From Clifton History:
"The southwestern corner of David W. Graham's Sulphur Spring tract was sold
in 1885 to a group headed by a Methodist minister, Rev. Benjamin St. James
Fry. They hired Julius Pitzman to survey and lay out Clifton Heights
subdivision, with its curving streets and park."Benjamin St. James
Fry, clergyman, was born in East Tennessee, in 1824, but early went to
Cincinnati, and was educated there at Woodward College. He became a minister
in the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1827. He served
three years as president of Worthington Female College, and was a chaplain
in the Union Army. From 1856 he was in charge of the Methodist Book
Depository, in St. Louis, till 1872, when he became of the Central Christian
Advocate, of St Louis, published under the direction of the Agents of the
Western Book Concern, at Cincinnati. He continued in the editorship by
quadrennial election by the General Conference til his death, February 5,
1892, covering a period of almost twenty years. He wrote biographies of
Bishop Whatcoat, McKendree and Roberts.
Clifton Heights Methodist Episcopal Church
Formally organized by Rev. S. B. Warner as the Clifton Heights Methodist
Episcopal Church in 1888 as a colony from the Union Methodist Episcopal
Church. A new church was built in 1892 at 2501 Clifton in the Southwest area
and the name was changed to Dr. Fry Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church.
Destroyed by fire in 1905 it was rebuilt on the same site a year later.
Dr. Fry Memorial Methodist Church
Dr. Fry Memorial Methodist Church at 2501 Clifton Avenue was founded in 1888
by Dr. Benjamin St. James Fry, who was one of the original developers of the
Clifton Heights subdivision. He induced a colony of Methodists from Union M.
E. Church to move into the area and formed the new church to meet their
religious needs. The first services were held in Vera Hall, near Frisco
Park, until after Dr. Fry's death in 1892, when the church on Clifton Avenue
was erected in his memory. This edifice was destroyed by fire on February
16, 1905, in a blaze which was fought by a fire company from the World's
Fair grounds. The church was rebuilt in 1905-1906 from plans by architect
William A. Cann.
• 1888 Closed
The Clifton Heights church burned in 1905 and the name was inadvertently
changed to Dr. Fry Memorial Methodist.
• 1888 Frisco Park, (formerly the
Scullin Steel Mill site) Map
• 1892 2501 Clifton Ave.
Map
Fry Memorial Methodist 1888–Closed • 1888 2501 Clifton Ave. Map
Business Name: Central Christian Advocate
St. Louis, Missouri Directories, 1889-1890
Name: Benjamin St. James Fry
Location 1: 1101 Olive
Location 2: r. 6234 Bowman avenue Map
Business Name: Central Christian Advocate
Occupation: editor
Year: 1890
City: St. Louis
State: MO
St. Louis City Death Records, 1850-1908
Name: Benjamin Sh J Fry
Death Date: 5 Feb 1892
Address: 2610 Locust
Volume: 27
Page: 10
County Library: RDSL 36
Missouri Archive: C 10392
SLGS Rolls: 324
St. Louis Obituary Index 1892 A - I
Fry, Benjamin St. James, D.D. 2/7 p2, *2/8 p2
Benjamin St. James Fry 1880 Missouri Census
Benjamin St. James Fry Probate
St. Louis Probate Court Digitization Project, 1802 - 1900
Court County Party Name Case Number Date Filed
Microfilm Reel
Probate St. Louis Fry, Benjamin St. James 18819 1892
C 39034
• Collection 1
• Collection 2- Will
• Collection 3- Proof of Notice to Creditors
• Collection 4- Appraisement
• Collection 5- Appraisement
• Collection 6- Appraisement
• Collection 7- Receipts
• Collection 8
• Collection 9
• Collection 10
• Collection 11 |
