In California approximately 50 years ago the mother of Mrs. Howard Shebley was settling the estate of a "friend, Matilda Koch. Among the various papers found were the writings of Miss Koch's sister, Jane Stubbs, who appeared to have been compiling notes for an article regarding the history of her family. Mrs. Stubbs was the granddaughter of August Muegge of Cheltenham, who lived and operated a family grocery business with his brother, Fritz, in a brick building at Tamm and Manchester Avenues during the last half of the nineteenth century.
Mrs. Howard Shebley of Oakland, California, sent the writings, some of which are in German, to the Missouri Historical Society in April 1984.
Daniel McVey and Nina Kassing Bryans donated a copy of these papers to the Dogtown Historical Society on July 10, 2004.
These are difficult pages to work with. They often don't scan very well, and the pages have some strange order I haven't yet mastered. Then, there are inked-in additions and corrections, so the editing of what does scan is difficult.
I'll do the best I can to get it right. The text is divided into titled sections and I notice there is a great deal of repetition. I'll just do it section by section and indicate where there are gaps in the text.
Section 1: MUEGGE FAMILY AND THE CIVIL WAR
"The Muegge Family Grocery Store played a part during the Civil War when one evening about suppertime several men wearing long grey dusters, thus covering up the uniform of Southern soldiers, entered the Muegge store. The Muegge family were having their evening meal in a room just in back of the store. There son, than a half-grown youth, was looking after the store in the meanwhile for those were dangerous times. . . ..for it had been report that General Lee with his army was approaching Camp Jackson near St. Louis. As the young son busied himself about the store, the front door opened and in stepped three men, as described above. The approached closer and asked where, "Where do you keep your money." Their entering and their loud voices had been heard by the elert mother. She not took notice. She thought of her son. What would he do?
In the meantime the men bent over the counter to look for the cash box but found none. Worried, the mother now left the table and went to the store entering from the back. The men now stopped searching and addressed the mother. Turing towards her they addressed her saying by asking where is the money," Quick to answer Mrs. Muegge replied "We keep no money around in these dangerous times. It went on the six o'clock train to St. Louis. Then she turned to her small daughter Louise of eight and said to her in German-"get the money out of the cash box and take it upstairs" Louise did as she was told and those tall strapping soldiers did not even notice her. She told later what a hard time she had to unknot the bag in which the money was kept. It never did see the bank at the end of each day but it sidetracked the Bushwackers. They not turned to Mrs. Muegge just as her husband entered in from the back door. "Madam won't you retire for we have business with your husband. Mrs. M now realizing the danger she was exposing her husband to she took matter in her own hands. What you have to say to my husband you will say to me as well. And Mrs. Muegge held the for but when they drew a posttel, having previously asked for his hunting gun........ in the back doorway, which let to the living quarters, That I made an immediate impression on these men. The older brother had already retired, but when he had heard the shot he knew instantly someone was up. He jumped out the bed slipped on his blue jean trousers and was pulling them up as he rushed into the store shouting loudly "what, what is the matter here" This sudden appearance of what the Bushwackers probably thought was the first of these seven soldiers. Pulling up his trousers probably indicated to them that he was pulling out a revolver, thought better than to press the matter and further they began to back out towards the store door. As they left, still facing their danger that appeared to threaten them to ... out as fast as they could, then the members of the Muegge family jumped and baracaded the door with potato barrels. Then cam a sound of tramping horses from Manchester Road as the Bushwackers were on their way. From the noise made by the horses hoofs, it was felt that those three men who had entered were heavily reinforced by a strong body guard on the outside.
In the meanwhile grandfather had followed his wife's request and he started running over fields and byeways to go to Camp Jackson to sound the alarm of the attack. The next morning there was sent out a ......Union soldiers prepared to made a thorough search of this company of Bushwhackers for they had been elert of General Price's armies movement coming up from Arkansas they were moving north into Missouri. The entire district was searched for many southern sympathizers held large estates in the vicinity. My mother who as old enough to remember would tell this story to her children over and over again that it almost seemed as if we had been part of this adventure which happened to our grandparents in that large brick house on Manchester Road (later it had the Post Office number of 6429 Manchester Av) and the district became Clifton Height instead Cheltenham.
Click here for a newspaper account of this raid, and Louis Schmidt's expanded version of the history of this raid, and sourrounding Civil War facts.Section 2: CIVIL WAR DAYS
What life was life at that time
During the early days the Muegge property was surrounded by Southern planters who were slave holders, The Muegge brothers were identified with the Lincoln Government for they had the Cheltenham Post Office in their store. He was treated with the utmost respect by his neighbors although slaves would run to him when they were beaten. Mrs. Muegge always said if the Civil War had been lost by the North she would have bought a slave in order to free her. As it turned out she always employed colored help. During that episode when the BushWackers entered the store as they threatened August Muegge’s life, her colored servant stood behind the door leading to the back of the house. She later told how she trembled for "they would have shot me down like a door had they known I was hiding behind that door". Later she gave birth to a child and when one day a lady with her young daughter came on a visit from St.Louis, to visit the Muegges and she asked the colored baby was her first and she thought it too cute. She asked permission to kiss it and then remarked naively, "Am I now black?"
Mrs. Muegge had just returned from Germany with her three children -- Albert, Louis and Anne where her husband had sent her just before the war had threatened. This had been in 1862, the family had remained there for a entire year but shortly after the return in 1864 the fighting and the disturbances only had begun. That was when her husband’s life had been threatened and the brave woman through her courage in all probability saved his life. The Southern gentleman always held a woman in highest regard. Mrs. Muegge organized women of the neighborhood to make bandages my mother often told how she sacrificed all he beautiful linen sheets and table clothes to tear into strips and roll them, also made lint for at that time cotton could not be obtained and there was great need for bandages, and the faithful woman carried on as they do today only in a primitive way. My grandmother took charge of this work never counting the sacrifice of her precious trousseau linen cost her.
Section 3: A CIVIL WAR TIME MONUMENT: THE MUEGGE HOUSE
I would like to call your attention to an old landmark; which stood on the outskirt of St. Louis just about six miles out on the Manchester Road or now Avenue. It is the. Muegge Family Store. It was -- for I speak of the past as only very recently – it was removed to make wav for new buildings I understand.
This old Muegge house was also once a place of business which not alone served a large area of neighborly settlers but also the people who were on the way to the West. These included largely two types -- the Indians which were being moved from their Eastern reservations to the just opened Indian Territory and the Hoosiers who were passing westward from Indiana to take up new government land claims. These would stop at the Muegge store for provisions.
This is its story
The Muegge Grocery Store was built in 1854. It was built of red brick. It had a hip roof with a single dormer window to the south which lighted a large attic. The full front length of the house had a wooden balcony . There were green shutters on all the windows and one large double door with panes of glass in the upper half, which was the entrance to the store. This took up one fourth of the first floor and its fixtures were all made on the spot of hand hewn boards. In this store was one long counter the full length of one long side and which extended alongside one other wall. There was a place for everything in this store which carried all the necessary merchandise to supply its customers. There were in the first place all the stable groceries, then the necessary hardware, especially an assortment of nails, pop etc. lamp chimneys an important requirement in those days, and also kerosene for lamps, the only means of lighting the home and an endless assortment of household mds. All that need be said that it served its purpose to supply the needs of the people who traded at the Muegge store.
The Muegge General Store and Cheltenham Post Office
This drawing of it is from about 1905