James J. Dailey – Landmark Building Founder, Philanthropist and Fur Trader

By Pauline Masson – Photos from Mary Helen Beren Collection

The late Neil Brennan chastised me more than once for writing so much about the vast Dailey clan, and the McHughs, but never mentioning James J. Dailey, who, Neil said, was one of the greatest men in Pacific’s history.

Neil remembered James Dailey as a man of generosity and curiosity immeasurable even for a man of his wealth.

“He helped a lot of families during the depression, a lot of people. He was the most generous man in town and a real gentleman,” Neil said. “He was interested in everything. His kids went on to keep the family name involved in the town but it all started with him. He and McHugh brought all kinds of speakers and shows here from all across the Country that are still remembered. You need to write about him.”

I dutifully asked several of James Dailey’s grandchildren to tell me about the historic merchant – half of the legendary McHugh-Dailey partnership – but each one hesitated. Some gave me the name of another cousin to ask.

Until I contacted relatives again after starting this post the only person who ever talked to me about James Dailey as a personality, besides Neil Brennan, was the late Billy Murphy. Billy had a more down-to earth story to tell. He said James Dailey was a great friend to him and other Catawissa boys, who were born in the depression and lived on subsistence farms. 

James Dailey helped them to learn the skill of trapping small animals and bought the pelts from them, which he resold in St. Louis.

“He knew everything there was to know about trapping and animal skins,” Billy said. “You could just walk right in there and he was always happy to talk.”

I’m thinking about this now because of a recently published snippet of news on the St Louis fur trade that called up the memory of Billy’s boasting about his fur trapping days that James Dailey nurtured.

 In the 1930s when Billy was a boy, the international fur trade – that had flourished for 400 years – was still thriving. And St. Louis, which was founded as a fur outpost, was still the center of the fur trade worldwide.

The International Fur Exchange Building at Two South Fourth Street in downtown St. Louis was built in 1919, eight years after the McHugh-Dailey Retail Emporium opened in Pacific. It should not surprise anyone that James Dailey would have seen the retail opportunity of fur pelts at a time when fully 80 percent of the seal, fox, beaver and other pelts from across the world were auctioned in that downtown building. It was the world’s largest raw fur exchange up until it closed in the 1960’s. It was there that James Dailey sold the pelts accumulated by the local boys and young men.

According to Billy, fur trapping was a godsend for local families. Beaver, foxes, raccoons and even mink, when they were lucky enough to trap one, were plentiful along the Meramec River and its tributaries. A son of Little Ireland, James Dailey was well acquainted with those hills and streams.

 It was a time when most American women owned a fur garment, whether passed down or purchased. Fur coats were the most common but women also wore fur hats, stoles, and fur-trimmed apparel, Jenna Girard said in her book Fur Coats.

Billy and his friends were industrious enough to tap into the fur trade with the encouragement and help of James Dailey. The boys learned how to trap beaver, foxes and coons. On a rare occasion they trapped a mink, which brought the most money. This source of income could mean a much needed pair of new shoes that his parents couldn’t afford.

Although we don’t know how much James Dailey paid the boys for pelts, a recent piece in fur history reported that in 1940 Missouri trappers got $2 for a whole beaver pelt that was in good condition, $2.50 for a coon and $2 for a fox. An occasional mink, the most coveted fur coat, could bring $20.

Later when actor Fess Parker wore his trademark coonskin cap in the TV series, Davy Crockett, coon skins raised as much as $25 in the St. Louis fur auction.

One thing that strikes me about this Billy Murphy farm boy / fur trapper tale is that James Dailey’s grandchildren that I know never heard a word about it. Although they could believe it because of his stature as the family patriarch and the vast goings on at the family landmark building, in their collective memory Grandpa was just a store keeper and a wonderfully nice man.

James Dailey was born in 1873 to LaBarque Hills pioneers James Dailey and Ellen McNamee Dailey.

Like many members of the Dailey and McNamee clans, young James attended McNamee School and and the State Normal School (teacher’s college) where a photo captures him as a member of the school orchestra. He can be seen right of the bass violin in the upper right corner of the photo.

In Pacific he may have been a renowned builder and store keeper, but throughout his life he was a son of the cohesive Irish community in the LaBarque Hills, known as Little Ireland. In February 1900, at age 27, James joined  a group of Little Ireland pioneers to form the Jefferson County Road Improvement Association with the aim of securing good roads throughout Jefferson County, particularly in the northwestern part of the county known as the Labarque Hills. James was put in charge of crafting resolutions to be distributed to the state legislature.

James entered the retail business in Robertsville with his partner Lawrence McHugh. To build their grand three-story building on South First Street the partners salvaged eleven train car loads of the demolished 1904 Worlds Fair construction material. They built the ultimate mixed-use structure, a combination general store, two-family residence and Opera House, which was the rage of the day. There they welcomed the theatrical and famous – including future president Harry Truman –  to perform. They also hosted town board meetings and high school graduation ceremonies. At one time they removed the seats from the Opera House and allowed the children and grandchildren to roller skate on the vast wood floor.

James Dailey and his wife Mayme had eight children, born in the special birthing room on the first floor of the landmark building –  three sons: Vincent, John and Joe; and five daughters: Helen Murray, Marie Buscher, Margaret Wahl, Ann Noelker and Rosemary Freeman. 

James and his wife Mayme became vast property owners, acquiring property in Pacific, LaBarque, New Haven, and Washington. A farm south of Pacific would prove to be a favorite spot for James.

His granddaughter Mary Beth Schmidt remembered him as an ever present store keeper, friendly to everyone and unfailing polite.

“He was not as boisterous as some members of the family. He was soft spoken and always kind,” she said. “We knew that he fed a lot of families during the depression. He had the store and had lots of food, which he shared. He didn’t want anyone to go hungry.”

She recalled an incident when shows about ten and was milling about in the store. She opened a glass door on a counter top case ant took out a piece of candy.

“Young Lady,” a firm but gentle voice said. “You can have candy when you want it but you will be polite. You will ask.”

It was an admonition she never forgot.

James also spread his generosity to St. Bridget’s School, where his daughters would teach, and Church. All his life he was deeply religious. He was  member of the Father Edward Berry Council Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society. 

In retirement James Dailey’s greatest joy was visiting the farm that he owned south of town. As he aged, this was where he spent more and more time. When be had difficulty getting around he drafted two grandsons to go with him to the farm, which was located, probably by coincidence, in the hills where Billy Murphy and his friends had developed the skill of fur trapping.

In 1952 it was reported that Mr. And Mrs Dailey attended the St. Joseph Hill Infirmary dinner at the Congress Hotel in St. Louis. In July 1957 his son and daughter-in-law Joe and Ginny Dailey threw a huge party attended by the entire family to celebrate his 84th birthday.

James J Dailey died at Saint Johns hospital August 18, 1957. He was survived by his wife and all eight of his children and a sea of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.