A Biographical Sketch of the Life and Character of Joseph Charless | Page 2

one, as pronounced by us.
He settled in Philadelphia, and being a printer by trade, he secured a
situation with Matthew Carey, “who, at that time, did the largest
publishing business in the Quaker City.” He often boasted of having
printed the first quarto edition of the Bible that was ever issued in the
United States. In 1798 he married Mrs. Sarah McCloud, a widow (with
one child), whose maiden name was Jorden.
Sarah Jorden was born January 28, 1771, near Wilmington, Delaware.
During the American Revolution her parents, with their family, were
driven by the Hessians from their home in Delaware, and resided
subsequently in Philadelphia.
In the year 1800 Mr. and Mrs. Charless removed from Philadelphia to
Lexington, Kentucky; to Louisville in 1806, and to St. Louis in 1808.
In July of that year Mr. Charless founded the “Missouri Gazette,” now
known as the “Missouri Republican,” of which he was editor and sole
proprietor for many years. This is the first newspaper of which St.
Louis can boast, and I am told it still has the largest circulation of any
paper west of the Alleghany Mountains.
As regards the character of your great-grandfather, he was a noble
specimen of the Irish gentleman-–impulsive-warm-heartedness being
his most characteristic trait. He was polite and hospitable, his
countenance cheerful, his conversation sprightly and humorous. Sweet
is the memory of the times when his children and friends gathered
around his plentiful board. Often have we seen him entering his
gateway, followed by the mendicant, who would soon return thither
literally laden down with provisions from his well-stored larder. His

wife was no less hospitable, not less charitable and kind to the poor, but
more cautious. She was of the utilitarian school, and could not bear to
see anything go to waste, or anything unworthily bestowed. Not so
easily touched with the appearance of sorrow as her husband was, but
always ready to relieve the wants of those she knew to be destitute, she
would herself administer to the sick with a full heart and a generous
hand. But she had a natural aversion to indolence, and would not give a
penny to any she esteemed so, lest it should tend to increase this
unmeritorious propensity. She was herself exceedingly industrious, and
took great delight in making her family comfortable, and, in fact,
supplying the wants of every living thing about her, even to the cat and
the dog. “She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the
distaff. She riseth also while it is yet dark, and giveth meat to her
household, and a portion to her maidens.”
Both possessed honorable pride, and were plain, unpretending people,
making no claim to an aristocratic ancestry, but, after a long life spent
in a growing city of considerable size, they died, leaving many to speak
their praises, and not one, that I have ever heard of, to say aught against
them. He departed this life at the age of sixty-two, having enjoyed
robust health until within two weeks of his death. His widow was
“gathered as a shock of corn, fully ripe, into the garner of the Lord,” at
the advanced age of eight-one.
From an obituary notice of her I will quote the following lines: “Mrs.
Sarah Charless was an exemplary Christian, and was one of the most
zealous and untiring in her exertions to build up the Presbyterian
Church established in this city under the pastoral care of the Rev.
Salmon Giddings. Eminently charitable in her disposition, and ever
willing to alleviate the evils of others, she endeared to her all upon
whom the hand of misfortune hung heavily. Well was it said of her by
one of the most eminent men of our State–-the Hon. Edward
Bates–-that she was a woman upon whom the young man, far from
friends and home, could always rely.”
Of a family of eight children, viz: Robert McCloud, Edward, John,
Joseph, Anne, Eliza, Chapman, and Sarah Charless, Joseph alone was

left in this pilgrimage word to mourn for his mother. Eliza Wahrendorff,
daughter of Anne Charless Wahrendorff, and Lizzie Charless, your own
dear mother, were the only grandchildren left to mingle their tears with
his. Great was the void caused in our small family circle when this
excellent woman, this aged Christian, this revered and much loved
parent was laid in the silent tomb. It is sweet now to think about her
love of flowers, and how often she would say, when they commenced
shooting up in early spring, that they reminded her of the resurrection
morning. May you, my dear mother, realize the blessedness of this
truth–-when Jesus shall bid his redeemed ones rise from the cold
ground which has so long shrouded them-–and come forth, more
beautiful than the hyacinth, to bloom forever on