CIVIL WAR SERVICE RECORD
Pvt Andrew W. St. John
UNION MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS
5th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry
Discrepancy between birth date on gravestone and birth date in Carthage newspaper
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 23, 1907
A. W. ST. JOHN IS NO MORE
DIED AT CLARKSVILLE, ARKANSAS AT 10:30 THIS MORNING
End is Supposed to Have Come Suddenly - Was for Many Years Editor and Proprietor of the "Press"
Just at the hour of going to press, 4 o'clock this afternoon, a telegram was received at the PRESS office announcing the sad news of the death of A. W. St. John, a former well-known citizen of Carthage and for many years editor and proprietor of the PRESS.
The telegram was sent from Mena, Arkansas where the deceased had lived since he left Carthage in 1896, but his death occurred at Clarksville, Ark., at 10:30 this morning.
No particulars are given, but it is presumed the death was sudden, as Mr. St. John is known to have been subject to heart trouble for some time past, and to have, himself, realized that he was likely to meet death suddenly at any time.
The telegram says that the body will reach Mena today and plans as to the funeral will be sent later. It is probable the interment will be held in Carthage, where he had lived for so many years.
This piece of news will indeed be received with sadness by Mr. St. John's many old friends in Carthage.
The lateness of the hour prevents more than this brief notice in today's paper.
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE EVENING PRESS
Tuesday, January 29, 1907
TRIBUTE OF A. W. ST. JOHN
David L. Stump Eulogizes Man for Whom
He Worked for Many Years
David L. Stump, who for many years was the foreman of the PRESS job department, but is now editor and publisher of the Port Arthur News, pays the following tribute to his old employer, A. W. St. John, the former editor of the PRESS, whose death occurred the past week:
"Mr. A. W. St. John, founder and editor of the daily and weekly Star, at Mena, Arkansas died Thursday morning at Clarksville, that state, of heart failure. The news of Mr. St. John's death was received with profound sorrow by the senior editor of the NEWS and his family.
For over 13 years we served Mr. St. John in the capacity of a printer on the daily and weekly PRESS at Carthage, MO. During all those years we found Mr. St. John not a task-master but a genuine friend and companion. In the hour of distress or affliction, Mr. St. John was over ready with open heart and hand to comfort and help. He was a true philanthropist, and his chief concern was the welfare of others. He always took active interest in politics, through which channel he labored with the hope and expectation of relief for oppressed and down-trodden humanity. His ideas along these lines were always in advance of the times, and he lived to see a mighty agitation, the sequence of which promises to reach near to his ideals.
"Mr. St. John was one of nature's noblemen, and the best epitaph that can be inscribed on the monument at his grave is 'He lived to bless mankind.'
"With the members of the bereaved family we mingle our tears of sorrow, and extend to them our sincerest sympathy, adding these words which must be a great comfort to all his relatives and friends: 'The world is brighter and better today than it ever was before, because of the fact that A. W. St. John lived in it." '
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 24, 1907
TO BE BURIED IN CARTHAGE
REMAINS OF A. W. ST. JOHN WILL ARRIVE HERE TOMORROW
Funeral at Home of H. M. Keim at 3 O'clock - Was Nearly 67 Years of Age - Sketch of His Life.
The remains of A. W. St. John, whose sudden death at Clarksville, Arkansas was announced in yesterday's PRESS, will be brought to Carthage for burial, arriving here tomorrow about noon.
A funeral service was held at Mena this afternoon and services will be held here tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock at the residence of H. M. Keim on South Main Street under the auspices of the G.A.R. and the Masons.
Mr. St. John had gone to Clarksville to attend the state convention of the Arkansas Horticultural Society, but the full details of how his death occurred have not yet been received.
Mr. St. John was in Carthage on Sunday and Monday December 23 and 24 in company with his wife and from here went to St. Louis where they made a brief visit. At that time Mr. St. John was seemingly in better health than he had been for a year or more past, but to his relatives and intimate acquaintances he stated that he had been having serious heart trouble and in anticipation of the very thing that has now happened, he had made all his preparations for death. Having done this, however, he jocularly remarked that he was prepared to live to a ripe old age of 80 or 90 years.
⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
Biographical
Andrew Warner St. John was born in Chautauqua, New York on February 29, 1840 and was consequently nearly 67 years of age at the time of his death.
When quite young, his father having died in 1848, he moved with his mother to Wisconsin, living at Beloit and Burlington. In 1857 he moved to Minnesota and became a citizen of Freeborn county. When the war broke out he enlisted as a member of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry and served four years. Among some of his war experiences was the participation in the siege of Vicksburg and many of the hottest battles up to the surrender of General Lee. His health was much impaired by the exposure and hardships of war and he never fully recovered his former vigor and health. After his return from the war he was elected sheriff of Freeborn county, serving in that capacity for one term.
In 1867 Mr. St. John moved to Jasper county, and located on a fruit farm in the suburbs of Carthage, where he soon built up a reputation as a progressive fruit grower and gardener. He raised at one time 85 bushels of strawberries from half an acre of ground.
With the advent of the Greenback party, Mr. St. John became a member of that organization and was one of its leading and most vigorous supporters in southwest Missouri, having formed in 1874 the first Greenback club in this locality. In 1875 he was a delegate to the national Greenback convention at Cleveland and was also a delegate to the state convention at St. Louis the same year. He was a frequent contributor to the columns of the PRESS, then a weekly publication owned and edited by J. A. Bodenhammer, an ardent supporter of the policies of the Greenback party. In 1882 he bought a half interest in the PRESS, put new life and energy into it, and from that time forward the progress of the paper was steadily upward. A short time later Mr. Bodenhammer retired from the PRESS and he was succeeded by G. E. St. John and the business was conducted under the firm name of St. John Brothers. Later C. Conard was associated with Mr. St. John in the ownership of the paper which had in the meantime become a daily, and with the breaking up of the Greenback party, had become a supporter of Republican principles.
As editor of the PRESS from 1882 to 1896 Mr. St. John became widely known not only as an able newspaper man but as a political leader and as a man of strong personality and steadfast convictions. He was always active in matters pertaining to the welfare of Carthage and Jasper county and lost no opportunity to advance the interest of either. He was the originator of the phrase which referred to Jasper as "the best county on earth".
He built the home on West Macon Street now occupied by John H. Millard and for many years resided there. He had seen Carthage grown from a small insignificant village to a handsome prosperous city of ten thousand people and had himself had no small part in its development and improvement, being all the times public spirited and actively connected will all enterprises calculated to advance the interests of Carthage and its people.
In August 1896 Mr. St. John severed his connection with the PRESS, his interest and that of sister-in-law, Mrs. Lucy B. St. John being bought at that time by W. J. Sewell, the present proprietor, who had since 1890 been associated with the St. Johns in the ownership of the paper.
Immediately upon selling the PRESS Mr. St. John located at Mena, Arkansas a town just then starting as a division point on the new Kansas City Southern railway, and began the publication of the Mena Star, his sons Virgil and Roy being associated with him in that enterprise. The Star has been developed into a paying property, and Mr. St. John had a pleasant home beautifully located on a high piece of ground of considerable proportions in the suburbs of Mena. He was recognized as one of the foremost citizens of that town and was the official head of the business men's organization as well as a leader in many other public enterprises there.
Mr. St. John had been twice married;
First to Miss Helen H. Hunt, who died in 1870 and later to Miss Emma Potter who survives him. By his first wife two children were born;
Virgil W. who is now a resident of Kansas City and an employee of the Kansas City Star and Nellie G. who is now Mrs. A. B. Ellison and resides with her husband in St. Louis.
By his second wife two children were born;
Edwin who died in 1878 and Royal R. who is now a resident of Mena and for several years past has been in charge of the Mena Star
Mr. St. John was a member of the G.A.R. and of the Masonic and Eastern Star Lodges.
Pvt Andrew W. St. John
UNION MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS
5th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry
Discrepancy between birth date on gravestone and birth date in Carthage newspaper
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 23, 1907
A. W. ST. JOHN IS NO MORE
DIED AT CLARKSVILLE, ARKANSAS AT 10:30 THIS MORNING
End is Supposed to Have Come Suddenly - Was for Many Years Editor and Proprietor of the "Press"
Just at the hour of going to press, 4 o'clock this afternoon, a telegram was received at the PRESS office announcing the sad news of the death of A. W. St. John, a former well-known citizen of Carthage and for many years editor and proprietor of the PRESS.
The telegram was sent from Mena, Arkansas where the deceased had lived since he left Carthage in 1896, but his death occurred at Clarksville, Ark., at 10:30 this morning.
No particulars are given, but it is presumed the death was sudden, as Mr. St. John is known to have been subject to heart trouble for some time past, and to have, himself, realized that he was likely to meet death suddenly at any time.
The telegram says that the body will reach Mena today and plans as to the funeral will be sent later. It is probable the interment will be held in Carthage, where he had lived for so many years.
This piece of news will indeed be received with sadness by Mr. St. John's many old friends in Carthage.
The lateness of the hour prevents more than this brief notice in today's paper.
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE EVENING PRESS
Tuesday, January 29, 1907
TRIBUTE OF A. W. ST. JOHN
David L. Stump Eulogizes Man for Whom
He Worked for Many Years
David L. Stump, who for many years was the foreman of the PRESS job department, but is now editor and publisher of the Port Arthur News, pays the following tribute to his old employer, A. W. St. John, the former editor of the PRESS, whose death occurred the past week:
"Mr. A. W. St. John, founder and editor of the daily and weekly Star, at Mena, Arkansas died Thursday morning at Clarksville, that state, of heart failure. The news of Mr. St. John's death was received with profound sorrow by the senior editor of the NEWS and his family.
For over 13 years we served Mr. St. John in the capacity of a printer on the daily and weekly PRESS at Carthage, MO. During all those years we found Mr. St. John not a task-master but a genuine friend and companion. In the hour of distress or affliction, Mr. St. John was over ready with open heart and hand to comfort and help. He was a true philanthropist, and his chief concern was the welfare of others. He always took active interest in politics, through which channel he labored with the hope and expectation of relief for oppressed and down-trodden humanity. His ideas along these lines were always in advance of the times, and he lived to see a mighty agitation, the sequence of which promises to reach near to his ideals.
"Mr. St. John was one of nature's noblemen, and the best epitaph that can be inscribed on the monument at his grave is 'He lived to bless mankind.'
"With the members of the bereaved family we mingle our tears of sorrow, and extend to them our sincerest sympathy, adding these words which must be a great comfort to all his relatives and friends: 'The world is brighter and better today than it ever was before, because of the fact that A. W. St. John lived in it." '
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 24, 1907
TO BE BURIED IN CARTHAGE
REMAINS OF A. W. ST. JOHN WILL ARRIVE HERE TOMORROW
Funeral at Home of H. M. Keim at 3 O'clock - Was Nearly 67 Years of Age - Sketch of His Life.
The remains of A. W. St. John, whose sudden death at Clarksville, Arkansas was announced in yesterday's PRESS, will be brought to Carthage for burial, arriving here tomorrow about noon.
A funeral service was held at Mena this afternoon and services will be held here tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock at the residence of H. M. Keim on South Main Street under the auspices of the G.A.R. and the Masons.
Mr. St. John had gone to Clarksville to attend the state convention of the Arkansas Horticultural Society, but the full details of how his death occurred have not yet been received.
Mr. St. John was in Carthage on Sunday and Monday December 23 and 24 in company with his wife and from here went to St. Louis where they made a brief visit. At that time Mr. St. John was seemingly in better health than he had been for a year or more past, but to his relatives and intimate acquaintances he stated that he had been having serious heart trouble and in anticipation of the very thing that has now happened, he had made all his preparations for death. Having done this, however, he jocularly remarked that he was prepared to live to a ripe old age of 80 or 90 years.
⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
Biographical
Andrew Warner St. John was born in Chautauqua, New York on February 29, 1840 and was consequently nearly 67 years of age at the time of his death.
When quite young, his father having died in 1848, he moved with his mother to Wisconsin, living at Beloit and Burlington. In 1857 he moved to Minnesota and became a citizen of Freeborn county. When the war broke out he enlisted as a member of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry and served four years. Among some of his war experiences was the participation in the siege of Vicksburg and many of the hottest battles up to the surrender of General Lee. His health was much impaired by the exposure and hardships of war and he never fully recovered his former vigor and health. After his return from the war he was elected sheriff of Freeborn county, serving in that capacity for one term.
In 1867 Mr. St. John moved to Jasper county, and located on a fruit farm in the suburbs of Carthage, where he soon built up a reputation as a progressive fruit grower and gardener. He raised at one time 85 bushels of strawberries from half an acre of ground.
With the advent of the Greenback party, Mr. St. John became a member of that organization and was one of its leading and most vigorous supporters in southwest Missouri, having formed in 1874 the first Greenback club in this locality. In 1875 he was a delegate to the national Greenback convention at Cleveland and was also a delegate to the state convention at St. Louis the same year. He was a frequent contributor to the columns of the PRESS, then a weekly publication owned and edited by J. A. Bodenhammer, an ardent supporter of the policies of the Greenback party. In 1882 he bought a half interest in the PRESS, put new life and energy into it, and from that time forward the progress of the paper was steadily upward. A short time later Mr. Bodenhammer retired from the PRESS and he was succeeded by G. E. St. John and the business was conducted under the firm name of St. John Brothers. Later C. Conard was associated with Mr. St. John in the ownership of the paper which had in the meantime become a daily, and with the breaking up of the Greenback party, had become a supporter of Republican principles.
As editor of the PRESS from 1882 to 1896 Mr. St. John became widely known not only as an able newspaper man but as a political leader and as a man of strong personality and steadfast convictions. He was always active in matters pertaining to the welfare of Carthage and Jasper county and lost no opportunity to advance the interest of either. He was the originator of the phrase which referred to Jasper as "the best county on earth".
He built the home on West Macon Street now occupied by John H. Millard and for many years resided there. He had seen Carthage grown from a small insignificant village to a handsome prosperous city of ten thousand people and had himself had no small part in its development and improvement, being all the times public spirited and actively connected will all enterprises calculated to advance the interests of Carthage and its people.
In August 1896 Mr. St. John severed his connection with the PRESS, his interest and that of sister-in-law, Mrs. Lucy B. St. John being bought at that time by W. J. Sewell, the present proprietor, who had since 1890 been associated with the St. Johns in the ownership of the paper.
Immediately upon selling the PRESS Mr. St. John located at Mena, Arkansas a town just then starting as a division point on the new Kansas City Southern railway, and began the publication of the Mena Star, his sons Virgil and Roy being associated with him in that enterprise. The Star has been developed into a paying property, and Mr. St. John had a pleasant home beautifully located on a high piece of ground of considerable proportions in the suburbs of Mena. He was recognized as one of the foremost citizens of that town and was the official head of the business men's organization as well as a leader in many other public enterprises there.
Mr. St. John had been twice married;
First to Miss Helen H. Hunt, who died in 1870 and later to Miss Emma Potter who survives him. By his first wife two children were born;
Virgil W. who is now a resident of Kansas City and an employee of the Kansas City Star and Nellie G. who is now Mrs. A. B. Ellison and resides with her husband in St. Louis.
By his second wife two children were born;
Edwin who died in 1878 and Royal R. who is now a resident of Mena and for several years past has been in charge of the Mena Star
Mr. St. John was a member of the G.A.R. and of the Masonic and Eastern Star Lodges.
