The Neighborhood — A History of Skinker-DeBaliviere (Part One)

The Earliest Owners of Our Land

The area now known as the Skinker-DeBaliviere Neighborhood has a history of owners with well-known St. Louis names. From the original land grant in 1789 until the 20th century, the ground was involved in many confusing real estate transactions. All of it was once a portion of the land owned by Marie Louise Chouteau Papin (sister of one of the founders of St. Louis), and by 1834 had become divided into three principal sections.

Our research concerned itself with one section, the one bounded by DeBaliviere Avenue and the Parkview Subdivision on the east and west, by the northern side of Forest Park Parkway on the south and the southern side of Kingsbury Avenue on the north. We chose to concentrate on this section because it was once part of the Kingsbury Farm; because the Kingsburys were descendants of the original owners, the Papins; because 1973 is the 100th anniversary of the subdividing of the Kingsbury Farm; and because many of the streets in our neighborhood carry the heritage of the names of the Kingsbury Family.

Our history begins not long after Auguste Chouteau and Pierre Laclede Ligueste founded St. Louis on February 15, 1764. There are varied opinions as to whether or not Pierre Laclede and Marie Therese Bourgeois Chouteau, mother of Auguste Chouteau, lived as man and wife and whether or not he was the father of the four younger children of Madame Chouteau (Pierre, Pelagie, Marie Louise and Victoire). Whatever the truth, it did not detract from the respect and admiration the people of the village of St. Louis had for Madame Chouteau, known as “La mere de Saint Louis.”

Our history concerns itself with Marie Louise Chouteau Papin, fourth child of Madame Chouteau and sister of Auguste Chouteau. Marie Louise married Joseph Marie Papin in 1779.

In 1796, Madame Papin was granted a tract of land by the Acting French Lieutenant Governor of the Spanish Territory, Zenon Trudeau. The land became known as Survey 378 and contained approximately 3,200 arpens or 2,720 acres. Generally its boundaries were Maple Avenue on the north, Art Hill in Forest Park on the south, Union Boulevard on the east and Hanley Road on the west.

Madame Papin requested Lieutenant Governor Trudeau to give her a farm “on the banks of the River Des Peres, which her slaves might cultivate to provide food for her increasing family.”

Her husband, Joseph Papin, was born in Montreal in 1741 and educated in France. His father brought him to St. Louis where the elder Papin had bought some ground about the time that Laclede and Chouteau founded the village. When his father died in 1772, Joseph Marie received a large inheritance. He and his brother-in-law, Sylvester Labbadie (husband of Pelagie Chouteau, third child of Madame Chouteau), were involved in trading with the Indians. The business went moderately well for some years. Eventually, along with some minor problems, the loss of a sizable cargo of furs prompted his decision to move to his farm, Survey 378.

Up until the move to the farm on the River Des Peres, the Papin family home was on the corner of Main and Chestnut Streets, now a part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Papin sold this house to another brother-in-law, Charles Gratiot, who had married Victoire Chouteau (fifth child of Madame Chouteau). Papin died in 1811 and Madame Papin died in 1817.

Deeds found at The Recorder of Deeds of the City of St. Louis show that on August 29, 1808, three years before Joseph Marie’s death, he and Marie Louise sold all of Survey 378 to their children, except one portion. This was sold to Pierre Chouteau, Sr. (brother of Madame Papin and second child of Madame Chouteau).

These deeds are in French and the boundaries are given in terms of property owners. For instance, the land sold to Alexander Papin (third child of Joseph Marie and Marie Louise) is described as being bounded on the north by the land of Pierre Didier Papin, on the east by the land of Charles Gratiot, on the south by the land of Emilie Papin, and on the west by vacant land.

By tracing deeds both forward and backward in time, we have determined that two of the sections of land in these 1808 transactions became the Kingsbury Farm. One section is that described above, owned by Alexander Papin. The other was directly south of Alexander’s and was owned by Emilie Papin (eleventh child of Joseph Marie and Marie Louise).

