Questions Of Loyalty

This may be one of the coolest things I've ever found.  Pictured above is a copy of a loyalty oath signed by Cyclone Club member Ferdinand Garesche.  Garesche was captured at Camp Jackson in May of 1861 and was forced to sign a loyalty oath at that time before he was paroled.  This particular document appears to be dated April 1, 1867 and Garesche needed to sign it in order to comply with provisions of the new Missouri constitution that had been adopted in 1865.  I also found a copy of a loyalty oath signed by Edward Farish, another member of the Cyclone Club, that was dated October of 1865.

Interestingly, there are references in the papers of the St. Louis Provost Marshall dating to May and June of 1863 with regards to the loyalty of Garesche and Farish's clubmate, Charles Kearney.  It appears that Kearney was accused of being "disloyal" in May 1863 and the next month it appears that Kearney refused to sign a loyalty oath.

The fact that Farish and Kearney were not particularly pro-Union is important information.  We already knew that, among the Cyclone Club, Basil Duke, Ed Bredell, Gratz Moses and Ferdinand Garesche either served in the Confederate army or had pro-Confederate sympathies.  We also know that Merritt Griswold, Orville Matthews, Frederick Benteen, Joseph Fullerton, John Riggin, Alexander Crossman, Griff Prather and Willie Walker either served in the Union army or had pro-Union sympathies.  This division within the club is important because we have several sources stating that it was these specific political divisions that led to the breakup of the club in 1861.

If you've been reading the parts of Duke's memoir that I've been posting, you can get a feeling for the political stresses that these gentlemen were living under.  It's almost impossible to imagine Duke and Orville Matthews, a United States naval officer, sitting together in the same room in the spring of 1861.  It's almost impossible to imagine Griswold and Bredell being friends.  But, prior to the outbreak of the war, these men were friends and clubmates.  These men enjoyed each others company and played together on the baseball field.  But, by the summer of 1861, the stress and the pressure of the war was too much and, just as the nation had torn itself apart, the Cyclone Club splintered along political lines and dissolved.

Again, this is all about context.  It's about putting these men, this club and this era of baseball history in the proper context.  I think that it's easy to think of the Civil War as an abstraction, as something remote and removed.  But it was the reality of men like Ferdinand Garesche, who claimed, after Camp Jackson, that he was not pro-secession and that he was only visiting the camp when the attack took place.  Regardless of the fact that he was most likely a conditional Unionist and never took up arms against the United States, he was forced, twice, to sign a loyalty oath and forever lived with the stigma of being disloyal.  This was the man who turned the first unassisted triple play in St. Louis baseball history.  He was a pioneer of the game in St. Louis and a member of the city's first baseball club.  But the loyalty oath at the top of this post is tangible evidence of the effect the Civil War had on his life.        

Edward Farish's Death Notice

Farish-In St. Louis, Mo., on July 21, 1904, at his residence, 3,658 Page Av., Edward Tilghman Farish, beloved husband of Lily G. Farish, in his 71st year.

Funeral Saturday, July 23, at 9 A.M., to Rock Church. Interment private.

-New York Times, July 22, 1904

Edward Farish, a prominent St. Louis lawyer who married into the Garesche family, was a member of the Cyclone Club.

A Biographical Sketch Of Edward Farish

This brief biographical sketch of Edward Farish, who was a member of the Cyclone Club, appears in Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis:

Farish, Edward T., lawyer, was born in Woodville, Mississippi, in 1836, and came of a very prominent family of that State. His father was a distinguished physician and his mother was a granddaughter of Sir William Hamilton. Left an orphan when he was eleven years of age, he was reared under the guardianship of relatives of his father, and was educated at St. Louis University, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1854. He studied law under the preceptorship of Honorable A. Fenby, and was admitted to the bar in 1856. Soon after his admission he became associated in practice with the Garesches, who in their day were among the most distinguished members of the St. Louis bar. Later he practiced in partnership with Honorable R.A. Bakewell, and in later years has continued his law practice alone. While he is a close student and a judicious counselor, he has been especially conspicuous as an eloquent advocate and a trial lawyer of very superior attainments. He has served St. Louis as city counselor and is numbered among the ablest of those who have held this office. An occasional contributor to the press, he is known as a polished and forcible writer, as well as a sound and able lawyer.

More On Edward Farish

Edward Tilghman Farish, who has long been a prominent lawyer at the Saint Louis bar, was born in Woodville, Mississippi, August 7, 1836. His father, Edward T. Farish, was a physician and surgeon of English lineage, and his mother was Caroline Hamilton, of Louisianna, granddaughter of Sir William Hamilton, a Scotch baron. Edward lost both parents before he was twelve years old, and in 1847 came to Saint Louis to live with relatives on the father's side. He was graduated at the Saint Louis University in 1854. Two years later, having read law with Abram Fenly, he was admitted to the bar, and soon formed a partnership with A.J.P. and P.B. Garesche, which partnership lasted till the civil war broke out, when P.B. Garesche joined the confederates. In 1857 Mr. Farish was married to Miss Lilly Garesche.

In 1864 Mr. Farish became a partner of Hon. R.A. Bakewell, which lasted till 1876, when Mr. Bakewell went on the bench. Meanwhile P.B. Garesche had returned from the South, and joined the firm in 1868.

Mr. Farish seems to be partial to the civil practice, yet in the few criminal cases in which he has been retained, he was shown great adroitness and skill, as well as ability in their management. He defended Picton, a merchant, and prosecuted Edwards, teller of the Union Savings Bank, both cases growing out of mercantile transactions, both of a good deal of importance, and both exciting a great deal of interest at the time.

