South Hannibal brewery once tucked into Fulton Ave., hillside

The lot, upon which this red brick house was subsequently built, was purchased by Walter F. Tessman in March 1903. Tessman transferred the lot and the house he had built upon the land to Home Savings and Loan Association in January 1905. The lot was originally a part of the Kleine Brewery property, which was located behind this house, up the hill toward the east. The partial street shown in this photo was known as Spring Street, although there is currently no sign marking the street. Photo by Robert Spaun.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

In 1907, the structures that once served as Kleine’s Brewery on Fulton Avenue - located just south of where the street is intersected by Spring Street ( Block 4 and 5, Wardlaw’s Addition) - stood abandoned.

The associated buildings - in place since the late 1870s - most certainly served as a curiosity to those passing by on the city’s electric-powered street cars, on horseback, on foot, or riding in horse-drawn wagons.

The aging buildings remained a source of curiosity for people living and traversing along this viable South Hannibal route, many of whom still remembered the role played by the brewery, ice house and saloon, all tucked into the hillside on the east side of Fulton Avenue.

In July 1907, The Hannibal Morning Journal picked up on the whispers of hauntings taking place in the old buildings, and sent a reporter across Bear Creek to South Hannibal in order to follow up on the town talk.

In the July 12, 1907 edition, the newspaper asked: “Are you afraid of ‘spooks’?”

“If you are you had not better venture in the vicinity of the old South Side brewery; it is haunted. This is no joke and anyone who in the least doubts that statement can walk past the place between 10:30 and 11 o’clock at night and they will see the ghost.”

Those who had witnessed the ghost offered a deft description:

“It being very tall and thin, and say it is even bold enough at times to cross the road in the light.”

“The ‘spook’ first made its appearance Monday night (July 8) and has been seen every night this week regularly at 10:30 o’clock.”

Naturally, the nightly sightings generated much interest from the residents of Fulton Avenue.

“Every night a number visit the nightly haunts of the ghost and many have seen it.

“A number are preparing to pay a visit to the old brewery tonight and solve the mystery surrounding the ‘spook.’”

Fulton landmark

Via a perusal of published Hannibal sources, including newspapers and reference books, the first mention of the South Side (aka Kleine) Brewery was found in 1879. It was one of three breweries doing business in Hannibal, each operated by men of German heritage:

City Brewery, Geo. Riedel, proprietor, Grand Avenue;

William Schanbacher, Lindell Avenue near Market; and

Henry C. Kleine, Fulton Avenue.

In 1885, Kleine, his wife, Louisa, and three children, Augusta, Henry L., and Elizabeth, were living at 1055 Fulton Ave. The address of the brewery was 1053, 1055 and 1057 Fulton. (In 2026, houses fronting Fulton Avenue in that block are numbered 1200, 1202, 1204, 1206, 1208 and 1210.)

The 1879 Hannibal city directory lists Albert Schaub as a brewer at Kleine’s Brewery. The 1881 directory names two Hannibal men who were employed at the brewery: George Scheibl, foreman, and John Brummer. Both lived on the brewery premises.

The brewery

The compound consisted of a two-story stone building, with the brewing facility on the first floor and the barley stage on the second floor.  The building also contained a malt kiln and cooler on the first floor and a malt mill and storage on the second floor. Attached to the buildings was a surface cooler, a store room and office. To the south of the office, there was a large rectangular ice house. At the south end of the property there was a two-story brick dwelling, with a beer cellar in the basement. (Descriptions based upon an illustration provided with the 1899 Sanborn map.)

Accident

The Quincy Daily Whig in its Jan. 12, 1883 edition, reported on a fall that could have claimed the brewery owner’s life.

“Henry C. Kleine and George Munckton (ice dealer) went into the ice house at Kleine’s brewery for the purpose of seeing how much ice there was in the house. While climbing up on the ice Kleine slipped and fell backwards out of the door of the house to the ground, a distance of 8 feet. His head struck upon a small, sharp rock, one corner made a hole in his skull at a place just back of the ear. Mr. Kleine was removed to the house with the blood pouring from his nose and ears. He was in an almost unconscious condition. Dr. (J.C.) Hearne was summoned to see him and found his injuries apparently serious. He had partially recovered from the shock of the fall, however, and when the doctor left him he was resting easily. It is impossible yet to say what the result of Kleine’s Injury may be, but there is reason to believe that he will speedily recover.”

Family

Henry C. and Louisa Kleine had three children who grew to maturity in Hannibal.

