Baseball great had humble South Hannibal beginnings

Steve Chou took a photo of this house at 524 Union St., Hannibal, in 2005, prior to its demolition. Calculations show that this is the house where Jake Beckley, baseball great of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, grew up. His mother and sister lived in this house until their respective deaths, in 1928 and 1929.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

On March 3, 1896, Chris Walker, letter carrier for the Post Office, and his wife, Frances Dunn Walker, opened up their home -  the third dwelling south of Bird on the east side of N. Seventh - for the most talked about event of the season: The marriage of baseball great Jake (Old Eagle Eye) Beckley and Mrs. Georganna Rupp Callander.

Beckley, as many sports enthusiasts are already aware, went on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But before that, he grew up on Union Street and attended South School when it was located at Fifth Street, between Walnut and Union. Previously married, his first wife, Mary E. Murphy Beckley, died Oct. 13, 1891, at the age of 24.

The new Mrs. Beckley was a widow as well. Her husband, William Callander, was a switchman for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. Just a week after contracting pneumonia, he died from this affliction in January 1895, at the age of 44.

Leading up to the wedding, Mrs. Callander was a boarder in the Walkers’ home.

Mr. Walker was a contemporary of Jake Beckley; they both grew up and were educated in South Hannibal. Walker, born in 1860, was son of Henry and Caroline Walker, who owned a drug store at 109 Third Street., SH. (The street was later renamed South Main.)

Beckley, born in 1867, lived on Union Street, and was the son of Barney (a cigar maker and later a brick maker) and Rosine Beckley.

To baseball fans across the nation, Jake Beckley was a phenomenon. His death notice, published in the Hannibal Courier-Post on July 10, 1918, described the veteran ball player: “Beckley was no parlor player, but a believer in the old school game. He was quick to take advantage when the umpire wasn’t looking and never stopped batting from the first inning until the last.”

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. According to that organization, Beckley played 19 National League seasons, from 1888-1907,  with the Pirates, Giants, Reds and Cardinals and one season with Pittsburgh in the Players League.

To the people of Hannibal, he was much more than a renowned baseball player. He was a  former classmate at Hannibal’s South School; a neighbor who lived out his youth on Union Street; and as an adult, an honored member of the prestigious Eagle Hunting Club. Members of that club hosted an elegant post-wedding spread, served up by Mrs. Wm. E. (Annie Troll) Mitchick. At the time, Mr. Mitchick operated a saloon at 216 Broadway. Invited to offer an address at the event was Robert H. Womack, city editor of the Hannibal Journal.

South School

The two-story brick building where Jake Beckley attended elementary school first served the neighborhood beginning in 1871, when construction was completed. John W. Ayres was an early principal, and the building was thought able to accommodate 200 students.

Students in Beckley’s class who were neither absent nor tardy during March 1877 were listed in the Hannibal Daily Clipper: Room 3, Mary Trainor, Eva Watson, Lillie Webb, Reinhold Anderson, Jacob Beckley, Winslow Knickerbocker, James Sanders, Charles Sanner, John McCarty,  Barney Harmsan and Lizzie Shelby.

Teachers in 1877, according to the Hannibal City Directory of that year, were: Miss Ada C. Oldham, first assistant; Mrs. V. McVeigh, second assistant; Mrs. S.S. Woodruff, third assistant; Miss Amelia M. Kaley, primary department.

A new school building was completed circa 1892, located on Clay Street (later renamed Fulton) south of School Street. Classes subsequently transferred to that building.

A.D. Stowell served as principal of the new school.

Apartments

After the old school was abandoned for educational purposes, it was transitioned into apartments.

Two newspaper articles from 1901, accessed via Newspapers.com, suggest that Jake Beckley was the owner of this former school building:

July 23, 1901: “The family of George McDougall, who have been residing in Jake Beckley’s home on Fifth street near Union, have moved to the Dr. Hornback property on Fifth street (315 Fifth, South Side), which was recently vacated by Prof. Stowell. Mr. Douglass, who was formerly a conductor on the K line, is now employed on a railroad in Colorado. Rumor has it that he expects to return to Hannibal in the near future.”

Also: 

Oct. 23, 1901: “To move to the South Side. Robert Moore, who has been residing on the West Side for some time, yesterday leased the second story of the Jake Beckley property on Fifth street and will remove thereto. Mr. Turner and family, who have been residing in the second story of the building, will move to the first floor, into the rooms recently vacated by Z. Hayden and family, lately removed to New London.”

During the early years, the address of this building was 308-310 5th, SS. Circa 1912, the addresses and street were renumbered and named: 707-709 Birch.

A few occupants of the building during the era when Jake Beckley was the presumed owner:

1888

306 5th SS: Norman A. Paradise Jr., machinist H&St. Joe shops.

308 5th SS John D. Reardon, machinist H&St. Joe shops

1892

308 5th SS, Payton Woodson, molder

1894

308 5th SS, Frank E. Crane, fireman St. L K & NWRR

308 5th SS, Patrick Keevan, machinist H&St. J RR

1894

306 5th SS, Julia A. Kelly, Miss, clerk, Margaret Kelley, widow of John, and Mary A. Kelly

1901

Charles R. Scott (wife Mary) barber at 110 S. Main; residence 308 1/2 5th SS

Death calls

Jake Beckley died June 25, 1918 in Kansas City, and his body was returned to Hannibal via the Wabash Railroad. O’Donnell Bros., undertakers, were in charge. Beckley’s remains were taken to the home of his mother, Rosine Beckley (1842-1928) and sister, Mrs. Ernestine Baird (1877-1929)  at 524 Union, prior to burial at Riverside Cemetery.

Mrs. Georganna Rupp Callander Beckley died Nov. 24, 1930, and is buried at Moberly, Mo.

The Beckley family appear to have lived in the same house, 524 Union, from pre-1885 until the death of Ernestine Baird, in 1929.

In 1935, according to the Hannibal City Directory, Homer Griffith lived at 524 Union.

Note: When in doubt about the spelling of a name, this author utilizes Find A Grave files.

The steps leading to South School, fronting what is now known as Missouri 79, between Walnut and Union streets, are still in place. The school served the neighborhood from roughly 1871 to 1892. Circa 1901, is it believed that Jake Beckley owned the former school house and used it as rental property. File photo/Mary Lou Montgomery.

Jacob (Jake) Beckley, published in the Hannibal Courier-Post Aug. 28, 1905. newspapers.com

Jake Beckley. Portrait published in the St. Louis Republic, Aug. 25, 1901. newspapers.com

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,” and “Live, on stage in Hannibal 1879: ‘H.M.S. Pinafore.’” Montgomery can be reached at montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com