Brick building long served as neighborhood grocery

Steve Chou took this photo of the long-time grocery store building on the northeast corner of Adams and Fourth, South Hannibal, circa 1995, prior to demolition. (Note: Fourth Street was renamed Sycamore circa 1912.)

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

Horses were still very much a part of transport and business operation during the first decade of the 20th Century. The local newspapers carried mentions of every-day occurrences that may seem unusual today, but at the time were quite commonplace.

In November 1901, James Johnston, the grocer, contracted with S.F. Roderick, in business on North Main Street, to have his delivery wagon overhauled and repainted.

Nearly a year later, in August 1902, Johnston participated in a horse-drawn funeral procession to Mount Olivet Cemetery, where W.W. Davis, a Civil War veteran and retired farmer, was laid to rest.

James Johnston, for example, who operated a grocery store on Fourth Street in South Hannibal for some 34 years until his death in 1909, arranged for the purchase of a new single-horse wagon from the Hutchinson Wagon Company in April 1906. Charles Hutchinson, proprietor, operated a carriage shop at 136 1/2 Market. The wagon was to be used by the grocery store owner for delivery purposes.

John Payton, who worked as a delivery clerk for Mr. Johnston’s grocery store, was credited for rescuing an entangled horse on Third Street, South Hannibal, in August 1907. Mrs. J. Killian left a horse hitched to a tree. The Hannibal Morning Journal of Wednesday, Aug. 14, reported that the horse somehow got tangled up in the reins, and was “kicking and plunging,” in such a way as to create some excitement in the neighborhood. The newspaper noted that Payton was able to release the animal from its entanglement. “Mr. Payton saw at a glance the position of the horse and immediately released it, before any serious damage could result.”

At the beginning of September, 1907, Payton resigned his position at Johnston’s grocery store, and accepted a position in the power house at the cement plant.

About the same time, Fred E. Thompson also resigned his position as a clerk at the Johnston grocery store, going to work in the cement plant’s laboratory.

The Hannibal Morning Journal reported: “While talking to a reporter yesterday afternoon Mr. Johnston stated that Mr. Thompson was in every way an ideal young man and he deeply regretted to have him leave his employment and is sure he will prove satisfactory in every way to his new employers.”

(Mr. Johnston’s prediction came true; Mr. Thompson, born in 1886, devoted the rest of his work years to the plant, retiring from the Universal-Atlas Cement Plant. He died in 1964 and is buried at Hannibal’s Riverside Cemetery.)

Neighborhood improvement

Mr. Johnston made improvements to his property in October 1905. He contracted with J.A. Huss to put down a new granitoid walk in front of his store. The same contractors had laid a walk in front of the “Quincy House” boarding house, across the street, on the day prior.

The Oct. 28, 1905 edition of the Hannibal Morning Journal reported: “This walk when finished will make the block in which it is located a continuous granitoid walk, thereby rendering a great improvement both for use and in appearance.”

Johnston grocery

A two-story brick building, on the northeast corner of Adams and Fourth streets, South Hannibal, served as a prominent neighborhood grocery store during the lifespan of its owner, James Johnston.

Johnston, born in the northern part of Ireland on the first day of January, 1844, came to the United States, settling in Hannibal as a young bachelor by 1870.

Six years later, already established in the grocery business on the aforementioned corner, Johnston took for his bride Miss Miranda Elizabeth Daulton, (1855-1938) daughter of John Daulton (1827-1904), one of Hannibal’s earliest settlers. In his later years, Mr. Daulton made his home with the Johnston family.

It was while operating this neighborhood grocery store and living just beyond Hannibal’s city limits near Mount Olivet Cemetery, that the Johnstons grew their family, including, according to Mr. Johnston’s obituary, which was published in the Hannibal Morning Journal, eight children, all living at the time of his death: Roy, Mabel, John Benjamin, Louis, Edna, L.B., Millicent and Daniel.

J.B. Johnston

John Benjamin (J.B.) Johnston, born circa 1884, came to work in his father’s store as a clerk while still a teenager.

In September 1904, he was married to Miss (Mary) Margaret Luck (born in 1887), who was described by the Hannibal Courier Post as “a popular young lady of the South Side.” She was sister to Thomas Claud Luck Sr., (1874-1930) and daughter of William Luck and Frances Atkins Luck.

“Immediately after the wedding Mr. and Mrs. Johnston took a carriage for their home at 613 Hickory St., in South Hannibal.” J.B. was about 20 at the time of their marriage. (According to a newspaper account, Margaret died in 1914, at the age of 27. She left behind three children, including son, Horace Watson Johnston (1905-1975.) J.B. Johnston was remarried to Lila Gooch, who died in 1962.

Dameron grocery

Following the family patriarch’s death in 1909, Archie Dameron purchased the Johnston grocery store and put his nephew, the aforementioned T.C. Luck Sr., to work as the store’s manager. (By 1914 Mr. Luck was operating Glasgow Tailors on the southeast corner of Main and Broadway.)

Drake and Johnson

In the meantime, J.B. Johnston went into partnership with B.F. Drake to operate a grocery store  at 309 Broadway, a business previously owned by E.T. Cameron.

Mack grocery

In 1915, W.E. Mack purchased the stock of the Dameron Grocery Company, address 716-718 Sycamore, South Side.

The Hannibal Morning Journal newspaper noted, in its June 3, 1915 edition, “W.E. Mack, the new proprietor of the store, is well known in Hannibal. He was formerly the general secretary of the YMCA here, but resigned his position in order to accept a similar place at Patterson, N.J. His friends here are glad to know that he has decided to return to Hannibal to reside.”

Note: Fourth Street, South Hannibal, was renamed Sycamore circa 1912.

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