CIVIL WAR SERVICE RECORD
Pvt Andrew W. St. John
UNION MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS
5th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry
Discrepancy between birth date on gravestone and birth date in Carthage newspaper
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 23, 1907
A. W. ST. JOHN IS NO MORE
DIED AT CLARKSVILLE, ARKANSAS AT 10:30 THIS MORNING
End is Supposed to Have Come Suddenly - Was for Many Years Editor and Proprietor of the "Press"
Just at the hour of going to press, 4 o'clock this afternoon, a telegram was received at the PRESS office announcing the sad news of the death of A. W. St. John, a former well-known citizen of Carthage and for many years editor and proprietor of the PRESS.
The telegram was sent from Mena, Arkansas where the deceased had lived since he left Carthage in 1896, but his death occurred at Clarksville, Ark., at 10:30 this morning.
No particulars are given, but it is presumed the death was sudden, as Mr. St. John is known to have been subject to heart trouble for some time past, and to have, himself, realized that he was likely to meet death suddenly at any time.
The telegram says that the body will reach Mena today and plans as to the funeral will be sent later. It is probable the interment will be held in Carthage, where he had lived for so many years.
This piece of news will indeed be received with sadness by Mr. St. John's many old friends in Carthage.
The lateness of the hour prevents more than this brief notice in today's paper.
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE EVENING PRESS
Tuesday, January 29, 1907
TRIBUTE OF A. W. ST. JOHN
David L. Stump Eulogizes Man for Whom
He Worked for Many Years
David L. Stump, who for many years was the foreman of the PRESS job department, but is now editor and publisher of the Port Arthur News, pays the following tribute to his old employer, A. W. St. John, the former editor of the PRESS, whose death occurred the past week:
"Mr. A. W. St. John, founder and editor of the daily and weekly Star, at Mena, Arkansas died Thursday morning at Clarksville, that state, of heart failure. The news of Mr. St. John's death was received with profound sorrow by the senior editor of the NEWS and his family.
For over 13 years we served Mr. St. John in the capacity of a printer on the daily and weekly PRESS at Carthage, MO. During all those years we found Mr. St. John not a task-master but a genuine friend and companion. In the hour of distress or affliction, Mr. St. John was over ready with open heart and hand to comfort and help. He was a true philanthropist, and his chief concern was the welfare of others. He always took active interest in politics, through which channel he labored with the hope and expectation of relief for oppressed and down-trodden humanity. His ideas along these lines were always in advance of the times, and he lived to see a mighty agitation, the sequence of which promises to reach near to his ideals.
"Mr. St. John was one of nature's noblemen, and the best epitaph that can be inscribed on the monument at his grave is 'He lived to bless mankind.'
"With the members of the bereaved family we mingle our tears of sorrow, and extend to them our sincerest sympathy, adding these words which must be a great comfort to all his relatives and friends: 'The world is brighter and better today than it ever was before, because of the fact that A. W. St. John lived in it." '
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 24, 1907
TO BE BURIED IN CARTHAGE
REMAINS OF A. W. ST. JOHN WILL ARRIVE HERE TOMORROW
Funeral at Home of H. M. Keim at 3 O'clock - Was Nearly 67 Years of Age - Sketch of His Life.
The remains of A. W. St. John, whose sudden death at Clarksville, Arkansas was announced in yesterday's PRESS, will be brought to Carthage for burial, arriving here tomorrow about noon.
A funeral service was held at Mena this afternoon and services will be held here tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock at the residence of H. M. Keim on South Main Street under the auspices of the G.A.R. and the Masons.
Mr. St. John had gone to Clarksville to attend the state convention of the Arkansas Horticultural Society, but the full details of how his death occurred have not yet been received.
Mr. St. John was in Carthage on Sunday and Monday December 23 and 24 in company with his wife and from here went to St. Louis where they made a brief visit. At that time Mr. St. John was seemingly in better health than he had been for a year or more past, but to his relatives and intimate acquaintances he stated that he had been having serious heart trouble and in anticipation of the very thing that has now happened, he had made all his preparations for death. Having done this, however, he jocularly remarked that he was prepared to live to a ripe old age of 80 or 90 years.
⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
Biographical
Andrew Warner St. John was born in Chautauqua, New York on February 29, 1840 and was consequently nearly 67 years of age at the time of his death.
When quite young, his father having died in 1848, he moved with his mother to Wisconsin, living at Beloit and Burlington. In 1857 he moved to Minnesota and became a citizen of Freeborn county. When the war broke out he enlisted as a member of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry and served four years. Among some of his war experiences was the participation in the siege of Vicksburg and many of the hottest battles up to the surrender of General Lee. His health was much impaired by the exposure and hardships of war and he never fully recovered his former vigor and health. After his return from the war he was elected sheriff of Freeborn county, serving in that capacity for one term.
In 1867 Mr. St. John moved to Jasper county, and located on a fruit farm in the suburbs of Carthage, where he soon built up a reputation as a progressive fruit grower and gardener. He raised at one time 85 bushels of strawberries from half an acre of ground.
With the advent of the Greenback party, Mr. St. John became a member of that organization and was one of its leading and most vigorous supporters in southwest Missouri, having formed in 1874 the first Greenback club in this locality. In 1875 he was a delegate to the national Greenback convention at Cleveland and was also a delegate to the state convention at St. Louis the same year. He was a frequent contributor to the columns of the PRESS, then a weekly publication owned and edited by J. A. Bodenhammer, an ardent supporter of the policies of the Greenback party. In 1882 he bought a half interest in the PRESS, put new life and energy into it, and from that time forward the progress of the paper was steadily upward. A short time later Mr. Bodenhammer retired from the PRESS and he was succeeded by G. E. St. John and the business was conducted under the firm name of St. John Brothers. Later C. Conard was associated with Mr. St. John in the ownership of the paper which had in the meantime become a daily, and with the breaking up of the Greenback party, had become a supporter of Republican principles.
As editor of the PRESS from 1882 to 1896 Mr. St. John became widely known not only as an able newspaper man but as a political leader and as a man of strong personality and steadfast convictions. He was always active in matters pertaining to the welfare of Carthage and Jasper county and lost no opportunity to advance the interest of either. He was the originator of the phrase which referred to Jasper as "the best county on earth".
He built the home on West Macon Street now occupied by John H. Millard and for many years resided there. He had seen Carthage grown from a small insignificant village to a handsome prosperous city of ten thousand people and had himself had no small part in its development and improvement, being all the times public spirited and actively connected will all enterprises calculated to advance the interests of Carthage and its people.
In August 1896 Mr. St. John severed his connection with the PRESS, his interest and that of sister-in-law, Mrs. Lucy B. St. John being bought at that time by W. J. Sewell, the present proprietor, who had since 1890 been associated with the St. Johns in the ownership of the paper.
Immediately upon selling the PRESS Mr. St. John located at Mena, Arkansas a town just then starting as a division point on the new Kansas City Southern railway, and began the publication of the Mena Star, his sons Virgil and Roy being associated with him in that enterprise. The Star has been developed into a paying property, and Mr. St. John had a pleasant home beautifully located on a high piece of ground of considerable proportions in the suburbs of Mena. He was recognized as one of the foremost citizens of that town and was the official head of the business men's organization as well as a leader in many other public enterprises there.
Mr. St. John had been twice married;
First to Miss Helen H. Hunt, who died in 1870 and later to Miss Emma Potter who survives him. By his first wife two children were born;
Virgil W. who is now a resident of Kansas City and an employee of the Kansas City Star and Nellie G. who is now Mrs. A. B. Ellison and resides with her husband in St. Louis.
By his second wife two children were born;
Edwin who died in 1878 and Royal R. who is now a resident of Mena and for several years past has been in charge of the Mena Star
Mr. St. John was a member of the G.A.R. and of the Masonic and Eastern Star Lodges.
