1877’s ‘Great Upheaval’ impacts Hannibal’s rails

Stephen Emmerton lived in south Hannibal from pre-1860 until the early 1880s. He worked as a porter for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. Photo shared by Gale Cottrell, who identifies Mr. Emmerton as her three-time great-grandfather. Reprinted with permission.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

The dawn of 1877 found Stephen Emmerton and two of his sons, Edward and Walter, working for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. All three made their homes in South Hannibal, in the vicinity of the rail yards.

Stephen Emmerton, 60, (born circa 1817) a porter, resided on the north side of Washington, west of Second (Main), South Hannibal. (Later numbered 210 Washington.)

Edward Emmerton, 34, (born circa 1843) was a blacksmith for the railroad. He lived with his family on the west side of Walnut south of Twelfth Street. (Later numbered 1116 Walnut.)

Walter Emmerton, 20, (born circa 1857) was a bachelor, working as a bolt cutter and residing with his widowed father on the north side of Washington, west of Second (Main).

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad - the first rails to cross the state of Missouri - was completed in 1857. During its formative years - leading up to and during the Civil War - had weathered the hostilities associated with the war.

‘Great Upheaval’

In the two decades of expansion following the completion of the H&St. Joe route across Missouri, a web of interconnecting rails criss-crossed the expanding country. This nation’s manufacturing and business climate became reliant upon the movement of people and freight across those tracks.

Then, in the summer of 1877, America’s railroads faced a new challenge. Rail employees, charged with transporting the passengers and freight along the tracks of this expanding nation, grew frustrated.

A strike ensued, and actions that followed became known as the “Great Upheaval.”

Wikipedia explains: “The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, W.V., after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cut wages for the third time in a year. It was the first strike that spread across multiple states in the U.S. The strike ended 52 days later, after it was put down by unofficial militias, the National Guard, and federal troops. Because of economic problems and pressure on wages by the railroads, workers in numerous other states, from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois and Missouri, also went on strike.”

During the strike, the rail system slowed to a crawl, negatively impacting the country’s economic condition.

Hannibal was not unaffected.

The Quincy Weekly Whig reported on July 26, 1877, that the Hannibal & St. Joe employees went out on strike at all points along the Missouri line. All freight trains on the road would continue to their destinations, but no new trains would be sent out from either end of the line. Therefore, the railroads would not be accepting any parcels for shipment. Passenger trains were not expected to be affected by the strike along this route.

One iconic business segment affected by the strike was that of circuses, which depended upon the rails to move from town to town. “Barnum’s and Forepaugh’s concerns were unable to move from near Chicago for a week, and their losses were very heavy,” the Hannibal Courier-Post reported on Aug. 22, 1877, nearly a month into the 52-day strike. “Other establishments were almost ruined.”

(Despite the strike, P.T. Barnum’s “Greatest Show on Earth” arrived by train at Quincy, Ill., for a performance on Aug. 28, 1877. The Daily Quincy Herald of that date reported: “Early this morning, Barnum’s long heralded, and immense combination, reached here via the Wabash Road.”)

Emmerton family

Stephen Emmerton was born Feb. 9, 1817, in Hillingdon, greater London, England, immigrating to the United States with his wife, Clara, and their children, circa 1852.

After a few years working in the east, by 1860, Stephen Emmerton had resettled his family in Hannibal. The family patriarch went to work as a porter for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, and at first they made their home near the railroad’s general offices, located at First and Washington streets. (First Street was one block to the east of what is now South Main Street. See the accompanying map.)

In the mid 1870s, Stephen and his son Walter Emmerton were living in a single-story, frame house on a lot which would later be numbered 210 Washington St., OT. Block 107.

Family member data for Stephen Emmerton’s children, as culled from various genealogy data bases:

Edwin (Edward), born circa 1843, in England; died in 1910;

Francis C. (Frank), 1846, in England; died in 1918.

Clara, 1948-1892, born in England; died in 1892 at Springfield, Mo.

Priscilla, 1850-1931, born in England; and died in St. Louis. She was married to Robert J. Melville in 1870.

Celia, 1852-1918, born in England. Married to Edgar Franklin Crawford (1849-1889). She later married Michael Cornelius Costello. 

Walter, born circa 1857 in Ontario, Canada.

The Emmerton family moved to Hannibal when Walter was 3. Walter was married to Rosa Schmidt on Jan. 26, 1882, in Hannibal, Mo., and soon thereafter he and his wife moved to Dubuque, Iowa. In 1895, Stephen Emmerton was living with his son Walter’s family (Rosa, George and Henry Emmerton) in Ellis County, Kan. The Arkansas City Traveler, in Kansas, carried the notice of Stephen Emmerton’s death in its Aug. 24, 1899, edition. He was 83.

Walter and his wife relocated to Nevada, Mo., circa 1911, where they lived out their lives.

‘Grand blow out’

Hannibal Daily Clipper, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 1875:

“Stephen Emerton (stet), the old and trusty porter of the H&St. Joe railroad company, had a grand blow out at his residence in South Hannibal last night. One of the principal features of the affair was a cane presentation, the gift of his friends in the land department of the H&St. Joe road. The family was also treated to a serenade during the evening, and dancing was also indulged in to an unlimited extent. There were present at the party a large number of railroad men and ladies, together with such relatives of Mr. E. as could find it convenient to attend.”

(The Emmerton family was in Hannibal by 1860, according to the census, and the 1866 Hannibal City Directory describes Stephen Emmerton as an “Old porter at General Office H&St. RR.”)

Stephen Emmerton lived in south Hannibal from pre-1860 until the early 1880s. He worked as a porter for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. Photo shared by Gale Cottrell, who identifies Mr. Emmerton as her three-time great-grandfather. Reprinted with permission.

Mary Lou Montgomery, Suburban Newspapers of America Editor of the Year, Dailies, 2010, retired as editor of the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post in 2014. She researches and writes narrative-style stories about the people who served as building blocks for this region’s foundation. Books available on Amazon.com by this author include but are not limited to: "The Notorious Madam Shaw," "Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri,” “Hannibal’s ‘West End,’” “Oakwood: West of Hannibal,”  and “St. Mary’s Avenue District.” Montgomery can be reached at Montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com