Within eight years, John P. Cabanne (Alexander’s and Emilie’s cousin by marriage) owned the above two sections of land. In 1812, Alexander Papin sold his land to his uncle, Sylvester Labbadie, for $400. Labbadie, in 1814, sold it to his nephew by marriage, John P. Cabanne, for $400. Cabanne had married Julie Gratiot, daughter of Charles Gratiot and Victoire Chouteau. In 1816, Emilie Papin sold her tract of land to Cabanne.

John P. Cabanne was born in 1773, in Pau, France. Educated in France, he came to the United States in 1803, with quite a bit of money. He first lived in Charleston, South Carolina, then moved to New Orleans. In 1806, he came to St. Louis and went into the fur trade business with several men; two of these men were Pierre Chouteau, Jr. and Antoine Chenie (a son-in-law of Madame Papin). Apparently John Cabanne was civic-minded as well as wealthy. He was a member of the first Public School Board of St. Louis and one of the incorporators of the city.

On November 7, 1833, Cabanne sold the two tracts of land he had bought from the Papins to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., his business partner and brother-in-law. Chouteau had married Julie Gratiot Cabanne’s sister Emilie. At this same time Cabanne also sold Pierre Chouteau a tract of land “allotted to John P. Cabanne on petition for partition between John Pierre Cabanne, Charles S. Hempstead and Joseph Klunk.” Cabanne sold these three tracts of land to Chouteau for $3,000, to hold in trust for his daughter Julia Cabanne Kingsbury.

On May 1, 1834, less than a year after Cabanne sold Chouteau the three tracts of land, Cabanne bought them back from Chouteau for the same price. The next day, May 2, 1834, Cabanne sold the land to his son-in-law James Wilkinson Kingsbury for $3,000.

Captain James Wilkinson Kingsbury was born in Franklin, Connecticut in 1801. His father, Jacob Kingsbury, was in the Continental Army and was picked by the Marquis de Lafayette to march to Virginia for the southern campaign of the Revolutionary War. James W. Kingsbury graduated from West Point in 1823. He was in command of the troops on the steamer Warrior during the Black Hawk War. His military career brought him to St. Louis, an important military post in the 1830s.

Army officers were frequently good friends with the leading families: “Officers of the army have a proverbial aptitude for choosing well among the ornaments of society of whom indeed they have the pick, and it is a compliment to the ladies that so many of them have wedded our officers.”

Kingsbury chose one of the “ornaments of society” when he married Julia Antoinette Cabanne in 1830. Two years after he bought the land from Cabanne and the year his wife died, 1836, Kingsbury resigned his commission and became the keeper of the military stores in St. Louis. When Julia died after only six years of marriage, James was left with three small children: Sarah Mary Virginia, age four; Adele Louise, age two; and Jules Cabanne, age one. Presumably, he resigned his army commission to provide a more stable home for his children.

Part of the story of James Kingsbury’s family is tragic, for not only did his wife die young, but Jules was struck by lightning and killed in 1876. He was 32 years old and unmarried, so no male heir of this line remained to carry on the Kingsbury name.

Mary Virginia’s life seems to have been happier. She married Armond Francois Robert, Count DeGiverville, in 1865. Count DeGiverville was born in 1823 in Normandy, France. He spent some time in the French navy and was independently wealthy after inheriting his father’s estates. After their marriage the Count and Countess lived both in France and St. Louis. Both died in St. Louis in 1889.

The happiness of Adele’s life is questionable. She married Alfred Morgan Waterman in 1855. Waterman was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1826. When he finished school he worked for E. D. Morgan and Co. in New York until 1848. He came to St. Louis and headed Waterman and Ryan, a wholesale grocery firm. In 1862 he moved to Warsaw, Illinois and directed the firm of Waterman and Wagley, which operated a distillery. Poor health caused him to retire from an active business life in 1864, when he moved back to New York. In 1867 he returned to St. Louis where he lived on the Kingsbury homestead on Union Avenue. He moved to 3327 Pine Street in 1885, and died there that same year. We assume Adele stayed in St. Louis or considered it her home during all of Alfred’s moves.

Deeds found for this period state that her residence was the County of St. Louis, though ten Waterman children were born between 1856 and 1870. These same deeds also state that Frederick A. Churchill is acting as trustee for Adele L. Waterman, and whenever Adele bought land, the deed states that the property is “for the sole and separate use and benefit of Adele L. Waterman apart from control of her husband.” From the above facts, one could question the happiness of the Waterman marriage. When Adele died in St. Louis in 1898, only four of the ten Waterman children were living.

