Missouri Botanical Garden - Welcome to My Garden

Stop inside Tower Grove House, piano

Shortly before the Missouri Botanical Garden opened, founder Henry Shaw had to deal with a very personal, yet very public matter.

Shaw never married, despite the attempts of several acquaintances to find him a suitable mate. However, he maintained friendly correspondences with several ladies over the course of his lifetime, most notably a young woman named Effie Carstang.

Shaw loaned money to Carstang twice. He also rented a piano to her for one dollar a month, with the agreement that it would eventually be returned. Instead, in July 1858, Carstang sued Shaw for breach of the promise of marriage, seeking a staggering $100,000 in damages.

Shaw denied the claim, but after a stirring and nationally-publicized trial, Effie Carstang won unanimously. The New York Illustrated News called the verdict “the largest sum ever awarded in this country in such an action.” However, the court agreed to an appeal, and eventually reversed the earlier decision. Shaw had spent more than $15,000 in court costs, but kept his $100,000 fortune. He refocused his attention once again on the Missouri Botanical Garden, which had officially opened its doors to the public by the end of the trial.

Stop at Tower Grove House

Tower Grove House is the country home of the Garden’s founder, Henry Shaw. Shaw opened the Garden around his country home in 1859 and oversaw its first 30 years. After 100 years of use as a private home, school, dormitory, and office building, the Tower Grove House underwent meticulous renovation. Furniture and materials once belonging to Shaw were located and returned. It opened to the public in 1953.

Tower Grove House was rededicated on October 29, 2005 after another period of extensive restoration. The house has been restored to reflect how it looked when Shaw resided here. Today, staff and volunteers encourage visitors to take a step back in time and experience the country home of Henry Shaw. Many of the 19th century furnishings belonged to Shaw; others are of the same era. Timelines help visitors discover how Tower Grove House was used after 1889. Voices from the past tell stories of those who helped build Shaw’s Garden.

The Garden has grown over the last 150 years. Come inside and see where it all began.