Charles Henry Richter Police Notebook, 1893-1896
St. Louis Genealogical Society (StLGS) received a notebook written by Officer Charles Henry Richter of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Sixth District, from 12 September 1893 until 26 August 1896. The seventy-three-page notebook has no cover. It was written in ink but fairly well preserved and was found at Breeze Park Lutheran Senior Services in St. Charles, Missouri.
The residents had become attached to the small notebook and wanted it preserved. They also were eager to learn more about the author and the people mentioned in the book. Tamara Price, Lifestyle Enrichment Coordinator for Breeze Park, donated the notebook to the society. Tamara and several StLGS volunteers agreed that StLGS would scan and index the pages and then upload the scans and index on the StLGS website for preservation.
The notebook then passed to our office volunteers, who had a few mysteries to solve: Who was Charles Henry Richter and how did the notebook end up in St. Charles County? Research done by StLGS volunteers, Diane Broniec and Viki Fagyal, led to an article in the fall 2021 StLGS Quarterly.
The notebook begins with a torn page with only a scrap remaining that reads, “St. Louis, Mo.” and “August 2.” On the reverse of that scrap, “for assault & Battery Hathaway was fined 5$.” The last entry in the notebook is dated 26 August 1896 and states, “Rep. That John Marre is running a Saloon and Dramshop. At 2738 Spring av. and has his Licenses.” Every page of the notebook, front and back, contains the day-to-day details of C. H. Richter’s work as a police officer. Entries were not recorded daily. Entries include nuisance calls, arrests, sinkholes in the road, permits for excavation, dead animals in the road, and other interesting calls.