James Kingsbury died June 25, 1853. His will, dated June 10, 1853, begins, “In the name of God, Amen. I James W. Kingsbury of St. Louis, Missouri … being sick and feeble in body, but in full possession of my mind and affections …” Because he was so ill, he was staying in the home of John B. Sarpy, his brother-in-law, when his will was written. Executors of the will were John B. Sarpy; his brother T.H.C. Kingsbury of Franklin, Connecticut; and Robert Forsythe, his friend and neighbor. Sarpy was also named guardian of Kingsbury’s two minor children, Adele and Jules.

His tract of land consisted of 500 arpens or about 425 acres, and was bounded by what would now be, on the east Union Boulevard, on the south by the Forest Park Parkway, on the west by Hanley Road and on the north by Kingsbury Boulevard.

“This tract of land (exclusive of the homestead of forty acres) I do not wish to go to my children nor to be devised among them until the end of twenty years from my death. And in the mean time I empower and direct my Executors at their discretion to rent or lease out the said land (exclusive of the homestead of forty acres) in convenient parcels so as to make an income for the better support and advance­ment of my children …. At the end of said term of twenty years the whole of said tract of land including the farm and homestead to go to my said children and their heirs in absolute property under the first article of this will.”

The real estate transactions involving the Kingsbury Farm during the twenty years following James Kingsbury’s death are most confusing. An interesting deed, dated September 9, 1857, shows Alfred Waterman selling “all property wherever situated which belonged to the late John P. Cabanne or the late Julia G. Cabanne or the late James W. Kingsbury …” to Robert Forsythe for $10,000.

This could be why in future deeds Adele stated that her property is “apart from control of her husband.” During these twenty years Jules Kingsbury sold part of the land to T.H.C. Kingsbury and Adele bought some back from him. Adele also bought back some of the land Alfred sold to Forsythe and gave it to Henry Waterman, Alfred’s father, to hold for her. Henry sold the land back to Adele for $5.00.

By July 15, 1873, twenty years and twenty days after James Kingsbury’s death, the whole of the farm was back in the hands of the two surviving Kingsbury children, Adele and Mary Virginia, and the Kingsbury Farm was subdivided.

How the Kingsbury girls divided the land and laid out certain avenues and streets can best be seen by looking at a map which accompanied the deed, dated July 15, 1873 (see Figure 2). The deed is a deed of partition “by and between Armond Francois Robert Compte de Giverville and Mary Virginia, Comptesse de Giverville, his wife of Eure, France … and Frederick A. Churchill, Trustee of Adele L. Kingsbury Waterman, wife of Alfred M. Waterman.”

After County Surveyor Julius Pitzman had surveyed and subdivided the Kingsbury Farm, the resulting subdivision was named Kingsbury Place. Not included in the subdivision were about eleven acres, the Kingsbury Homestead, bounded on the north by Kingsbury Boulevard, the east by Union Avenue, the south by Waterman Avenue and the west by Alfred Avenue (now Belt Avenue). Since the DeGivervilles lived mostly in France, the Watermans lived at the Homestead and it became known as the Waterman house.

When describing the area as it was in 1875, Gill states “along Union Avenue … the Watermans lived in a house with a square tower near the present street of that name.” Union Avenue at this time was considered way out in the country.

The method of transportation for people who lived out as far as the Watermans was a family surrey or the Narrow Gauge Railroad, a steam railroad which acquired its name because there was only a three foot gauge between the rails. It had small engines and cars to match the small gauge. The little railroad began at Grand and Olive and traveled to Florissant along what became the Hodiamont streetcar line. From Grand and Olive to downtown, or downtown to Grand and Olive, passengers traveled by the Olive Street horse car.

In contrast to this detailed information about the section of our area which was the Kingsbury Farm, we know little about the other two tracts which eventually became the Skinker-DeBaliviere Neighborhood.

