David Rowland Francis (1850-1927)- As a young man he came to St. Louis from Kentucky and as one of the early graduates of Washington University.  He was elected Mayor of St. Louis in 1885, Governor of the State in 1889 and appointed Secretary of the Interior by president Cleveland in 1896. As President of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, he saw the St. Louis World’s Fair through its triumphal year.  In 1916, President Wilson appointed him Ambassador to Imperial Russia where he served until the Bolshevik Revolution forced out all diplomats.  He never fully recovered from the exposures he underwent in making his way back to the United States.