Director

The Studebaker family was a family of wagon makers. Five brothers; Henry, Clement, John Mohler, Peter Everst, and Jacob Franklin, traveled across the United States amassing a fortune during the gold rush as Blacksmiths, wheelbarrow makers, and wagon manufacturers, coming together in 1868 to officially form the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. While their work was centered around South Bend, Indiana, their market focus was directed towards westward expansion which brought them early on to St. Joseph, Missouri. Peter Everst Studebaker first opened a dealership in St. Joseph in 1865, but upon the incorporation of the business, the Studebaker Bros. constructed a manufactory and repository at the corner of 4th and James Streets. James Street later became Patee Street. They entered several wagons at the Buchanan County Fair and St. Louis State Fair and consistently won the blue ribbons and premiums for best sleigh, best single top buggy, and best two horse carriage. Peter Everst Studebaker was listed as one of the wealthiest citizens in St. Joseph in 1869. He was the second person to cross the newly constructed Kansas City Bridge and the first to return across it. By 1870, he and several of St. Joseph’s wealthiest citizens each donated $5,000 towards the construction of a bridge across the Missouri River here.Peter returned to South Bend and left the managing of the local branch to his nephew, John Studebaker Welch. Welch and Peter’s son, Wilbur Fisk Studebaker, reorganized the firm as Studebaker and Welch in 1876 and moved to an office at 207 South 4th Street. Wilbur married Frances “Fannie” Belle Dulin in St. Joseph in 1877. She was the daughter of Elijah Shelton Dulin, the founder of the Women’s College at the Patee House. Peter’s daughter Mary Rebecca Studebaker married Nelson Johnson Riley of St. Joseph in 1882 and Peter constructed a home for the couple at 603 North 5th Street which is still referred to as the Studebaker house. In another local connection, John Mohler Studebaker III, grandson of Peter Everst’s brother John Mohler Studebaker, married Lillian Bartlett, niece of the Bartlett Brothers of St. Joseph. With the death of Peter Everst Studebaker in 1895, the company came under the management of John Mohler Studebaker’s son-in-law Frederick Samuel Fish. Fish was fascinated by motorized vehicles and is credited with shifting the focus of the wagon company to the motor vehicles they are known for today. Studebaker merged with Packard in 1954 and in 1961 they purchased another St. Joseph invention, STP Oil.

When Peter Everst returned to South Bend, he left the managing of the local branch to his nephew, John Studebaker Welch. Welch and Peter’s son, Wilbur Fisk Studebaker, reorganized the firm as Studebaker and Welch in 1876 and moved to an office at 207 South 4th Street.

Studebaker and Welch

Empowered by the Second Industrial Revolution from 1870 to its punctuation of the Great War in 1917, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were embodied by the spirit of invention and innovation. In half a century, transportation evolved from horse-driven carriages and rail lines to automobiles, airplanes, and submarines. The means of mass production revolutionized manufacturing, improving prices and productivity, but led to social upheaval. Advanced communication and transportation technology resulted in a globalization that would bring the imperial world to its inevitable culmination of the Great War, showcasing the mechanical and chemical advancements of the age.   What made St. Joseph the ideal location for industrial innovation was its unique location along the Missouri River and at the furthest western point of rail travel during the westward expansion of the early nineteenth century. Those who remained realized the entrepreneurial opportunity of manufacturing and outfitting settlers who continued west. The ease of shipping freight and transporting citizens empowered businesses from wagon manufacturers to grocers, wholesalers, pharmacists, and textile producers. The wealthy entrepreneurs who succeeded during westward expansion were able to invest in further innovations in the later half of the century, creating a Gilded Age in St. Joseph that saw the construction of its greatest buildings and most enduring inventions.  St. Joseph was one of the earliest cities to be equipped with electricity, exemplified by its early electric street cars and its lighted “City Worth While” sign atop its tallest skyscraper. The local automobile club, founded and supported by enthusiasts who recognized the shifting transportation market, literally blazed the trails by marking out the best locations for our modern paved highways. The St. Joseph Public Library, opened in 1900, provided access to information on the most modern technologies and techniques, inspiring astute citizens to invent revolutionizing products. The Buchanan County Recorder of Deeds Trademark Registry and the United States Patents and Trademark Office are both filled with innovative ideas created locally. Some of these products would fade into obscurity while others remain as internationally renown products, whether their St. Joseph origins have been remembered or lost through corporate acquisitions.

Though departing St. Joseph to live primarily in Los Angeles, where he died in 1912, Mr. Noyes left money in his will for the construction of a hospital to serve the city’s poor. It opened in 1916, later drawn into the Methodist Hospital orbit. Noyes Hospital, 2400 Frederick, was constructed in 1915 under terms of the will of Charles Noyes, who had been president of Noyes Norman Shoe Company. This hospital provided free care for children of limited income families as part of its service. This was originally Noyes Hospital and was located at 24th &amp; Frederick Ave. (The building still stands under the name Frederick Towers.) In 1953 it was listed as Missouri Methodist Hospital Nurses Home. Anchor Serum acquired the building in 1955. Anchor Serum moved their operation to Belt &amp; Gene Field. It is now called Frederick Towers and now houses many business offices. On the top floor, in the center, was the operating room. The bottom floor ( basement) was where the morgue was located.

