Individual Details

"They (Will & Cybil Prouty and William Kelsoe) went to school at Greenville and Will Kelsoe leaned toward literature, graduated from a University and went to Heidelberg, Germany, to study. He is quite a linguist, but does not seem to care for money. He married; his wife's first name being Hulda. She was of a prominent German family, her father being exiled from Germany because of his revolutionary proclivities. Will and Hulda became the parents of a boy they called Stephen. Hulda died, Will is employed as Exchange Editor or Librarian on the Post-Dispatch and his boy Stephen is with the Central Public Library." (from a letter by Thomas H. Blakemore (Robert Haag))

William A. Kelsoe, 81 years old, exchange editor of the Post-Dispatch, and for 58 years a worker on St. Louis newspapers. His newspaper career started in 1874.

"I was so young when he came and visited us, that the only things that stuck in my memory was the fact that he was from St. Louis, and worked for the Post Dispatch, and that he was a vegetarian." (Aline Prouty)

From the History of Fayette County:
KELSOE, William Austin, of the class of 1872, is a native of Greenville, Illinois, where he was born February 1, 1851. His early education was obtained in the schools of Pocahontas, Greenville, and Vandalia, Illinois, and a little country schoolhouse five or six miles east of Highland, Illinois. He entered McKendree College in 1866, and while there was an active member of Plato. After graduating he went to Europe with his classmate, Dr. A.C. Bernays and for two years studied history, literature and philology at the university at Heidelberg. Since August, 1874, he has been engaged in newspaper work in St. Louis, Mo. For three years he was an editorial writer for the Republic, was its city editor for nearly six years and for shorter periods filled the positions of Sunday editor, book reviewer, exchange editor and commercial editor. He has visited nearly every section of the United States as also Canada and Mexico. In 1891 he made a tour of Mexico for the Post-Dispatch, accompanying a delegation of St. Louis merchants and manufacturers. For eight or nine years he was the St. Louis correspondent of the Chicago Times, Cincinnati Enquirer, New York World, Philadelphia Press, Boston Herald and several other papers. From November, 1895, to July, 1901, he was connected with the Globe-Democrat, having been financial and commercial editor, also in charge of the insurance department. He was manager of the Local View Bureau of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, and is now exchange editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. - R.W.R.

Birth	1 Feb 1851	Greenville, Bond, Illinois, United States
Census	1870	Vandalia, Fayette, Illinois, United States
Marriage	1877	Frida Hillgaertner
Census (family)	1880	Saint Louis, St. Louis (city), Missouri, United States - Frida Hillgaertner
Census (family)	11 Jun 1900	Saint Louis, St. Louis (city), Missouri, United States - Frida Hillgaertner
Census (family)	22 Apr 1910	Saint Louis, St. Louis (city), Missouri, United States - Frida Hillgaertner
Census (family)	5 Jan 1920	Saint Louis, St. Louis (city), Missouri, United States - Frida Hillgaertner
Census	1930	Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
Death	9 Mar 1932	Saint Louis, St. Louis (city), Missouri, United States
Burial		Valhalla Cemetery, Bel-Nor, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Spouse	Frida Hillgaertner (1855 - 1920)
Child	Stephen Hillgaertner Kelsoe (1888 - )

Father	Alexander Kelsoe (1819 - )
Mother	Elizabeth Watkins (1823 - 1851)

Notes