1905-06: Roderick builds flurry of affordable houses

Thomas and Lee Etta Moyer purchased this frame home on Georgia Street in Hannibal soon after its completion in 1906. It was one of a dozen or more houses commissioned in the neighborhood by S.F. Roderick, in order to help resolve a housing shortage in Hannibal. The Moyers raised five children to adulthood in their the two-bedroom, one-bath house that they purchased, where they continued to live until Mr. Moyer’s death in 1946. According to a newspaper account, they paid $1,000 for the house. (It appears that an extension has been added at the rear of the house; date unknown.) Photo by Meryle Martin Dexheimer.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

In early November 1905, S.F. Roderick purchased four acres of land abutting Pleasant Street, located north of what is now known as Mark Twain Avenue. He bought the land from William A. Dickason, and subsequently subdivided at least part of the land into what would become Roderick Subdivision.

The Dec. 2, 1905 edition of the Hannibal Courier explained: “This is a step in the solving of Hannibal’s most important problem. The city has long been lacking in homes of four and five and six rooms that will rent for a sum netting the landlord a decent interest upon his investment and at the same time allow the man of moderate income to live without using up all his salary in payment for a house.”

Roderick, who during his lifespan served three terms at mayor of Hannibal, was setting an example for other investors, hoping they would follow his lead in building much-needed four- and five-room houses that could be either rented to a working family men, or purchased on time payments.

The Hannibal Morning Journal, published July 28, 1906, elaborated:

“There is still a great demand for small tenement houses in Hannibal, to accommodate the working men. The houses most in demand are such as may be rented from $8 to $15 per month - houses containing from four to six rooms. As an evidence of the demand for such houses it is only necessary to state that last fall and winter Mr. S.F. Roderick had built 14 tenement houses, twelve of which contained four rooms each and two of them five rooms each. He built these houses for rent or sale and every one of them was rented long before they were completed. He rented them at a reasonable price and gave the tenants the privilege of buying them on monthly payments. As a result he has sold all of them but one and has made good profits on the investment. The Journal understands that he sold most of them on monthly payments of $12 and thus enabled the purchasers to secure comfortable homes by simply paying rent. Having been so successful in selling the houses it is quite probable that he will build several more this fall.”

Under contract

Roderick contracted with J.H. Huss for the pouring of 15 concrete foundations in this subdivision, and on Nov. 22, 1905, the work began in earnest. 

Huss was a leader in concrete (granitoid) work during that time frame.

In September 1905, Huss supervised the reconstruction of the Hannibal Water Company’s reservoir. That same month,  Huss purchased a finely equipped concrete block making machine.

In November 1905, Huss had a crew laying walks about the new Mark Twain Hotel on South Main Street. Also that month, Huss completed the foundation for the new gas reservoir.

The Hannibal Courier-Post reported on the construction of homes by Mr. Roderick: “(Huss) has a large force of men at work and will push the mater as rapidly as possible, in order to complete the job before cold weather sets in. The work on the dwellings will be begun at once and pushed to rapid completion.”

Once the foundations were in place, in early December 1905 Roderick let the contract for the erection of 13 houses, with work to be completed by H.A. Riemann.

Riemann, among Hannibal’s leading builders, had offices at 805 Broadway. In September 1905, he won the contract for construction of an eight-room dwelling for Mrs. John H. (Dora) Rogers at 117 N. Ninth St. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers previously operated a saloon together at 326 N. Main.

Georgia Street

A main north/south road in this subdivision was named Georgia, in honor of Mr. Roderick's daughter, Georgia Verne Roderick, (1872-1941), who was married to Leslie Edmondson Bibb in July 1898 at Lee County, Iowa.

The Hannibal Morning Journal reported in its April 20, 1906 edition, that four of the houses built on Georgia Street had been sold. The buyers who were named included: Thomas and Lee Etta Moyer, (address, 101 Georgia) Benjamin Spalding, Henry Miller and Amanda E. Tanhave.

The Moyers’ house, for which they paid $1,000, was located on the northwest corner of Pleasant and Georgia. (In 1912, the street number was changed to 901.) Mr. and Mrs. Moyers continued to live in this house until Mr. Moyer’s death in 1946.

Tragically, Mr. and Mrs. Moyers - married Jan. 23, 1900 - would in turn host funerals for two of their young children at this house:

Joseph Marion Moyer died at the age of 3 1/2 in September 1908; and

Clara Frances Moyer, died at the age of 5 months in March 1915.

Children raised in this house to adulthood:

Beatrice Dee Moyer Long, 1911-1982;

Martha Gertrude Moyer Dotson, 1903-1960;

Lillian M. Moyer Withrow, 1902-1994;

Emily M. Moyer Steelman, 1907-2000; and

Josephine Moyer Fletcher, 1909-2003.

Thomas Moyer was employed in the Burlington Railroad’s blacksmith shops for 38 years, preceding 1922. He later worked for the cement plant. In 1937, the Hannibal city directory listed him as caretaker for the city park.

He was featured in the Hannibal Courier-Post circa 1939, at the estimated age of 80, for his believed status as the first person to ride a bicycle across the newly opened Mark Twain Memorial Bridge and back. He purchased that bicycle in 1899, and had been riding it about town ever since. (The newspaper clipping is posted on Ancestry.com, public member photos.)

Mr. Moyer died in 1946. His wife, Lee Etta, died in 1951. They are buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Thomas, left, and Lee Etta Moyer. Photo contributed to Ancestry.com, reprinted with permission.

This is a newspaper clipping posted on Ancestry.com, public member photos. In the photo is Thomas Moyer (1859-1946) who was believed to be the first person to ride a bicycle back and forth across the new Mark Twain Memorial Bridge. The bridge was dedicated on Sept. 4, 1936.

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: “The Notorious Madam Shaw,” “Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri,” “Hannibal’s ‘West End,’” “Oakwood: West of Hannibal,” “St. Mary’s Avenue District,” “Live, on stage in Hannibal 1879: ‘H.M.S. Pinafore,’” and, the most recent, “South Hannibal, Foundation built upon fortitude & perseverance.” Montgomery can be reached at montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com