Alphonzo Whipple, 1842–1934

Alphonzo Whipple was born on 29 Nov 1842 in Cherry Grove, Illinois, to Rev. Lorenzo Florindine Whipple (1810–1895) and Nancy Mary (Gaston) Whipple (1814–1895). As a young man, he worked on the family farm and then enlisted in the 15th Illinois Infantry in 1861 at the start of the Civil War. He served as a private until 1864 and then worked odd jobs until May 1867, when he began reporting fires in Chicago for insurance companies. He worked in a detective firm with his cousin, Thomas Herbert Whipple (1830–1892), and Austin P. Oliver (1834–1912).

Alphonzo came to St. Louis a year later and started a fire reporting and inspection business in partnership with Mr. Oliver. A white horse, which he rode when responding to alarms, made him a conspicuous figure at St. Louis fires in those days. It was reported that Mr. Whipple attended more than 12,000 fires during his work.

On 3 Jan 1871, in St. Louis, he married Elenora Harman (1850–1919), daughter of Thomas Kennerly Harman (1816–1877) and Eliza H. (Wood) Harman (1819–1857) Alphonzo and Elenora had one daughter, Eva, who lived for five days and died in 1872.

In 1869, the firm of Whipple & Oliver added insurance surveying and the publication of insurance maps to its business. In 1871, Mr. Whipple bought out his partner’s interest, and in 1903, he retired after selling out the business, including the A. Whipple Printing Company, to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company of New York.

The Sanborn Company had started printing large-scale street maps in the mid-1860s and would go on to publish thousands of maps that showed in minute detail all the buildings and other structures on city streets throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Mr. Whipple died in St. Louis on 19 July 1934 and is buried in the Whipple plot in Bellefontaine Cemetery along with his wife Elenora and daughter Eva.

Written by Jim Bellenger
April 2025

© 2025, St. Louis Genealogical Society