Blocks buried in St. Louis
Replies: 3
Re: Blocks buried in St. Louis
 CleteRamsey
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Posted: 25 Jan 2008 5:42PM GMT |
Classification: Query
Surnames: Block, Bingham, Essex
There may have been Ramsey-Block connections in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, in the mid-1800s. From what I’ve learned so far, I don’t believe they involved my Ramsey line there. My interest in the Block family stems primarily from my efforts to learn more about Zalma Block, proprietor of the St. Charles Hotel in Cape Girardeau City, Missouri, in 1880.
The Castor River town of Zalma, Bollinger County, was renamed after Zalma Block by his friend, Cape Girardeau lawyer, railroad entrepreneur, and historian Louis Houck. Previously, the town had been Bollinger Mills. Houck renamed it sometime after having acquired by lease in 1886 the Brownwood & Northwestern Railroad, which ran from Brownwood in neighboring Stoddard County to Bollinger Mills/Zalma.
I learned only recently how the town of Zalma came by its name. My father was born in Greenbrier, a Bollinger County hamlet on the rail line about five miles east of Zalma, and he was delivered by Dr. William Lages of Zalma. The home place of his maternal grandmother’s Virgin family was a bit closer to Zalma -- less than four miles to the northeast, along Virgin Creek. The rail line through Greenbrier to Zalma, which would be absorbed into the Saint Louis and San Francisco Railway Company (the “Frisco”) system, has long been abandoned.
Zalma Block was one member of a large Jewish family that had its roots in Bohemia. University of Missouri-St. Louis historian Walter Ehrlich offers much information on the Block family in his “Zion in the Valley: The Jewish Community of St. Louis, Volume I (1807-1907),” which is available from the University of Missouri Press (http://press.umsystem.edu/).
Several Block men, including Zalma’s father Simon, moved to the Cape Girardeau area from Virginia, where Zalma Block had been born around 1811. His family appears to have moved from Virginia to Missouri before 1826.
Zalma Block and Hyman Block, the husband of Virginia Britton (Bingham) Block, were close kin. Ehrlich says Phineas Block, Hyman’s businessman father, married his cousin Delia Block. Delia Block was Zalma Block’s sister.
According to her Missouri Certificate of Death, which is in the Missouri State Archives’ Death Certificates Database for 1910-1956 (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/), Hyman Block’s wife Virginia was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery. It says she died on 2 December 1931, from a cerebral hemorrhage, with myocarditis a contributory factor.
According to her Certificate of Death, her age at death was 101 years, 11 months, and 26 days. That was computed from a date of birth listed as 6 December 1829. Female and white, Virginia Block was listed as the widow of Hyman Block and the daughter of John Bingham, who had been born in Pennsylvania.
The Certificate of Death does not name Virginia Block’s mother or give her mother’s place of birth. The Certificate of Death lists Virginia Block’s place of birth as St. Louis, Missouri, and her place of death as University City, Missouri. University City is in St. Louis County, immediately west of the City of St. Louis.
The place and date of burial for Virginia Block were listed as Bellefontaine and 4 December 1931. The undertaker was Herman Rindskopf of 5216 Delmar Blvd.
The Informant on Virginia Block’s Certificate of Death was James Block of 18 Yale.
18 Yale Avenue was an address in University City. 18 Yale Avenue was in University Heights Subdivision No. 1, developed by publisher Edward Gardner Lewis, the founder of University City and its first mayor.
18 Yale Avenue had been the home of Hyman Block’s son, Marshall A. Block, a retired druggist who died on 20 August 1929.
There appear to have been two James Blocks linked to the 18 Yale address. One was James M. Block, a son of Hyman and Virginia Block. 18 Yale Avenue was the residence number listed for James M. Block on his Missouri Certificate of Death. He died on 17 June 1931, and was buried on 18 June 1931 in Bellefontaine Cemetery. The Informant on his Certificate of Death was the other James Block of 18 Yale Avenue. I assume that James Block was a son of Marshall and Beatrice Block, and a grandson of Hyman and Virginia Block. Given James M. Block’s death in June 1931, the younger James Block would very likely have been the James Block listed as the Informant on both his Uncle James’ June 1931 Certificate of Death and on the Certificate of Death for his Grandmother Virginia in December 1931.