Pvt Andrew W. St. John
UNION MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS
5th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry
Discrepancy between birth date on gravestone and birth date in Carthage newspaper
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 23, 1907
A. W. ST. JOHN IS NO MORE
DIED AT CLARKSVILLE, ARKANSAS AT 10:30 THIS MORNING
End is Supposed to Have Come Suddenly - Was for Many Years Editor and Proprietor of the "Press"
Just at the hour of going to press, 4 o'clock this afternoon, a telegram was received at the PRESS office announcing the sad news of the death of A. W. St. John, a former well-known citizen of Carthage and for many years editor and proprietor of the PRESS.
The telegram was sent from Mena, Arkansas where the deceased had lived since he left Carthage in 1896, but his death occurred at Clarksville, Ark., at 10:30 this morning.
No particulars are given, but it is presumed the death was sudden, as Mr. St. John is known to have been subject to heart trouble for some time past, and to have, himself, realized that he was likely to meet death suddenly at any time.
The telegram says that the body will reach Mena today and plans as to the funeral will be sent later. It is probable the interment will be held in Carthage, where he had lived for so many years.
This piece of news will indeed be received with sadness by Mr. St. John's many old friends in Carthage.
The lateness of the hour prevents more than this brief notice in today's paper.
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE EVENING PRESS
Tuesday, January 29, 1907
TRIBUTE OF A. W. ST. JOHN
David L. Stump Eulogizes Man for Whom
He Worked for Many Years
David L. Stump, who for many years was the foreman of the PRESS job department, but is now editor and publisher of the Port Arthur News, pays the following tribute to his old employer, A. W. St. John, the former editor of the PRESS, whose death occurred the past week:
"Mr. A. W. St. John, founder and editor of the daily and weekly Star, at Mena, Arkansas died Thursday morning at Clarksville, that state, of heart failure. The news of Mr. St. John's death was received with profound sorrow by the senior editor of the NEWS and his family.
For over 13 years we served Mr. St. John in the capacity of a printer on the daily and weekly PRESS at Carthage, MO. During all those years we found Mr. St. John not a task-master but a genuine friend and companion. In the hour of distress or affliction, Mr. St. John was over ready with open heart and hand to comfort and help. He was a true philanthropist, and his chief concern was the welfare of others. He always took active interest in politics, through which channel he labored with the hope and expectation of relief for oppressed and down-trodden humanity. His ideas along these lines were always in advance of the times, and he lived to see a mighty agitation, the sequence of which promises to reach near to his ideals.
"Mr. St. John was one of nature's noblemen, and the best epitaph that can be inscribed on the monument at his grave is 'He lived to bless mankind.'
"With the members of the bereaved family we mingle our tears of sorrow, and extend to them our sincerest sympathy, adding these words which must be a great comfort to all his relatives and friends: 'The world is brighter and better today than it ever was before, because of the fact that A. W. St. John lived in it." '
⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭⋆∭
CARTHAGE PRESS
JANUARY 24, 1907
TO BE BURIED IN CARTHAGE
REMAINS OF A. W. ST. JOHN WILL ARRIVE HERE TOMORROW
Funeral at Home of H. M. Keim at 3 O'clock - Was Nearly 67 Years of Age - Sketch of His Life.
The remains of A. W. St. John, whose sudden death at Clarksville, Arkansas was announced in yesterday's PRESS, will be brought to Carthage for burial, arriving here tomorrow about noon.
A funeral service was held at Mena this afternoon and services will be held here tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock at the residence of H. M. Keim on South Main Street under the auspices of the G.A.R. and the Masons.
Mr. St. John had gone to Clarksville to attend the state convention of the Arkansas Horticultural Society, but the full details of how his death occurred have not yet been received.
Mr. St. John was in Carthage on Sunday and Monday December 23 and 24 in company with his wife and from here went to St. Louis where they made a brief visit. At that time Mr. St. John was seemingly in better health than he had been for a year or more past, but to his relatives and intimate acquaintances he stated that he had been having serious heart trouble and in anticipation of the very thing that has now happened, he had made all his preparations for death. Having done this, however, he jocularly remarked that he was prepared to live to a ripe old age of 80 or 90 years.
