John D. Dowling left lasting impact upon South Hannibal

Marked as NUMBER 2 in this photo is a two-story brick, L-shaped house, wrapped in a frame porch. It was standing at 303 Fifth Street, South Hannibal, as early as 1858. This house, along with a smaller frame, two-story house located to the north (not visible in this photo) is considered to be the homestead for the J.D. Dowling family, early Hannibal pioneers. The Hannibal Daily Messenger mentioned Mr. Dowling in its Aug. 26, 1858 edition: “South Hannibal is improving rapidly. Union street is fast building up, and promises to be the most popular street in that part of the city. Mr. J.D. Dowling has just finished the ell of what is designed to be one of the finest houses in the city.” The 1854 Hart and Mapother map of Hannibal lists J.D. Dowling as owner of lots 13-15, Block 114, South Hannibal. It also shows one house in that block, on the northeast corner of Washington and Fifth Street, South Hannibal, on Lots 9 and 10. The Birds Eye View 1869 Panoramic Map of Hannibal appears to show both of the Dowling houses in place. (Fifth Street was later renamed Birch Street, and today serves as the path for Missouri Highway 79.) In 1859, J.D. Dowling was secretary and treasurer for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company. Marked as NUMBER 1 in this photo is the northwest corner of Fifth (aka Birch) and Walnut streets, South Hannibal. The historic address is 500/501 Walnut. This building, on Lot 1, Hawkins Subdivision, though altered, appears to be the same structure as is standing in 2025, and according to the Marion County Assessor, is owned by Kurt Hillman. As early as 1880, this house was home to the Daniel D. and Alice Murphy family. Their daughter, Mary Murphy, was married to baseball great Jake Beckley in 1891. This house is kitty-cornered from the Dowling homestead. Marked as NUMBER 3 in this photo is the intersection of Washington and Sycamore streets in South Hannibal. Marked as NUMBER 4 in this photo is Sycamore Street, facing north. Photo from Robert Spaun’s postcard collection. Enhanced for clarity by ChatGPT. Illustration by Mary Lou Montgomery.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

In 1848, prior to the construction of the railroad yards along South Hannibal’s riverfront, John D. Dowling, among Hannibal’s early settlers, erected a meat processing plant directly below and to the east of the bluff commonly known as Lover’s Leap. The sprawling plant encompassed an acre of bottomland, and was once jokingly referred to by a local newspaper as “Dowling’s folly.”

The Hannibal Journal of Nov. 30, 1848, reported: “By means of machinery and convenient arrangement, he is able to slaughter, pack and take care of in every particular, 100 beeves and 500 hogs from day to day. This establishment is full operation, and well manned, and will give employment to about 100 hands daily.

“Mr. J.D. Dowling, the most energetic, and a man better calculated for such a business than any one we have ever seen.”

(The packing plant later made way for railroad switchyards.)

South side of town

Early Hannibal maps and research documents show Mr. Dowling’s consistent ties to South Hannibal, as early as printed records exist.

He was married to Mary Elizabeth Kroemmmann in 1847 at Quincy, Ill., and together, they raised five children in Hannibal:

Dennis C. Dowling 1847-1875;

Margaret J. Dowling, 1848-1860;

Mary Ann Dowling (Mrs. George A. Coe), 1850-1929;

John K. Dowling, 1854-1917; and

Kate Dowling, 1858-unknown.

Buried at Holy Family Cemetery (previously known as St. Mary’s Cemetery) in Hannibal are family members:

Family patriarch and matriarch J.D. Dowling and his wife, Margaret Dowling; Dennis Dowling, John F. Dowling and Mary Dowling; and Anne Dowling Coe and her husband, George Coe.

River’s path

Hannibal experienced a flood of some significance in June 1851, and Mr. Dowling’s misfortune made it into print in the Weekly True American newspaper on June 12.

At that time, Mr. Dowling, and his wife, Mary E. Dowling, had two young children, Dennis C., and Margaret J., and they lived in South Hannibal.

“The kitchen and family store house of Mr. J.D. Dowling … were one day last week floated off by the flood, carrying within them a lot of kitchen furniture, stoves and other articles.”

Three years later, by 1854, the family is calculated to have been living in a house at the corner of Washington and Fifth Streets, South Hannibal, well out of the reach of the unpredictable flood waters. By the time the Birds Eye View 1869 Panoramic map was drawn, there were two houses side-by-side, the smaller, and presumably original house was in place by 1854, and a two-story brick house with a frame wrap-around balcony, next door to the south, was, according to a newspaper notice, constructed in 1858.