In accordance to the will of Charles Noyes of the Noyes Norman Company, the Noyes Hospital was constructed at 2400 Frederick Ave in 1915. In 1955 the building was purchased by Anchor Serum to be used as their corporate offices. In 1968 the building became an apartment complex known as Frederick Towers.

Noyes Hospital

Christian Ludwig Rutt was born in 1859 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The son of German immigrants, the family moved to Atchison, Kansas where Rutt received his education at St. Benedict’s Parochial School and College. Rutt worked various jobs before settling in as a prolific writer for local newspapers and updating the Buchanan County History books of 1904 and 1914. Prior to his writing career, however, Rutt joined Charles G. Underwood in the purchasing of a flour mill in St. Joseph in 1888. Dubbed Pearl Milling Company, Rutt &amp; Underwood developed the formula for an easy pancake mix that would revolutionize breakfast prep.When marketing the mixture, Rutt looked back at the minstrel shows he attended as a child and young adult. Minstrel shows were musical acts where white performers dressed in Black face and portrayed racial stereotypes of African Americans, perpetuating southern slave culture in the post Civil War period. These performances were commonplace throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the ramifications of these racist portrayals within our American popular culture is still being addressed today. Thus, the Aunt Jemima brand was created.Pearl Milling Company failed to capitalize on marketing their invention and in 1890 they sold the mill to Randolph True Davis. The R.T. Davis Milling Company was already wildly successful and conglomerated the local mills into one entity. R.T. Davis was born in 1837 in southeastern Buchanan County, Missouri as one of the earliest families to settle the region. He began milling in 1866 and expanded into St. Joseph. Taking and improving the Aunt Jemima pancake mixture, R.T. Davis brought the product and the company to a national audience in 1893.Davis hired Nancy Green, a former slave and cook to a pair of Chicago lawyers, to portray the character of Aunt Jemima at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Nancy Green demonstrated how the pancake mixture worked and sold millions of pancakes at the fair, spreading word of the product across America. Her likeness was used for the brand and Aunt Jemima became a household name. The mixture became so synonymous with the company that the R.T. Davis Milling Company was renamed the Aunt Jemima Milling Company in 1913. Quaker Oats purchased the company in 1925 and trademarked the Aunt Jemima name. R.T. Davis did not live long enough to see the success of the product, passing away the year after it's debut in Chicago.

R.T. Davis was born in 1837 in southeastern Buchanan County, Missouri as one of the earliest families to settle the region. He began milling in 1866 and expanded into St. Joseph and conglomerated the local mills into one entity, the R.T. Davis Milling Company. His home at 319 North 20th Street was designed by Joseph H. Bennett in 1890 and is often referred to as the Aunt Jemima House.

R.T. Davis House

Charles S. Lewis Baker was born into slavery in 1859 in Savannah, MO. His mother passed away when he was young and after the Civil War, he was raised by his father Abraham Baker. Abe operated a freight company, making deliveries to St. Joseph and the neighboring areas via wagon, and employed his young sons, Charles and Peter. During one of these delivery trips, the brothers forgot to grease the wagon axle, creating a great amount of friction heat. When a rainstorm rolled in and the drops fell upon the heated wheel, it produced steam, later inspiring Charles’s invention.Charles married Carrie Carriger in 1880 and worked as a mail carrier in St. Joseph. In 1889, his grandmother, Dolly Baker, passed away at the estimated age of 102, inspiring Charles to help develop a home for aging ex-slaves. Raising funds and national support, the Home for Aged and Dependent Ex-Slaves began construction in 1894, but this structure was destroyed by a cyclone two years later. A second home was built at 24th and Mitchell Streets, but was permanently closed in 1899.After the turn of the century, Charles began patenting his inventions, such as the “electromechanical automatic signaling and collision preventing device” for the railroad in 1902. In 1904, he made national news with the friction heater, the invention inspired by his childhood realization. Utilizing a rotating wooden core within a metal cylinder, Baker believed he could create steam heat for homes and train cars at little to no expense. Gaining investors, he opened the Friction Heat &amp; Boiler Company in St. Joseph that year, its factory located at 611 Francis Street. Charles's brother Peter and daughter Lulu were both stakeholders in the company.Almost immediately, Charles had to fight for the rights to his own invention. The white investors in the company attempted to declare bankruptcy and sell off Baker’s patent. Baker won the court case against his board and continued to maintain his ownership of the idea throughout his life. The company expanded, opening the Baker Revolutionizing Superheating Molecule Union Developing Company in Jersey City in 1906 and demonstrating the invention at the 1907 Jamestown Exposition to heat and serve coffee. They also demonstrated its ability to heat a train car between Savannah and St. Joseph in 1906 and it was soon installed to Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads.Baker spent years marketing his invention to homes and businesses. It was even reported that the Japanese government was interested in utilizing the device. In 1910 Baker opened an office in Detroit and hired Thomas W. Brown to market the invention. What happened to the business and invention are unknown. Charles S.L. Baker returned to St. Joseph when his health began to fail and he passed away at the home of his daughter in 1926. He was buried in the Baker family plot in Savannah, MO.

