Guide to the Archival Collections.pdf - Missouri History Museum

Cite as: Charles W. Francis Family History Sheet, Missouri History Museum Archives, St.
Louis.
A0518
Francis, Charles Willing (1836-1923).
Scrapbooks, 1879-1880. 2 volumes
Charles Willing Francis was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and educated at St. Mary's
College and Holy Cross College. He worked for the Northwestern Fur Company, came to St.
Louis in 1836, and was involved in the mercantile business until 1873. From 1874 to 1877 he
was a member of the city council in St. Louis. He was appointed the first health commissioner of
St. Louis in 1877. He married Eulalie Maguire and Mary A. Provenchere.
Two scrapbooks relating to tenure as health commissioner, consisting of telegraphs received
mostly regarding clearance for arriving and departing steamboats because of cholera, and
newsclippings regarding public health in and around St. Louis.
Cite as: Charles Willing Francis Scrapbooks, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0519
Francis, David Rowland (1850-1927).
Papers, 1868-1919. 57 boxes; 14 volumes; 7 oversize folders
David Rowland Francis was born October 1, 1850, in Richmond, Kentucky. He came to St.
Louis in 1866 and entered Washington University, graduating with a B.A. degree in 1870. In
1877, he started the grain commission firm of D.R. Francis and Brothers Commission Company.
In 1884 he became president of the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange. He served as mayor of St.
Louis from 1885 to 1889 and governor of Missouri from 1889-1893. In 1896-1897 he served as
secretary of the interior under President Cleveland. He was instrumental in bringing the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 World’s Fair) to St. Louis, and served as president of the
Louisiana Purchase Expostion Company. In his later years he served as U.S. ambassador to
Russia from 1916 to 1918. He died January 15, 1927, in St. Louis.
This collection consists of the business, political, and personal papers of David R. Francis in
his capacity as governor of Missouri, ambassador to Russia, and president of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition Company. The collection includes eleven indexed letterpress letterbooks,
1885-1892, that include official, semi-official, and personal correspondence written during his
term as mayor of St. Louis and governor in Missouri; material relating to his gubernatorial
candidacy and campaign and the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis (1888); letters of
Michael A. Fanning, his secretary; correspondence of John S. Marmaduke, A.P. Morehouse, and
their secretaries as related to official state of Missouri matters; personal checkbook, 1891-1893;
and two minute books of D.R.F. Realty and Investment Company, St. Louis (1921-1940), and
Francis Investment Company, St. Louis (1925-1961), holding companies formed to manage the
estate of Francis and his heirs.
Indexed in the archives card catalog.
Papers related to Francis' ambassadorship in Russia were microfilmed by University Publications
of America under the title “Russia in Transition: The Diplomatic Papers of David R. Francis,
U.S. Ambassador to Russia, 1916-1918.”
Cite as: David Rowland Francis Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0520
Francisco, Hereford and Co. (Elmwood, Missouri).
Account books, 1871-1878. 2 volumes