David R. Francis

Biography

David R. Francis, born in 1850, served Missouri with a steady hand, rising from local leadership to the governorship where he championed educational and infrastructure investments and guided the city through the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, celebrating the region's ingenuity.

He later represented the United States abroad as Ambassador to Russia, offering calm diplomacy in turbulent years, and remained a generous patron of civic institutions whose legacy is remembered in the trust he fostered between neighbors and nations.