Charles S. Lewis Baker was born into slavery in 1859 in Savannah, MO. His mother passed away when he was young and after the Civil War, he was raised by his father Abraham Baker. Abe operated a freight company, making deliveries to St. Joseph and the neighboring areas via wagon, and employed his young sons, Charles and Peter. During one of these delivery trips, the brothers forgot to grease the wagon axle, creating a great amount of friction heat. When a rainstorm rolled in and the drops fell upon the heated wheel, it produced steam, later inspiring Charles’s invention.After the turn of the century, Charles began patenting his inventions, such as the “electromechanical automatic signaling and collision preventing device” for the railroad in 1902. In 1904, he made national news with the friction heater, the invention inspired by his childhood realization. Utilizing a rotating wooden core within a metal cylinder, Baker believed he could create steam heat for homes and train cars at little to no expense. Gaining investors, he opened the Friction Heat &amp; Boiler Company in St. Joseph that year, its factory located at 611 Francis Street. Charles's brother Peter and daughter Lulu were both stakeholders in the company.

Baker Friction Heat & Boiler Company

The Studebaker family was a family of wagon makers. Five brothers; Henry, Clement, John Mohler, Peter Everst, and Jacob Franklin, traveled across the United States amassing a fortune during the gold rush as Blacksmiths, wheelbarrow makers, and wagon manufacturers, coming together in 1868 to officially form the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. While their work was centered around South Bend, Indiana, their market focus was directed towards westward expansion which brought them early on to St. Joseph, Missouri. Peter Everst Studebaker first opened a dealership in St. Joseph in 1865, but upon the incorporation of the business, the Studebaker Bros. constructed a manufactory and repository at the corner of 4th and James Streets. James Street later became Patee Street. They entered several wagons at the Buchanan County Fair and St. Louis State Fair and consistently won the blue ribbons and premiums for best sleigh, best single top buggy, and best two horse carriage. Peter Everst Studebaker was listed as one of the wealthiest citizens in St. Joseph in 1869. He was the second person to cross the newly constructed Kansas City Bridge and the first to return across it. By 1870, he and several of St. Joseph’s wealthiest citizens each donated $5,000 towards the construction of a bridge across the Missouri River here.Peter returned to South Bend and left the managing of the local branch to his nephew, John Studebaker Welch. Welch and Peter’s son, Wilbur Fisk Studebaker, reorganized the firm as Studebaker and Welch in 1876 and moved to an office at 207 South 4th Street. Wilbur married Frances “Fannie” Belle Dulin in St. Joseph in 1877. She was the daughter of Elijah Shelton Dulin, the founder of the Women’s College at the Patee House. Peter’s daughter Mary Rebecca Studebaker married Nelson Johnson Riley of St. Joseph in 1882 and Peter constructed a home for the couple at 603 North 5th Street which is still referred to as the Studebaker house. In another local connection, John Mohler Studebaker III, grandson of Peter Everst’s brother John Mohler Studebaker, married Lillian Bartlett, niece of the Bartlett Brothers of St. Joseph. With the death of Peter Everst Studebaker in 1895, the company came under the management of John Mohler Studebaker’s son-in-law Frederick Samuel Fish. Fish was fascinated by motorized vehicles and is credited with shifting the focus of the wagon company to the motor vehicles they are known for today. Studebaker merged with Packard in 1954 and in 1961 they purchased another St. Joseph invention, STP Oil.

Peter Everst Studebaker's daughter Mary Rebecca Studebaker married Nelson Johnson Riley of St. Joseph in 1882. Peter constructed a home for the couple at 603 North 5th Street which is still referred to as the Studebaker house. Their wedding announcement describes the event and home: "The guests numbered five hundred, and four generations of the family were represented. The bride was presented with 100 shares of stock in the Studebaker wagon-works company, a residence lot St. Joseph, a Steinway parlor grand piano, a water color of wild flowers, a pair of painting and an elegant bound family Bible. The other presents were numerous and splendid."

