Ellis Wainwright (August 3, 1850 – November 6, 1924) was an American
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
,
brewer
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...
, art collector and socialite from
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. He was President of the
St. Louis Brewing Company and Director of the
St. Louis and Suburban Company.
He is best known for the
Wainwright Building
The Wainwright Building (also known as the Wainwright State Office Building) is a 10-story, terra cotta office building at 709 Chestnut Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building is considered to be one of the first aesthe ...
in downtown St. Louis, which was one of the first skyscrapers in the world and one of the most important office buildings of the period.
Biography
Wainwright was born on August 3, 1850, and although the family hailed from
Godfrey, Illinois
Godfrey is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,825 at the 2020 census. Godfrey is located within the River Bend portion of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area.
History
The village is named for Captai ...
, he grew up in nearby St. Louis, where he also spent much of his adult life.
The son of a prominent brewer and building contractor, an English immigrant Samuel Wainwright and his wife Catherine Dorothy, Wainwright was an important figure in railway development in the region.
In 1889, he consolidated his father's Wainwright Brewery Company (in which Samuel Wainwright had successfully doubled the profits)
with a brewing syndicate and established the St. Louis Brewing Association.

Wainwright visited Europe in the summer of 1890. Meanwhile his plans for the
Wainwright Building
The Wainwright Building (also known as the Wainwright State Office Building) is a 10-story, terra cotta office building at 709 Chestnut Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building is considered to be one of the first aesthe ...
, named in his honor,
and designed by
Dankmar Adler
Dankmar Adler (July 3, 1844 – April 16, 1900) was a German-born American architect and civil engineer. He is best known for his fifteen-year partnership with Louis Sullivan, during which they designed influential skyscrapers that boldly addr ...
and
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...
were put into effect. It was to be built on the corner of Seventh and Chestnut streets in downtown St. Louis on a plot of land which had been purchased by his mother Catherine.
On November 7, 1890, a drawing by
Charles K. Ramsey of how the building would look appeared in the ''
Globe-Democrat''.
It was a nine- or ten-storey red-terracotta
cuboid
In geometry, a cuboid is a hexahedron with quadrilateral faces, meaning it is a polyhedron with six Face (geometry), faces; it has eight Vertex (geometry), vertices and twelve Edge (geometry), edges. A ''rectangular cuboid'' (sometimes also calle ...
structure, being 114 feet by 127 feet, and held 225 offices when completed in 1892.
On November 11, 1890, Sullivan received planning permission to build the office building which would cost over £500,000 (US$ in dollars).
The building was among the first
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
s in the world and is described as "a highly influential prototype of the modern office building" by the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
Architect
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
called the Wainwright Building "the very first human expression of a tall steel office-building as Architecture."
Before the building was completed, Wainwright's wife
Charlotte died of
peritonitis
Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and covering of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One pa ...
, aged just 34.
Wainwright commissioned Louis Sullivan to erect the great
Wainwright Tomb for her within the
Bellefontaine Cemetery
Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine has several architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the Louis Su ...
, in which his parents and he would also later be buried.
In 1902, Wainwright was indicted for conspiracy to bribe members of the state legislature in the Suburban Railway
boodle
Boodle is a slang term for money derived from the Dutch word 'boedel' meaning property or estate. Afrikaans inherited the word and its meaning from the Dutch, which probably accounts for its widespread use for money amongst English-speaking Sou ...
scandal and subsequently became a fugitive in Paris.
He was said to have co-signed a $75,000 bank loan for the bribe money.
In 1904, his name appeared in ''
The Shame of the Cities
''The Shame of the Cities'' is a book written by American author Lincoln Steffens. Published in 1904, it is a collection of articles which Steffens had written for McClure's, ''McClure’s Magazine''. It reports on the workings of corrupt Politic ...
'', a
muckraking
The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...
exposé by
Lincoln Steffens
Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...
which gave details of Wainwright's shady dealings and other public corruption within the United States.
Death

After over 20 years in Paris, with health failing, Wainwright returned to St. Louis and died on November 6, 1924.
He is buried in the
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...
-designed
Wainwright Tomb in
Bellefontaine Cemetery
Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine has several architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the Louis Su ...
, commissioned by Wainwright after the death of his wife;
it was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on June 15, 1970 and became a
St. Louis Landmark in 1971.
Like several other grand tombs within the cemetery, the tomb has been described as "over-the-top" and either "reflecting the atmosphere of the times", or revealing that "ego prevails regardless of the time frame" and that "wealthy businessmen and families attempted to remain as large in death as they were in life".
The tomb is a domed cubic building with walls of concrete covered in limestone on the exterior. On the northeast (front) side of the tomb is the entrance with a double-leafed bronze grill and double-doors. The sides of the tomb each have windows, also covered in bronze grills. The interior of the tomb has two burial slabs and a
mosaic
A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
floor and ceiling. The Wainwright Tomb has been described as "the most sensitive and the most graceful of Sullivan's tombs" and as "one of Sullivan's masterpieces."
[National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.] After Wainwright's death, an endowment was established that provided for the reconstruction or renovation of the tomb in case of earthquake or vandalism.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Ellis
1850 births
1924 deaths
American brewers
People from Godfrey, Illinois
Businesspeople from St. Louis
American art collectors
American socialites
American people of English descent
American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts
Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery