An oil portrait of the late Thomas M. Sayman of St. Louis, benefactor of Roaring River State Park near Cassville was presented to the Missouri State Park Board by his daughter in a ceremony Saturday at the park office. Lady Peter Smithers of Lugano, Switzerland, the former Dojean Sayman Lane, made the presentation to Joe R. Ellis, Cassville attorney and member of the State Park Board. Sayman, multi-millionaire soap manufacturer and philanthropist, donated 2,400 acres in Barry County, including Roaring River Spring, to the state for a park in 1928. The park has since been expanded to 3,459 acres. The portrait was commissioned by his widow, Mrs. Luella Sayman of St. Louis in 1952, and painted by Mrs. Martin (Aimee) Schweig, a St. Louis artist. Mrs. Say-man, a well-known St. Louis civic leader, died February 17 at age 97. She wanted the portrait to be given to the park after her death, according to Lady Smithers. Lady Smithers was accompanied to the park by her son, Army Maj. C. Dennison Lane, and Mrs. Lane. Sayman was born September 25, 1853, in Richmond, Indiana. As a young man he toured with circus impresario P. T. Barnum, and later was involved in vaudeville He studied medicine, and developed a successful soap products company, the T. M. Sayman Products Co., in Carthage. The offices were moved to St. Louis in 1894. Sayman purchased Roaring River from a Kansas City financial institution during a public auction on the Barry County Court House steps. The property had been owned by the Bruner family. Reported purchase price was in excess of $100,000. The late Mr. Sayman also contributed the balcony to the old Cassville city hall building, which is now the Hall Theatre building. An inscription on the front of the balcony was removed several years ago when a remodeling project was completed. There is considerable history behind Mr. Sayman and his visits here. He was considered to be a man with considerable temper. He reportedly carried a pistol with him virtually everywhere he went. Sayman died at his St. Louis home on September 6, 1937, at age 83. His widow managed the company as vice president from 1937 until 1968, when the company was dissolved. Mrs. Sayman was the first woman chairwoman of the St, Louis Salvation Army board of directors and the Pilgrim Congregational Church board. of trustees. She was designated the 1956 Woman of the Year by the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and in 1962 was named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth lI. Lady Smithers is the wife of Sir Peter Smithers, retired British foreign service officer and former secretary general of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg France.
