They made their money from selling stocks and took the train west to St. Louis to invest it inland.

His Missouri estate was managed by several corrupt lawyers, who stole much of the money from the sale of the lots at Vandeventer Place.

His family remained in St. Louis for some time after his death, living in Vandeventer Place in a large mansion.

Vandeventer Place met with its demise in 1947, when the eastern half was demolished for the Veterans' Administration's new hospital.

The western portion was demolished about ten years later, when the City acquired it as the site for a children's detention home.