Lowe family members left mark on S. Hannibal business climate

In 1885, the Henry Jackson Lowe family lived in this brick structure, located at 636 Union. At the time of his residency here, Mr. Lowe worked as a teamster. Photo by Mary Lou Montgomery, 2026.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

When you walk along the Sodalis Nature Preserve trail, from its inception on South Main Street west toward the new Third Street overpass in South Hannibal, you’re actually walking in proximity to a nearly forgotten component of Hannibal’s history. The trail leads past what was once the office entrance of Lowe’s Coal Company.

The address of the coal company was 415 Monroe; the street roughly ran parallel along Bear Creek’s southern bank. Today, the nature trail exists on land located between the creek and  the long-gone coal company’s front doorstep.

The land along this path - specifically OT Block 116, Lots 9, 10 and 11 - once served as a part of the vast lumber yards which historically dominated the Bear Creek valley. A Hannibal entrepreneur named Frank Owens (1875-1955) first moved his wood, coal and ice business there from Eighth and Collier to the Bear Creek valley circa 1906.

Early in 1911, Henry Jackson Lowe (1851-1944) and his son, Jessie J. Lowe (1882-1961), purchased the business from Frank Owens.

In February 1912, the Lowes expanded the coal yards, adding a stock of wood, feed, sand and gravel. At the same time, they purchased the adjoining Lot 12 in Block 116, from Thomas O’Donnell and Elizabeth O’Donnell, his wife, and Robert O’Donnell and Margueritte O’Donnell, his wife. Consideration was $600.

Ultimately, the junior member of the firm, Jessie J. Lowe, took charge, modifying the business to adhere to the fast-changing needs of the community. He opened a gasoline station on the property, with the entrance on the west side, just to the south of the Third Street bridge as it crossed Bear Creek. The address was 500 S. Third. Jessie Lowe continued in this business into the early 1960s, selling Sinclair Gasoline.

(When the first Third Street overpass was constructed in the late 1960s, the elevation of the connecting road on the south side of Bear Creek [at different times known as Birch and/or Fifth streets] was raised. The site of the former gas station is now buried beneath that earthen elevation.)

Union Street

The Lowes had deep roots in South Hannibal.

In 1885, most of the buildings along the lower portion of Union Street were of frame construction. An exception, as shown on the Hannibal Sanborn Map of that same year, was a single-story structure located at 636 Union, which had a similar size frame addition in the rear.

In 1885, Henry Jackson Lowe, a teamster*, called this house - which is still standing in 2026 - home. There he resided for a short while with his wife Margaret, and children:  Mary, born in 1875, Lulu, born in 1878; Jesse J., born in 1881; and Murl, born in 1885.

His days of eeking out a living as a teamster would be short lived; by 1888 he was in business for himself, operating a meat market at 300 Third Street, South Hannibal. (Third was later renamed Main Street.)

Born in 1851 and raised on a farm near Saverton, Henry J. Lowe (his father’s namesake) was well versed in the cattle business, and his meat market’s location near the bustling railroad yards most certainly would have played to his advantage.

During those butchering years, he and his family relocated from the aforementioned house on Union Street, settling nearby the meat market. That market later relocated to 220 Third, next door to the well-known boarding facility, the Quincy House.

Then, in mid February 1900, Henry J. Lowe surprised his neighbors with the announcement that he was retiring from butchering. He turned the keys to his market over to his long-time employee, Peter Shelvy, who would continue with the operation of the neighborhood meat market during the years to come.

While not disclosing his plans for the future, Henry J. Lowe told a Hannibal newspaper reporter that he was not leaving town, but intended to look after “other important interests which he owns.”

It was ultimately revealed that Lowe’s plans included the purchase of two farms associated with his family.

In February 1900 he purchased the farm of his father-in-law, the late Benjamin Eales, in Salt River Township, near West Ely.

