Many communities have been titled out of respect for pioneering spirits and dreamers who incurred the risks associated with building a business.
In rural Cole County, there remains the legacy of an individual who embraced an opportunity presented by the coming of the railroad and has been memorialized by having his name attached to a small town.
Born in St. Louis on Dec. 1, 1848, Charles W. Lohman was the oldest of eight children — two of whom died in infancy. His father, Charles F. Lohman, a native of Prussia, moved his family to Jefferson City when his oldest son was quite young.
According to “The Illustrated Sketch Book and Directory of Jefferson City and Cole County” printed in 1900, Charles W. Lohman was “educated in the public schools of Jefferson City.”
The book continued, “He later attended the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College in St. Louis, from which he graduated in 1870. … (H)e took a position as clerk on the steamer ‘Viola Bell’ of which his father was the owner and which operated between St. Louis and the head-waters of the Missouri.”
As young men, Charles W. Lohman and his brothers learned much from their father, who engaged in several successful mercantile interests and was an organizer and director of First National Bank in Jefferson City.
The experiences he received working aboard his father’s steamboat helped prepare him for future entrepreneurial endeavors, but was cut short when the ship sank in 1871. The following year, he purchased a mercantile business on the corner of Dunklin and Jefferson streets in Jefferson City previously owned by William Herman Morlock.
A milestone event occurred Dec. 11, 1873, when the 25-year-old Lohman married Elizabeth Steininger. She was the daughter of Capt. Jacob Steininger, a German immigrant and Union veteran of the Civil War who served as a postmaster for Jefferson City. The couple raised one son, who was named Charles F. in honor of Lohman’s father.
The 1889 edition of “Godspeed’s History of Cole County” noted that Lohman and his new wife moved to the growing community of Stringtown in 1874, purchasing a general store from Edward Linsenbardt in addition to a large swath of timber-covered property.
“Stringtown received its name, due to the fact that along a stretch of road about four miles long, there were 12 families who built log houses about 1/6 mile apart, farmed the land around their homes, but made most of their money by conducting a business of some sort,” wrote the late O.W. Soell, a Lohman-area businessman.
He added, “This four-mile road was traveled by stagecoach by nearly all the folks that wanted to go from Jefferson City to Springfield.”
Located about two miles west of the North Moreau River in the center of Stringtown, Charles W. Lohman was appointed the town’s postmaster in 1875, operating the post office from his store. Stringtown, in addition to serving as a stagecoach stop, boasted several businesses such as a dance hall, saloon, blacksmith, wagon-making shop and a one-room log school.
“Godspeed’s History of Cole County” explained that “in 1882, (Lohman) built a storehouse on the branch railroad recently completed through Cole County, and established a station there.” (This new store was located a couple miles north of his first store in Stringtown.)
A Lohman historical booklet printed in 1976 reveals that “the village of Lohman saw its establishment in 1882, continuing to be known by the familiar name of Stringtown. Exactly when the town began to be known as Lohman after its founder is not clear.”
Records show that when the town was originally platted on Feb. 11, 1882, it was recorded under the name of Stringtown, prior to becoming known as Lohman.
“Lohman’s store did grow and prosper, and soon a village began to build up below St. Paul’s (Lutheran) Church and the storehouse and post office established by Charles W. Lohman,” the Lohman historical booklet explained.
As a Lutheran and son of German immigrants, Lohman shared a connection with many area residents. As early as the 1830s, German immigrants began settling in the vicinity and, in 1852, organized St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on a hill south of where Lohman’s store was later established.
Intially, Lohman opened his new store in partnership with John Henry Kautsch, naming the firm Lohman & Company. The Lohman historical booklet adds, “In 1885, Mr. Lohman moved his stock of goods from Stringtown to Lohman, and shortly after (1887) became sole possessor of the establishment.”
On March 1, 1882, after the post office in Stringtown was abolished, Lohman was commissioned the first postmaster of the town that soon bore his name. Additionally, the forested property he owned in the Stringtown area began to be harvested and sold to the railroad for construction projects.
Little is known about Lohman’s exit from the town other than he remained in business there until shortly after the turn of the century. On Dec. 10, 1904, the 56-year-old merchant died in Jefferson City. He was buried in Riverview Cemetery; his wife was laid to rest in 1932.
His 48-year-old son, Charles F., was employed as a reporter in Spokane, Washington. When he died from a stroke in 1926, he was 51 years old.
The Lohman family has essentially disappeared from the area and the community carrying its name fell into decline when the railroad quit operating in 1962. Improvements made to local highways, along with residents opting to travel to Jefferson City for employment, also contributed to its business and population decrease.
An old adage asserts that time marches on. However, as mentioned in the Russellville sesquicentennial book from 1988, “Lohman is a town that has maintained among its residents a neighborly fellowship and community spirit,” thus serving as a reminder of the early vision of its namesake.
Jeremy P. Ämick is the author of “Moments on the Moreau.”