Learning about Charles Schifferdecker, pictured at right, one of Joplin's notable businessmen and philantropists, will be the focus of an event, dubbed an historical reenactment, sponsored by Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. "Mr. Charles Schifferdecker, Remembered and Revisited" will be a two-day event, including:
- 6-10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, with a tour of the Schifferdecker home at 422 S. Sergeant in Joplin decked out in elaborate Halloween decorations and including entertainment by The American Opera Studio and refreshments. (Admission is $20 per person);
- ll a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, with a tour of the family mausoleum at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City on Range Line Road;
- 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, with a tour of the "Schifferdecker Beer and Public Gardens," including a visit to his house and cave next to Turkey Creek. Featured are refreshments, habitat interpreters, old time lawn games, entertainment and beer tasting for 21+. Admission is $15 per person. (Signs will be posted near North Florida and East Newman Road.).
The event replaces DickensFest that the group had sponsored in the neighborhood in December for five consecutive years. For more information contact Paula Callihan, chairperson, by phoning (417) 483-3116 or sending an e-mail here.
Who was Charles Schifferdecker?
Most associate the name "Schifferdecker" with a park, a pool and a street. Schifferdecker who was one of the founding members of Verein, an organization meant to advance all things German, became one of the richest men in Joplin selling bottled beer. It was in the late 1800s when a thirsty group of mencame to town during the mining boom. He also became president of the leading bank in town, and then invested his money in various local interests, self-serving as well as philanthropic.
Schifferdecker was born in Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany, in 1851 to a somewhat influential family. Thanks to his mother's decision to come to America with her children after her husband's death in Germany, Charles, 15, apparently was able to gain experience working at a Quincy, Illinois brewery that later relocated to St. Louis and then Baxter Springs, Kansas. In 1876 after he moved to Joplin he established his bottling and ice business.
Wilhelmina (Mina) Martens, daughter of Wilhelm and Frederika Martens of Iowa, a German by birth, married Schifferdecker in 1877. Their only child, a son, died in his first year.
In 1890 he amassed the money, including from the sale of his brewery in 1888, to build his house on Sergeant, a task for which he imported German craftsmen. Apparently, at this time he also saw the need to establish a bank, assisting in the organization of the First National Bank of Joplin. His investments at this time included the leading stockholder in the Galena Lead and Zinc Company, now land on which the city of Galena is platted, and the generous contributor to the building of St. John's Hospital.
It is said that the whole city of Joplin closed down for Schifferdecker's funeral on November 2, 1915, 10 days after the death of his wife. According to his death certificate issued by the Missouri State Board of Health on which he was interestingly labeled a "capitalist" and "banker" by trade, this greater-than-life man, at 64, had passed away from complications due to diabetes and chronic nephritis.
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