One of these sections was the property of Robert Forsythe and is part of what was and is known as the Catlin Tract. The boundaries of the Catlin Tract today are the northern boundary of Forest Park on the south, the north side of the Forest Park Parkway on the north, Union on the east and Skinker on the west. The section of the Catlin Tract with which we are concerned, that between DeBaliviere and Skinker, contains 60 acres and was leased from the Parkview Realty and Improvement Company in 1903 by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company. This is where the concession area or “The Pike” was located during the 1904 World’s Fair. There were no homes along this part of Lindell Boulevard, then called Lindell Drive.

The Catlin Tract was named for Daniel Catlin. Catlin took over his father’s prosperous St. Louis tobacco business in 1859, incorporated it and became president in 1876. He sold it to the American Tobacco Company in 1898. His land in St. Louis was valued at $2,356,430 in 1915. Although the Catlins had a prestigious address (21 Vandeventer Place), they were finishing a new home at 53 Westmoreland Place when he died in 1916, at the age of 79. The Catlin house on Westmoreland was owned by Mayor and Mrs. Alphonso J. Cervantes during the 1960s.

Another section we know little about can today be outlined by DeBaliviere and the Parkview Subdivision on the east and west, respectively, by the southern side of Delmar Boulevard on the north and the northern side of Kingsbury Avenue on the south. This section was once part of the land known as the Deaver tract. Larkin Deaver, in 1842, was a clothing merchant; his business was located at Vine and First and his residence was on Olive between Fifth and Sixth streets. On August 14, 1832, he married Francis Papin, daughter of Alexander Papin and granddaughter of Marie Louise Chouteau Papin.

A plat with the deed showing the subdividing of the Kingsbury Farm in 1873 shows this land to be owned by Julia Chouteau Maffit, Sophia Deaver and Maria F. Parker.

Our knowledge of the owners of the Skinker-DeBaliviere Area from 1873 to 1901 is rather sketchy. A plat for the dedication of DeBaliviere Avenue, between Delmar and the proposed Kingsbury Boulevard was filed and recorded July 18, 1892. It states that the owners of the 80 foot strip that became DeBaliviere Avenue were Culvin F. Collins and Sudie Y. Collins. They dedicated this strip of land for public use forever.

The owners of the land to the west from Kingsbury Boulevard to 210 feet south of Delmar are J. Johnson, W. S. Fleming, et. al. The owner of the 210 feet south of Delmar is listed as A. K. Steward, Trustee.

In 1894 a group of men, William B. Thompson, Cornelius Van der Voet, Lawrence Bruce, Thomas Bayley and Charles V. B. Slade gave the city the right to build and maintain sewers on their land bounded by Delmar on the north, Kingsbury Boulevard on the south, the River Des Peres on the west and the eastern property line of Maria Deaver on the east. Maria Deaver’s property line was halfway between the present Hamilton Avenue and Goodfellow Boulevard.

In 1901, we come upon some surprising real estate transactions. Courtland B. Van Sickler purchased almost all of the land bounded by Skinker on the west, the Forest Park Parkway on the south, DeBaliviere on the east and Delmar on the north. He purchased 3/64 interest in the land mentioned above from Lawrence Bruce. He purchased the now 6100 block of Pershing and the Forest Park Parkway from Irwin Z. Smith. Almost all of the rest of the land in this area he purchased from Caroline McCorkle of St. Louis and Caroline E. Bates of Washington, D.C.

How these people selling the land became owners of part of the Kingsbury Farm we do not yet know. Van Sickler remains somewhat of a mystery also. The question can be raised whether or not he was a “straw party” in all these transactions, since he was a clerk at the Carleton Dry Goods Company in 1903, and it seems impossible that he would have so much money of his own to invest.