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Biographical
Andrew Warner St. John was born in Chautauqua, New York on February 29, 1840 and was consequently nearly 67 years of age at the time of his death.
When quite young, his father having died in 1848, he moved with his mother to Wisconsin, living at Beloit and Burlington. In 1857 he moved to Minnesota and became a citizen of Freeborn county. When the war broke out he enlisted as a member of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry and served four years. Among some of his war experiences was the participation in the siege of Vicksburg and many of the hottest battles up to the surrender of General Lee. His health was much impaired by the exposure and hardships of war and he never fully recovered his former vigor and health. After his return from the war he was elected sheriff of Freeborn county, serving in that capacity for one term.
In 1867 Mr. St. John moved to Jasper county, and located on a fruit farm in the suburbs of Carthage, where he soon built up a reputation as a progressive fruit grower and gardener. He raised at one time 85 bushels of strawberries from half an acre of ground.
With the advent of the Greenback party, Mr. St. John became a member of that organization and was one of its leading and most vigorous supporters in southwest Missouri, having formed in 1874 the first Greenback club in this locality. In 1875 he was a delegate to the national Greenback convention at Cleveland and was also a delegate to the state convention at St. Louis the same year. He was a frequent contributor to the columns of the PRESS, then a weekly publication owned and edited by J. A. Bodenhammer, an ardent supporter of the policies of the Greenback party. In 1882 he bought a half interest in the PRESS, put new life and energy into it, and from that time forward the progress of the paper was steadily upward. A short time later Mr. Bodenhammer retired from the PRESS and he was succeeded by G. E. St. John and the business was conducted under the firm name of St. John Brothers. Later C. Conard was associated with Mr. St. John in the ownership of the paper which had in the meantime become a daily, and with the breaking up of the Greenback party, had become a supporter of Republican principles.
As editor of the PRESS from 1882 to 1896 Mr. St. John became widely known not only as an able newspaper man but as a political leader and as a man of strong personality and steadfast convictions. He was always active in matters pertaining to the welfare of Carthage and Jasper county and lost no opportunity to advance the interest of either. He was the originator of the phrase which referred to Jasper as "the best county on earth".
He built the home on West Macon Street now occupied by John H. Millard and for many years resided there. He had seen Carthage grown from a small insignificant village to a handsome prosperous city of ten thousand people and had himself had no small part in its development and improvement, being all the times public spirited and actively connected will all enterprises calculated to advance the interests of Carthage and its people.
In August 1896 Mr. St. John severed his connection with the PRESS, his interest and that of sister-in-law, Mrs. Lucy B. St. John being bought at that time by W. J. Sewell, the present proprietor, who had since 1890 been associated with the St. Johns in the ownership of the paper.
Immediately upon selling the PRESS Mr. St. John located at Mena, Arkansas a town just then starting as a division point on the new Kansas City Southern railway, and began the publication of the Mena Star, his sons Virgil and Roy being associated with him in that enterprise. The Star has been developed into a paying property, and Mr. St. John had a pleasant home beautifully located on a high piece of ground of considerable proportions in the suburbs of Mena. He was recognized as one of the foremost citizens of that town and was the official head of the business men's organization as well as a leader in many other public enterprises there.
Mr. St. John had been twice married;
First to Miss Helen H. Hunt, who died in 1870 and later to Miss Emma Potter who survives him. By his first wife two children were born;
Virgil W. who is now a resident of Kansas City and an employee of the Kansas City Star and Nellie G. who is now Mrs. A. B. Ellison and resides with her husband in St. Louis.
By his second wife two children were born;
Edwin who died in 1878 and Royal R. who is now a resident of Mena and for several years past has been in charge of the Mena Star
Mr. St. John was a member of the G.A.R. and of the Masonic and Eastern Star Lodges.
Inscription
ANDREW WARNER ST. JOHN
Passed to spirit life
January 23, 1907
Aged
67 Yrs 10 Mos 23 days
The world is better because he lived
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