John S. Lemon

John Strother Lemon was born in August 1833 at Shepherdsville, Bullitt County, Kentucky. His father was a farmer who had lived there all his life. When the boy was eleven years old he started to clerk in a country store. In 1850, at the age of seventeen, he left home intending to go to Hannibal, Missouri. He traveled by steamboat down the Ohio River, and up the Mississippi to St. Louis. There he heard so much of the activity in the Missouri River Valley that he continued on up the Missouri River as far as Rushville. There he stopped for six months and had charge of a general store. The great activity of the California-bound emigrants passing through St. Joseph, a town of 3460, had begun, so Lemon then moved on to that place.

He secured a job as clerk in the store of Powell and Levy. At the end of two years he secured an interest in that mercantile firm and in 1853 became a partner. The name of the business was changed to Powell, Levy, and Lemon. He continued in that way until 1862, when Mr. Levy died and Mr. Powell decided to return to St. Louis. Mr. Isaac T. Hosea who was employed by Tootle & Fairleigh was interested in going into business for himself, so he joined Mr. Lemon in starting a general dry goods business, Lemon, Hosea & Company. In 1870 Mr. Lemon bought the Hosea interest and sold the business to Brittain, Overman & Company. He then embarked on a period of European travel.

Returning to St. Joseph, Lemon invested in the banking business. He was associated with Thomas E. Tootle in the First National Bank of St. Joseph. In 1878 that bank was liquidated and succeeded by the Merchants Bank. Mr. Lemon was a director and in 1886 he succeeded Mr. Tootle as president. In 1889 Mr. Lemon and Mr. Tootle sold their stock to a group headed by Richard E. Turner and in 1890 the controlling interest was purchased by Louis Boder, who became president.

Milton Tootle, brother of Thomas E. Tootle, died on January 2, 1887. Three administrators of his estate were appointed: John S. Lemon, Isaac T. Hosea, and Dr. John S. Logan. Mr. Lemon was named curator for the three minor children.

In July 1889 Mr. Lemon and Thomas E. Tootle formed a partnership with James McCord and Samuel M. Nave (son of Abram Nave) to conduct a private banking business, Tootle, Lemon & Company. Graham G. Lacy, son-in-law of Mr. Tootle, left the practice of law to become cashier for the new banking firm. When Milton Tootle, Jr., came of age in 1893 he joined the firm. Thomas E. Tootle retired in 1896 and in 1900 Mr. McCord and Mr. Nave withdrew leaving the business a partnership of Milton Tootle, Jr., John S. Lemon, and Graham G. Lacy. The classic bank building at Sixth and Francis Streets, now owned by the successor American National Bank, was built in 1899.

In 1870 Mr. Lemon married Annie I. Samuel, daughter of George Warren Samuel. Their children were three daughters, Mrs. W. W. Farish of New York, Mrs. William C. Sipple of St. Louis, and Mrs. James C. Howe of Boston, and one son, Hal Y. Lemon, a graduate of Princeton and a banker in Kansas City and Detroit. The Lemon home at 517 North Fifth Street remains one of the finest Victorian mansions of St. Joseph, and Mr. Lemon's 800-acre farm east of St. Joseph is, in part, the campus of Missouri Western State College. The Lemon family were members of Christ Episcopal Church.

When he died, on March 17, 1905, John S. Lemon was president of the Tootle, Lemon National Bank, to be succeeded in that post by Milton Tootle, Jr. The press appraisal of him read:

“Mr. Lemon was an excellent example of the self-made man. не embarked in business without a cent, his only capital being his indomitable will and courage, integrity and sagacity. His present magnificent estate was built up by a series of judicious investments, and close attention to business. Even when failing health handicapped him, he would interest himself in the affairs of those without advisors, giving freely from the best of his ripe knowledge and experience. In the business world Mr. Lemon was recognized as one of the most potent factors in the upbuilding of the City. His energies were ever exerted along broad and unselfish lines. While modest and retiring by nature, he was a public man in that he worked for the best interests of the community.’