History of Herculaneum, (Jefferson County) Missouri United States of America

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Biographies:

Thomas Clement Fletcher, governor of Missouri, was born in Herculaneum, Jefferson county, Mo., Jan. 21, 1827; son of Clement B. and Margaret S. (Byrd) Fletcher. He attended the public schools of his native place and studied law while holding the position of clerk of the circuit courts, 1849-56. In 1857 he was admitted to the bar. He was a delegate to the Republican national conventions of 1860 and 1864. In 1862 he joined the Union army as colonel of the 31st Missouri regiment and on Dec. 29, 1862, was wounded and taken prisoner and confined for a time in Libby prison. In 1864, upon being exchanged, he was transferred to the 47th Missouri and shortly afterward received the brevet rank of brigadier-general of volunteers. He served as governor of Missouri, 1865-69. He was elected by the Republican party governor of Missouri in 1864, as successor to Willard P. Hall, and on Jan. 6, 1865, when the new state constitution providing for the emancipation of slaves in the state was adopted, Governor Fletcher issued a proclamation announcing the same and describing the other changes induced by the adoption of the new constitution. He served till Jan. 1, 1869, when he was succeeded by Joseph G. McClurg and engaged in the practice of his profession. He died in Washington, D.C., March 25, 1899.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Campbell Morfit, chemist, was born in Herculaneum, Mo., Nov. 19, 1820. He matriculated at Columbian university, D.C., but left before graduating to study chemistry in the private laboratory of James C. Booth, in Philadelphia, Pa. He engaged in the manufacture of chemicals, and soon after purchased the establishment, producing a grade of chemicals for which he received medals from the American and Franklin institutes. He founded the chemical department of the Maryland institute, was professor of applied chemistry in the University of Maryland, 1854-58, and a practising chemist in New York city, 1858-61. He settled in London, England, in 1861, and devoted himself to the improvement of technical processes, including the preparation of condensed food rations, the manufacture of paper, and the refining of oils, which gave him a wide reputation. He received the honorary degree of M.D. from the University of Maryland. He was brigade-major of the 2d brigade Pennsylvania state militia, was a member of several scientific societies in America, and a fellow of the Chemical society of London. He is the author of: Chemistry as Applied to the Manufacture of Soaps and Candles (1847); Chemical and Pharmaceutical Manipulations (with his brother Clarence, 1848); Progress of Chemical Arts (with Dr. James C. Booth, 1851); The Arts of Tanning and Currying (1852); Perfumery, its Use and Manufacture (1853); Oleic Soaps (1871), and Pure Fertilizers and Phosphates (1873). He revised the American edition of Noad's Chemical Analysis (1849); wrote with J. C. Booth the report to the U.S. ordnance department on Gun Metal (1853), and edited with James C. Booth, the Encyelop?dia of Chemistry (1851). He died in London, England, Dec. 8, 1897.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor