William Henry Glasgow

As printed in 1899

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

0 оп an expl including his bed and cooking utensils, and either sleeping out doors where nightfall overtook him, or, when he was more fortunate, in what were called “masons,” a kind of barrack building, without furniture of any kind, and with no windows save a small circular one near the ceiling, protected by heavy iron bars. The doors of these “masons” were made of heavy oak, and were ıron-bound, so that the traveler who found lodging in one of these places usually felt secure if he were not entirely comfortable. Leaving Tampico soon after his arrival there, Mr. Glasgow traveled alter the fashion of that day across the country to San Blas, going thence to Mazatlan, on the Gulf of California, from there to Alamos, and then, crossing the mountains, to the old mining town of Jesus Maria. He spent his twenty-first birthday at Jesus Maria, and then turned homeward, visiting next the city of Chihuahua, making his way from there to Santa Fe, and thence across the plains to Independence, Missouri. The dangers from attacks of bandits in Mexico and of Indians on the plains were sufficient to render this an attractive trip to a young man fond of adventure, and in addition to this experience, Mr. Glasgow returned to St. Louis with a knowledge of the southern portion of the continent possessed by comparatively few Americans at that time. In 1846 he went again to Mexico, and was delayed en route by the breaking out of the Mexican War. He was at El Paso, Texas, when Colonel A. W. Doniphan, of Missouri, who had marched with General Kearney to Santa Fe, reached El Paso on his way to join General Wool, then in the interior of Mexico. Enrolling themselves in Captain E. J. Glasgow’s company, of Colonel Doniphan’s regiment, Mr. Glasgow and his party proceeded with them on the way to Chihuahua, Mr. Glasgow being commissioned first lieutenant of his company. On the 28th of February, 1847, when within seventeen miles of Chihuahua, they were confronted by a force of Mexicans 4,000 strong at the pass of the Sacramento Mountains. Colonel Doniphan's force numbered all told 924 men, and the enemy were strongly entrenched. Notwithstanding the disparity of numbers, and the enemy's advantage of position, he attacked with such fury as to completely rout the Mexicans, who lost more than 800 killed and wounded. The next day he marched into Chihuahua, which had surrendered, and soon afterward Mr. Glasgow resigned his commission, and established himself in business as a merchant in that city. At the end of a year, and after General Sterling Price had occupied Chihuahua, he returned to St. Louis by way of Monterey. Here he again embarked in the wholesale grocery business, in which he was successfully engaged for many years thereafter. In 1886 he was made president of the St. Charles Car Company, and since that time has become widely known as a manufacturer, and to the railroad interests of the country, the corporation of which he was the head, being extensively engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of railway equipments. To the people of St. Louis he has been the best known as a business man of superior capacity, whose operations have been uniformly successful, and who has earned fortune’s favors by the intelligent conduct of his affairs. Those who enjoy a more intimate acquaintance with him, know him also as an extensive traveler, who has seen much of the world, and who has gathered a large fund of general knowledge as a result of his observations. He has been well known as an Episcopal churchman since 1855, and politically has been identified with the Democratic party since the old Whig party, with which he first affiliated, passed out of existence. He has been twice married. First, in 1850, to Mary Frances Wright, daughter of Major Thomas Wright, paymaster in the United States Army, and in 1860, to his second wife, who was Miss Carlota Nestora Fales, before her marriage, and whose earlier home was at Remedios, in the Island of Cuba.

As printed in Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference (v. 2) (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.