Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Meier (1831-1909) Papers

Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Meier (1831-1909) came from a famliy of farmers and immigrated to Saint Louis in 1848 at the age of 17 from Rothenuffeln near Minden. He founded in Saint Louis a wholesale china and glassware business in which he was engaged for the rest of his active life. He was active in politics and for many years was president of the City Council of Saint Louis. He was very interested in church work and for twenty-four years (1878 to 1902) was treasurer of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.

In 1868 he built the famliy house at the northeast corner of Miami and Ohio Streets in Saint Louis. The grounds comprised the south half of the block, with the north half having a similar house, owned by Christian Lange, brother of his father-in-law. Both houses and a large part of the land became the property of Lutheran Hospital (now South City Hospital).

He, along with four other men, invested $3,000 in printing equipment in 1867 that was set up at Concordia Seminary, then on Jefferson Ave. In 1870 he became a director of Concordia Publishing House. He was a trustee at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Saint Louis, from 1886-1902 and was the first president of the incorporated congregation of Holy Cross in 1899.

On April 25, 1858 he married Anna Caroline Louise Lange. They had nine children; Theodore Friedrich (January 30, 1859 - March 3, 1879), Albert (May 2, 1861 - January 6, 1929), Ottilie Pauline (January 24, 1864 - April 11, 1935) who married Theodore Heinrich Carl Buenger, Louise Sophie (March 26, 1866 - August 9, 1939) who married Carl Wilhelm Theodore Koch), Pauline Johanne (October 14, 1868 - February 8, 1949) who married Johann Gottfried Adolph Edward Koch (both Louise and Pauline married the Koch brothers on May 9, 1889), Friedrich Karl (February 18, 1871 - February 11, 1952), Alexander Robert (January 22, 1873 - 1947), Clara Auguste (October 6, 1876 - January 17, 1878), and Arthur Ernst (March 30, 1879 - March 23, 1948).