The “Berg & Frank Family” Web site (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blberg/index.htm) of Bob and Linda Berg of O’Fallon, Missouri, carries an obituary for Virginia Block, noting she died at the home of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Marshall A. Block, 13 Yale Avenue, University City. I think the correct address was 18 Yale.
The obituary says Virginia Block was survived by a son, John B. Block, who lived on a ranch near Albuquerque, New Mexico, her daughter-in-law [Mrs. Marshall A. Block/Beatrice Ann Block], and a grandson, James B. Block.
For your information, the 1860 Kennedy’s business directory for St. Louis links James C. Essex and Hyman Block to Essex & Block, a cotton batting factory at 166 and 168 N. Green in St. Louis. The 1880 census lists Hyman Block as a retired cotton merchant.
The 1880 census also shows a Carrie Bingham (female, white, and 42) living in Hyman Block’s household. Her relationship to Hyman Block was listed as “Other.” I believe she was his sister-in-law. Her nativity data shows Carrie as being born in Missouri to a father born in Virginia and a mother born in Pennsylvania. There is a Missouri Certificate of Death for Caroline Bingham, who died on 26 February 1910 from diabetes mellitus. The Certificate of Death did not give a date of birth, but only noted she was 73 years old at death and had been born in St. Louis to Jno. A. Bingham, born in Virginia, and Rebecca Britton, born in “Phila PA.” The handwriting is difficult to read, but the Informant for the information on the Certificate of Death appears to have been MAA. Block of 5228 Vernon Ave. Caroline Bingham was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery on 1 March 1910.
Finally, Professor Ehrlich quotes journalist, vintner, and wine merchant Isidor Bush, who chronicled the early history of St. Louis’s Jewish community, as stating the Blocks were “the most numerous Jewish family that settled west of the Mississippi River.” Bush is buried as Bellefontaine Cemetery as well.
Regards from Virginia,
Clete
The Castor River town of Zalma, Bollinger County, was renamed after Zalma Block by his friend, Cape Girardeau lawyer, railroad entrepreneur, and historian Louis Houck. Previously, the town had been Bollinger Mills. Houck renamed it sometime after having acquired by lease in 1886 the Brownwood & Northwestern Railroad, which ran from Brownwood in neighboring Stoddard County to Bollinger Mills/Zalma.
I learned only recently how the town of Zalma came by its name. My father was born in Greenbrier, a Bollinger County hamlet on the rail line about five miles east of Zalma, and he was delivered by Dr. William Lages of Zalma. The home place of his maternal grandmother’s Virgin family was a bit closer to Zalma -- less than four miles to the northeast, along Virgin Creek. The rail line through Greenbrier to Zalma, which would be absorbed into the Saint Louis and San Francisco Railway Company (the “Frisco”) system, has long been abandoned.
Zalma Block was one member of a large Jewish family that had its roots in Bohemia. University of Missouri-St. Louis historian Walter Ehrlich offers much information on the Block family in his “Zion in the Valley: The Jewish Community of St. Louis, Volume I (1807-1907),” which is available from the University of Missouri Press (http://press.umsystem.edu/).
Several Block men, including Zalma’s father Simon, moved to the Cape Girardeau area from Virginia, where Zalma Block had been born around 1811. His family appears to have moved from Virginia to Missouri before 1826.
Zalma Block and Hyman Block, the husband of Virginia Britton (Bingham) Block, were close kin. Ehrlich says Phineas Block, Hyman’s businessman father, married his cousin Delia Block. Delia Block was Zalma Block’s sister.
