Between wars, decorated veteran built town’s first Gas Works facility

This rendering of Gen. Thomas A. Harris is from his obituary, published in the April 10, 1895, Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky. Posted online by the Pewee Valley Historical Society, Pewee Valley, Ky. His home was “Locust Lodge,” near Pewee Valley, Oldham County, Ky.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

“Go-aheadativeness.” That was the characterization offered by the Hannibal Daily Messenger in November 1859, for Maj. Thomas A. Harris, a West Point graduate, who lived in Hannibal both before and after his military leadership role during the U.S. war with Mexico (1846-48). Now as a civilian, he set his mind to “lighting Hannibal” with gas, despite ridicule which came from skeptics.

On April 28, 1859, he announced his plan to build a gas works plant on Rock street, between Third and Fourth. The Hannibal Weekly Messenger reported that he purchased lots (four and five in Out Lot 35) on which to build a two-story brick structure, facing north toward Palmyra Road, along with an accompanying “gasometer*”.

Joseph N. Peyton, of South Hannibal, secured the bid to supply the brick work, and James McCune was tapped for the stone work.

(Wikipedia: Throughout the 19th century and into the first decades of the 20th, the gas was manufactured by the gasification of coal. Later in the 19th century, natural gas began to replace coal gas, first in the U.S., and then in other parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, coal gas was used until the early 1970s.)

Construction took barely seven months, and a “Light Hannibal” celebration was to take place on Thursday, Nov. 3.

But on the brink of the opening of the Gas Works plant at Fourth and Rock streets, a problem arose.

The Hannibal Daily Messenger announced on Nov. 2, 1859, “… we learn that a leak was discovered in the tank at the gas work, which will require that all the gas manufactured, about 30,000 feet, be turned off, and all the water which cost $150 to pump in, be pumped out, in order to repair.”

Finally, on Saturday, Nov. 26, 1859, gas began flowing through pipes pre-installed to serve Hannibal customers.

The Hannibal Daily Messenger reported: “Last night, the 26th day of November 1859, may be justly considered by the people of Hannibal, as the dawning of a new era in their history, and a new evidence of the future prosperity of the progressive city. The dark alleys and streets, which for so many years have been the terror of after night pedestrians, suddenly became brilliantly illuminated, and from that moment, that old fashioned, fogyish utensil, the lantern, was joyously consigned to the dingy presents of dark, moldy cellars and dusty garrets.”

There were speeches, and Maj. T.A. Harris, president of the company, and John G. Hock, superintendent, stood ready for their accolades.

Among the first building to be served was the “2d Presbyterian Church,” southeast corner of Fifth and Church streets.

The Hannibal Daily Messenger on Nov. 29, 1859 opined: The church, “was beautifully illuminated with gas during divine service on last Sabbath night. Much credit is due to Messrs. (Wm. L.) Hearn, (George W.) Shields (mayor of Hannibal, 1858) and (A.A.) Lawrence, the trustees of the church, for their promptitude and energy in introducing gas so early.”

Once the plant was up and running, it would continue to fulfill Hannibal’s gas needs for the next half century, until it was replaced in 1911.

Harris, the officer

Thomas Alexander Harris was living in Hannibal with his parents when the “the Mormans were routed out of Illinois (circa 1843). When the citizens of Missouri rose up against Joseph Smith and his followers, Harris, who was then but 16 years old, got together a regiment from about Hannibal and led it out against Smith and his followers. Under his leadership the regiment defeated a detachment of Smith’s men and set them on their march out of Missouri.” (The Frankfort Roundabout, April 13, 1895. genealogybank.com)

(Note: U.S. Sen. Christopher S. “Kit” Bond, as Missouri governor in 1976, rescinded the 1838 "extermination order," authorizing the expulsion of Mormons from the state.)

After establishing the Gas Works, Harris left Hannibal, at the  onset of the Civil War, in order to serve in the Confederate Army. But his sense of entrepreneurship left a lasting impact upon the community.

Bringing light to the town that previously depended upon candles and oil lanterns to illuminate the darkness was a formidable feat, and one that has only been improved upon during the ensuing decades.

Harris was born in 1827, in Virginia. After graduating from West Point (circa 1843), where he was a classmate of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Harris commanded a regiment from Missouri in the Mexican War. 

In 1851, he was united in marriage to Imogene Porter Harris (1836-1866) at Alexandria, Va. She was the daughter of David Porter, (1780-1843) who was a captain in the United States Navy.

Wikipedia: On July 2, 1812, David Porter hoisted the banner "Free trade and sailors' rights" as captain of USS Essex.The phrase resonated with many Americans. Porter was later court marshaled; he resigned and then joined and became commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy.

Imogene Porter Harris’ brother, David Dixon Porter (1813-1891) was a United States Navy admiral. He served as superintendent of the U.S. Navy Academy after significant service in the American Civil War.

Living in Hannibal with Imogene and Thomas A. Harris during the years leading up to the Civil War was Com. David Porter’s widow, Evalina Anderson Porter (1790-1871). When the war broke out, Imogene Harris and her mother moved back East, where Mrs. Harris died in 1866.

Note: It is unclear when Thomas A. Harris relinquished ownership of the Gas Works, but a trustees sale took place on April 21, 1862, regarding property he owned in Out Lot 32, Lot 4, located on the southwest corner of Fifth and North streets. (Today, that address is 523 N. Fifth.)

Following the Civil War, Harris settled for a time in New Orleans, where he assumed the post as editor of the New Orleans Times-Democrat. In Hannibal, prior to the war, he had served, for a time, as editor of the Missouri Courier. In 1856 he was named assistant editor of the St. Louis Intelligencer.

An old man

In 1891 he told a reporter in St. Louis that he was returning home to Louisville, Ky., after attending a reunion of the survivors of the siege and battle of Lexington, Mo., where, as a Brigadier-General, he led the Confederate forces and “by the use of a movable breastwork of hemp bales captured the entire Federal army, numbering some 3,500 men.”

He told the reporter that he started his military career, as a Lieutenant-Colonel of a Missouri regiment in the Mormon war. He then went to West Point, and after graduation served in the war with Mexico.

The newspaper noted that Harris was six feet tall, “and of a commanding presence, well proportioned, and straight as an arrow. His pleasant face is clean shaven except a mustache, which, like his closely-clipped hair, is snowy white. He dresses in black with scrupulous neatness, and though 65 years of age, is as active as many a man of 40.  He speaks in warm praise of the marked attention and lavish hospitality bestowed upon him by the people of Lexington (Missouri) and Hannibal,” during his 1891 visit. (Source: The St. Louis Republic, Sept. 29, 1891, genealogybank.com)

The Frankfort, Ky, Roundabout, on April 13, 1895, described Harris as: “a jolly, whole-souled gentleman, who always had a hearty greeting for all he met.”

When he died in 1895, he was survived by his third wife, the former Miss Ellen Peck, and a grown son.

• Wikipedia: A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas (coal gas or formerly also water gas) is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap.

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