Studebaker House

Michael Karl Goetz was born in Ingenheim, a village in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, a mere 18 miles from St. Joseph architect E.J. Eckel’s birthplace of Strasbourg. The Alsace-Lorraine region was German speaking, originally a part of the Holy Roman Empire until it was conquered by the French in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The rise of German nationalism in the nineteenth century, however, led to the Franco-German Wars in 1871, regarding disputed territories like Alsace-Lorraine. It became a part of the German Empire but was returned to France after the Great War.The struggle between German and French nationalism in the nineteenth century led to a mass exodus of German immigrants to America. Seeking similar territory like the fertile land of the Rhine River they were accustomed to farming, many German-Americans settled along the Missouri River in an area which became known as “the Rhinelands.” M.K. Goetz came to America in 1854 and was headed to California when he passed through St. Joseph in 1857. Realizing the potential of this gateway to the west, Goetz settled in St. Joseph and in 1859 he opened a brewery at the corner of 6th and Albemarle Streets along the Blacksnake Creek.Though not the only German brewer in St. Joseph, Goetz quickly became the most successful, incorporating the business in 1895. When M.K. Goetz passed away in 1901, his four sons and son-in-law inherited the business, each holding positions in the corporation and specializing in a facet of its operation. William L. Goetz was brewmaster, Frank Goetz was the mechanical engineer, Albert Goetz specialized in sales, while Henry Goetz was treasurer, and Theodore Benkendorf was director.In 1919 the Eighteenth Amendment was passed, requiring prohibition to be enforced by 1920. It became illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport alcohol in the United States. While most of the local and national breweries went out of business in the prohibition years, Goetz survived by converting its manufacturing to sell Country Club Near Beer, a non-alcoholic alternative. The M.K. Goetz Brewing Company not only survived prohibition, but prospered and thrived into the mid-century.William L. Goetz was an active philanthropist and historic preservationist, serving as president of the St. Joseph Museum board from its inception in 1927. Under the leadership of W.L. Goetz, the museum grew from an annex in the St. Joseph Public Library to the A.J. August House. Goetz oversaw the purchase of the extensive Harry L. George collection and the M.K. Goetz Brewing Co. purchased the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion to house the museum in 1947. In anticipation of the centennial of the founding of the brewing company and the centennial of the Pony Express, Frank Goetz established the Goetz Pony Express Foundation to purchase and renovate the original Pony Express Stables at 914 Penn Street. In 1959, the Pony Express Foundation and St. Joseph Museum established the Pony Express Museum.In the 1960s, Pearl Brewing Company of San Antonio, Texas was seeking to expand their market into the Midwest. Recognizing the outstanding potential of the Goetz Brewing Company, Pearl purchased the company in 1961. The headquarters was moved to San Antonio, but the local plant continued operation until 1976. Pearl Brewing Company was sold to General Brewing Company in 1977. General Brewing then purchased Pabst Brewing Company in 1985, taking on the Pabst name. In 1999, Pabst closed its plants across the country and transferred manufacturing rights to Miller Company.

Michael Karl Goetz was born in Ingenheim, a village in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, a mere 18 miles from St. Joseph architect E.J. Eckel’s birthplace of Strasbourg. M.K. Goetz came to America in 1854 and was headed to California when he passed through St. Joseph in 1857. Realizing the potential of this gateway to the west, Goetz settled in St. Joseph and in 1859 he opened a brewery at the corner of 6th and Albemarle Streets along the Blacksnake Creek.

Goetz Brewing Company

Frank Lewis Sommer was born in Pennsylvania in 1852 and came to St. Joseph, Missouri in 1869. He began his career working as a clerk for Townsend &amp; Wood, but left to start his own baking business in 1873, marrying Carrie Pinger the same year. In 1876, F.L. Sommer &amp; Co. invented a revolutionary product. Utilizing baking salt to leaven the cracker, they developed the wafer thin snack which became known as “Saltines.” Sommer presented the saltine crackers at the Buchanan County Fair where it won the premium blue ribbon. Sommer’s popularity soared and the business expanded from being worth $50,000 in 1873 to $400,000 by 1880 with factories across the Midwest.Meanwhile, John D. Richardson, Jr., who was born in Virginia in 1849, came to St. Joseph in 1871. He was a clerk for wholesaler R.L. McDonald &amp; Co. until 1874, then a salesman for Fallis, Trice &amp; Co. until the business was bought out by Townsend, Wyatt, &amp; Co. in 1876. Richardson continued to manage the store for the new company until he and John Townsend joined F.L. Sommer to form Sommer, Richardson &amp; Co. in 1884. The company expanded into the confectionery business, trademarking the “Red Cross Brand Candies” in 1886. John D. Richardson, Jr. served as manager of the factory.The cracker business became so popular in the late nineteenth century, that several companies began conglomerating. The largest of these conglomerates was formed by Chicago lawyer Adolphus Green, bringing together the midwestern biscuit factories, including Sommer-Richardson, into the American Biscuit Company. In 1898 the remaining biscuit companies merged with American Biscuit Company to form the National Biscuit Company later known as Nabisco. John D. Richardson, Jr. removed to Chicago to become first vice-president of the new company and remained there until retiring to his childhood home in Virginia in 1915. F.L. Sommer continued to work for the merging company until his retirement in 1900. His brother, William Sommer, operated the local factory at 202 Main Street from its construction in 1873 until 1912 when he was relocated to the Salt Lake City branch of Nabisco. He retired four years later and returned to St. Joseph. Nabisco continued to operate the local plant until 1935. Its iconic smokestack has defined the downtown skyline for over a century. The Premium brand, so named for F.L. Sommer’s county fair award at the product's origin, remains the top selling brand of saltine crackers to this day.