Building boom

In 1858, according to the Hannibal Daily Messenger of Aug. 26, brick houses were being constructed in Hannibal proper by:

W.J. March, corner of Sixth and Center streets, “which is a very nice, commodious and comfortable house.”

Hon. H.W. Lamb, southeast corner Sixth and Bird. (In 2025, this house is owned by Robert C. [Bob]  and Patricia Yapp, who operate the Belvedere Inn bed and breakfast and the Belvedere School for Hands On Preservation from this property.)

D.J. Garth, on (the west side of) Fifth between Church and Water. (By 1866 Water Street had been renamed Lyon). “The architecture, system and situation of this house, will be unsurpassed by any in the city.” In 2025, the house, address 213 S. Fifth, is owned by Alex Meininger.

M.P. Green, attorney, built a house in Gano’s addition, near the corner of Church Street and Maple Avenue. The newspaper reported: “When finished, it will be an ornament to that portion of the city.”

Dr. M.F. Brown, “has just finished a very neat and roomy dwelling house, in which he is now residing,” on the northwest corner of Sixth and Bird streets. In 2025, this house, at 303 N. Sixth, is owned by James and Kirsten H. Dewey.

Also constructed in 1858: “The beautiful College edifice of the Messrs. Summers, situated in Gano’s Addition. This will be a beautiful building when entirely finished. It will be four stories high with an observatory on top, from which may be had an excellent view of the river and the surrounding country.” This building was at the corner of Market (later renamed Broadway) and Maple Avenue, and was later known as St. Joseph’s Academy.

Ground breaking

The board of directors for the proposed Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was formed in 1851. Serving on the board was the subject of this profile, J.D. Dowling, who was rubbing shoulders with other board members: R.M. Stewart, John Corey, Robert S. Boyd, Mr. Tolbert and E.M. Moffitt.

L.C. McBride, division superintendent of the Burlington Railroad, presented a history of that ground-breaking ceremony at the annual meeting of the Veterans’ Association of the Burlington system in Hannibal. His speech was published in the Palmyra Spectator newspaper on Feb. 20, 1929.

“In (the fall of 1851) the ground was formally broken for the Hannibal & St. Joe railroad.

“It was a great occasion; Honorable A.W. Lamb was grand marshal of the ceremonies held at Hannibal. … The St. Louis Greys came up and when they debarked at Hannibal an immense crowd greeted them. They marched out to Draper’s meadow, which was an enclosed field south of Broadway, west of Seventh street and north of Collier street, extending westward about one block.”

The “History of Marion County” described the scene:

“November 3d was the day appointed, and the occasion called forth a large crowd, and many distinguished persons from all parts of the state were present. … The day was opened by the firing of cannons, the ringing of bells, and great rejoicing.”

A great dinner was to be served, as described by Sarah B. Helms, wife of key Hannibal businessman, banker and local politician Tilden Selmes, in a letter to her sister, Eliza, written on Oct. 15, 1851.

“On Nov. 3, 1851,” she wrote:  “We shall have our meats roasted upon the common, a great ox is to be roasted whole. On that day the first turf is to be turned for the starting of our great railroad.”

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was open all the way across the state in 1859, and that same year, J.D. Dowling was secretary and treasurer for railroad. (This is a position later held by Walter J. Hilton.)

The Story of Hannibal by J. Hurley and Roberta Hagood, explains that Mr. Dowling was instrumental in bringing  a priest from St. Louis to Hannibal, and served in a leadership capacity for the Plank Road Company.

In 1851, 1852, 1853 and 1854, Mr. Dowling served on Hannibal’s City Council. In 1869 he was the city assessor.

He died in 1878.

Dowling Flats

A 16-room frame dwelling, which once carried an address of 309-311 Fifth (Birch) Street, built by Mattison and Warren for Miss Katie Dowling, was completed in January 1906. Known as the Dowling Flats, the address in 2025 is 706-708 Birch. The double house is owned by Marie Everett Properties LLC.

Kate Dowling, the youngest of John D. and Mary E. Dowling’s children, lived in Hannibal at least until 1922, when she sold the Dowling Flats on Birch Street to Lloyd Emmett Smith (1868-1968) and Lottie Bulkey Smith. L.E. Smith was a railroad conductor. At the time of his death, he lived at 421 Washington, which was part of the original Dowling homestead. (In 2025, 421/423 Washington is owned by Vignette LLC.)

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