In 1905, we find George L. Faulhaber selling the land that Van Sickler bought in 1901 to West End Realty Company. How Faulhaber obtained the land Van Sickler bought in 1901, we do not know.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

1. Beckwith, Paul. Creoles of St. Louis. St. Louis: Nixon Jones Printing Co., 1893. (Washington University Libraries, Department of Rare Books and Collections)
2. The Book of St. Louisians. St. Louis: The St. Louis Republic, 1906. (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
3. The Book of St. Louisians. 2d ed. revised. St. Louis: The St. Louis Republic, 1912.
4. Coyle, Elinor Martineau. Saint Louis Homes 1866–1916, The Golden Age. St. Louis: The Folkestone Press, 1971.
5. Frances, David R. The Universal Exposition of 1904. St. Louis: Louisiana Purchase Exposition Co., 1913. (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
6. Gill, McCune. The St. Louis Story. (Library of American Lives.) Hopkinsville, Kentucky and St. Louis, Missouri: Historical Record Association, 1952.
7. Gould’s Directory of the City of St. Louis. 1903 through 1913. St. Louis: Gould Directory Company. (Blue Books)
8. Gould’s St. Louis Directory. 1899 through 1915. St. Louis: Gould Directory Company. (Red Books)
9. Hyde, William and Conard, Howard L. (eds.) Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis. 4 vols. New York, Louisville, St. Louis: The Southern History Company, 1899.
10. Kingsbury, Arthur Murray. Kingsbury Genealogy. Minneapolis: Burgess-Beckwith, printers, 1962. (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
11. St. Louis Directory. 1842. (Files of The Missouri Historical Society)
12. Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Day Representative Men. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts & Co., 1883.
13. Stevens, Walter B. St. Louis, The Fourth City, 1763–1909. Vol. III, 4 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clark Publishing Company, 1909.
14. Talcott, Mary Kingsbury. The Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich and Haverhill, Massachusetts. Hartford Press: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company, 1905.
15. Turner, Beatrice Clark. The Chouteau Family: A Genealogy of Descendants and Collateral Branches. St. Louis: Ditenhafer Printing Co., 1934. (Washington University Libraries, Department of Rare Books and Collections)
16. Wells, Rolla. Episodes of My Life. St. Louis: William J. McCarthy, Printer, 1933.
17. Wetmore, Claude H. Out of a Fleur-de-lis. Boston, Chicago: W. A. Wilde Company, 1903.

Periodicals

18. Franciscus, Katherine Lindsay. “Social Customs of Old St. Louis,” Missouri Historical Society Bulletin, X, No. 2 (January, 1954), pp. 156–166. (Extracted from her longer article in the 50th Anniversary issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 9, 1928.) (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
19. Iglauer, Henry S. “The Demolition of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904,” Missouri Historical Society Bulletin, XXII, No. 4, Part 1 (July, 1966), pp. 457–469. (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
20. [The source title/name is unclear in the scan/OCR], August 14, 1832. (Files of the Missouri Historical Society)
21. Public School Messenger, Official Publication of the Department of Instruction of the St. Louis Public Schools, XXVIII, No. 9 (November 20, 1930), Appendix, p. 232, quoting from the Valley Trust Magazine.
22. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. April 6, 1961.
23. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. May 23, 1963.
24. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. March 29, 1973.
25. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1910. (Microfilm Library, St. Louis Public Library)
26. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 21, 1916. (Files of the Missouri Historical Society)
27. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 29, 1973.
28. World’s Fair Bulletin. IV, No. 9 (July, 1903), p. 1 & 35. (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)

