Tennessee Society of St. Louis’ One Hundred Twenty-First Annual Banquet

The Tennessee Society of St. Louis held its One Hundred Twenty-First Annual Banquet Saturday, January 9, 2016 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 G.P. Dorris, IV presided over the evening.

The dinner opened with a series of traditional toasts including Martin W. Moore’s to The Great State of Tennessee; Dr. Jonathan D. Dehner’s to the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson; and Bradley T. Hauck’s to the Magnificent and Beautiful Ladies of Tennessee.

The Guests of Honor and Speakers, Ms. Nancy Holman and Ms. Pat Higdon, came from the Veterans Museum at the Dyersburg Army Airfield. Founded in 1997, the musuem is located on the site of the Dyersburg Army Airbase. The base, a training facility for B-17 pilots during the Second World War, honors veterans from that era with displays, photographs, and the history of the base. It also features exhibits from conflicts and wars covering 1917 through the present day. Ms. Holman and Ms. Higdon shared some of the historical anecdotes from the airbase and museum, supplemented by photographs and other resources.

Following the 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!