Tennessee Society of St. Louis’ One Hundred Twentieth Annual Banquet

The Tennessee Society of St. Louis held its One Hundred Twentieth Annual Banquet Saturday, January 10, 2015 at the St. Louis Woman’s Club. The formal evening began with cocktails at 6:00 PM followed by the dinner and program at 7:00 PM. Tennessee Society president R. Lee Cannon presided over the evening.

The dinner opened with a series of traditional toasts including George P. Dorris, IV’s to The Great State of Tennessee; Martin W. Moore’s to the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson; and R. Dennis Bell’s to the Magnificent and Beautiful Ladies of Tennessee.

The Guest of Honor and Speaker, Dr. Tom Kanon, serves as an archivist at the Tennessee State Library & Archives, Nashville, Tennessee, his place of employment the past twenty years. He holds a master degree in history and a Ph.D. in public history, both from Middle Tennessee State University. In the last fifteen years, Dr. Kanon has written and lectured on topics related to the early southern frontier, particularly the period of the War of 1812. He also is considered a leading authority on Tennessee’s involvement in the War of 1812 and recently has published his first book through the University of Alabama Press, Tennesseans at War 1812-1815: Andrew Jackson, The Creek War, and the Battle of New Orleans.

Dr. Kanon, a member of the executive committee of the Tennessee Commission for the Bicentennial War of 1812, consults for The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home. He lives in Madison, Tennessee with his wife, Sandra, and their aptly-names dog, “Jackson”.

To commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of the Banquet and two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, Dr. Kanon addressed the historical legacy of the event. While the passage of time has caused the battle to be romanticized, doubtless our country would look different if the British had prevailed. However, British blunders, American artillery, and Andrew Jackson’s dogged determination ultimately saved the day and preserved the City of New Orleans under the United States’ domain.

Following Dr. Kanon’s presentation, guests danced to the sounds of Trilogy, back by popular demand. The band played old favorites like the “Tennessee Waltz”, “Rocky Top” (more than once), and other standards.

The Tennessee Society of St. Louis comprises one of the oldest State Societies in America, certainly the “Mother State Society of St. Louis”. One By-Law of the Society provides that an annual banquet should occur in celebration of Andrew Jackson Day, recognizing the Battle of New Orleans, on the eighth of January of each year, or if that date should fall on Sunday, then on a date near that time.

Andrew Jackson was born in 1767, in the most humble of surroundings. Nothing in his environment indicated that he ever would rise above the level of mediocrity. And yet, by the time of his death he had, through the glory of his achievements, caused his name to be written high in the list of the world’s immortals.

One of the framers of Tennessee’s first constitution, member of the Federal House of Representatives, United States Senator, Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Major-General in the United States Army, and seventh President of the United States, he is considered Tennessee’s most illustrious son, and Tennesseans will never cease to honor and revere his memory.

Early in November, 1895, thirty or forty prominent ex-Tennesseans, then living in St. Louis, met at the old Southern Hotel for the purpose of organizing a Tennessee Society in St. Louis. A committee was appointed to draft the Constitution and By-Laws. The first general meeting then was held at the Planters Hotel on December 7, 1895, at which time the committee made its report and the Constitution and By-Laws were adopted. The first officers elected consisted of Henry W. Bond, president; Jerome Hill, first vice-president; William M. Senter, second vice-president; Alphonso C. Stewart, third vice-president; Joseph Wheless, secretary; and John C. Meeks, treasurer. The first directors represented John S. Brown, Hartwell B. Grubbs, Frank M. Estes, Dorsey A. Jamison and James Y. Player.

The objects and purposes of the Society as expressed in its adopted Articles of Association, were: “To unite ex-Tennesseans and the decendants of Tennesseans residing in the State of Missouri in closer fraternal relations and to promote friendly intercourse among them; to welcome and entertain on fitting occasions distinguished visitors from Tennessee; to provide suitable rendezvous for their meetings and gatherings of the Society; to celebrate appropriately memorable events in the history of the “Old Volunteer State” and to familiarize the members with the important and leading events in the history of the State of Tennessee and the lives of its most prominent citizens, and generally to do whatever will encourage good-fellowship of Tennesseans residing in the State of Missouri.”

The Society maintains its annual banquet, frequently attended by prominent statesmen, jurists, educators, industrialists, and private citizens, plus one business meeting and smoker for members only. The Society never has gone beyond its original purpose. It has no philanthropic hobbies, no scholarships to give, no political theories to defend. It simply constitutes the medium whereby former Tennesseans convene at regular intervals and renew home ties.

God Bless the State of Tennessee and all its residents and their descendants!