Officer with South Hannibal ties captures ‘high speed’ offender on Broadway, 1915
- Mary Lou Montgomery
- 9 hours ago
- 6 min read
Theodore Likes, photo originally from a Hannibal National Bank collection, served as a Hannibal police officer for a number of years. In 1937, he was employed as a security guard for Hannibal National Bank. He died in 1946 at the age of 74. During most of his years in Hannibal, he lived at 1121 Union St. Photo from Steve Chou’s collection.
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
Two men met at the intersection of Maple and Broadway in Hannibal on Aug. 1, 1915. One walked away with a $10 speeding ticket, and the other gained notoriety via the local newspaper for capturing the aforementioned man who led police on a “high-speed” chase west on Broadway, Hannibal’s prominent east-west corridor.
The officer was Theodore Likes, born in 1871 in Pike County, Ill., who through much of his career was charged with protecting the citizens of Hannibal from lawlessness.
The man who ultimately pleaded guilty in Hannibal’s police court to speeding was Louis V. Geishe of Ilasco, Ralls County, Mo. He was born circa 1886, in Rekitta, Hungary. He was, at the time of the speed chase on Broadway, the manager of the Ross Motor Company, 115 Hill Street. He paid a $10 fine to settle his case in Hannibal’s police court.
An account of the incident, printed in the Aug. 3, 1915 edition of the Hannibal Morning Journal, made note that the odometer on the pursuing automobile topped out at 37 miles per hour during the chase.
Broadway, originally named Market when laid out pre-1854, consists of a dozen city blocks in a row that extend westward from the river, before dividing into paths that follow the original terrain of landscape, at the point that was historically known as “the Wedge.”
The slope of Broadway climbs rather sharply from the river to Fifth Street, then levels out for the remaining blocks between Fifth and Maple Avenue.
Likes, a foot patrolman, commandeered a private Hannibal chauffeur who was parked along Broadway, in order to follow in pursuit of the speeder.
The Hannibal Morning Journal reported:
“Officer Theodore Likes was standing on Broadway when an automobile, driven by Louis Geishe, whizzed by.
“He was traveling fast, so fast in fact that the officer decided that an arrest should be made so he jumped into an automobile which was standing near and ordered the chauffeur to pursue the other vehicle. The two machines climbed the Broadway hill, but finding that the first auto was gaining Mr. Likes ordered his chauffeur to hurry up. The hand on the indicator pointed to 25 and the driver of the car informed Mr. Likes that he did not dare to travel faster because he might be arrested for exceeding the speed limit. ‘I am an officer,’ said Mr. Likes, ‘And I command you to overtake that car.’ ‘All right,’ replied the driver and he turned on more speed and the hand crept round on the indicator until it pointed to the figures 37.”
Publicity stunt? Possibly.
Just days after Mr. Geishe’s Aug. 12, 1915 arrest for speeding - the Ross Motor Company, 115 Hill Street, advertised “The Ross Eight” in the Hannibal Morning Journal. The eight cylinder automobile was manufactured by the Ross & Young Machine Company, “who are pioneers in the building of gasoline engines, automobile parts, etc., for eleven years.”
(The building standing at 115 Hill Street in 1915 was a two-story brick structure, located on the south side of Hill, on the west side of the alley that separated the building from the Stillwell Meat Co. The building was located to the east of North Main Street.)
South side folks
As early as 1911, Theodore Likes and his wife, Hulda Alice Likes, owned and occupied a small cottage (still standing) on the west side of Union Street, address 1121. (Prior to 1912, the address was 1110 Union.) The stone foundation on which the house at 1121 Union stands today offers a clue that the house was constructed prior to the beginning of the 20th Century, when poured concrete foundations came into vogue. (The Hannibal city directory of 1892 seems to confirm the early construction of this house: S. Gay Casteel, a laborer for Treat Mnfg., lived at 1110 Union in 1892.) Mrs. Likes’ death notice indicated that she lived in this house from circa 1911 until the time of her death in 1952.
Mr. Likes worked at several occupations during his tenure in Hannibal.
In January 1902, he resigned his position as firemen for the Burlington Railroad in order to accept a position with G.L. Turner, the expressman doing business at 116 N. Third. This business offered Express and Excursion Wagons, and stables.
In April 1903, left a job in charge of the Anheuser-Busch delivery wagon, and accepted a similar position with the Friederich Brewery Company, which was located at 329-333 Grand Ave.
In April 1905, he was a Hannibal police officer, working on Hannibal’s west end.
On June 6, 1905, the Hannibal Courier-Post reported: “Ex policeman accepts position. Theodore Likes, who has for some time held the position of one of the night policemen in the Sunset wards with perfect satisfaction to the citizens and credit to himself as an officer, went to work for Abe Funk as driver of the Anheuser-Busch delivery wagon in the place of Charles Guess, who accidentally broke one of his legs last evening.”
On Nov. 29, 1905, the Hannibal Courier-Post reported that Theodore Likes, who was living on Fourth Street, South Hannibal, was working as a brakeman for the Short Line railroad company.
In June 1907, he was nominated and elected to serve as a Hannibal police officer. Also serving at the time was George Ham. John N. Baskett was mayor.
In October 1909, Likes was in the employ of the Burlington Railroad, as a switchman.
Sept. 10, 1912, Hannibal Morning Journal
“Granted vacation. Theodore Likes, a switchman in the Burlington yards, has been granted a two weeks’ vacation and he and his wife left last evening for Colorado Springs and other points in Colorado. Mr. Likes was formerly employed by the St. Louis and Hannibal Railway company, but for some time past has been employed by the Burlington.”
At the first of July, 1913, Likes purchased a transfer business from Joe Kaup. The purchase included a team, wagon and “everything belonging to the business.”
In mid June 1915, Likes was a city police officer assigned to Hannibal’s West End.
Ten years later, in March 1925, Homer and Everett McCune were found guilty in Marion County Circuit Court of assaulting Likes, employed as a Hannibal policeman, and were sentenced to a year each in jail. Attorneys Roy Hamlin and Ben Ely prosecuted the case. Hannibal attorney, Barryman Henwood, represented the defendants.
Theodore and Hulda Alice Likes were both natives of Pike County, Ill. They were married Nov. 7, 1894, at Barry, Ill. They had one son, G.A. Likes.
Theodore Likes died April 27, 1946. Hulda Alice Likes died in June 1952. They are buried at Kinderhook Cemetery, Pike County, Ill.
Ilasco resident
Louis V. Geishe, son of Basilio Geishe and Rebecca Tater, made his home at Ilasco during his residency in the Hannibal area. He was married to Marie Katina in 1907, and in 1910, while working as a wagon maker, he filed an application for citizenship. In 1914, according to the Hannibal city directory of that year, he operated a confectionary store, at Ilasco.
By the time he registered for military service leading up to the first World War, he was living in Rock Island County, Ill. He was a slender man, standing at just 5-foot-9. He had light hair and grey eyes.
He and Mary had one son together, John. Louis’ marriage to Mary ended, and in January 1920 he was married to Edith Reigains at Clinton, Iowa. Together, they had a daughter, Elizabeth, born circa 1921.
The Geishes migrated to California, where Louis took a job as a millwright for a paint and glass company. Louis Geishe died in San Francisco in July 1931, at the age of 45. His widow died in August 1939, at the age of 42.
(Biographical information culled from newspapers.com and ancestry.com.)
