Guide to the Archival Collections.pdf - Missouri History Museum

Mo., 1865.” Includes photograph of a “Lily Box” made by Bridge, Beach & Co.
Cite as: Bridge, Beach & Co. Letter, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0175
Bridge, Hudson Erastus (1810-1875).
Papers, 1817-1874. 15 boxes
Hudson Erastus Bridge, manufacturer, was born May 17, 1810, at Walpole, New Hampshire,
but was raised in Bennington County, Vermont, spending the greater part of his time working on
the family farm. When he was 21, he walked to Troy, New York, where he worked in a store for
six months, accumulating sufficient funds to take him to Columbus, Ohio, by stagecoach.
Arriving in the fall of 1831, he taught school during the winter months and then joined a business
firm as a salesman, which gave him the opportunity to travel in the Midwest. In 1835, he moved
to Springfield, Illinois, where, with Jewett, Matther and Lamb, inaugurated the manufacture of
the Jewett plow. Not able to convince his partners to move the business to St. Louis, he left
Springfield in 1837, and in company with Hale and Reyburn, established a business in this city,
dealing in stoves, tin plates, copper, sheet iron, and tinners stock. In 1838, a foundry was
established in connection with the store for the purpose of making the Jewett plow as well as
stoves and hollow ware. It was operated as the Empire Stove Works. In 1857, John H. Beach
became associated with Mr. Bridge, and the firm name was changed to Bridge, Beach &
Company, which was later incorporated under the name Bridge & Beach Manufacturing
Company. Hudson Eliot Bridge, son of the founder came into the business as a young man, and
after his father's death in December 1875, was made president of the company. In addition to his
successful business career, Bridge was a constant and generous contributor to many public
enterprises. He was an original subscriber and worker in the inauguration of the Missouri Pacific,
the North Missouri, the Iron Mountain, and the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad companies, the St.
Louis and Illinois Bridge Company, and was one of the original incorporators and trustees of
Washington University, the Polytechnic Institute, and Mary Institute.
Collection includes personal and business correspondence, bills, receipts, canceled checks,
notes paid, local bills, bankbooks, railroad passes, and shipping statements of Bridge, Reyburn &
Company. Includes correspondence relating to the development of the steel plow and
information on Bridge's activities with the Missouri Pacific, the North Missouri, the Iron
Mountain, and the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad companies.
Indexed in the archives card catalog.
Cite as: Hudson Erastus Bridge Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0176
Bridges, Joseph C. ( -1918).
Memorial scrapbook, 1918. 1 volume
Joseph Bridges died in the 1918 influenza epidemic.
Scrapbook contains photographs of Bridges’ personal and naval life and newsclippings
regarding the epidemic.
A0177
Brigadier General James Shields Monument Commission (Carrollton, Missouri).
Records, 1913-1914. 1 volume
This organization of prominent Carrollton, Missouri, businessmen was formed to
commission a monument to Brigadier General James Shields in front of the courthouse at
Carrollton. Edward A. Dickson, Harry C. Brown, and Hiram J. Wilcoxson, were the