Other Sources

29. Articles of Association for Parkview Subdivision Developers. January 11, 1904. (Caulfield-Sailer papers)
30. Beredith Realty Company Agreement with Laclede Gas Light Company for Gas Easement in Parkview Subdivision. August 1, 1905. (Caulfield-Sailer papers)
31. Beredith-Swasey letter. September 22, 1906. (Caulfield-Sailer papers)
32. “Deed of Trust in the Nature of a Mortgage from Parkview Realty and Improvement Co. to Lincoln Trust Co….” July 1, 1902. (Caulfield-Sailer papers)
33. Delmar Baptist Church: Diamond Jubilee Year. 1952.
34. Eberle, Jean Fahey. Saint Roch’s: The Story of a Parish.
35. Forest Park and Its History. Issued by the “Visit St. Louis” Committee, sponsored by the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and the City of St. Louis, 1943.
36. Gill, McCune. “St. Louis Place Names.” (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
37. Grace Methodist Church: Historical Interpretation, Its Gifts and Memorials. St. Louis: Johnson, Inc., Printers, 1943.
38. “Johnson, Betty. ‘How Forest Park Came To Be’” Folder. (Newspaper clippings on file at the Missouri Historical Society)
39. Kearns, Kevin Corrigan, A. M. “The History of the Acquisition, Development and Restoration of Forest Park: 1870–1910.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Graduate School, St. Louis University, 1960. (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
40. Map — “Sanborn Map of Louisiana Purchase Exposition. St. Louis, Mo., 1904.” (Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
41. Notes for Speech by Governor Henry S. Caulfield. (Caulfield-Sailer papers)
42. Notes from Jean Fahey Eberle. April, 1973.
43. Notes from Blanch Reel, March, 1973.
44. Notes from Judith H. Schneider, Branch Librarian, St. Louis Public Library, Des Peres Branch. March, 1973.
45. Organizational letter, Washington Heights Neighbors, January 2, 1958. (Papers of Blanch Reel)
46. Organizational papers, Residential Service, Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council. Spring, 1970.
47. Parkview Neighbors. May, 1972.
48. Parkview Realty and Improvement Company Incorporation Papers and related documents in state files. Photostats provided by the Office of Missouri Secretary of State, James C. Kirkpatrick.
49. Personal interview with Betty and Albert J. Nerviani. March, 1973.
50. Personal interview with Stephen J. Sailer. March, 1973.
51. Personal interview with Calvin B. Stuart, Jr. March, 1973.
52. Personal interview with Daniel B. Tammany. February, 1973.
53. “Prospectus of Parkview Realty & Improvement Co.” (Papers of Richard C. Hart)
54. Residential Service, Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council, Annual Report. February, 1972 to March, 1973.
55. St. Louis, Missouri. Board of Education Annual Reports. 1915 through 1919. (Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society)
56. St. Louis, Missouri. The City Plan Commission. River Des Peres Plan: Concerning Largely the Industrial and Residential Expansion and Economic Welfare of St. Louis. St. Louis: A. R. Fleming Printing Co., 1916.
57. St. Louis, Missouri. Office of the Building Commissioner.
58. St. Louis, Missouri. Office of the Recorder of Deeds. Books of Deeds.
59. St. Louis, Missouri. Office of the Recorder of Deeds. Books of Plots.
60. St. Louis Universal Exposition Scrapbooks. No. 1, pp. 123, 124, 126. Clippings from The St. Louis Republic. (St. Louis Public Library)
61. Stuart, Calvin B., Jr., Executive Director, Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council. March, 1973.
62. Telephone interview with Ed Braun, Metropolitan Sewer District. March, 1973.
63. Telephone interview with Jean Fahey Eberle. March, 1973.
64. Telephone interview with Suzanne Hart, Ex-Coordinator, Residential Service, Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council. March, 1973.
65. Telephone interview with Mr. McClellan, Engineering Department, St. Louis Board of Education. March, 1973.
66. Telephone interview with John G. Roach. March, 1973.
67. Telephone interview with Susan M. Roach, Chairman, Art Fair, Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council. March, 1973.
68. Telephone interview with Susan M. Roach, Co-Organizer, Residential Service, Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council. March, 1973.
69. Telephone interview with staff member of the Loop West End People’s Clinic. March, 1973.
70. West End Realty Offer to Parkview Realty, November, 1905. (Caulfield-Sailer papers)

Excerpt from Original Foreward

For many years residents of the Skinker-DeBaliviere Neighborhood have heard that this area was once part of the old Kingsbury Farm. A chance remark by Richard C. Hart, a lifetime resident, that 1973 was the 100th anniversary of the subdividing of the Kingsbury Farm whetted our curiosity and finally led to this effort. Dick Hart provided us with a copy of the original deed of the subdivision.

When we began, we found very little factual information readily available. We had heard many rumors, stories and anecdotes about the neighborhood, but felt it necessary to establish sound factual data in order to separate fact from fiction. So, we began digging and digging and digging.

We are not historians, and we offer the results of our research in the hope that residents and friends may find it interesting. Perhaps others will be stimulated to add additional information and research, anecdotes and facts. These may be directed to us at the Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council office …

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Times appreciates the special help and material provided by the Missouri Historical Society both in the preparation of the original neighborhood history and in our current effort.