Early Lottery

On January 28, 1817 territorial Governor William Clark signed an act authorizing a lottery in St. Louis to raise funds for fire-fighting equipment and fire engines.

The lottery was designed to sell 6,000 tickets at $5 each. Half of the tickets would pay a prize ranging from $6 to a grand prize of $5,000. The territorial legislators hoped the lottery would generate a $3,000 profit.

But, the conservative nature of Missourians resulted in the lottery being called a "complete failure." Twenty-two months later in November 1818 the Missouri Gazette reported that Missourians were so "against lotteries that nothing could be done in that way to raise money.."

St. Louis got its first 2 fire engines in 1819. They were purchased by private subscription.

Source

• Shoemaker, Floyd Calvin. Missouri Day by Day, Volume 1. Columbia, MO: State Historical Society of Missouri, 1942.

Papal Visit

Having arrived the day before and attending a Youth Rally at the Kiel Center, Pope John Paul II holds mass at the Trans World Dome (now named Edward Jones Dome) the morning of January 27, 1999. After the morning mass and an afternoon at the Archbishop's residence, the Pope delivered speeches during a prayer service at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and departure ceremony at Lambert Field.

Sources

• AmericanCatholic.org. “The Pope Visits St. Louis” Accessed January 23, 2011. http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Apr1999/feature1.asp.
• Catholic Supply of St. Louis. “Pope John Paul II's St. Louis Visit” Accessed January 23, 2011. http://www.catholicsupply.com/pope/pope1.html.

St. Louis Arsenal

Early 1861 found many political factions positioning themselves to gain control of the St. Louis Arsenal. The seizure of federal property within the limits of already seceded States had focused attention on this federal arsenal. The tens of thousands of rifles and ammunition would be critical supplies when conflict broke out. The arsenal was commanded by Major William H. Bell. A North Carolinian by birth, Bell had been in the ordnance service since graduating West Point in 1820.

On January 24, 1861, General Daniel Marsh Frost wrote the following letter to Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson concerning the St. Louis Arsenal and Major Bell. Shortly after this time, unionists were successful in having Bell replaced. Rather than obey orders to transfer to New York, Bell resigned his commission and retired to his St. Charles County farm.

Frost was from New York, had graduated West Point in 1844, was a Mexican War veteran, and married in St. Louis in 1851. In 1854, Frost was elected to the Missouri Senate and helped pass the law that organized the Missouri State Militia. We would later organized and be appointed to command the First Military District, Missouri State Militia (authority with which he wrote the letter below). Frost would later command the 9th Division and 7th Division, Missouri State Guard and eventually become a Brigadier General of the Confederate Army.

Bunny Lapin, Whipped Cream King

Aaron "Bunny" Lapin was born in St. Louis January 5, 1914. Lapin attended the University of Missouri in Columbia and Washington University Law School in St. Louis.