Guide to the Archival Collections.pdf - Missouri History Museum

president of the Missouri Pacific. Bixby began his St. Louis career with the American Car and
Foundry Company, of which he became president, subsequently acting as chairman of the board
until his retirement in 1905. He was also a cofounder of the Lithosite Manufacturing Company of
St. Louis, manufacturers of roofing tile and soil pipe. Bixby's social and civic interests were
numerous, and following his retirement he continued to serve on the board of directors of several
banks, utilities, and industries. He was an avid collector of autographs, manuscripts, and rare
books, and was generous in presenting them to others. He served two terms as president of the
Missouri Historical Society (1907-1913 and 1925-1930), and was instrumental in securing a
permanent headquarters for the society in Forest Park. Bixby married Lillian Tuttle June 13,
1881, in San Antonio, Texas. They had six children: Sidney, William, Harold, Ralph, Emma, and
Ruth. Bixby died October 29, 1931.
The collection includes Bixby's own papers together with the manuscripts collected by him.
Bixby's correspondence relates to his business affairs, his purchases and sales of manuscripts, his
philanthropic work, the many books that he published privately, his activities with the Red
Cross, his world travels, and the many societies of which he was a member. Includes material on
the St. Louis City Art Museum, the Sears Memorial at Mary Institute, Washington University,
the Wixford controversy concerning credit for the method of purifying St. Louis city water, the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, the construction of the Missouri State Capitol in
Jefferson City, the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, and the Missouri Historical Society.
Business record books include two minute books (1890-1900) and one ledger (1895-1899) of the
Missouri Car and Foundry Company and the corporate record book of the Lithosite
Manufacturing Company (1897-1899). Papers collected by Bixby include: a large autograph
collection (European royalty and others); letters of Samuel Houston, Dorothy Jordan, Madame
de Pompadour, and Zachary Taylor; material relating to Fort Chartres, Illinois (1730), Kaskaskia,
Illinois (1753), Arkansas River fortifications (1751-1755), Andrew Jackson, and the Mexican
War; and a missal bifolium from Florence, Italy (circa 1450-1470).
Indexed in the archives card catalog.
Cite as: William K. Bixby Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0130
Black, Gurdon Gilmore (1880-1953).
Papers, 1805-1950; no date. 2 boxes; 2 volumes
Gurdon Gilmore Black, civil engineer and contractor, was born September 5, 1880, in St.
Louis County. He was the grandson of a pioneering family to St. Louis, Samuel and Amanda
(McCutchan) Black. Black attended Price School, Clayton Public School, St. Louis Manual
Training School, and graduated from Washington University in 1901 with a B.S. in civil
engineering. Following graduation, he worked as a civil engineer with the St. Louis Water
Department. When war was declared in 1917, he resigned to enter the army and served in the
314th Engineer Regiment. When he returned from the war, he became engineer for the
McCormack-Combs Construction Company, later becoming a member of the firm and its vicepresident
and treasurer. On December 6, 1924, Black married Mattie Lou Maddox, whose
forebears had been pioneers and leaders in Callaway County, Missouri. In 1941, he joined the
Fruin-Colnon Contracting Company and the Fruco Construction Company. He died in 1953.
The bulk of the collection consists of biographical and genealogical material of Black and the
related families of Ralph Clayton, McCutcheon, McKnight, Maddox, Grant Yates, and John
Kennedy. The McKnight papers and accounts deal with the Spanish trade, 1836-1844. Other
material includes stock certificates issued by Clayton, the Forest Park Railroad Company, and
the North Missouri Railroad Company; plat of Kennedy land near St. Louis, diploma, tax