Mr. Farish was city counselor from 1876 to 1878, but he has never been an office seeker. Parties with whom we have conversed from time to time, and who have known him longest, state that he is a very close student, that he has fine literary as well as legal talents; that he is an able advocate; that he speaks with ease and fluency; is candid as well as logical and earnest, and has great persuasive powers, hence his success. Best of all, his character is irreproachable, the purity of his life being unquestioned.

-From The Bench and Bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Other Missouri Cities (published by The American Biographical Publishing Company, 1884)


According to the Neale and Garesce Ancestry website, Farish was born on August 9, 1833 and died on July 21, 1904. He married Elizabeth Amelia (Lilly) Garesche, sister of his law partner Alexander Garesche and fellow member of the Cyclone Club Ferdinand Garesche, on February 10, 1857.

A notice of Farish's death appeared in The New York Times on July 22, 1904 stating that he died at his residence on July 21, 1904. It listed his residence as 3658 Page Avenue.

Note: I want to thank Scott Green who was kind enough to send me the above information on Farish as well as information on other members of the Cyclones.

Edward Farish

There is a nice profile of Edward Farish, a member of the Cyclone Club, in Saint Louis: The Future Great City of the World. The book was written by L.U. Reavis and published in 1876.

It may be stated, without any disparagement to the other learned professions, that the Bar of St. Louis possesses more men of prominence than any of them; and this assertion holds good, not only as regards the present generation, but as regard the past, and gives every promise of holding good in the future. With those of the past we have but little to do; volumes might easily be filled with the life records of the illustrious men who have graced the forum since the days of Liguest: records as bright and names as fair as those of any city of the Union. It is with those men who by their talents and abilities now grace the forum, and who deserve well of their fellow-citizens, that we would now speak. Honorable and conspicuous among this class is Edward T. Farish, the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Farish was born in Woodville, Mississippi, in August 1836, and is now in the prime of manhood. His father, who was a physician of large and extensive practice and wide-spread reputation, was a native of the Old Dominion, and was of English descent. His mother was a Miss Hamilton, of Louisiana, grand-daughter of Sir William Hamilton (Lord Belharm), a Scottish baron. Young Farish received the rudiments of his education at the school of his native town. In 1847, his parents having died, he came to this city where his father's relatives reside, and was sent to the St. Louis University, where he made a full classical course, graduating in 1854.

Upon the completion of his collegiate education, Mr. Farish entered the law office of Mr. A. Fenby, and began the study of his profession. Mr. Fenby died in 1856, the same year Mr. Farish was admitted to practice.

He immediately embarked upon the great ocean of professional life, and under the most favorable circumstances. For a short period he was by himself, but he finally formed a co-partnership with A.J.P. and P.B. Garesche, which lasted until 1861, the breaking out of the late civil war, when Mr. P.B. Garesche-being a warm Southerner, went South, joined his fortunes with the Confederacy, and thus broke up the partnership.

Mr. Farish declining to take any part in the great civil contest which was going on, continued to practice on his own account until 1864, when he assumed professional relations with the Honorable R.A. Bakewell, at present one of the Judges of the St. Louis Court of Appeals, which partnership lasted until June 1876, when Judge Bakewell was called to the bench. In 1868, Mr. P.B. Garesche returned from the South, and associated himself with Messrs. Farish and Bakewell, and in November of the same year died, the firm of "Bakewell and Farish," however, remaining as before.

Mr. Farish had given most of his time and attention to the practice of the law in the civil courts, rarely entering the criminal branch of his profession. On two memorable occasions he made his appearance in the Criminal Court: once in the case of Picton, a merchant, and again in the case of Edwards, teller of the Union Savings Bank; prosecuting in the latter and defending in the former. Both cases grew out of mercantile transactions, and were two of the most important criminal cases that had ever come before the Criminal Court of St. Louis. With these exceptions, Mr. Farish has confined his attention to the United states and Circuit Courts. In the Britton-Overstolz contest for the mayoralty in 1876, Mr. Farish, in connection with Judge Madill, was the leading counsel for Mr. Overstolz. Probably no case ever came before our courts arising out of an election, which was contested with more perseverance, or which brought out a higher degree of legal ability than this memorable case. It was finally decided by the Supreme Court upon application for a writ of certiorari, against the Common Council, the application refused giving Mr. Overstolz the Mayor's office.

Mr. Farish was subsequently appointed City Counsellor by Mayor Overstolz, and although the appointment was made without any solicitation on his part, yet in it the public recognized a fitting and just tribute to the man who had so successfully fought the battle of his client.

Mr. Farish was married in 1867, to Miss Lilly Garesche, daughter of V.M. Garesche, and sister of A.J.P., his former partner, and of Reverend Father Garesche, S.J., of the St. Louis University.

Through life Mr. Farish has ever avoided coming before the people as a candidate for any public office, but has given himself up entirely to the practice of his profession, and literary pursuits connected therewith. He has ever been a close student, and is never so well pleased as when ferreting out the intricacies of some obtuse point of law. He is an occasional contributor to our public journals, and his productions give evidence of literary ability of a high order. Cool and collected under all circumstances, never giving way to any undue excitement, he is never at a disadvantage in the conducting of a case. An eloquent speaker, with an easy and graceful flow of language, but few men in St. Louis have more power over, or influence with, a jury.

His social position is of the highest character, and is only equaled by his professional standing. Affable and genial in his nature, he is an ever welcome guest to our highest circles, where he is respected and honored for his many and sterling qualities of head and heart. Mr. Farish is still a young man, just entering upon the meridians of his life, with many years of usefulness before him. To his future, his fellow-citizens, who take his past as a criterion, look with many expectations. Possessed of every requisite to make a successful practitioner, honorable and upright in all his transactions, studious and attentive to every detail of his profession, we have every reason to predict for him still greater success at the bar and at the forum.