| Notes by the author: From an earthquake to Clayton |
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| By James Sherby, Special to the Beacon | |
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Posted 3:00 p.m. Fri., 02.05.10 - In “From New Madrid to Claverach: How an Earthquake Spawned a St. Louis Suburb,” author James Sherby traces the development of a St. Louis county suburb that has its roots in a 200-year-old earthquake in the “bootheel” region of southeastern Missouri. When the earthquakes of 1811-1812 erupted along the New Madrid fault, the Mississippi River changed not only its course, but also many lives. The federal government issued certificates to those who lost their land for unincorporated property westward of the river. Sherby tracks certificate number 465 from slave-owning farmland to one of St. Louis County's most highly valued properties, the Claverach neighborhood in Clayton. The Beacon asked Sherby to write about what went into writing his book. Here's his response:
After six months of research, I met Harry Boland, grandson of the last owners of much of the property before it was subdivided. We got acquainted, and he graciously shared pictures of the family and land dating back to the 1860s that he had never shown outside his immediate family. Many of the early owners and individuals associated with the property have notable stories. he first is Bartholemi Tardiveau, a young man from France who came to America during the Revolutionary War and later migrated west to the Mississippi River region controlled by the Spanish. There he bought land in Nuevo Madrid (New Madrid) where he developed a flour mill. The mill went bankrupt, and he died later in 1801. His land and the name of Tardiveau were to continue on in history. book signingThe book: $34.95, 144 pages, Virginia Publishing Who: James Sherby
When: 2 p.m. Feb. 13 Where: Borders, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd. Pierre Menard of Kaskaskia, Ill., prominent in this area during the early 1800s, administered Tardiveau's estate in New Madrid. He still owned Tardiveau's property at the time of the great New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 and when the New Madrid Relief Act was passed in 1817. This act allowed individual landowners to exchange their damaged land for a certificate entitling them to an equal amount of public land in the Missouri Territory. Menard submitted a claim and obtained a certificate, but did not really want to spend all that time and money on surveys so he quickly sold the 204 acres to a St. Louis lawyer, Robert Wash, who was familiar with local real estate transactions. In 1818, Wash became the owner of New Madrid Certificate 465 and two years later located the certificate on the property that was later to be included in Clayton's city limits. Wash, the third Missouri Supreme Court justice, was a wealthy lawyer, landowner, gentleman farmer who enjoyed using the land for fox hunting. He was personally involved in at least two suits where slaves in his household sued for their freedom. The compelling accounts of these “freedom suits” are told in a separate chapter of the book based on the court files and a rare book written by one of the freed slaves years later. 150 acres of the 204 acres were initially developed by Dr. John Kennedy, a frontier doctor who built his home on the first farm in 1835. His home is described in detail in the book and consisted of three dwellings: living and bedrooms, eating room, and kitchen with servant/slave sleeping quarters. Additional farm buildings were built after the mid 1800s by the subsequent owners: Benjamin Franklin Thomas who named the farm Claverach (a Welsh term for clover fields), and then Benjamin's daughter Katherine and her husband John Boland. In 1924, the land was sold and developed as a residential subdivision. It was designed by the well-known landscape architect Julius Pitzman, the so-called “Father of the Private Streets” in St. Louis. Robert E. Carr and his wife Sarah Block Carr purchased the remaining 54 acres of Robert Wash's estate when he died in 1859. The Carrs developed their land as a country estate and rented some of the land to Martin Hanley's neighboring farm. Robert Carr also enjoyed his retirement on the estate he named Carrswold, a name that has been adopted by the subdivision there today. The development of this Clayton neighborhood and the lives that it touched are detailed in the book along with a collection of photographs, maps, and documents illustrating Claverach's rich history. Contact Beacon features and commentary editor Donna Korando.
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St. Louis County Library hosts author Roy Morris Jr.: Writer discusses new book, "Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain;" 7 p.m., Monday, March 22, at Library headquarters, 1640 S. Lindberg Blvd. | St. Louis County Library
"Ulysses," "The Heather Blazing," "Trinity" top list of best books about Ireland: Literature abounds from those who were inspired to write about the Emerald Isle. | The Christian Science Monitor
Webster U. Professor David Clewell is Missouri's new poet laureate: He likes taking poetry to places where it doesn't often go, like factories or prisons. | STLtoday
Dick Francis, jockey turned mystery writer, dies at age 89: He sold 60 million books and his novels were translated into 20 languages. | BBC
Dance St. Louis presents Azure Barton & Artists: Contemporary choreographer headlines performances at Touhill Performing Arts Center; 8 p.m., March 26, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., March 27. Tickets are $30-$50 for general admission and $27-46 for students, seniors, and groups of 20 or more. | Dance St. Louis
Malashock Dance Co. comes to SIU-E's Arts & Issues stage at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 1: Tickets for performance in Katherine Dunham Hall are $27; SIUE employees and retirees, and all senior citizens, $25; SIUE students, $13. Ticket
information, subscription rates and ticket sales are available on the
Web site: artsandissues.com, or by calling (618) 650-5774.
| PRWeb
The Repertory Theatre will present "Crime and Punishment" March 10-28 in the Emerson Studio Theatre, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University). Tickets start at $35. For times and tickets go to www.repstl.org .
