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Golden Jubilee 1866 - 1916 . . . Townsend, Wyatt & Wall Dry Goods Company
Source: A 1916 publication/brochure provided by the store in celebration of its Golden Jubilee.
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About1868 Mr. Lowell retired from the business and the firm became Townsend & Wood, occupying the building at 319 Felix street. The business continued at this location with some few changes in the
personnel of the firm until about1879, at which time Mr. Townsend took in
with him J. Cavan Wyatt and John D. Richardson, Jr., two well known young
men, and the firm became Townsend, Wyatt & Co., and continued at 319 Felix
street.
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The business grew and prospered there so rapidly that larger quarters were found necessary, so the three-story double front building at the corner of Fourth and Felix streets, the present site of the First National bank building that had just been vacated by R.L. McDonald & Co., wholesalers, was secured and occupied in January, 1881. Here the business enjoyed ten year of unprecedented growth and prosperity and in 1890 was consolidated with the Emery Dry Goods Co. under the name of Townsend, Wyatt & Emery Dry Goods Co., occupying what was known as Center Block, a modern six-story department store building at the corner of Sixth and Edmond streets, remaining in that location until the entire building was destroyed by fire in September, 1893. After the fire, the store which had again become the Townsend & Wyatt Dry Goods Co., secured temporary quarters on the second floor of the Jones, Townsend & Shireman building at the corner of Fifth and Felix streets, to which place the portion of the stock that had not been destroyed was removed and closed out at fire sale. Arrangements were afterward made for the permanent occupancy of this entire building, the Jones, Townsend and Shireman Clothing Co. removing to the room one door east, the two stores being connected by archways. The store has continued at this location to the present time, expanding in 1908 by taking in the three-story building on the east vacated by the Townsend, Ueberrhein Clothing Co. On November 28th, 1911, Mr. Wyatt died, following and illness that extended through the greater portion of that year. In January, 1912, E.J. Townsend was elected Secretary and Treasurer to succeed Mr. Wyatt, who held these offices up to the time of his death. In May, 1914, the name was again changed – this time to admit the name of Thos. R. Wall, who had already been Vice-President and General Manager of the company since 1906. In July, 1914, an entire new front and new entrance were put in, also important interior alterations were made at the same time, greatly improving the arrangement and appearance of the store. Our executive officers are: John Townsend, President. John
Townsend, the President, has been executive head of the business from its
very inception to the present time. He has shaped its policy and has While his duties have kept him more of less out of sight and prevented his meeting the public more, as he would like to have done, yet they have always known just where to find him and in case anything went wrong, as it occasionally does in the best regulated business, they could always find him there to make it right. Mr. Townsend is unassuming in manner, and uniformly courteous to all. He is kind to employees and always considerate of their comfort and welfare and is beloved by them as perhaps few employers are. He is a man of liberal views and broad public spirit and while he has
systematically and persistently declined public honors of any kind, yet
every appeal looking toward the material or ethical advancement of St.
Joseph and neighboring communities has received his cordial moral and
financial support. J. Cavan Wyatt, popularly known as “Cal” Wyatt, who represented the Wyatt name in the firm from 1879 to the time of his death, was a native of Missouri and a typical Missourian. Mr. Wyatt was in constant contact with the trade throughout almost the entire period of his connection with the store and next to Mr. Townsend, had more, perhaps, to do with the store’s popularity and general reputation and standing in the community than any one else. His hospitality was of the kind that made every visitor to the store feel perfectly at home and his death was felt keenly, not only by his associates and employees, but by the store’s thousands of patrons and the community at large.
He was educated in St. Joseph and had a thorough business training and an extended wholesale experience in dry goods and kindred lines prior to his connection with this business. Mr. Wall has become thoroughly identified with the store, its methods
and policy and is an important factor in the business in every way. R.E. Townsend, Second Vice-President, has never been actively identified with the store. He is a well known and successful St. Joseph business man and is prominently identified with other large business interest in this city.
