The Western House Story

                Standing at the corner of Boone’s Lick Road and South Main Street, 1001 South Main is built at an intersection which is arguably the Gateway to the West.  There are many questions about this building which are not the easiest to answer.  A lot of the story of this building comes from the 1960s and 1970s.  Let’s examine the story and see if we can sort out fact from fiction.

                Properties on both sides of Chauncey Street (one in Block 22, the other in Block 23) were confirmed to Gregoire Tessero on 25 May 1825 by Theodore Hunt, U.S. Recorder of Land Titles.  The property in Block 22 was described as fronting 120 feet on South Main Street and running back 300 feet to Second Street.  Tessero had occupied the lot for twenty-three years according to testimony of John Filteau.[1]  According to Booker & Associates, “The main structure was built in 1821 or earlier.  Several additions were later added.  A hostelry was maintained on the main floor with residences on the upper levels.”[2]  The stories abound about the possibilities of Daniel Boone or Lewis & Clark “and other noteworthy pioneers” who “spent time here and, no doubt, sought food and lodging at the ‘Western House.’”[3]  It all sounds so romantic!  The prospects of such a history are so tantalizing!  If the established story is correct, then Gregoire Tessero (AKA Tiercerot AKA Tiercerotte AKA Kiercereaux in other sources) must have had it built … or did he?

                Edna McElhiney Olson, a local historian and the first archivist of the St. Charles County Historical Society, wrote in her book that “The Western House was a famous hostelry in 1835, during the days of covered wagon treks.  A large stable and wagon yard was located in the rear.  At the time this establishment was run by Mr. Blesse, who leased it in 1862.  It was renowned for the excellent care given to oxen, horses, and cattle.  Blesse added a blacksmith shop.”[4] The story of the building dating back to 1835 or 1821 has been told often, but no primary source documentation is provided for such assertions.  Blesse could not possibly have operated the Western House in 1835.  August F. Blesse was born 17 December 1829 in Prussia and was the second child of Frederick and Elizabeth Blesse.  Blesse’s brother, Carl, immigrated to St. Louis in 1845 and August followed him three years later.  From 1848 to 1855, Blesse operated a steamboat out of St. Louis.  On 26 June 1854, August married Eliza Dierker in St. Louis.[5]  In 1855, he got a job working at the custom house in St. Louis.  In 1858, Blesse moved to Wentzville and established a liquor and cigar store.[6]  In 1860, he operated a grocery store in Wentzville.[7]  Blesse moved to St. Charles in 1861.[8]

                The legal representatives of Gregoire Tiercerotte sold both their lots in Block 22 and Block 23 to William Carter on 27 February 1833 for $40.  There was no mention of buildings on either lot, which would suggest that both lots were vacant.[9]  In 1853, the St. Charles City Council rerouted the Boone’s Lick Road along on a new trajectory which moved its intersection a block south from McDonough to Chauncey.[10]

  In 1854, a partition suit was filed among the heirs of William Carter.  George Gardner purchased property 120×300 feet in Block 22 for $150.  No buildings are mentioned as being on the property.[11]  Today’s Western House property was pieced together from Gardner by Frederick William Meyer in two transactions.

                Frederick William Meyer purchased property, 75 feet by 100 feet, along the St. Charles Western Plank Road in 1862 from George Gardner for $500.[12]  Meyer spent an additional $466.67 for additional property fronting on Main Street to George Gardiner two years later.[13]  It is at this time that we begin to see the first mentions of the existence of the Western House on this property.  In 1972, local preservationist Archie Scott discovered an advertisement for the Western Hotel with Mrs. F. Eckert as proprietress.[14]  Circumstantial evidence suggests that this was not the same as the Western House, but a later name for the St. Charles Hotel at the site of 515 South Main Street.  In 1852, R. A. Harris had his livery stable located near St. Charles Hotel.[15]  In 1857, Harris was located near the Western Hotel.[16]  According to his 1885 biography, August F. Blesse “established the Western House” in 1864 and ran it “successfully for 18 years, or until 1881.  He was quite successful in the hotel business and his house achieved a wide and enviable reputation, not only for the excellence of the table set but for the cleanliness and comfort of its lodging accommodations, and for the general air of home comfort which characterized its management.”[17]  Edna McElhiney Olson reported in 1966 that Blesse built the Western House in 1864.  Her source for that information was her mother’s (Mary Johnson McElhiney) notes.[18]  The Western House was described as a tavern and boarding house in 1869.[19]  Blesse purchased the property on which the Western House sits in two deeds.  He acquired a one-third interest from C. H. and Emilie (Meyer) Huncker in 1869.[20]  Blesse acquired a two-thirds interest from C. H. Huncker in 1870.[21]

                There is one final indication that the 1864 construction date is correct:  St. Charles City real estate tax records.  George Gardner’s property in 1856 and 1857 was valued at $200.  In 1859, the property value tripled to $800.  In 1860 and 1861, the value was $900.  F. W. Meyer’s first listing as owner of his property was in 1863.  Meyer’s property was valued that year at $1,000.  In 1864, it was valued at $1,700.  In 1865, it was valued at $2,500.  In 1870, August F. Blesse owned the property and was still valued at $2,500.  Blesse was succeeded in 1881 as proprietor of the Western House by Edward Paule.[22]  Olson mentions an advertisement “that he had expert men to shoe the horses and to repair the oxen carts for travelers.”[23]  Blesse held on to the Western House property until 1891, when he sold it to August Beermann, who was the proprietor of the hotel by that time, for $2,750.[24]  Perhaps the most well-known black-and-white photograph of the Western House was taken in the 1890s while August Beermann was proprietor.  The Western House property was put under a deed of trust, but the Beermanns were not able to pay it off.  The land was put up for sale by the trustee and was purchased by Jacob F. Moerschel of Moerschel Brewing Company in 1899 for $800.[25]  Although Moerschel later moved to Jefferson City, he never divested himself of this property.  Moerschel died on 6 January 1918 in Jefferson City, Missouri.[26]  His two sons, Ernest and Jacob W., served as executors of their father’s estate and sold the Western House lot to Herman and Anna Toebben in 1922.[27]