Frank Lewis Sommer was born in Pennsylvania in 1852 and came to St. Joseph, Missouri in 1869. He began his career working as a clerk for Townsend &amp; Wood, but left to start his own baking business in 1873, marrying Carrie Pinger the same year. In 1876, F.L. Sommer &amp; Co. invented a revolutionary product. Utilizing baking salt to leaven the cracker, they developed the wafer thin snack which became known as “Saltines.” Sommer presented the saltine crackers at the Buchanan County Fair where it won the premium blue ribbon. Sommer’s popularity soared and the business expanded from being worth $50,000 in 1873 to $400,000 by 1880 with factories across the Midwest.

Frank L. Sommer House

The cracker business became so popular in the late nineteenth century, that several companies began conglomerating. The largest of these conglomerates was formed by Chicago lawyer Adolphus Green, bringing together the midwestern biscuit factories, including Sommer-Richardson, into the American Biscuit Company. In 1898 the remaining biscuit companies merged with American Biscuit Company to form the National Biscuit Company later known as Nabisco. John D. Richardson, Jr. removed to Chicago to become first vice-president of the new company and remained there until retiring to his childhood home in Virginia in 1915. F.L. Sommer continued to work for the merging company until his retirement in 1900. His brother, William Sommer, operated the local factory at 202 Main Street from its construction in 1873 until 1912 when he was relocated to the Salt Lake City branch of Nabisco. He retired four years later and returned to St. Joseph. Nabisco continued to operate the local plant until 1935. Its iconic smokestack has defined the downtown skyline for over a century. The Premium brand, so named for F.L. Sommer’s county fair award at the product's origin, remains the top selling brand of saltine crackers to this day.

Sommer-Richardson Manufacturing Company

Widespread persecution, economic difficulty, and violence against the Jewish population of central and eastern Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries led to an influx of over two million Jewish immigrants to the United States between 1880 and 1920. Isaac “Ike” Liberman came to St. Joseph in 1893 and was a founding member of the Shaare Sholem synagogue, established in 1900 at 6th and Patee Streets. He established the Western Hat and Cap Company in 1905. The company was last located at 205 North 3rd Street in St. Joseph when the building was demolished during the Urban Renewal of the 1970s.

Widespread persecution, economic difficulty, and violence against the Jewish population of central and eastern Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries led to an influx of over two million Jewish immigrants to the United States between 1880 and 1920. Isaac “Ike” Liberman came to St. Joseph in 1893 and was a founding member of the Shaare Sholem synagogue, established in 1900 at 6th and Patee Streets. He established the Western Hat and Cap Company in 1905.

Western Hat & Cap Company

Christian Ludwig Rutt was born in 1859 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The son of German immigrants, the family moved to Atchison, Kansas where Rutt received his education at St. Benedict’s Parochial School and College. Rutt worked various jobs before settling in as a prolific writer for local newspapers and updating the Buchanan County History books of 1904 and 1914. Prior to his writing career, however, Rutt joined Charles G. Underwood in the purchasing of a flour mill in St. Joseph in 1888. Dubbed Pearl Milling Company, Rutt &amp; Underwood developed the formula for an easy pancake mix that would revolutionize breakfast prep.When marketing the mixture, Rutt looked back at the minstrel shows he attended as a child and young adult. Minstrel shows were musical acts where white performers dressed in Black face and portrayed racial stereotypes of African Americans, perpetuating southern slave culture in the post Civil War period. These performances were commonplace throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the ramifications of these racist portrayals within our American popular culture is still being addressed today. Thus, the Aunt Jemima brand was created.Pearl Milling Company failed to capitalize on marketing their invention and in 1890 they sold the mill to Randolph True Davis. The R.T. Davis Milling Company was already wildly successful and conglomerated the local mills into one entity. R.T. Davis was born in 1837 in southeastern Buchanan County, Missouri as one of the earliest families to settle the region. He began milling in 1866 and expanded into St. Joseph. Taking and improving the Aunt Jemima pancake mixture, R.T. Davis brought the product and the company to a national audience in 1893.Davis hired Nancy Green, a former slave and cook to a pair of Chicago lawyers, to portray the character of Aunt Jemima at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Nancy Green demonstrated how the pancake mixture worked and sold millions of pancakes at the fair, spreading word of the product across America. Her likeness was used for the brand and Aunt Jemima became a household name. The mixture became so synonymous with the company that the R.T. Davis Milling Company was renamed the Aunt Jemima Milling Company in 1913. Quaker Oats purchased the company in 1925 and trademarked the Aunt Jemima name.The original R.T. Davis and Aunt Jemima Milling Company factory was located at 202 Edmond Street, but was demolished during Urban Renewal of the 1970s. Quaker Oats constructed a new factory at 11th Street and Garfield Avenue which it operated from 1926 until 2000. Lifeline Foods purchased the facility in 2001, continuing the long history of local milling companies. The R.T. Davis house, often referred to as the Aunt Jemima house, still stands in St. Joseph at 302 North 20th Street. Quaker Oats was purchased by PepsiCo in 2000. Though Quaker Oats had updated its imagery over the years in an attempt to remove the racial stereotype of the Aunt Jemima brand, the insensitive name remained. In 2020, PepsiCo announced the rebranding of Aunt Jemima to Pearl Milling Company to permanently address the issue. Utilizing the original St. Joseph company name, Pearl Milling Company products hit shelves in 2021, continuing the local legacy of a revolutionary product.

