Hannibal History: Meet George A. Hawes, a founder of the F&M Bank

Levon Mathews, the new president and CEO of F&M Bank and Trust Co., Hannibal, presented me with a research challenge. George A. Hawes was one of the founders of the bank in the early 1870s, and Mathews has heard that Hawes had a family connection to Sam Clemens.

While I'd never consider myself an expert on the Clemens family, I do have early connections to the F&M Bank. As young Irish immigrants, my great-grandfather and his twin brother, Thomas and Robert Robinson, painted the newly constructed F&M Bank building - located on the north west corner of Main and Center streets. It was their first major job in Hannibal. They went on to establish Robinson Paint and Wallpaper Co., a fixture on South Main Street for more than 50 years.

I'm sure Mr. Hawes was instrumental in giving my ancestors the painting job, and for that, I will gladly repay him by giving him the recognition he deserves as a self-made man and influential leader in our community.

Stay tuned as I put together the story of this Hannibal entrepreneur, and the bank he put on tract to still be in business 144 years later.

This photo is reproduced by the Mirror of Hannibal, 1990 edition, edited by J. Hurley and Roberta Roland Hagood.