Subject: Waggoners
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 18:51:37 -0600
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Bill, I don't know if this will help any but it does give a little more
information.
Delphine
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI 1820-1921, VOL VI
Sol E. Waggoner
Sol E. Waggoner, president of the Masonic Home of St. Louis, has
long been a recognized leader in the Masonic fraternity of Missouri and
has contributed much to the growth and success of the order in the
state. A native of Ohio he was born March 8, 1851, and is justly proud
to trace his descent from General Waggoner of Revolutionary war fame who
was a resident of Virginia. His father, William Waggoner, lived for
some time in Ohio and in 1858 established his home in Macon, Missouri.
He was one of only eight in the entire county who supported Abraham
Lincoln in 1860 and the political antagonism which he thus engendered
rendered it so uncomfortable for him that he removed to Iowa in 1861,
where he later engaged in the contracting business. He married Malinda
Small, a native of Pennsylvania, and she, too, came of Revolutionary war
ancestry. He death occurred in 1874, while William Waggoner long
survived his wife and had reached the venerable age of ninety-two years
when he passed away in 1902.
Reared in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Sol E. Waggoner there attended the
public schools and after leaving the high school became a student in
Oskaloosa College, from which he was graduated in due course of time.
He was early identified with the Western Union Telegraph Company as
circuit manager on the old overland route, accepting that position in
1867. He assisted in the transfer of the old line from Julesburg to
Salt Lake City, which was completed in 1869, and as a result thereof the
rail route supplanted the stage route of the earlier days. Later Mr.
Waggoner returned to Macon, Missouri, to see if it were possible to
recover the estate which was abandoned by his father when he was forced
to remove to Iowa on account of the trouble incident to the slavery
question and the Civil war. The estate had been sold for taxes, but the
people who held it at this time were very glad to settle up the matter
in a way satisfactory to the rightful heirs. Believing that Macon
offered a fruitful field for the conduct of a fire insurance business
Mr. Waggoner accordingly established an agency in the town, where he
remained until 1886. He became state agent for the North British &
Mercantile Insurance Company in 1876 and for many years continued one of
the most prominent representatives of insurance in Missouri, making
steady progress in that field of business until he became manager of the
Citizen's Insurance Company at St. Louis, where he took up his abode in
1888 after a two years' residence in Kansas City. With his removal to
St. Louis he was made resident secretary of the North British &
Mercantile Insurance Company and in 1895 he became secretary of the
Citizen's Fire Insurance Company in St. Louis, while in 1898 he was
elected to the presidency and so continued until 1907, when he resigned
for the purpose of retiring from business. However, on the solicitation
of the Citizen's Insurance Company and the Hartford Insurance Company he
took theposition of manager of the St. Louis department of the two
companies and remained in the business until 1911, winning notable
success and gaining a prominent position in insurance circles in the
state.
On the 2d of April, 1872, was celebrated the marriage of Sol. E.
Waggoner and Miss Catherine White, a native of England, who was graduted
from the Edinburgh Seminary of Edinburgh, Scotland. Her father, Thomas
White, was a barrister at law in Leicestershire, England, and died in
1869, while her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth White, passed away in 1891, while
visiting her daughter in Kansas. The death of Mrs. Waggoner occurred
April 4, 1892. There were two daughters and one son of that marriage:
Zella M., the wife of F. G. Myers, who is manager of the A. D. T.
System, residing at Webster, Missouri; Martha L., the wife of Louis E.
Smith of Oskaloosa, Iowa, owner of one of the finest jewelry stores in
the west; and William C. Waggoner, who is in the St. Louis office of
Hathaway & Company of New York, dealers in commerical paper.
"Mr. Waggoner," writes a contemporary biographer, "is deeply
interested in all that works for welfare of mankind and the Union
Methodist Episcopal church finds in him a helpful member and generous
supporter. He is serving as one of its trustees and is also one of the
directors of the Epworth Evangelical Insitute. He belongs to the
Mercantile Club and is one of the well known Masons of the state, few
men having labored so effectively and earnestly to advance the interests
of the craft. He has passed all the chairs in Masonry, is past grand
commander of the state and belongs to nearly all of the Masonic clubs.
He assisted in founding the Masonic Home in 1889, has continuously
served as one of its directors, is now a member of the finance commitee
and chairman of the trustees of the endowment fund." Since this was
written Mr. Waggoner has been called to the office of president of the
Masonic Home, in which connection he is still serving. Thus his
valuable work in behalf of Masonry with all of its high purposed and its
broad fields of usefulness is being carried on. To know Sol. E.
Waggoner is to know a man worthy of the highest esteem, the deepest
confidence and the warmest regard. There are few men who show more
unfaltering loyalty to all that is best and most worth while in life, or
who have labored more consistently, earnestly and effectively to bring
about justice, kindliess, helpfulness and right.
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