My great-great-great grandfather owned a pipe co. in New York, then in St. Louis - the Ruth Pipe Co. From about 1860 to at least 1892. (In St. Louis, on Valentine St, where the Arch now stands..) I have a drawing of his patent for a corn cob compression method, but I don't have any info about his business or anything else. On the old Pipe Smoker Forum, "Lonestar" posted that he had a bill of sale with diagrams and such from 1892, but no one's really posted on that site since about 2012 - I'm wondering if anyone has come across any Ruth Pipe Co smoke pipes? Champion, Volcano, Dragon, perhaps? I know it's an awful lot of "not much" to go on, but any information is greatly appreciated!
The Ruth Pipe Co. of St. Louis (and previously New York)
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If you can pull it together, it is a great piece of family history. You may be able to find some St. Louis historians who can direct you to additional documents. If you can track down a pipe or pipes, that would be a terrific find (if you haven't already). The Missouri Meerschaum people might also have some history on that. Sounds like a fun piece of historical detective work. Gosh, my great grandfather was around in 1860. Your people must start their families early.
Business licenses, tax records, city plotting's, business associations, banks, etc. should be a treasure trove of information. I suspect you'll be traveling, staring at microfilm, reading newspapers, writing lots of letters and generally getting dusty. Good luck!
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