The mixture became so synonymous with the company that the R.T. Davis Milling Company was renamed the Aunt Jemima Milling Company in 1913. Quaker Oats purchased the company in 1925 and trademarked the Aunt Jemima name. The original R.T. Davis and Aunt Jemima Milling Company factory was located at 202 Edmond Street, but was demolished during Urban Renewal.

R.T. Davis Milling Co.

Dr. George Washington Chase was born in Whitingham, Vermont in 1835. He attended medical school in New York and came to St. Joseph in 1871 where he formed a partnership with Dr. C.D. Hendrickson. Chase joined Oliver A. Sandusky in the grocery business in 1875, then entered the produce business as the G.W. Chase Mercantile Co. In 1876, Chase’s fifteen year old son, Ernest Eli Chase, convinced him to sell candy at the Mercantile Co. They hired confectioneries to operate out of the second floor of their Market Square location. The candy quickly outpaced their other products and in 1885, the company erected a candy factory at 2nd and Felix Streets. Ernest joined his father’s business and it was renamed G.W. Chase &amp; Son Mercantile Co.A combination of confections, produce, and pharmaceuticals may seem odd, but the connection makes more sense than most may realize. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, candy was often utilized as a method to calm an upset stomach or a sore throat. Sugar was later used to coat bitter medicines to make them more palatable. Many doctors in the 1800’s converted to the confectionery business as the industry booms with advancements in machinery. In February 1890, the G.W. Chase &amp; Son Mercantile Co. trademarked “Dr. Chase’s Electric Cough Lozenges.” Two months later, making use of their produce business, they trademarked “Electric” branded “condensed minced meat” a mixture of dried fruit, nuts, citrus peel, distilled spirits, spices, brown sugar and some sort of meat used in pie fillings. These trademarks can be found in the Buchanan County Trademark Register at the Recorder of Deeds Office. By the 1920s, G.W. Chase &amp; Son Mercantile Co. was producing over five hundred different types of candies. It was in 1918, however, that the Chase Candy Co. would create its most famous and longest lasting product. A cherry fondant core surrounded by chopped nuts and chocolate was originally known as the Cherry Chaser before gaining its current name, Cherry Mash. In 1924 they constructed a modern factory at 5th and Sylvanie Streets, employing hundreds and having an entire floor dedicated to chocolate production.Ernest’s son Charles C. Chase became president of the company in 1932, but the business struggled through the Great Depression. In 1944, the F.S. Yantis Co. of Chicago purchased and maintained Chase Candy Co. utilizing sugar rations from their other investments to help the company prosper during the war years. The Yantis family continues to operate Chase Candy Co. in St. Joseph, moving to a new facility in 2005. The 5th and Sylvanie factory was converted to Cherry Storage in 2020.

Dr. George Washington Chase was born in Whitingham, Vermont in 1835. He attended medical school in New York and came to St. Joseph in 1871 where he formed a partnership with Dr. C.D. Hendrickson. Chase joined Oliver A. Sandusky in the grocery business in 1875, then entered the produce business as the G.W. Chase Mercantile Co. In 1876, Chase’s fifteen year old son, Ernest Eli Chase, convinced him to sell candy at the Mercantile Co. They hired confectioneries to operate out of the second floor of their Market Square location. The candy quickly outpaced their other products and in 1885, the company erected a candy factory at 2nd and Felix Streets. Ernest joined his father’s business and it was renamed G.W. Chase &amp; Son Mercantile Co.A combination of confections, produce, and pharmaceuticals may seem odd, but the connection makes more sense than most may realize. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, candy was often utilized as a method to calm an upset stomach or a sore throat. Sugar was later used to coat bitter medicines to make them more palatable. Many doctors in the 1800’s converted to the confectionery business as the industry booms with advancements in machinery. In February 1890, the G.W. Chase &amp; Son Mercantile Co. trademarked “Dr. Chase’s Electric Cough Lozenges.” Two months later, making use of their produce business, they trademarked “Electric” branded “condensed minced meat” a mixture of dried fruit, nuts, citrus peel, distilled spirits, spices, brown sugar and some sort of meat used in pie fillings. These trademarks can be found in the Buchanan County Trademark Register at the Recorder of Deeds Office. By the 1920s, G.W. Chase &amp; Son Mercantile Co. was producing over five hundred different types of candies. It was in 1918, however, that the Chase Candy Co. would create its most famous and longest lasting product. A cherry fondant core surrounded by chopped nuts and chocolate was originally known as the Cherry Chaser before gaining its current name, Cherry Mash. In 1924 they constructed a modern factory at 5th and Sylvanie Streets, employing hundreds and having an entire floor dedicated to chocolate production.

