It was a pleasure to give an account of my younger years in The Great City of East St. Louis.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, my father, Frank Maule, then a Supervisor in one of three coal mines owned by his father, John Maule, of the Belleville area...decided to leave the mines and moved to East. St. Louis with his wife and eight children.

He had a huge barn constructed at the rear of our house, with ten stalls for his horses, and separated areas for harnesses and hitching gear; straw and shavings for bedding in the stalls. The second story was used for hay and oat storage, and had a cupola for air circulation. He used to rise at 4:30 A.M. to feed and water the horses before they were hitched to the wagons at 7:00 A.M. when the drivers arrived to start work.

I was the first baby born in E. St. Louis, on March 10, 1903. They later added 2 more making eleven in all. I must add a few words for my mother ... having eleven children and tending to them. She was small in stature, but mighty, with a will made of steel. She cooked 3 meals a day; baked bread twice a week and made pies and cakes on Saturday; did all her canning, and kept chickens, so we would have fresh eggs. She made all the girls clothing at night after we were all in bed. She was always home for us when we came home from school. Our entertainment was an up-right piano which most of us could play. Her greatest quality was keeping law and order in our home.

The people were thrifty and self-sufficient in providing for their families.

We boasted of having two large steel Bridges, that spanned the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Mo. namely; the Veterans and Free Bridge (as first named).

There was the Oliver Parks Air College for training pilots, with a spacious landing field. It was suggested many times to convert it to an East St. Louis Airport - but - St. Louis fought it with tooth and toenail to prevent it. We had 3 banks, 2 telephone exchanges; Bell and Kinlock; 2 ice plants and the Highland Dairy Ice Cream Co. We had blacksmiths for the horse and buggy owners and also for horses used in a business.

Large lumber yards; hardware stores and a brick mfg. co. for needs of building houses and business industries.

We had two parks; Jones and Lake Park (name being changed several times, not sure what its final title was). Jones Park featured summer athletics, with a large Grand Stand for viewing the track area; it had baseball diamonds, tennis courts (where the Tennis Great - Jimmy Connors, a native son, learned to master the game). There was a sand beach swimming pool with bathhouses, and a hot dog stand at the entrance of the bathhouses (UM ... yummy good); there were tables, grills, rest rooms; the ideal spot for the June school picnics and family outings.

The Lake Park featured boating, fishing, a golf course, a bridle path for horseback riding, a camp-site with tables, grills, rest rooms, and they furnished fire logs for camp fires. It also had a large restaurant.

We had two hospitals - St. Mary's and Christian Welfare. As the town expanded, street cars were put into service; then later were converted to the City Bus Lines, that served all outlying areas.

Our school system was 2nd to none, plus the Parochial schools, Summer's Business College, a College of Beauty Culture, and numerous other training schools.

Two major theaters, Majestic and Lyric Vaudeville Show, in the downtown area-with several neighborhood shows. A new modern race track, the Cahokia Downs.

Our city government consisted of a Mayor, four city commissioners (Ed's father was one); who directed health care, street improvement, sewers, water system, parks, police station with patrol officers for public protection, numerous fire department houses for fire control etc.

Churches of all denominations; Knight's of Columbus Bldg.; the Shriners Ainad Temple, the Masonic Lodge, Elks Club and others.

Five undertakers; M. Walsh was first to open; Burke' s, Kurrus, Barnes, Brichler's and later ones.

Our major Holiday celebration was the 'Labor Day Parade', the whole town turned out for this occasion; the parade was composed of floats, Union marchers and business men, with bands and everything that made it a parade to remember.

The merchants threw out souvenirs advertising their wares; we threw out ice-picks with his name on the handle, to the crowds of people that lined both sides of the street for blocks, and waving the American Flag. The people in those days were very patriotic. At his era, coal and ice were a necessity for heat and refrigeration.

On Sept. 22, 1925, I married Robert E. McGlynn, a partner in the law firm of McGlynn & McGlynn, founded by his father Dan McGlynn, Sr. also brothers Joe and Dan, Jr. Their offices were located on Main St. across from the City Hall, police station and city jail.

We had three sons; Robert E. Jr., James B. and Daniel G. McGlynn. Grandpa McGlynn built us a lovely 3-story brickhouse on Alhambra Court, a new subdivision ... with the new St. Patrick's Church and School just around the corner, where we attended Mass and the boys went to school.

In the early 30's the Downtown Business Merchants sponsored a contest to find the loveliest Mother of E. St. Louis. The Zahn Photo Studio called and asked me to pose for a picture to enter in the contest. I was humbly proud to win first place, and received my award on the stage of the Majestic Theater; and received many lovely gifts from all the merchants involved. East St. Louis was good to me in many ways.

In 1940 the boys father died due to an accident. The boys were sent to Campion High School, operated by the Jesuits, in Prairie Du Chien, Wis.

I went to work as librarian at the Public Library; and later I was appointed by Mr. M. E. Bruce, Supt. of Public Schools, to be the first Director of Audio-Visual Education system, which I organized and set up a program to show the films as a training aid. Teachers were most interested in the help it offered the slower pupils.

In 1945 1 married Noel Spannagel, Chief Electrical Eng. for the Famous-Barr Co. in St. Louis, Mo. He was the newly elected Potantate of Ainad Temple; being very civic minded, he served on both the Park Board and School Board. In 1948, we bought a house in the rural area of Belleville where I still live, he died in 1968.

A big event celebrating the East St. Louis Centennial in 1961, lasted a week, with great rejoicing. The men grew beards and wore suits with fancy vests and top hats; the women dressed in long full skirts and merry widow hats with veils; also the Gay 90 outfits. A Queen was crowned at a big event at the Race Track; Noel acting as Master of Ceremonies.

My son Daniel resides with me and is assistant manager at the Driver's License Station of Belleville.

My sons Robert and Jarnes received their law degrees at the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind., and now operate the law firm of McGlynn & McGlynn, along with Bob's sons Michael and Stephen McGlynn, located at 6500 W. Main St., where their offices are in the Arcade.

I am now 87 years of age and enjoy doing oil painting, sewing, etc. I have two lovely daughters-in-law, Margaret and Marlene; 10 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren. I was blessed being born in East St. Louis, and cherish my many dear friends and families that I loved so dearly.

                                                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                                        Dorothy McGlynn Spannagel.

Dear Dorothy: