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William Rockhill Nelson | |
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Born | Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. | March 7, 1841
Died | April 13, 1915 74) | (aged
Resting place | Mount Washington Cemetery Independence, Missouri, U.S. |
Education | University of Notre Dame |
Known for | co-founder of The Kansas City Star |
Parent |
|
William Rockhill Nelson (March 7, 1841 – April 13, 1915) was an American real estate developer and co-founder of The Kansas City Star in Kansas City, Missouri. He donated his estate (and home) for the establishment of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
He is buried at Mt. Washington Cemetery with his wife, daughter and son-in-law.
Nelson was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His father was publisher Isaac De Groff Nelson (1810–1891) and his mother was Elizabeth Rockhill (1816–1889), the daughter of William R. Rockhill, an important farmer and politician in Fort Wayne, Indiana. [1] For a short time, Isaac Nelson owned The Sentinel newspaper (which became the Fort Wayne News Sentinel ). But I.D.G. Nelson, as he was fondly known for many years in Fort Wayne, was much more renowned as a nursery owner. His own estate, "Elm Park", was considered "the showplace of Allen County."
Nelson, as a 15-year-old attended the University of Notre Dame (which accepted high school students) at the time for two years which he described as "Botany Bay for bad boys." Notre Dame was reported to have asked that he not return. [2]
He was admitted to the bar in 1862 and was a campaign manager for Democratic presidential nominee Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden told him: "While it is a great thing to lead armies, it is a greater thing to lead the minds of men." [3]
Nelson attempted to run a store in Savannah, Georgia but it failed. The southern sojourn was to earn him the nickname "The Colonel" even though he never served in the military. William Allen White said later: "Not that he was ever a colonel of anything...He was just coloneliferous." [4]
Nelson formally took over the Sentinel with Samuel Morss in 1879. In 1880 they moved to Kansas City and started the Star. At the time there were three daily competitors – the Evening Mail; The Kansas City Times ; and the Kansas City Journal . Nelson took over sole ownership of the paper within a few months.
Nelson's business strategy called for cheap advance subscriptions and an intention to be "absolutely independent in politics, aiming to deal by all men and all parties with impartiality and fearlessness." [2]
He purchased the Kansas City Evening Mail and its Associated Press franchise in 1882 and started the Weekly Kansas City Star in 1890 and the Sunday Kansas City Star in 1894. [2] Nelson bought the Times in 1901, putting The Morning Kansas City Star on it.
Nelson had portraits of Tilden, Grover Cleveland, and Theodore Roosevelt in his office.[ citation needed ] Roosevelt stayed with Nelson at Oak Hall.[ citation needed ]
In one encounter, Kansas City Mayor Joseph J. Davenport was thrown down a stairwell at the Star building by editors (including William Allen White) when he was believed to have physically threatened Nelson. Nelson said afterwards, "The Star never loses!" [5]
In addition to his newspaper duties, Nelson developed an area of farmland south of downtown Kansas City into a neighborhood of more than 100 houses, including his own mansion called Oak Hall. [6] The area, which became known as the Rockhill District, was noted for its use of limestone in both the houses [6] and in stone walls that stood beside the streets [7] Nelson also acquired more than 2,400 acres (9.7 km2) in what is presently Grain Valley, Missouri, for the establishment of Sni A Bar Farm. The farm's mission was the development of improved breeding methods and livestock. It served as one of the world's leaders in animal health for more than 30 years.[ citation needed ]
He campaigned for Kansas City's George Kessler-designed park and boulevard system and the 1900 “Kansas City Spirit” to build Convention Hall in 90 days in order to host the 1900 Democratic National Convention after the original (and new) convention hall had burned in April 1900.[ citation needed ]
Nelson provided in his will that following the death of his wife and daughter his Oak Hill mansion be torn down and its 30-acre (120,000 m2) estate turned into an art museum. Proceeds from his $6 million estate were used to build the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Nelson's will also established a trust for Sni A Bar Farm, with Presidents from the University of Missouri, the University of Kansas, and the University of Oklahoma charged with selecting its trustees.[ citation needed ]
The Art Gallery originally contained a recreation of Nelson's oak paneled room from Oak Hall (and namesake of the estate). The room contained Nelson's red plush easy chair and bookcases. The room was dismantled in 1988 to make way for a photography studio. His memorial is located in a mausoleum located at Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Missouri, between Truman Road and US Route 24.[ citation needed ]
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by population and area. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, and other portions spill into Clay, Platte, and Cass counties. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090, making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States, as well as the sixth-most populous city in the Midwest. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.
