The Luster Family
Thu, 06/01/2023 - 1:40pm
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By:
Lou Wehmer
In my previous article, we explored the arrival of the Luster family in Howell County and the "Howell County News" started in 1895 by Charles and Mary Luster. Both had been involved in newspaper publishing for two decades in Brunswick, Missouri. Existing Howell County newspapers immediately set upon them to drive them out. In her self-published book, "Autobiography of Mary R. Luster," she wrote of their arrival:
"It was the second day of April 1895 when he (Charles Luster) left Brunswick and in less than a week had landed in West Plains, the 'Land of the Red Apple' that just then was being so widely exploited and advertised by real estate men. He was at once sold on the town, and local politicians made him believe there was an opening for a genuine Republican paper. The then editor of the party paper was a spineless old fellow, not at all progressive, and they were sure he would sell if there was sufficient incentive and without further investigation, Charles put in a new job office, went to work, and waited for developments that did not develop."
A "job office" took printing jobs - produced, in this case, on an old mechanical press. Charles rented a room in West Plains and found a cottage for the family - Mary, and son Lewis, to live in. In Brunswick, the Lusters had lived in a boarding house for four years and now had to return to a housekeeping routine. Here in a more rustic setting, there were other adjustments to be made. Mary wrote:
"I had only been on walks and in the stores and knew nothing of the rocks and rough roads that abounded everywhere in the town and county. True, the walks were mostly cobblestone and boards and not very pleasant to walk over, but there were some very good houses and pretty yards on the way to town, and I had been too busy to think of outside environments."
"The first Sunday afternoon, Charles and I took a long walk out in the suburbs of the town, and I shall never forget the feeling of distress and doubt that came into my heart when I saw for the first time the rocky hillsides that surrounded the town. All of the hope inspired by Charles' description of the wonderful country was dispelled, and I could only doubt that it was possible for anyone to make a living in a country so barren and so difficult of cultivation as that seemed to me. I went home and wept with disappointment, and for weeks every time I ventured outside the neighborhood in which I lived, I came home to cry my eyes red."
"We soon discovered that the business prospects were not so flattering. The politicians had persuaded Charles that the editor of the Republican paper would sell as soon as he found they were determined to have another paper and Charles could buy it, but the old man stood pat and continued his paper, and there seemed nothing else to do but start a paper of our own, which we did in July (1895). Three months after Charles had started the job office, he issued the first copy of the 'Howell County News.' I was never able to look on the venture as anything but foolhardy. It was indeed a hard struggle to meet expenses, and the first year we held on because we could not let go. For the second time, we had a newspaper on our hands that was not paying expenses."
"One thing that made it possible for us to continue was the low cost of everything. We could live cheaply. Frying-size chickens could be bought for ten cents each, and once Charles brought home six dozen eyes for twenty-five cents, and I bought great buckets of luscious blackberries at ten cents per gallon. The summer of 1895 chanced to be a good crop year, and we were spared the experience of the drought that usually visits the Ozarks sometime during the summer."
"Charles had secured the services of a very fine job printer, and while he did most of the jobs that were to be had in the town, he was not making his wages. We were running behind, and something must be done to change the conditions. Lewis suggested that the printer be discharged, and he would take charge of the job department. His father was skeptical because he had had very little experience, but it was worth trying, and it succeeded, but only to keep the paper going. There was no money."
Here, their son Lewis Luster acquired skills that would make him successful. While typesetting and writing, he began to read law. He obtained a law degree from Washington University and gained prominence in Missouri law at the appellate level. Returning to the book:
"Then the Journal building, the home of the other paper, burned, and we tried very hard to buy the goodwill of the paper or sell him our plant. He was obdurate and would do neither, and we must continue. Just then, an opportunity to buy a building at the corner of the square presented itself. It would be an ideal printing office. Stopping office rent and an expensive printer helped the situation mightily." (Thus, the Luster Arcade was born.)
"Then the County printing began to come our way, and our heads were above water. In the spring of 1896, we bought a seven-room house for a thousand dollars. We made the purchase as an investment. It was not what we had hoped for as a home, but we moved into it to stop rent and continued to live there because there was no rise in real estate prices for at least twelve years thereafter."
Death in the family took Mary Luster to Cass County, Missouri. On her return, she found acceptance in the West Plains community, writing, "I went home from that trip to Cass County much better satisfied with conditions as they existed in West Plains, and though we were enduring a drought and extreme heat, I began to see some virtue in the 'Land of the Big Red Apple.' By the fall months of 1895, society had put its arms around me and at many of the social functions 'Mrs. C.R. Luster' was frequently listed 'among those present.' I had joined a culture club and was pleased to find myself associated with a group of such intelligent and congenial ladies. I could not help but realize that social conditions were as good as those I had left. Customs were quite different, but I knew they were advancing in this newer town. I had attended some very clever and interesting afternoon parties where ladies only were present."
"There was yet only a meager living in the business, but we had stopped paying rent, and we were living within the income but were all the while looking for a chance to sell. Lewis had always hoped to be a lawyer and, even while working in the printing office, was studying to that end. In the late fall of 1896, he went to Clinton and studied in the office of E.E. Lewis, the recently defeated Republican candidate for Governor of Missouri."