  By this time the hotel was long gone and a grocery store was now there.  It was being operated by Mrs. Barklage and Mrs. Kichmann.  James Elton purchased the store from them in 1923.[28]  In 1929, Fred Scholle was running the grocery store at 1001 S. Main Street.[29]  Herman Toebben died on 5 January 1932 in St. Charles, Missouri, and was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Florissant, Missouri.[30]  In 1941, Val C. Orf ran the grocery store at 1001 S. Main Street.[31]  Wilfred S. Beilsmith ran it in 1950.[32]  By 1961, South Side Grocery was at this location.[33]  Anna M. (Meyersick) Toebben died on 5 August 1961 in St. Charles, Missouri and was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Florissant, Missouri.[34]  Their son, Herman H. Toebben inherited the property.  Herman H. Toebben deeded it to the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City of St. Charles in 1974.[35]  The LCRA hired REDI, Inc. to refurbish the building in 1976.[36]  In 1977, LCRA deeded the property to the Crossroads Economic Development Corporation of St. Charles County.[37]  Gary and Holly Haddox, owners of Down to Earth, a plant shop that was located in the Crow’s Nest building on S. Main Street, moved their business to the Western House and had a greenhouse built.[38]  The greenhouse went through several names, but is currently known as the Conservatory.  Many weddings have been held there in the last few decades.  In 1987, the Haddoxes acquired the property from the Crossroads Economic Development Corporation of St. Charles County.[39]  For more than forty years, the couple have been in business on Historic Main Street in St. Charles, Missouri.  The Western House building still stands today and continues to overlook the road that, at one crucial point in American history, beckoned travelers west.

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[1] Hunt’s Minutes I:  192, 20 May 1825 (on microfilm at the Headquarters Branch, St. Louis County Library, Frontenac, MO).

[2] http://www.preservationjournal.org/properties/South/1001/Booker069.jpg, accessed 24 March 2020

[3] “Western House Refurbished,” St. Charles Journal, 31 May 1976, Newspaper Archive, accessed 24 March 2020

[4] Edna McElhiney Olson, Historical Saint Charles, Missouri (St. Charles, MO:  St. Charles County Historical Society, 2008), 68

[5] Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002, www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 March 2020

[6] 1885 History of St. Charles County, Missouri, 361-362

[7] 1860 U.S. Census, Cuivre, St. Charles, MO, 554, www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 March 2020

[8] 1885 History of St. Charles County, Missouri, 362

[9] St. Charles County Deed Book I-J, 156-157, 27 February 1833

[10] St. Charles City Council Book C, 287, surveyed 5-6 July 1853

[11] Deed Book F-2, 22-23, 13 October 1856

[12] Deed Book P-2, 190-191, 10 May 1862

[13] Deed Book R-2, 296-297, 4 February 1864

[14] http://www.preservationjournal.org/properties/South/1001/1001-South.html, accessed 24 March 2020

[15] St. Charles Demokrat, 1 January 1852 (Missouri Digital Newspaper Project, SHS-MO), accessed 24 March 2020

[16] St. Charles Demokrat, 17 December 1857 (Missouri Digital Newspaper Project, SHS-MO), accessed 24 March 2020

[17] 1885 History of St. Charles County, Missouri, 362

[18] St. Charles Journal, 24 March 1966 (Newspaper Archive), accessed 24 March 2020

[19] St. Charles Demokrat, 17 June 1869 (Newspaper Archive), accessed 24 March 2020

[20] Deed Book 5, 388, 23 January 1869

[21] Deed Book 9, 190-191, 14 January 1870

[22] St. Charles Daily Cosmos-Monitor, 24 May 1937 (Newspaper Archive), accessed 24 March 2020

[23] St. Charles Journal, 18 June 1959 (Newspaper Archive), accessed 24 March 2020

[24] Deed Book 54, 372, 26 October 1891

[25] Deed Book 71, 469, 15 July 1899

[26] https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1918/1918_00000688.PDF, accessed 24 March 2020

[27] Deed Book 135, 194, 10 July 1922

[28] St. Charles Daily Cosmos-Monitor, 19 March 1923 (Newspaper Archive), accessed 24 March 2020

[29] 1929 St. Charles City Directory

[30] https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1932/1932_00002194.PDF, accessed 24 March 2020

[31] 1941 St. Charles City Directory

[32] 1950 St. Charles City Directory

[33] 1961 St. Charles City Directory

[34] https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1961/1961_00030461.PDF, accessed 24 March 2020

[35] Deed Book 691, 215, 9 October 1974

[36] “Western House Refurbished,” St. Charles Journal, 31 May 1976, Newspaper Archive, accessed 24 March 2020

[37] Deed Book 775, 1453, 14 September 1977

[38] Jan Paul, “Couple Buys Western House,” St. Charles Banner-News, 29 June 1977; “Crossroads Loan is Approved for ‘Western House’ Project,” St. Charles Journal, 11 August 1977 (Newspaper Archive), accessed 24 March 2020

[39] Deed Book 1160, 1508, 11 June 1987