"Menopause The Musical" will return to The Playhouse at Westport Plaza on March 5, with a run going through May 8. The show will be performed Wednesdays through Sundays. For tickets ($45) and information: 314-534-1111.
UMSL Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 24 at the Lee Theater at the Touhill , One University Blvd. Free. Information: 314-516-5980
Iggy Pop and the Stooges finally make it Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Also inducted in this year's class were ABBA, the Hollies, Genesis and Jimmy Cliff. | New York Times
Michael Jackson estate signs recording contract valued at up to $250 million, largest in history: The deal, reached with Sony, includes unreleased music, DVDs and video games. | Los Angeles Times
New music festival scheduled for Forest Park in August: LOUfest will feature 18 bands on two stages in Central Field on Aug. 28-29. | STLtoday
On Arbor Day, April 2, the Kemper Center for Home Gardening at the Missouri Botanical Garden , 4344 Shaw Blvd. will be giving away trees for planting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or while supplies last. Included with Garden admission.
Come to the Zoo on March 20-21, 27-28, April 3, 2010 for Breakfast with the Bunny. 9 and 11 a.m. seatings. $18-$22. www.stlzoo.org . Reservations required
March Morpho Mania will go on from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, March 2-31 at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, 15193 Olive Blvd. at Faust Park. $4-$6. www.butterflyhouse.org
Legends of St. Louis Blues Music exhibit, on display at the Sheldon through Aug. 28, offers free gallery talks. KDHX DJ, Gabriel will speak (TBA) and Robert Koester, Delmark Records Founder on Sat., May 1 at 11 a.m.
The Bruno David Gallery presents Cindy Tower's "Decadense" from March 19 - May 8. Also showing: Nanette Boileau "Heard but not Said" and Dickson Beall "Membrane Moments: Journey through Loss"
Marbles Yoga Studio & Art Gallery , 1905 Park Ave., will show "UNFOLDING," paintings & drawings by Galina Todorova. Free opening reception 7-9 p.m. April 3. Gallery talk 7-9 p.m. April 30, the last day of the exhibit. Open prior to scheduled yoga classes or by appointment.
"The Art of Labor" is showing through April 1 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday) at Gallery Visio, 170 Millennium Student Center at UMSL, One University Blvd. Free. Information, click here .
Atrium Gallery , 4728 McPheson Ave., presents "Prints," a group exhibition from March 12-May 9. The show includes prints from Claudio Bravo, Suzanne Caporael, Sam Gilliam, Karen Kunc, Nicola Lopez, Judy Pfaff and ManoloValdes.
Christiane Amanpour switches to ABC from CNN: News maven will be new anchor of "This Week," replacing George Stephanopoulos. | New York Daily News
Fess Parker, TV's Davy Crockett, dies at age 85: After he hung up his coonskin cap, he became a real estate magnate in California. | Los Angeles Times
Actor Peter Graves dies at age 83: He spoofed his own serious image from "Mission: Impossible" in the comedy "Airplane!" | Los Angeles Times
Actor Corey Haim dies of apparent drug overdose at age 38: The one-time teen idol appeared in movies such as "The Lost Boys" and "Lucas" in the 1980s. | Chicago Tribune
Video by Elia Powers
Rollerderby isn't just for women in St. Louis anymore. The StL Gatekeepers team lets men get out on the rink. Read the story and see a larger video .
Posted 9:30 a.m. Thurs., 03.18.10 - The University of Chicago is a prestigious institution and the intellectual home of both the atomic bomb and the bombastic economic and political theories that caused the great financial meltdown in 2008, writes columnist M.W. Guzy, who wonders which "bomb" caused the most damage.
Posted 2:45 p.m. Mon., 03.15.10 - The congressional ethics committee can't be trusted to demand high standards. The Supreme Court says wide-open corporate spending cannot be curtailed in elections. And President Barack Obama raised more than anyone else. D.C. can't say no to money, so Matt Vianello says the people should say no to the big spenders
Posted 6 a.m. Sun., 03.14.10 - Mike Lawrence calls for support for amending the Illinois constitution to do away with the draw-from-the-hat mechanism that for three consecutive decades has permitted the lottery winner to dictate the new boundaries required after every census.
Posted 5:00 p.m. Thu., 03.11.10 - In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Robert Joiner, Jo Mannies and Dale Singer sit down to talk about President Obama's trip to…
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Posted 6 a.m. Thurs., 03.18.10 - It's called Anyclip (www.anyclip.com ), and according to its publicity, it will "empower you to find and relive any moment from any film, instantly." It sounded promising, but a search of the site itself, which launched on March 15 proved to be far less successful.
Posted 10:47 a.m. Mon., Feb. 15 - On March 2, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in an Illinois gun case that could end up pleasing liberals and conservatives…
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