children. I was pretty surprised to find her in St. Louis in the 1900 census. She might have had relatives here. My mother recalled that Vivian Maupin Long (Frances's granddaughter) always liked coming to church with us at Lafayette Park Methodist Church because she ran into cousins. My Aunt Mary remembers visiting "cousins" with her grandmother Annie Reed Maupin. I haven't, yet, figured out who that would have been, but when Francis came to St. Louis she lived on Hickory Ave. which I knew was one of the streets in the Lafayette Park neighborhood. Naturally, I assumed she had lived in that neighborhood, but a "road trip" with a GPS system revealed a different location.

First, I was surprised to be so close to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and Ralston Purina plant---further east from the Lafayette Park neighborhood, but very close to where a lot of industry was at the turn of the century. Also, nearby is a tavern that's been around since 1818--Old Rock House. Then, when I passed St. Raymond's church (above), I was pretty sure I'd never been in this area. When we turned on 9th Street, I was beginning to feel a little uneasy. Ahead was all "new" housing just as the GPS said, "Arriving at destination." 927 Hickory was that building to the right, so I'm thinking Francis lived in a house in front of the dumpster: 929 Hickory.

The census takers weren't always that good about writing the street addresses down. Frances could have lived at 928 or 930, but nothing was there either. Across the street was a little "pocket park" which is where those buildings would have been.

This area is called the LaSalle Park neighborhood which used to be part of the Soulard neighborhood---a very trendy place named for the Soulard Market---a farmer's market since 1779.
Down the street were a couple of restored row houses which I assume is the way the whole street looked at one time. The one on the right is a Bed and Breakfast. I talked to a woman who was staying there. She said it is ultra-modern on the inside. So, if any of you were planning on taking a trip up memory lane and staying on g-g grandmother's street, be warned--it does say "modern abode". Click here to see inside. It was however named best B and B in St. Louis for 2006.
Back to the census (double click to enlarge, but use the back arrow to come back):
She had 4 children still living with her: Mary (Mayme) Reed who was 22 and worked as a dressmaker; Charles Reed, 19, worked as a "polisher" at the foundry; Walter Reed, 17, was a laborer at the foundry; James Reed, 14, was "at school." Also note that there were boarders. One, Gustav Outman, was probably Frances's nephew (Augustus)----the son of her sister Elizabeth Glanvile Outman who with her husband died in 1877 leaving 4 young orphan children. In the 1910 census, two were living with William Glanville, the oldest brother, in St. Francois County, MO.

I confess that I was a little sad that Frances's house wasn't there, especially since I had imagined it beautifully restored in the Lafayette Park neighborhood. I hope I have better luck finding the stone house that William built in the De Soto area (see below for an old photo).

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