Leawood is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 33,902.
The Kansas City Star is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes.
James L. Miller Sr. (1897–1989) was an immigrant to the United States who immigrated at the age of 3 in 1901. He served in World War I and later worked as a reporter for The Kansas City Star and Kansas City Times, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Jesse Clyde "J. C." Nichols was an American developer of commercial and residential real estate in Kansas City, Missouri. Born in Olathe, Kansas, and a student at the University of Kansas and Harvard University, his most notable developments are the Country Club District and Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, which influenced suburban developments in other parts of the United States. He served leadership roles in local and national real estate organizations. Through these organizations, his ideas about real estate and planning helped to shape methods for racist and anti-Semitic restrictive covenants and zoning. His legacy has come under increasing scrutiny for these covenants, which prohibited Blacks, Jews, and other minorities from living in these neighborhoods.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art.
The history of the Kansas City metropolitan area relates to the area around the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers and the modern-day city of Kansas City, Missouri.
The Kansas City Times was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, published from 1867 to 1990. The morning Kansas City Times, under ownership of the afternoon Kansas City Star, won two Pulitzer Prizes and was bigger than its parent when it was renamed Kansas City Star.
The list of neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri has nearly 240 neighborhoods. The list includes only Kansas City, Missouri and not the entire Kansas City metropolitan area, such as Kansas City, Kansas.
The Country Club District is a group of neighborhoods comprising a historic upscale residential district in Kansas City, developed by noted real estate developer J.C. Nichols.
Joseph Jackson Davenport was a lawyer, realtor and Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri in 1889. He moved to Kansas City from his native Saint Louis in about 1873, joining "the pork-packing business with J. E. McKenzie," and after his term as mayor entering real estate. Following his term a new city charter was implemented and terms were extended to two years.
Walter Simpson Dickey was a Canadian-born newspaper publisher, politician, and industrialist in Kansas City, Missouri.
Southmoreland is a neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. It hosts the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Kansas City Art Institute. Southmoreland is located between 39th Street on the north, Rockhill, and Gillham Road on the east, Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard on the south and Main Street on the west. Since 2019, following finalized plans for a streetcar extension from Union Station to University of Missouri–Kansas City, there has been new real estate development along Main Street.
Monkey Mountain refers to both a hill in Jackson County, Missouri and the nature preserve surrounding it. Its elevation is 948 ft (289 m). The mountain is located at 39°00′21″N94°10′55″W.
Laurence Chalfant Stevens Sickman (1907–1988) was an American academic, art historian, sinologist and Director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.
Troost Avenue is one of the major streets in Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its northern terminus is at 4th Street and its southern terminus Bannister Road, totaling 10.7 miles (17.2 km). It is named after Kansas City's first resident physician, Benoist Troost.
Emory J. Sweeney, better known as E. J. Sweeney, was the founder and president of the Sweeney Automobile School in Kansas City, Missouri. E. J. Sweeney also developed the Santa Fe Hills neighborhood in South Kansas City.
Streetcars in Kansas City were the primary public transit mode during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, like most North American cities. Kansas City, Missouri once had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in North America, but the last of its 25 streetcar routes was shut down in 1957.
Sni-A-Bar Township is an inactive township in Jackson County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was annexed into the city of Kansas City, Missouri and is within the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Sidney John Hare was an American landscape architect. He worked with his son S. Herbert Hare with the landscaping company Hare & Hare.