The Daniel Boone Tavern, And E.W. Stephens

CoMo 365
Written By Matt Fetterly

On January 28, 1919, a sumptuous banquet was held in the ballroom of the Daniel Boone Tavern on Broadway. The occasion was to celebrate E.W. Stephens’ 70th birthday. Stephens was the leader of the effort to erect the Daniel Boone Tavern, which opened in 1917. It is not an exaggeration to claim Edwin William Stephens is the most consequential figure in Columbia history; he is rivaled only by the earlier James S. Rollins, father of the University of Missouri. Stephens was born in Columbia January 21, 1849, to a rich and prominent family. He was the son of merchant James L. Stephens, who Stephens College is named after, and Amelia Hockaday, daughter of a powerful Fulton judge. E.W. Stephens graduated from the University of Missouri in 1867. In 1869 he bought a newspaper and began a career in journalism and book printing that would last until his retirement in 1905. The Columbia Herald newspaper and E.W. Stephens Publishing Company were covered in the first CoMo 365 entry. Stephens regularly worked at his business from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Beyond his journalism and printing career, during his lifetime he was president or chairman of over 35 organizations. A short list includes: the National Editorial Association, National Southern Baptist Convention, Missouri Press Association, University of Missouri Board of Curators, Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Stephens College Board of Curators, State Historical Society of Missouri, University of Missouri Alumni Association, Missouri YMCA, Tribune Publishing Company, and Central Baptist Publishing Company. One often overlooked project was his role as the chairman and guiding spirit of the State Capitol Commission, which was responsible for the current Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City, erected in 1917. The Centennial History of Missouri, published in 1921, described E.W. Stephens as follows:

“Edwin W. Stephens is a name known to every Columbian, to every Missourian, to many Americans, and to many of the prominent men in other nations. He has come to be known as "Columbia's foremost citizen," and well does he deserve the title bestowed on him by his hosts of friends. For about seventy years he has been identified with the growth and development of his native city and county, and perhaps to him more than to any other man or group of men may be attributed the present status of Columbia, whether viewed from the commercial, social or religious standpoint. It may be said of Mr. Stephens, without any desire to offer fulsome flattery, that he has been more of an institution than a man in all matters pertaining to the welfare of that part of Missouri in which he was born.”

On January 28, 1919, a large number of friends entertained Mr. Stephens at a sumptuous banquet, the occasion being the seventieth anniversary of his birthday. The guests were not limited to Columbians but came from all parts of the state. The dinner was held in the ball room of the Daniel Boone Tavern, a hotel for whose erection Mr. Stephens is largely responsible. The menu itself was reminiscent of the Missouri of seventy years ago, with its roast turkey, baked sweet potatoes, cornmeal mush and corn pones. It made some of the guests regret that they had not lived before the day of Herbert Hoover. Many earnest, eloquent and sincere tributes to the guest of the evening were voiced by several of his old friends, with whom he had been associated in some instances almost from boyhood. His worth as a citizen was paid tribute to in felicitous terms, and his many noble qualities of character had ample Justice done them by those best fitted to speak from experience.”

E.W. Stephens toured the world in 1907 and 1908, an account was published as a book called Around The World in 1909. He was never a candidate for any political office and had ten children. He taught a 200 person Sunday School class for almost thirty years. He died in 1931. Two sons, Hugh Stephens and E. Sydney Stephens would become prominent in their own right. Hugh ran the Hugh Stephens Press in Jefferson City and the house he built is now the Lincoln University president’s mansion. He served, like his father, in many civil endeavors including St. Mary’s Hospital and the State Highway Commission. E. Sydney Stephens stayed in Columbia, and as the first chairman and author of its establishing constitutional amendment, is considered the founder of the Missouri Conservation Department. E. Sydney Stephens Hall on MU’s White Campus is named after him.

The Daniel Boone Tavern, Part of Columbia City Hall

From Wikimedia Commons taken by Grey Wanderer in 2013

The Daniel Boone Tavern was renamed the Daniel Boone Hotel in 1940. In 1972, the building was purchased jointly by the City of Columbia and Boone County after serving for over fifty years as the unofficial guest house and meeting place for city, county, and civil organizations. It has served as Columbia’s City Hall, replacing the Columbia Municipal Building across the street. The Daniel Boone Tavern/City Hall doubled in size with a large expansion in 2011, which restored many features of the original building, including its red brick color. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 as a contributing property to the Downtown Columbia National Historic District. The registration form, prepared by Deb Sheals, describes it as follows:

“Designed by A. N. Torbitt in 1917, this building was built as a grand hotel, and it served as such into the 1970s. It has housed city and county offices since the late 1970s. It is a five story hotel with a flat roof, and brick walls that have been painted brown. The building has restrained Craftsman styling, with stepped parapets and simple rectilinear limestone ornamentation. The ground floor is filled with large arched window openings that are edged with irregularly shaped flat limestone panels. The same type of trim is used around window openings on the upper floors, in a more subdued manner. Simple stone cornices run along the upper edge of the building and at the top of the first floor line. A trio of stone arches marks the front entranceway, which is sheltered by a newer flat metal canopy. The words DANIEL BOONE TAVERN are carved into a limestone band that runs above the entrance bays. Some of the upper floor window openings have been bricked-in and all doors and windows are newer. The original form and patterns of fenestration remain, however, and the large building is immediately recognizable to its period of significance.”

This CoMo 365 blog entry was constructed by Matt Fetterly using these sources:

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Matt Fetterly
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