Chase Candy Company

Widespread persecution, economic difficulty, and violence against the Jewish population of central and eastern Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries led to an influx of over two million Jewish immigrants to the United States between 1880 and 1920. Isaac “Ike” Liberman came to St. Joseph in 1893 and was a founding member of the Shaare Sholem synagogue, established in 1900 at 6th and Patee Streets. He established the Western Hat and Cap Company in 1905.Hyman Rosenthal came to America in 1890 and married Yetta Liberman, Ike’s sister, in New York in 1896. The Rosenthals came to St. Joseph to join Ike’s Western Hat and Cap Co. In 1917, Hyman, his son Harry Rosenthal, and Simon Pitluck started their own company, at the time named the St. Joseph Hat and Cap Company, above a cigar shop at the northwest corner of 4th and Felix Streets. By 1935, they had expanded into a 40,000 square foot factory at 7th and Sylvanie Streets. In 1940, while on a business trip to Chicago, the partners stayed at the Stevens Hotel and decided to change the company name to Stevens Hat Co. to compete on a more national scale. Over the next three decades, Stevens acquired several companies and opened offices in Chicago and New York. In 1969 the company built a state of the art factory at 3601 South Leonard Road and in 1971 they acquired the rights to the Stetson brand. Through the 1980s, the local Stetson factory produced hats for several popular Hollywood films, expanding the brand recognition and increasing sales.Through several mergers in the 1980s and 1990s, Stevens and Stetson came under the control of Hatco, Inc. based in Garland, Texas. Through four generations, the Rosenthal family has remained active in the business. Stetson remained headquartered in St. Joseph and the local factory remained until its unexpected closure in 2004. Though manufacturing has ceased, the Leonard Road location continues the local Stetson legacy as the Stetson Hat Company Outlet.

Hyman Rosenthal came to America in 1890 and married Yetta Liberman in New York in 1896. The Rosenthals came to St. Joseph to join Western Hat and Cap Co. In 1917, Hyman, his son Harry Rosenthal, and Simon Pitluck started their own company, at the time named the St. Joseph Hat and Cap Company, above a cigar shop at the northwest corner of 4th and Felix Streets. By 1935, they had expanded into a 40,000 square foot factory at 7th and Sylvanie Streets. In 1940, while on a business trip to Chicago, the partners stayed at the Stevens Hotel and decided to change the company name to Stevens Hat Co. to compete on a more national scale. Over the next three decades, Stevens acquired several companies and opened offices in Chicago and New York. In 1969 the company built a state of the art factory at 3601 South Leonard Road and in 1971 they acquired the rights to the Stetson brand. Through the 1980s, the local Stetson factory produced hats for several popular Hollywood films, expanding the brand recognition and increasing sales.

Stevens Hat Company

In October 1954, three St. Joseph men began producing, packaging, and selling their innovative Scientifically Treated Petroleum Oil Treatment. James Hill, Robert DeHart, and C. Dwight “Doc” Ligget created the treatment to prevent oil thinning at high temperatures and pressures. They continued to work day jobs, packaging the product at home at night, and selling it to a local market or while traveling for work or vacation. In 1957 they officially formed Chemical Compounds, Inc., continuing to operate out of Doc Liggett’s home at the corner of 9th and Messanie Streets.Studebaker promoted STP in the racing industry and it quickly outpaced the auto manufacturer’s other products. From 1961-1964, Chemical Compounds operated locally at 730 South 6th Street. As Studebaker began abandoning its auto manufacturing focus in the 1960s, impacting its original home of South Bend, Indiana and the American Rust Belt in the process, STP sales continued to skyrocket and the brand was sold off. Through various acquisitions, the STP brand was purchased by Energizer in 2018. The last Studebaker was assembled March 17, 1966 as its final factory was closed in Canada. Through corporate mergers, the company that was once Studebaker Bros. was acquired by Cummins Engine in 1992.

In October 1954, three St. Joseph men began producing, packaging, and selling their innovative Scientifically Treated Petroleum Oil Treatment. James Hill, Robert DeHart, and C. Dwight “Doc” Ligget created the treatment to prevent oil thinning at high temperatures and pressures. They continued to work day jobs, packaging the product at home at night, and selling it to a local market or while traveling for work or vacation. In 1957 they officially formed Chemical Compounds, Inc., continuing to operate out of Doc Liggett’s home at the corner of 9th and Messanie Streets.

C. Dwight "Doc" Ligget House

Studebaker promoted STP in the racing industry and it quickly outpaced the auto manufacturer’s other products. From 1961-1964, Chemical Compounds operated locally at 730 South 6th Street. As Studebaker began abandoning its auto manufacturing focus in the 1960s, impacting its original home of South Bend, Indiana and the American Rust Belt in the process, STP sales continued to skyrocket and the brand was sold off. Through various acquisitions, the STP brand was purchased by Energizer in 2018. The last Studebaker was assembled March 17, 1966 as its final factory was closed in Canada. Through corporate mergers, the company that was once Studebaker Bros. was acquired by Cummins Engine in 1992.

