At the battle of Tippecanoe in the War of 1812 Colonel O'Fallon was severely wounded; Tecusmseh,
leader of the Indian Confederacy allied with the British, was defeated. O'Fallon is believed to have come
directly to St. Louis where he was associated for a while with his uncle, William Clark, an Indian Affairs
agent.
In 1818, O'Fallon resigned his commission in the army for a business career. He made money rapidly
and gave it liberally. He was a director of several banks and first president of the Missouri Pacific, the
Baltimore and Ohio, and the Wabash Railroads. The Lindell and Planters Hotels were large stock holdings of his.
More than $1,000,000 was given by this generous benefactor to charity and the land for St. Louis University was his gift. He built the Pope Medical College for his son-in-law, Charles Pope. It later became Washington University Medical School. O'Fallon Poly Tech founded by him, also later became part of Washington University.
O'Fallon Park was his country estate. His mansion was built on an Indian mound. This was learned when the builders, while excavating, found Indian skeletons and pottery. Streets in O'Fallon Park area today bearing names such as Mary, Alice, Emily, John, Adelaide, Algernon, Clarence and Pope were named for members of his family.
Colonel O'Fallon was so highly regarded by St. Louisians that business was suspended the day of his funeral. Robert Campbell, General William Harvey and Henry Shaw were among his pallbearers. The monument in the center of lot, mounted by the angel of hope, was designed by George I. Barnett. This is the largest lot in Bellefontaine. O'Fallon was eulogized at his funeral thus...
"The munificence of his charities lithographed in our very streets and was yet far exceeded by his private charities and benevolences"