According to her Missouri Certificate of Death, which is in the Missouri State Archives’ Death Certificates Database for 1910-1956 (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/), Hyman Block’s wife Virginia was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery. It says she died on 2 December 1931, from a cerebral hemorrhage, with myocarditis a contributory factor.
According to her Certificate of Death, her age at death was 101 years, 11 months, and 26 days. That was computed from a date of birth listed as 6 December 1829. Female and white, Virginia Block was listed as the widow of Hyman Block and the daughter of John Bingham, who had been born in Pennsylvania.
The Certificate of Death does not name Virginia Block’s mother or give her mother’s place of birth. The Certificate of Death lists Virginia Block’s place of birth as St. Louis, Missouri, and her place of death as University City, Missouri. University City is in St. Louis County, immediately west of the City of St. Louis.
The place and date of burial for Virginia Block were listed as Bellefontaine and 4 December 1931. The undertaker was Herman Rindskopf of 5216 Delmar Blvd.
The Informant on Virginia Block’s Certificate of Death was James Block of 18 Yale.
18 Yale Avenue was an address in University City. 18 Yale Avenue was in University Heights Subdivision No. 1, developed by publisher Edward Gardner Lewis, the founder of University City and its first mayor.
18 Yale Avenue had been the home of Hyman Block’s son, Marshall A. Block, a retired druggist who died on 20 August 1929.
There appear to have been two James Blocks linked to the 18 Yale address. One was James M. Block, a son of Hyman and Virginia Block. 18 Yale Avenue was the residence number listed for James M. Block on his Missouri Certificate of Death. He died on 17 June 1931, and was buried on 18 June 1931 in Bellefontaine Cemetery. The Informant on his Certificate of Death was the other James Block of 18 Yale Avenue. I assume that James Block was a son of Marshall and Beatrice Block, and a grandson of Hyman and Virginia Block. Given James M. Block’s death in June 1931, the younger James Block would very likely have been the James Block listed as the Informant on both his Uncle James’ June 1931 Certificate of Death and on the Certificate of Death for his Grandmother Virginia in December 1931.
The “Berg & Frank Family” Web site (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blberg/index.htm) of Bob and Linda Berg of O’Fallon, Missouri, carries an obituary for Virginia Block, noting she died at the home of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Marshall A. Block, 13 Yale Avenue, University City. I think the correct address was 18 Yale.
The obituary says Virginia Block was survived by a son, John B. Block, who lived on a ranch near Albuquerque, New Mexico, her daughter-in-law [Mrs. Marshall A. Block/Beatrice Ann Block], and a grandson, James B. Block.
For your information, the 1860 Kennedy’s business directory for St. Louis links James C. Essex and Hyman Block to Essex & Block, a cotton batting factory at 166 and 168 N. Green in St. Louis. The 1880 census lists Hyman Block as a retired cotton merchant.
The 1880 census also shows a Carrie Bingham (female, white, and 42) living in Hyman Block’s household. Her relationship to Hyman Block was listed as “Other.” I believe she was his sister-in-law. Her nativity data shows Carrie as being born in Missouri to a father born in Virginia and a mother born in Pennsylvania. There is a Missouri Certificate of Death for Caroline Bingham, who died on 26 February 1910 from diabetes mellitus. The Certificate of Death did not give a date of birth, but only noted she was 73 years old at death and had been born in St. Louis to Jno. A. Bingham, born in Virginia, and Rebecca Britton, born in “Phila PA.” The handwriting is difficult to read, but the Informant for the information on the Certificate of Death appears to have been MAA. Block of 5228 Vernon Ave. Caroline Bingham was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery on 1 March 1910.
Finally, Professor Ehrlich quotes journalist, vintner, and wine merchant Isidor Bush, who chronicled the early history of St. Louis’s Jewish community, as stating the Blocks were “the most numerous Jewish family that settled west of the Mississippi River.” Bush is buried as Bellefontaine Cemetery as well.
Regards from Virginia,
Clete