Then, in August 1901, he purchased the 160-acre farm on which he was raised, located in Section 30, Township 56N, Range 3 West, in Ralls County. He had been leasing this property for several years prior, and at the time of the purchase he had 80 acres planted in wheat, in addition to a cattle operation. This farm was publicized as being 2 1/2 miles northwest of Saverton.

During the summer of 1904, the beef trade took a tumble when some 50,000 men employed in Chicago’s meat packing industry went on strike, thus creating a widespread shortage of beef for consumption.  On July 28, 1904, a Hannibal newspaper reported that Henry J. Lowe brought six head of cattle from his farm at Saverton, and sold them to the aforementioned Peter Shelvy for butchering.

By 1907, Lowe had relocated his family from the area near the butcher shop on Third (Main) Street, to a two-story brick house located at 812 (later renumbered 819) Union. There the family would continue to live until moving to their farm in Saverton Township sometime after 1922.

His mother-in-law, Mrs. Sarah Eales, passed away in this house on Nov. 7, 1918.

(The house at 812 [819] Union continued to serve the neighborhood until February 2026, when wrecking crews moved in to dismantle the proud old structure.)

Sierra Street

During the first decade of the 20th Century, investors were busy populating the landscape of South Hannibal with small frame cottages.

The aforementioned Henry J. Lowe was among those investors, purchasing two Sierra Street lots on which he told a Hannibal newspaper in December 1906 of his plans “to erect two ‘neat and substantial’ cottages … for tenement purposes.”

Published in the Dec. 14, 1906 edition of the Hannibal Morning Journal:

“Margaret A. Gleason to Henry J. Lowe, south 19 1/4 feet on west line Sierra street, of lot 12 and north 46 3/4 feet on west line Sierra street, Lot 11 of IOOF subdivision of lots 7 and 8 block 3 Wardlaw’s addition. Consideration $500.

If calculations are correct, in 2026 two inhabited houses remain on lots 11 and 12: 1107 and 1109 Sierra, believed to have been built by Henry J. Lowe.

In 1909-1912, the house at 1109 Sierra (originally numbered 1016) was occupied by George E. and Lela Bowles. At the time he was a fireman for the Burlington Railroad.

The house at 1107 Sierra was long occupied by the Smashey family. Russell Norton and Anna Smashey first lived there with their son, Jack, beginning as early as 1922. Jack and his wife, Mildred, later reared their family in this house as well. Mildred died in 1972, and Jack continued to live in this house well into the 1980s. Jack Smashey served as chief during his Hannibal fire fighting career.

Long-lived Lowes

Henry J. Lowe, who had formerly served as Hannibal alderman, celebrated his 90th birthday at his home near Saverton in October 1941.

Mr. and Mrs. Lowe celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in September 1943 at their home near Saverton. An announcement in the Ralls County Record noted that their children, who were in attendance at the celebration, were Mrs. Mollie Jones, who lived with her parents, and Mrs. P.K. McComas and Jessie J. Lowe of Hannibal.

Henry Lowe died Dec. 17, 1944. His wife, Margaret, died Sept. 8, 1948. They are buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

(*In the horse-drawn era, the term teamster meant a person who drove a team of draft animals. Wikipedia)

This line drawing represents a house where the Henry Jackson Lowe family lived during the early decades of the 20th Century. Until recently, the house was located at 812 (later renumbered 819) Union. 2026 photo by Mary Lou Montgomery; enhanced via ChatGPT.

Advertisement for Lowe’s Coal Company, which was located opposite the Third Street Bridge, South Hannibal. Advertisement from the Hannibal Morning Journal, Aug. 5, 1911. newspapers.com

Jessie J. Lowe utilized stock advertisements when promoting his coal business in South Hannibal during the 1920s. The advertisements were localized to fit specific newspaper regions of the country. The advertisements featured a character referred to as “Practy Cal,” and were distributed by Boyd Scott Inc., New York. This example was published in the Hannibal Labor Press on Jan. 28, 1927. 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 but are not limited to: "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