Popular Goody-Goody had humble beginning
This photo shows the original Goody Goody, which was located at 2629 St. Mary’s Avenue. First built and operated as a barbecue stand by Ralph and Amanda Stephens in 1925, the building would undergo renovations over the years under a series of owners, finally closing as a donut shop in 1963. Beside the shop, to the left, is a two-story building which at the time housed a grocery store at 2627 St. Mary’s Ave. In 1914, Mrs. M.C. Jessup operated a grocery store in this building, and in 1916, David Wallen operated a grocery here. Dan Perez/ TampaPix RetroMetro Oklahoma City
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
In 1913, the southeast corner of Hawkins and St. Mary’s Avenue hosted a rectangular hay and grain shop, and next door to the east was a 2-story grocery store. The Sanborn fire map of that year lists the addresses of the two buildings as 2627 and 2627 ½ St. Mary’s avenue.
In 1916 – three years after the Sanborn map was drawn, J. Frank Anderson of Hannibal was the owner of these two St. Mary’s Avenue buildings and associated land, and he was interested in selling them both.
In his advertising he noted that St. Mary’s avenue (still gravel) was the “fastest growing street in Hannibal.”
He attempted to sell the properties at pubic auction on March 11, 1916.
“All of my property on St. Mary’s Avenue, 2627, consisting of one large business building on a 40 foot lot, 4 rooms upstairs, hall and pantry, occupied. A large store room occupied by grocery and meat market. A large cellar, 4-room basement, occupied. One 37 ft lot and one 50 ft lot. A blacksmith shop on a 30-foot lot, occupied. This property is renting for equivalent to $33 per month.” (Palmyra Spectator, Feb. 23, 1916)
Unsuccessful, three months later, he tried again.
“For sale or trade. One grocery store and fixtures, large building, one blacksmith shop, with or without tools, two vacant lots all on fastest growing street in Hannibal. Only $5,000 takes it all. $2,000 down balance to suit at 5 percent. Or will trade for a nice little farm. Just the thing for someone that is tired of farming and wants to move to town. Will sell all or part.” (Palmyra Spectator June 28 1916)
His blacksmith shop was then located at 2631 St. Mary’s Ave., and he was living at 2627 St. Mary’s Ave.
Goody Goody
Today, we know this site as home to Smith’s Funeral Home. But between the time that Frank Anderson lived and worked at this intersection and the time that Crawford Smith built the new funeral home in 1963, a very popular eatery was located on this corner: The Goody Goody.
Dan Perez, owner and operator of the website “TampaPix,” compiled an informative and entertaining package of information on the start of The Goody Goody in Hannibal, and has generously agreed to share the results of his research, and photos with Hannibal readers.
Ties to the Ogle family
The original Goody Goody was the brainchild of Ralph Stephens, who had married Hannibal-native Amanda Ogle in 1912. They moved to Chicago, then on to Oklahoma City and finally Dallas. Determined to operate his own restaurant, Ralph made two failed attempts before coming to Hannibal circa 1925 with his wife in order to regroup. They settled in with her parents, Jesse and Katie Ogle at 2520 Chestnut St.
While in Dallas, Ralph had seen a drive-in barbecue “pig stand” that was very popular with local clientele.
He remembered that shop during his stay in Hannibal, and decided to give it a go.
Work commenced on the shack.
“The family slept in the stand as it was being built, and in June of 1925, Stephens opened his barbecue stand at 2629 St. Mary’s Avenue in Hannibal, and named it Goody-Goody Barbecue,” Dan Perez learned.
Initially it was a success, but when weather turned cold, so did the business. Like his other two eateries, the Goody Goody was a failure.
The history of the Delores Restaurant, OKC History, reported: “Enticed by the land boom that Florida had been experiencing in the mid-1920s, Stephens left Hannibal, Mo., for Tampa, Fla., with his wife Amanda, teenage sons Robert and Vincent and 4-year-old daughter Delores. ‘The land boom was on then and we went to Tampa and opened one restaurant, then another,’ Stephens said.”
Back in Hannibal, Stephen’s former business partner, E.V. Bodkin, picked up where Stephens left off. In 1927 he was operating a restaurant at this address, and two years later, likely owners were George W. Silman and Henry C. Winn.
By 1935, George W. Silman was operating a restaurant at this site.
Two years later, the restaurant was listed in the city directory as the Goody Goody Barbecue.
Moving up to the era where current townsfolk may remember, Wilburn E. Jaynes and his wife Mary E. operated the Goody Goody Barbecue in 1946. From 1950-53, the Goody Goody was a sandwich shop owned by Ivan Yates and Mrs. Dorothy Y. McCann.
Charles F. Savage operated the restaurant in 1959. In mid 1962, the building was transitioned into the Dixie Cream donut shop.
In 1963, it was demolished to make way for the construction of the Smith Funeral Home.
The Ogles
Jesse Lee Ogle (Amanda Stephens’ father) was born March 30, 1856 at Spalding in Ralls County, Mo.
He married Katherine “Katie” O’Keefe May 29, 1889. She died Aug. 1, 1926. Jesse Ogle died May 17, 1932, at Hannibal. They are buried at Brush Creek Cemetery in Ralls County, Mo.
Their daughter, Amanda Ogle Stephens, was born in 1890 and died in January 1966.
Their son-in-law, Ralph, died in 1983 at Santa Monica, Calif.
The 1913 Sanborn fire map shows the southeast corner of St. Mary’s Avenue and Hawkins, on which was located a two-store commercial building and a blacksmith shop. Note that the shape of the building on the northeast corner of Hawkins and St. Mary’s isn’t the same shape as the current building, which suggests that the building housing Jason Utterback’s insurance agency today isn’t the same building that was on the lot in 1913. Source: Hannibal Free Public Library’s website.
Ralph Stephens in 1982. Dan Perez/ TampaPix; RetroMetro Oklahoma City.
Amanda Stephens Dan Perez/ TampaPix; RetroMetro Oklahoma City
