Name Philippina Espenshied | ||
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Philippine E. Von Overstolz (born Philippina Espenshied, May 1, 1847 – September 6, 1925) was a musician, linguist and artist from St. Louis, Missouri.
Biography
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Philippina Espenschied is of German-Spanish descent. She was the daughter of a successful Western wagon-maker, Louis Espenschied, who was the owner of Louis Espenschied Wagon Co. By the 1850s, the company was making large numbers of wagons for pioneers heading west during the great migration of 1853. During the civil war Louis received a large contract for wagons and wheels for the Union Army.
Philippina's nephew was Lloyd Espenschied, the co-creator of coax cable and inventor of the radio altimeter.
In early childhood she had a studio well equipped for the pursuit of art. At the age of 8 years old, she won medals and other awards for her pencil-drawings and several studies in oil. She continued to win premiums offered to young artists until the age of 13. She also studied singing and instrumental music. She played harp, piano, organ, violin, mandolin and banjo. She was proficient in them all.
She had an aptitude for language. Philippina also undertook the study of medicine.
She became a socialite as the wife of Mayor Henry Overstolz when they married in 1875. In her husband, she found help and encouragement in both art and literature. One of his legacies to her was a large library and a very fine collection of paintings, valued at the time at $100,000 which was widely exhibited at large fairs and exhibitions. Her husband was a member of the oldest living German family in the world, whose ancestry was direct from the Roman family name Superbus.
In her later years she was also known for her modeling.
She was the subject of the Frederick Ruckstull sculpture Evening which is currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Busts of her in bronze and marble have been made by the distinguished sculptor Ruckstuhl, and exhibited in the Paris Salon and later at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893.
She had six children with her husband Henry, who was a widower when she married him. He was the same age of her father, and died only thirteen years into their marriage in 1887. Among their children were Charles H. Overstoltz (1880-1941), Ida Overstoltz (September 26, 1878- October 6, 1961), and Lucile A. von Overstoltz (March 29,1876 – June 22, 1948), who married Maximillian Joseph Koeck. Koeck purchased a controlling interest in Cape Brewery & Ice Company, a business which was founded in 1862. Cape Brewery and Ice Company manufactured Ideal beer, which was shipped throughout southern Missouri. At the time, it was the only brewery in southern Missouri.
Philippina was later married to Dr. Otto E. Forster.