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form of religious pursuit, the family prayer.
In other words, the inspiration for leading a
life guided by the Bible, is for the most part,
now found only in the Sunday School…
HIS ASSOCIATIONS TEND TO
PRESERVE YOUTH
…[According to Sloan], ‘Association
with the younger, as mine in teaching the
Bible to younger persons, has its own effect.
It tends to preserve youth and to keep one
from permitting his mind from losing its
elasticity. …So, even though I have been
active in this form sixty-five years, why
should I slacken, especially when I still
enjoy it. No, I know of no reason why I
should quit now.’
21
William Sloan’s last comment is
confusing, for eight months later,
he apparently broke all association
with Kingdom House and the Church
Extension Society. At a special meeting
held April 11, 1932 the minutes of the
St. Louis Church Extension Society
state “The Presiding Elder read a letter
from the President of the Society
which it appeared that Brother Sloan
is removing from our city, and Doctor
Brown explained that the Vice-
President, Mr. S.H. Radford, would act
as President pro tem until the end of the
current Conference year.”
22
At the time
of Sloan’s death, his listed address was
Clayton, Missouri.
It is not clear why the Extension
Society minutes give a nonchalant
goodbye to the founder of Kingdom
House and fail to mention anything
related to his “departure.” William
Moffatt Sloan died on February 2, 1934,
less than two years after his resignation.
Nothing was mentioned, nor any
newspaper clipping saved, in any of
the surviving Kingdom House records.
It is possible that the Women’s Board
memorialized Sloan, but the minutes in
which that would have been recorded
are missing. The
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
and the
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
featured identical obituaries on
February 3, 1934:
FORMER TREASURER OF
SHOE CO. DIES
William M. Sloan of McElroy-Sloan
Succumbs at 70
William M. Sloan, former treasurer
and merchandising manager of the Mc-
Elroy-Sloan Shoe Company died yesterday
at Barnes Hospital. He had been in the
hospital for four weeks, suffering from
arteriosclerosis. He was 70.
Born in Mississippi, Mr. Sloan came to
St. Louis in 1885, beginning his business
career here as a salesman for the Hamilton-
Brown Shoe Company. He later became
a vice-president of that firm. In 1914 the
firm of McElroy-Sloan was organized.
He remained active in the business until
recently. He resided at 19 Lee avenue,
Clayton.
35
C
hapter
T
wo
:
‘F
orgetting
O
ne
’
s
S
elf
in
S
ervice
to
H
umanity
’ (1928 – 1955)
‘I
t has
always
seemed
to me
that
religion
has
a
very
practical
side
to
it
.”
– W
illiam
S
loan
P
hoto
:
A:
Girls Group
A