We know the history of Joseph Robidoux. He’s the one who had the first trading post in the area that now bears his name — St. Joseph.

But who opened the second store?

Albe Saxton and Elias H. Perry.

Not ringing a bell?

Maybe it’s because the No. 2s tend to be forgotten amid No. 1s’ glory.

At the same time, No. 2s deserve some time in the spotlight.

Mr. Saxton’s St. Joseph descendents wonder why Albe Saxton doesn’t have the local household name status of Joseph Robidoux.

“Albe was right there with Robidoux,” said Jan Saxton, Guy Saxton’s wife. Albe Saxton was Guy’s father’s great-uncle.

Albe, also known as “A.M.,” went on to be one of the most successful and influential local people of his time.

Perhaps he deserves a closer look.

Mr. Saxton actually had a first mixed in with his second. While his store that opened in 1843 was the second area business, it was the first directed at trading with the new, white settlers. Mr. Robidoux was already in the business of trading with the Indians and he gave this second store his blessing.

With no boarding house or hotel in the community of about 200, Mr. Saxton and his business partner lived in the back rooms of their store and slept on a counter at night.

Wanda Saxton, Guy Saxton’s sister, might be 95, but she knows her Albe Saxton facts.

“He came to St. Joe with 85 cents in his pocket,” she said.

The Ohio native was in St. Louis when he decided to head for the Blacksnake Hills — present-day St. Joseph — to trade.

After his first store, he helped start what became the most extensive local wholesale business at the time before moving into banking, building the largest bank and most beautiful building in town — Saxton National Bank.

Locals thought of him as the “People’s Friend,” generous and kind.

He’d buy land cheap and turn around profits. He built and owned a good portion of the city and built steamboat traffic lines.

A stone lion southeast of St. Joseph currently marks his former property. Two carved lions flanked the entrance to his house as well as his bank. Vandals ruined one of the two lions at his former residence.

Near his home sat Saxton, Mo. — a town named after him. It is no longer considered a city, town or village by the Buchanan County Clerk’s Office, though it is still marked on some maps.

His legacy is one that even many No. 1s could aim to achieve.

“The History of Buchanan County” says this of Mr. Saxton: “His business career has been an enviable one, confining himself to regular transactions. Speculations have never tempted him. He has always aimed to be safe and cautious, deeming it the greatest credit which any business man can claim to go through life without failure.”

Nancy Hull can be reached at nancyhull@npgco.com.