Fitzgerald, second-hand man, operated store at 206-210 Bird

Julia Catherine Fitzgerald, left, and John (Jack) Fitzgerald are pictured pre-1918, in front of what is presumed to be their home, at what now would be known as 2000 Palmyra Road. In 1918, the address was 2000 Mark Twain Avenue. The name of the road changed several times throughout history. John (Jack) Fitzgerald died in 1918. His wife died in 1928. Photo contributed by Lori Welch.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

For some 39 years, John (Jack) Fitzgerald maintained a strong business presence in the 200 block of Bird Street, Hannibal. First, as early as 1879, he cleaned and repaired clothing, and later sold second-hand goods. Mr. Fitzgerald was well known and respected among local and area citizens and businessmen alike.

By 1888, Fitzgerald’s business filled three store-fronts, at 204 and 206 Bird, and on the first floor of the historic stone flour building at 208-210 Bird. (All but 206 Bird remain standing today.)

(Historically, in the old stone building, was the Arena steam mill, where A.S. Robards produced and sold flour.)

Items for sale at the second-hand business ranged from furniture to clothing to knickknacks and books.

Among the stacks, as reported in the Feb. 8, 1906 edition of the Hannibal Morning Journal, was an old book, printed in 1835, the same year as Sam Clemens’ birth in nearby Florida, Mo.

There, among the cluttered shelves in this brick, two-story storefront on the north side of Bird Street, was the book, titled “Laws of Missouri,” along with the identification of its early owner, J.M. Clemens, “the father of our illustrious townsman and world famed humorist, Mark Twain,” the newspaper touted.

The newspaper continued: “As many know, Mark’s father was a justice of the peace and his book was used in his practice in the days when Hannibal was a lumbermen’s centre and Samuel was a barefoot boy enduring the adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book passed from Mr. Clemens’ hands to that of Z.G. Draper, and after many exchanges passed into the hands of Jack Fitzgerald, where the present owner, Charles Wiseman, while hunting for curios among the articles of his store found and recognized the value of such a curiosity.”

The book, according to the newspaper report, was in surprisingly good condition, considering the 68 years that had passed since publication.

“It shows very little sign of usage except an occasional blot of ink or figuring on its fly leaves.”

Petty thefts

Dealing in second-hand goods, Jack Fitzgerald’s name sometimes came up during police investigations regarding stolen goods.

Thomas Jackson, “a stranger in the city,” was sentenced to 60 days in the county jail for stealing a light overcoat on Dec. 15, 1900, from Jack Fitzgerald’s second hand store on Bird Street. The Hannibal Morning Journal reported that “the prisoner pleaded guilty … and very graciously thanked Judge (David S.) Scott (justice of the peace) for giving him a home for the winter. He stated that he had no home and was simply roaming aimlessly about the world, therefore he esteemed it a kindness to be sent to jail as that would give him a place to stay.”

Ed Parker of Hannibal was convicted of stealing a saw from the home of Otto Nagle on South Fourth street, as reported in the Hannibal Weekly Journal on March 23, 1901. “The saw in question was pawned at Jack Fitzgerald’s second hand store on Bird street, where it was recovered later.”

The Hannibal Evening Courier reported on Monday, Nov. 15, 1909, that Fitzgerald’s store was robbed over the weekend. “The burglar gained entrance through the rear door by prying the lock off. Several watch cases and some clothing are missing.”

Thomas E. Ragland, who with his wife was running a restaurant, stood accused of stealing a pair of $2 shoes from the store of W.W. Sears, 209 S. Main, according to the Palmyra Spectator of Aug. 6, 1913.

Mr. Sears saw Ragland wearing the shoes in question, “and made a pretext of borrowing a match from him and lighting it so that he could see them more distinctly. … No one saw Ragland about the store at the time they were stolen, but the back yard of his restaurant was in easy connection with the back room of the shoe store, where the theft was committed.”

Ragland claimed that he bought the shoes from Jack Fitzgerald’s second hand store on Bird Street, “but Fitzgerald testified that he never had them in his possession and that he never saw Ragland.

“The case resulted in a verdict of thirty days in jail for the defendant.”

John (Jack) Fitzgerald died in 1918. His wife, Julia Catherine Fitzgerald died in 1928.

Fitzgerald home

A recent story in this series offered a description of five stately homes in a row on the north side of Harrison Hill/Palmyra Road, beginning with the T. Stone house (still standing, numbered 1900). To the west of this house, on the opposite side of the entrance to Riverview Park, stood the Fitzgerald house, numbered in later years 2000 Harrison Hill.

This land, in the Hoard Subdivision, provides the estimated location for the former Fitzgerald house.* 

At the time of her death on July 18, 1928, Mrs. Julia Catherine Fitzgerald’s death notice mentioned that she died in the house which had been constructed 100 years prior, circa 1828. (A photo included with today’s story shows Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald in front of their house, which is partially visible.) The house was described in the death notice as such: “The Fitzgerald home is a beautiful suburban place northwest of Hannibal, near Riverview Park.”

A stone-slab house with an orange tile roof, located at 4 Riverpoint Road, was constructed on Lot 17, Hoard Tract, circa 1972 for the Charles Perry Weaver family, consisting of wife Eleanor and daughter, Nancy, born in 1947.

Mr. and Mrs. Weaver continued to live in this house until the late 1980s, when they moved to Tucson, Ariz., to live near their daughter.

Charles Perry Weaver earned both BA and law degrees from the University of Missouri, where he also played varsity football.  For many years he was a technical sales consultant for Gardner-Denver Corp’s international customers.

He was the son of Judge Harry Weaver, who served as Ralls County Probate Judge from 1922 until his death in 1974.

• Note: The author of this article calculates that the location of 4 Riverpoint Road was the former site of the Fitzgerald house, based upon the fact that 4 Riverpoint is located within the Hoard Tract, Part of Lot 17, as was the Fitzgerald house. Also, the house directly to the north of 4 Riverpoint (6 Riverpoint) is located in the Scipio Tract. Research suggests that 6 Riverpoint was constructed in the late 1940s, owned by J.R. (Jack) Pettibone (1923-1964) and his wife, Virginia P. Schwarzmann Pettibone. They sold the house to Dr. J.H. and Helen Ann O’Hearn Walterscheid in 1952. Jack Pettibone was brother to Albert Wells Pettibone, 1920-2001.

This map represents Harrison Hill/Palmyra Road as it exists today. While there have been numerous street number and name changes over the years, the road’s course has remained constant. #1 on the map is the historic Theophilus Stone house, 1900 Harrison Hill, owned and occupied today by Gregory and Diane Addison. #2 on the map is the estimated site of the long-time home of John and Julia Fitzgerald, now demolished. That address was 2000 Harrison Hill. #3 is the former William H. and Louise Logan house (demolished), later owned and occupied by the Wells and Marjorie Pettibone family, address 2100 Palmyra Road. #4 is the historic Fette property, 2200 Palmyra Road, today known as The Orchard, owned and occupied by Scott and Jean Meyer. #5 is the historic home of Roy Hamlin, with the address of 2300 Palmyra Road. Today it is owned and occupied by Paul and Mary Lynne Richards. (The street numbers used for this illustration were culled from the 1918 Hannibal city directory.) Illustration by Mary Lou Montgomery

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