"When he returned home, he took a correspondence course and was admitted to practice by the then custom of examination by an appointed committee. He passed with a very favorable report from his questioners and soon thereafter was appointed city attorney."
While serving as city attorney, Lewis Luster authored a set of statutes for the governance of West Plains that remained in use for decades and can be found on the internet today.
Mary proudly continued, "With the small income from this office, his few fees, and what he made in the printing office, he saved enough to pay his expenses at Washington University, St. Louis. He took the course in less than two years and won the $50 alumni prize for best grades on examinations during the two terms. He also added to his exchequer by setting type several hours each day in the office of the 'Christian Evangelist.'"
"Immediately on his return from St. Louis, he formed a partnership with W.J. Orr, the local attorney for the Frisco Railroad, and continued the connection for five or six years...We were very definitely located in West Plains, and the sixteen and a half years spent there held very little to break the monotonous grind of the small-town editor. We were both on the job most of the time. We bought several cottages and rented them, adding a little to our income."
"The depression of 1893 had left its mark on the town, and there was no improvement in prices until about 1909. Wages were no better even then. Common labor could be had for a dollar for ten hours work, and a good carpenter worked for two dollars. Three or four prosperous merchants and bankers had built new and rather pretentious homes, but there was little other improvement in the town for fifteen or more years, and yet the time we lived there is very pleasant to recall."
Mary and Lewis attended the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, followed by Charles' attendance later that year. The paper had to go out. Mary wrote, "I came away from that great exposition with an increased pride in my native land and a better knowledge of its resources and opportunities. Charles had enjoyed two weeks of rest and recreation at the Fair in September, and the last months of the year found us all settled back in the routine work of getting out the paper and replenishing our depleted treasury."
"Another incident in our lives that also indicated the changing conditions of the time more than anything I can relate and also helps to convey the fact that our financial condition had improved is that in the spring of 1908, Lewis and his father bought a splendid blooded mare and a rubber-tired buggy. The mare was registered under the name of Lady Betty something, I have forgotten what, but she was beautiful and spirited and, with the very modern buggy and shining harness, made an equipage of which we were all quite proud."
"There were not more than two rubber-tired vehicles in West Plains at this time and no automobiles. We had listened to the grating of iron tires over the rocky street until our ears were weary, and when we could travel without so much noise, it was a great joy even if the rocks soon cut the tires to pieces and new ones were needed. We indulged in the pleasure of buggy rides for a whole year with undisturbed comfort, and then someone bought an automobile, and our Lady Betty went up in the air every time we met the puffing engine, and we had to drive with tight reins and watchful eye."
"The first gas-driven vehicle that was brought to the city had high wheels and iron tires and was, after brief usage as a family carryall, turned into a delivery truck. Then came the first real automobile. I think it was in the fall of 1910, and we drove with the idea of avoiding it and most of our pleasure trips were over the country roads, none of which were paved, and few of them even graded, but those in valleys would be free from rocks for the space of a few miles, and we soon learned where the level stretches were. Out north of town (West Plains) was an old race track where we often enjoyed a real spin. Our horse and buggy was a veritable luxury."
"After our World's Fair experience, there was little change in the very pleasant routine of our lives. Lewis was at least gaining knowledge and accumulating a law library. This continued for several years. We were no longer troubled over the financial part of the business, but Charles' health was not so good, and he tried to give up the editorial management of the paper, that is, the writing and proofreading. This was finally accomplished by the consolidation of the Howell County News and the West Plains Journal, which paper had changed hands and had become a stock company. This was completed in the spring of 1909, with T. D. Martin, Charles, and Lewis owning the stock. For a time, Charles devoted his efforts to his job office, leaving the editorial management to a hired editor. In August of that year, Lewis got the appointment of Reporter for the Springfield Court of Appeals and moved to Springfield, and Charles took up the editorial management again and continued it until August 1911, when a slight stroke of apoplexy made it necessary for him to retire from all business activity. He sold his entire interest in the paper to A.T. Hollenbeck, and we prepared to join the son in Springfield. We had known for some time that such a move was possible and had disposed of the small bits of real estate we owned, all but our home and three small business buildings. In September, we sold the home, and the first day of October 1911, we moved to Springfield."
Lewis Luster's legal practice flourished in Springfield with J.T. Woodruff, a famous attorney and businessman. In 1941 he was elected president of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. He served as the Reporter for the Springfield Court of Appeals.
Charles Luster lived a few years in retirement in Springfield. In December 1914, heart disease took his life, and he was buried with honors as a Union veteran of the Civil War. In West Plains, arch-competitor Will Zorn respectfully wrote in his "Gazette" that Charles' services were "held under the auspices of the Springfield Odd Fellows order and Reverend F.L. Moffit, pastor of the South Street Christian Church." He was buried in the Springfield Hazelwood Cemetery.
In 1935, Mary wrote her autobiography at eighty-two, died two years later, and is buried next to her husband. The book reveals her full involvement with her husband in building and running two newspapers over forty years. The details of her time here provide us a little window into life in Howell County at the turn of the century.