Chemical Compounds

The Studebaker family was a family of wagon makers. Five brothers; Henry, Clement, John Mohler, Peter Everst, and Jacob Franklin, traveled across the United States amassing a fortune during the gold rush as Blacksmiths, wheelbarrow makers, and wagon manufacturers, coming together in 1868 to officially form the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. While their work was centered around South Bend, Indiana, their market focus was directed towards westward expansion which brought them early on to St. Joseph, Missouri. Peter Everst Studebaker first opened a dealership in St. Joseph in 1865, but upon the incorporation of the business, the Studebaker Bros. constructed a manufactory and repository at the corner of 4th and James Streets. James Street later became Patee Street. They entered several wagons at the Buchanan County Fair and St. Louis State Fair and consistently won the blue ribbons and premiums for best sleigh, best single top buggy, and best two horse carriage. Peter Everst Studebaker was listed as one of the wealthiest citizens in St. Joseph in 1869. He was the second person to cross the newly constructed Kansas City Bridge and the first to return across it. By 1870, he and several of St. Joseph’s wealthiest citizens each donated $5,000 towards the construction of a bridge across the Missouri River here.Peter returned to South Bend and left the managing of the local branch to his nephew, John Studebaker Welch. Welch and Peter’s son, Wilbur Fisk Studebaker, reorganized the firm as Studebaker and Welch in 1876 and moved to an office at 207 South 4th Street. Wilbur married Frances “Fannie” Belle Dulin in St. Joseph in 1877. She was the daughter of Elijah Shelton Dulin, the founder of the Women’s College at the Patee House. Peter’s daughter Mary Rebecca Studebaker married Nelson Johnson Riley of St. Joseph in 1882 and Peter constructed a home for the couple at 603 North 5th Street which is still referred to as the Studebaker house. In another local connection, John Mohler Studebaker III, grandson of Peter Everst’s brother John Mohler Studebaker, married Lillian Bartlett, niece of the Bartlett Brothers of St. Joseph.

The Studebaker family was a family of wagon makers. Five brothers; Henry, Clement, John Mohler, Peter Everst, and Jacob Franklin, traveled across the United States amassing a fortune during the gold rush as Blacksmiths, wheelbarrow makers, and wagon manufacturers, coming together in 1868 to officially form the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. While their work was centered around South Bend, Indiana, their market focus was directed towards westward expansion which brought them early on to St. Joseph, Missouri. Peter Everst Studebaker first opened a dealership in St. Joseph in 1865, but upon the incorporation of the business, the Studebaker Bros. constructed a manufactory and repository at the corner of 4th and James Streets. James Street later became Patee Street. They entered several wagons at the Buchanan County Fair and St. Louis State Fair and consistently won the blue ribbons and premiums for best sleigh, best single top buggy, and best two horse carriage.

Studebaker Factory

The original R.T. Davis and Aunt Jemima Milling Company factory was located at 202 Edmond Street, but was demolished during Urban Renewal. Quaker Oats constructed a new factory at 11th Street and Garfield Avenue which it operated from 1926 until 2000. Lifeline Foods purchased the facility in 2001, continuing the long history of local milling companies. The R.T. Davis house, often referred to as the Aunt Jemima house, still stands in St. Joseph at 302 North 20th Street. Quaker Oats was purchased by PepsiCo in 2000. Though Quaker Oats had updated its imagery over the years in an attempt to remove the racial stereotype of the Aunt Jemima brand, the insensitive name remained. In 2020, PepsiCo announced the rebranding of Aunt Jemima to Pearl Milling Company to permanently address the issue. Utilizing the original St. Joseph company name, Pearl Milling Company products hit shelves in 2021, continuing the local legacy of a revolutionary product.

Quaker Oats

In 1940, while on a business trip to Chicago, the partners stayed at the Stevens Hotel and decided to change the company name to Stevens Hat Co. to compete on a more national scale. Over the next three decades, Stevens acquired several companies and opened offices in Chicago and New York. In 1969 the company built a state of the art factory at 3601 South Leonard Road and in 1971 they acquired the rights to the Stetson brand. Through the 1980s, the local Stetson factory produced hats for several popular Hollywood films, expanding the brand recognition and increasing sales.Through several mergers in the 1980s and 1990s, Stevens and Stetson came under the control of Hatco, Inc. based in Garland, Texas. Through four generations, the Rosenthal family has remained active in the business. Stetson remained headquartered in St. Joseph and the local factory remained until its unexpected closure in 2004. Though manufacturing has ceased, the Leonard Road location continues the local Stetson legacy as the Stetson Hat Company Outlet.

Ingenious Inventions: An Entrepreneurial History of St. Joseph Innovations

Studebaker and Welch

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context