Samuel M. Nave

Samuel Miller Nave was born at Savannah, Missouri, on February 14, 1849, the son of Abram and Lucy McCord Nave. He was brought to St. Joseph by his parents in 1859 so he attended the schools of Savannah and St. Joseph. He then studied at Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia, and at Princeton University, where he graduated with distinction in 1871.

He then returned to St. Joseph and devoted himself to the wholesale business of Nave & McCord. He became vice-president of the Nave-McCord Mercantile Company.

In 1877 he married Minnie Holliday of St. Louis, whose family had come from Kentucky. They had two children, Lucile, who married Irving Brokaw of New York City; and Samuel Fritz, who married three times: Ruth Addy of Cincinnati in 1903, Clara Carpenter of of Cincinnati in 1910, and Louise Ladew Williams of New York in 1915. In 1890 the beautiful home on the northwest corner of Twenty-second and Clay Streets was built-E. J. Eckel the architect.

Mr. Nave was one of the leading businessmen of St. Joseph. While his primary interest was in the Nave-McCord wholesale business, he was also president of other wholesale businesses in Kansas and Indian territory (later Oklahoma). He was vice-president of the Nave & McCord Cattle Company, having ranches in the panhandle of Texas. He was secretary of the Henry Krug Packing Company and president of the Abram Nave Investment Company. He was at the time one of the wealthiest men of St. Joseph, described as a capitalist. He was one of the organizers of Tootle, Lemon & Company, Bankers, in 1889 and sold his interest in 1900. He was a director of The National Bank of St. Joseph. During the term of office of Governor David R. Francis, 1888-1892, Mr. Nave served as president of the Board of Police Commissioners of St. Joseph.

When Mr. Nave died on April 10, 1901, the press reported: "He was generally considered one of the ablest businessmen in this part of the country. He had a wide acquaintance among the heads of the great mercantile houses of the United States.