| Also referred to
as "The First St. Louis Scientist," Dr.
Antoine Francois Saugrain, was noted as the
"Father of the medical profession of St.
Louis." He campaigned and educated others on
the need of vaccination from smallpox and
published cards in the Gazette explaining the
preventive. He also took the philanthropic
position toward those so unfortunate as to be
unable to protect themselves, and offered an to
the paupers and Indians to vaccinated for free -
an offer which he extended in the Missouri
Gazette in 1809. Tradition says this modest home was
between Second and Third Streets, Lombard and
Mulberry, and was known to be the first house in
St. Louis to have a hall. Its floors were of
black walnut, polished like marble and welcomed
many a guest, including Captain Meriwether Lewis
who spent time here while awaiting the cession of
Louisiana to the United States.
The home also
boasted an extensive library as the doctor,
well-educated, had also come from a long lineage
of librarians and book binders. The inventory of
his estate in 1820 consisted of 450 volumes,
principally in French but included everthing from
medicine to poetry. A French flower garden of
fruits and herbs was planted and two small
greenhouses were later added, all of which was
enclosed by a seven-foot stone wall that stood
around the four sides of the property.
|
Photo: "From
a painting in possession of the family" -
St. Louis Courier of Medicine, 1903.
Source: Persimmon Hill: A Narrative of Old St.
Louis and the Far West by William Clark Kennerly
and Elizabeth Russell, Univ. of Oklahoma Press,
1948;
The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark
by Eva Emery Dye, A.C. McClurg & Co., 1902. |
