Letter signed Chauncey I. Filley, St. Louis, to Missouri Historical Society, Mrs. James A. Waterworth, Pageant Committee. Gives a sketch of his career interspersed with reminiscent incidents. Speaks of his ancestors helping to establish ancient Windsor, the first white settlement of Connecticut. He himself entered the important business on September 17, 1850. Speaks of what Laclede and his stepson, Auguste Chouteau, foresaw for St. Louis in its natural advantages. Recalls the records of his official civic acts, including his part in securing a Board of Water Commissioners, in opposing the sale of the Missouri Pacific to a foreign syndicate, in obtaining various civic improvements, in regard to the purchase of the St. Louis Gas Company, in inaugurating two public service reforms in the Post Office, in managing the christening of the Eads Bridge, in helping to form the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, etc. Cites touching incidents of the Civil War. Individuals mentioned: Capt. Price, William Filley, Capt. Holmes, Oliver Dwight Filley, Giles F. Filley, Amelia Filley, Oliver Filley, Augustus Filley, Edward A. Filley, Samuel R. Filley, John Filley, Wm. H. Benton, Wm. H. Markham, Wood Crittenden, Benjamin Franklin, Old Bullion, Balboa, Truman J. Homer, Geo. K. Budd, Hon. Erastus Wells, Mrs. Filley, Nicholson, Mr. and Mrs. Julius S. Walsh, Henry T. Blow, Col. James A. Hamilton, Washington, Hiram Walbridge, B. Ruggles, Chauncey M. DePew, Gen. John Cochrane, Gov. Gamble, Geo. Partridge, Gen. W.S. Rosecrans, W.P. Hall, Clinton B. Fisk, Jas. S. Thomas, J.W. Davidson, Mr. and Mrs. Saml. Copp, Jr.; Alfred Mackey, Jas. E. Yeatman, Wm. G. Eliot, Carlos S. Greeley, Dr. Jno. B. Johnson, Miss Anna M. Debenham, Mrs. Gen. V.P. Van Antwerp, Miss Phoebe Couzins, Nellie Grant, Dr. Schuyler, Mrs. Gen. Grant, and Tennyson. Places mentioned: Hudson River, Plymouth Rock, Connecticut River, Hartford, Swearingen Bldg., Washington, Baltimore, Keokuk Dam, Lafayette Park, Forest Park, Atlantic, Pacific, Panama Canal, Bissell Point Waterworks, Chain of Rocks, Central Park, O’Fallon Park, Carondelet Park, Mississippi River, New York, Chicago, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Detroit, Pilot Knob, Iron Mountain, Mercantile Library Hall, Arkansas, Cairo, Pittsburgh Landing, and Shiloh, Ohio., 1914 May 9

Item — Box: 2

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Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

Papers consist mainly of correspondence of Oliver D. and Giles F. Filley to their family in Connecticut, relating to early ventures in the tin and stove manufacturing business. Giles F. Filley's firm, the Excelsior Manufacturing Company, made the famous "Charter Oak" cooking stove. Also includes records pertaining to affairs and public service of Chauncey Ives Filley. These include Chauncey I. Filley's letterbook, 1862, containing only two letters, one of which discusses railway routes between St. Louis and Little Rock and Bismarck and Little Rock, and map of Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts. Also includes personal record book of Augustus Filley, 1874-1818, with information on the Filley family in Windsor, Connecticut, and other genealogical information. This collection contains much of political interest as well as social sidelights on St. Louis history, including data on James O. Broadhead, the Chartrand family, the Civil War, Gen. John B. Clark, the constitutional convention of 1865, the Eads Bridge, James A. Garfield, Samuel T. Glover, Judge Louis Gottschalk, William S. Harney, the growth of the post office in St. Louis, early railroads, Gen. Rosecrans, the early days of St. Louis, St. Louis Gas Company, the Sanitary Fair Commission, Carl Schurz, and transportation, waterways, etc.