Rigler, H&St. Joe conductor, long had ties to S. Hannibal

This photo, published in the “Concrete Highways and Public Improvements” magazine in July 1927, shows Sycamore Street (formerly known as Fourth Street) in South Hannibal, facing south. Work was under way, at the time, to pave the street. On the left-hand side of the photo, a building with an extended awning is visible in the distance. This was the building that Hiram (1844-1907)  and Susie (1847-1919) Rigler owned at the beginning of the 20th Century. They lived on the building’s second story. On the first floor, Charles Holtzclaw (1840-1919) operated a drug store. Steve Chou collection. (Photo enhanced via ChatGPT.)

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

The year was 1890. Officials of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad reportedly “cleaned house,” terminating a handful of veteran employees, including Hiram Rigler, 50, who was working as a conductor on the Brookfield Route.

Rigler, son of Harry Rigler, a Hannibal butcher, started his career with the H&St. Joe following the end of the Civil War, working as a brakeman in 1866, stationed out of Hannibal. Hiram was married to Susie Alexander in October 1872, and the following year the young couple moved to South Hannibal, presumably to be close to the railroad’s headquarters.

Their home was at 404 Fourth, a street that was renamed Sycamore Street in later years. Also living at this address in 1873 were Hiram’s brother, Aaron M. Rigler, who operated a confectionery shop in Hannibal; and Hiram’s father, the aforementioned butcher. At the time, Hiram Rigler was working as baggage master for the H&St. Joe.

Hiram and Susie Rigler, who had one son, Thomas Rigler, would retain property connections to Fourth (Sycamore) Street, South Hannibal, for the remainder of their lives.

Rigler climbed the railroad company’s advancement ladder in swift procession. By 1875, Rigler had been promoted to brakeman for the rail company, and by 1877, he held the coveted role of conductor.

In 1885, feeling prosperous in his new role, Hiram Rigler moved his family up the hill on Union Street, settling in a single-story frame house located on the west side of Union Street, then numbered 814. (A few years later that address would be changed to 905.)

By 1888, the family had relocated to Brookfield for his job with the H&St. Joe.

Then, at the end of January 1890, The Shelbina Torchlight reported shocking news:

“Wholesale disposition of conductors was made on the H&St. Joe railroad.”

Eight conductors were discharged. Those named in this article were: William Hance; Mr. Jewell;  and Hiram Rigler, of Brookfield, previously of Hannibal.

The Linn County Budget-Gazette (in its Aug. 3, 1907 edition) penned a fitting tribute to Rigler, a railroad conductor of long standing:

“He was a man of kind and genial disposition and was universally beloved. In the discharge of his duties (on the H&St. Joe) he was alert, vigilant and conscientious, and when the grey hairs came to him, which should have been a badge of honor, and which did not impair his usefulness or activity, he was sacrificed to the theory advanced by a crack brained theorist that the useful days in the life of man are passed after he has reached the age of (50)  years, and (Rigler) was retired.”

After his dismissal in 1890, Hiram Rigler moved his family back to Hannibal, settling in next door to north of the house on Union Street that they previously occupied. The address was 812 Union. (A few years later that address would be changed to 819.)

He subsequently went to work as conductor for the St. Louis and Hannibal  (Short Line) Railroad.

In April 1900, a local newspaper reported that Hiram Rigler had a “fine stable” constructed behind his house on Union Street, adjacent to the rear alley. In June 1901, Rigler purchased a “rubber tired Surrey” from The Hixon Hardware Company.

In April 1901, Hiram Rigler was making improvements to the building he owned on the corner of Fourth (Sycamore) and Washington Streets in South Hannibal, near where he and his wife had lived as newlyweds. In 1903, he had a new front put on the building. Charles Holtzclaw rented the retail space for use as a drug store.

On Aug. 5, 1906, a local newspaper reported that Hiram Rigler and wife sold their house at 812 (819) Union Street to Henry Lowe, a South Hannibal butcher, for $3,000.

The Riglers in turn moved back down Union Street hill, to Fourth (Sycamore) Street, South Hannibal, to the building they owned. They lived upstairs over the Holtzclaw drug store, 301 Fourth, South Hannibal. (That address was later changed to 701 Sycamore.)

Special tribute

The Brookfield Gazette, in its June 5, 1925 edition, paid tribute to the men who served the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad during its formative years. Hiram Rigler was among the rail pioneers mentioned in this article.

“The history of the building and development of the old Hannibal and St. Joe railway is a romantic story, a story of success achieved in spite of difficulties that appeared impossible to surmount, and to have played a part in that story, to have been a link in the chain of progress that gave North Missouri one of its best and most useful railway lines, is honor enough for one man.”

These men have “seen the Hannibal and St. Joseph railway develop from a small cross state road into a very important link of one of the greatest railway systems in the West. (They have) watched the locomotive grow from a small woodburner into the huge monster used today … over the hills and valleys of the Brookfield Division.

“The fact is, those soldiers of the rail whose names have been mentioned in this article, and many others whose names are not recalled, hold an honorable place in the history of railroading. It was they and others like them who gave the best years of their lives to the service of their fellow men, for there is no doubt that the railway lines have done more to develop our country than any other one agency.”

Misfortune

Susie Rigler was kicked by a horse in the stable behind their home on Fourth Street (Sycamore) in May 1907. She was carried upstairs to her nearby home, where surgical attention was offered by Dr. William H. Hays. The local newspaper on May 2, 1907, reported: “From recent reports the lady is getting along as nicely as might be expected and it is to be hoped she will soon fully recover.”

A little more than two months later, Hiram Rigler, “one of the oldest and best known railroad conductors,” died at the age of 63. 

The Hannibal Morning Journal, in its May 2, 1907 edition, reported:

“Sunday … about 11 o’clock he went down stairs into the drug store of Charles Holtzclaw after some tobacco and after talking with Mr. Holtzclaw a short time, remarked that his wife was cooking some soup for dinner and that he would go upstairs and bring him down a bowl. When he went back upstairs he took a seat in the dining room, his wife being in the kitchen preparing dinner. He had hardly seated himself in a chair before his wife heard a noise as something had fallen and hastening into the dining room found that her husband had fallen out of the chair and was lying on his face speechless. She endeavored to raise him up but being unable to do so, called Mr. Holtzclaw. Dr. S.G. Smith and Dr. Albert L. Shanks were called in, but the spirit had taken its everlasting flight - he was cold in the embrace of death.”

Susie Rigler died in September 1919 at her home, 701A Sycamore. Her obituary in a local newspaper noted, “She was a faithful advocate consistent member of South Side Christian Church. She was a woman who possessed many beautiful traits of character that made for her many friends.”

Susie and Hiram Rigler are buried together in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Their son, Thomas Rigler, died in 1951.

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