1867. He then engaged in the banking business on his own account, conducting a banking house under his own name and as an individual enterprise until 1882, when the Sturdivant Bank was organized under the laws of the State of Missouri, and he became president of that institution. Under his management this bank has since been known as one of the leading banking houses of Missouri, a stable institution conducted in accordance with the most approved theories of modern financiers and with the strictest integrity characterizing all dealings with the public. In 1880 he purchased what is known as the Union Mills, in Cape Girardeau, and has been a leading representative of the manufacturing as well as of the mercantile and banking interests of that city. The fact that he at one time edited a Whig newspaper bears testimony to the fact that in early life he was a somewhat ardent and enthusiastic member of that political party. Later, however, he became a member of the Democratic party, with which he has since continued to affiliate. When Sterling Price was Governor of Missouri he was appointed a member of the Governor's military staff with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and the military title thus acquired has clung to him ever

The

His prominence as a man of affairs and his recognized force of character and executive ability have caused him to be mentioned at different times in connection with high offices, among them that of Governor of the State. Notwithstanding his fitness for any office in the gift of the people of Missouri, he has frowned upon the efforts of his friends to put him forward as a candidate for political preferment, and the only office he ever held was that of member of the board of aldermen of Cape Girardeau, which he declares satisfied entirely his ambition for public office. He has never connected himself with any church, but throughout his long residence in Cape Girardeau he has been recognized as the generous friend of all religious institutions. Wielding an important influence in the community in which he lives, and recognized as one of the leading citizens of southeastern Missouri, he is, nevertheless, a quiet, unassuming gentleman, modestly disclaiming any credit for much that he has done to build up the city in which he has resided for over half a century and to develop the resources of that portion of the

State. His Virginia birth and training are apparent in his manners, which are those of the old school Virginia gentleman, and his uniform courtesy makes friends of all with whom he is brought into contact.

Sturgeon.-A town in Boone County, named in honor of Isaac H. Sturgeon, of St. Louis, who was president of the North Missouri-now Wabash-Railroad, on which the town is located, at the time it was laid out in 1856. John Rockford owned most of the land comprising the town site. A post office was established there in 1857 with Adam Goslin as postmaster. The first schoolhouse was built there in 1857, and the first mayor was Housen Canada. Sturgeon is a thrifty village and commands a good trade. It has two banks, a weekly newspaper, a steam flouring mill and several mercantile establishments. Its population in 1890 was 716.

WILLIAM F. SWITZLER.

1861,

Sturgeon, Isaac Hughes, at the present time comptroller of the city of St. Louis, was born September 10, 1821, in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1845. With his brother, Thomas, he came, in 1846, to St. Louis. In 1848 Mr. Sturgeon was nominated by the Democratic party as their candidate for alderman, and he was elected and and re-elected to the same position in 1850 and 1852. In August, 1852, he was elected to the State Senate. He resigned the State senatorship to accept the appointment as Assistant Treasurer of the United States at the hands of President Pierce, and was reappointed by President Buchanan, serving until when President Lincoln appointed a Republican. Although a warm supporter of the Breckinridge ticket in 1860, Mr. Sturgeon declared that the election of Mr. Lincoln furnished no cause for secession. He allied himself with the Union element in politics, which finally threw him into the Republican ranks, where he has since remained. Mr. Sturgeon was (see "Railroads") president and general superintendent of the North Missouri Railroad for about ten years. As an official of the United States government in the early part of the war Mr. Sturgeon was alert. His movements in regard to the treasure and defenses at St. Louis are related in Colonel Broadhead's review of the Fed