James Erwin Yeatman

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18436/james-erwin-yeatman

Born in Tennessee, Yeatman moved to St. Louis in 1842 and established a branch of a Nashville iron manufacturing facility. In 1850 he opened a commission house & became one of the founders of the Merchants' Bank. Though once a slave holder, Yeatman was a strong supporter of the Union cause during the Civil War.

In 1861 he accompanied Hamilton Gamble on a visit to President Lincoln to persuade him to continue with General William Harney's conciliatory policies in St. Louis. Lincoln listened to the arguments of Frank Blair instead, and they failed in their mission. Yeatman later became president of the Western Sanitary Commission, which established hospital steamers, founded soldiers' homes, & took steps to provide relief for freedmen & former slaves.

He served as the first president of Bellefontaine Cemetery.