“Mr. Ed” as he is popularly known about the store, came here a young man from his boyhood home in southern Ohio. He has long been an active force in the business and enjoys in a remarkable degree, the confidence and esteem of the store’s thousands of patrons. In addition to his other duties, he is manager of the store’s publicity and is largely responsible for its accuracy and the confidence the community has come to have in the store’s public announcements through the newspapers and otherwise. He has a large circle of friends and customers both in and out of the
city who have learned to place great reliance on his good taste and
judgment in assisting them with their shopping and in the adjusting of
their occasional complaints and store troubles. In 1913, E. Percy Johnson became identified with the store in the capacity of Assistant Manager, and is proving himself a live wire. Mr. Johnson is a St. Joseph product, a graduate of the Central High School, Class of 1902, and had about ten years house, and road experience with one of St. Joseph’s well known dry goods jobbers previous to his entering the retail business. He is well aquainted in St. Joseph, is popular with the trade and is actively connected with the buying and managing.
Mr. Schuler is a forcible illustration of what can be accomplished by pluck, honesty, close application to duty, and an intelligent study and mastery of one’s work. Few if any of our present customers can remember the time when his genial countenance did not greet them on coming to pay their bills, and we seriously question whether there is any one else in the store who would be missed from his post as much as he. Many of our customers seem to regard it as a genuine pleasure to pay
their bills to Mr. Schuler and all of them have learned from experience
that they can at all times depend upon receiving the fairest and most
liberal treatment at his hands. Truly there is but one Mr. Schuler. W.H. Gordon, veteran Manager of the Silk and Dress Goods Departments, divides with Mr. Schuler the honor of being the oldest employee of the store. A native of Canada, Mr. Gordon came to St. Joseph in 1878 and accepted a position in the Silk Department when the store was located at 319 Felix street. Through his efficient management this department has fully kept pace with the general growth of the store and today the Townsend, Wyatt & Wall Silk Department ranks among the foremost of its kind in the Middle West.
Mr. Ellis accepted a position as clerk in the Dress Goods Department in 1890 and became manager of the Linen and Wash Goods sections in 1900, which position he has held every since with credit to himself and with advantage to the department. The Townsend, Wyatt & Wall Wash Goods Department is a store in itself and its prominence as one of the big departments of the store is due largely to the capable management and untiring efforts of Mr. Ellis. Interesting as is the past history of the store, it presents today vastly more that is of vital human interest than ever before. Many of the store comforts and conveniences that were scarcely dreamed of fifty or even twenty-five years ago, are commonplace today. Stocks are broader and more interesting than any former period. Managers and salespeople are enthused by the successes already achieved and by the opportunities offered for continued growth and progress. What the future may hold for us none can foretell, but with our present vigorous organization, our splendid equipment and our past experiences to guide us into great efficiency and better service – with the glowing outlook for our fair city’s future and with such flattering indications as we are receiving of the confidence and good will of the people of St. Joseph and surrounding territory – the future certainly looks bright to us. We thank you cordially one and all for your generous patronage, those who have recently become customers as well as those who have been with us for ten, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty years, and we hope, by a faithful adherence to the methods which have won your approval in the past to prolong and deepen the pleasant relations now existing, for many years to come.
Townsend, Wyatt & Wall |
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John Townsend, the founder of Townsend, Wyatt & Wall Dry Goods Co. and
now its honored president, was born in Illinois and was brought to St.
Joseph by his parents at a very early stage of his career. He began his
business career in this city as a clerk in the store of John and Isaac
Curd on Main street, and early evinced a special fitness for the
occupation that was to become his life work. 
Thos. R. Wall, First Vice-President, became associated with the
business in 1906. Mr. Wall is a home product, having been born and reared
in St. Joseph, and did not enter the business as a stranger either to the
store or its customers. 
E.J. Townsend, Secretary and Treasurer, became identified with the
business in 1881, and with the exception of five years – 1890 to 1895 –
has been connected with it continuously ever since. 
Henry Schuler, the veteran Office Manager and Credit Man, has the proud
distinction of being the oldest employee of the store in length of
service. He began right at the bottom as errand boy in 1878, and worked
his way up. 
B.F. Ellis, Manager of the Wash Goods section and buyer of Linens,
Cottons, Blankets, etc., is a native of Maryland and came to St. Joseph as
a boy in 1889. 