James E. Yeatman

His father, Thomas Yeatman, was a banker and iron foundry owner in Nashville, Tennessee.

His mother was Jane Patton Erwin who, after Thomas Yeatman's death, married politician John Bell.

He also served as the library’s first president and founded the Missouri Institute for the Education of the Blind after being inspired by teacher Eli W. Whelan.

In 1872 Yeatman donated property to the Catholic Church for an orphanage to serve those left behind after a cholera epidemic.

Yeatman met with Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C. to help counsel his dealings with Nebraska and Nathaniel Lyon.