Augusta C. Kleine (1862-1953) was married to John W. Holmes on Dec. 18, 1889. They subsequently moved to Quincy, Ill., where by the time the census taker came to call in 1900, they had one son, William H. Holmes, and Augusta’s mother, Louisa, at age 61, was living with them. (This suggests that Louisa and Henry C. Kleine had obtained a divorce.) Augusta Holmes moved with her husband and mother to California, and ultimately they settled in Portland, Ore. That’s where Louisa Kleine died in 1913. Augusta Kleine Holmes died in Portland in 1953.

Henry L. Kleine (1864-1903) was married to Minerva Springer of Green City, Mo., in 1885. They lived in Quincy, Ill., where Henry worked as an agent for the O.K. rail line. They had three children: Allen Lloyd Kleine (1888-1892); Rachel Pearl Kleine (1891-1892) and Henry Floyd Kleine (1886-1947). They ultimately moved to Green City, Mo., where Henry died March 14, 1903. His wife died in 1941.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Kleine  (circa 1868-1927) and Joseph Schnicke were married in July 1885. Lizzie Schnicke moved to St. Louis with her husband, who ultimately became a diamond dealer. She died in 1927, leaving no children.

Henry C. Kleine, the brewery owner, in turn, was married to Mrs. Sophia Gerler of Denver, Colo., in October 1892. He died in 1899, and is buried in Section G, (north side) Hannibal’s Riverside Cemetery. The surname on his tombstone is spelled “Klein,” but there is a supplemental marker with the name spelled “Kleine.” (Source Find A Grave.)

An account in the Quincy newspaper indicates that all three of his adult children were in attendance in Hannibal for their father’s funeral.

Partition sale

The Hannibal property owned by Henry C. Kleine was sold in 1902 in order to divide his assets between his heirs.

His South Hannibal property sold by the sheriff included:

All of lot 14 in Block 2, Wardlaw Addition to the city of Hannibal.

The south part of lot 8, in Block 3, Wardlaw Addition, consisting of about two and a half acres.

All of lots 1,2,3,4,5,6,25,26,27,28, 29 and 30, in Block 4, Wardlaw Addition.

Part of lot 5, Wardlaw Addition. (Brewery location.)

All of lots 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 in block 2, Fairview Addition.

Vacant lots fill

Walter F. Tessmer, a brakeman for the Burlington Railroad, purchased Lot 1, Block 4, Wardlaw Addition, in March 1903, a year after the partition sale.

His family may have lived in the house built on that lot for a short time. He listed it for sale in October 1904. On Jan. 12, 1905, a Hannibal newspaper reported that Tessmer, who had moved to Mexico, Mo., sold the property (Lot 1, Block 4, Wardlaw Addition) to the Home Savings and Loan Association for $1,275. At the time the street address was 1101 Fulton Ave. After 1912, the address became - and remains today - 1200 Fulton Ave.

Other early homeowners, as culled from newspaper notices:

Aug. 25, 1905: Jacob R. Schneeloch and wife to Milton G. Jackson. Part of lots 5 and 6 in Block 4 in Wardlaw Addition to Hannibal. $1,409.

Oct, 11, 1905: William R. Sirrelle and wife to Thomas Haverty and wife, all of that portion of Lot 1 Block 4, Wardlaw Addition to Hannibal. $1,430.

June 12, 1907: Joseph Caya and wife to John L. Moore and wife, Lots 7 and 8, Block 4, Wardlaw Addition to the city of Hannibal. $1,652.

Nov. 11, 1908: William D. Arnold and wife to Jesse Porter, the south 16 feet of lot 2 and all the north18 feet of lot 3, both in Block 4, Wardlaw Addition, consideration $1,500.

Dec. 30, 1909: John C. Ayres to Thomas J. Dugmore and wife, Part of lots 1 and 2, block 4, Wardlaw Addition. Consideration $1,500.

Feb. 17, 1911: Rosa Malia and Arthur J. Malia, Hannibal, to Alfred Bulkley, of Marion County, lots 10 and 11, block 4, Wardlaw Addition. Consideration $1,650.

Sept. 12, 1911: Lonnie T. Waller and Sarah S. Waller, Hannibal, to Luzerne R. Bulkley, Arkansas, all of lot 7 in Block 4, Wardlaw Addition. Consideration $1,400.

Oct. 1, 1912: Charlotte T. Blaine and R. Blaine, her husband, Hannibal, to Susan W. Price, Marion County. All of lot 12 in block 4, Wardlaw Addition, $550.

1918

Curb and gutter assessments:

Part lot 1, part of 2,  Thomas Haverty.

Parts lots 1, 2 and 3,  T.J. Dugmore.

Lot 4, Block 4, Wardlaw Addition, F.G. Gerleman.

Lot 5, Block 4, Wardlaw Addition, Frank D. Offord.

Lot 6 Charles M. Horstmeyer.

Note: The early Sanborn and plat maps indicate that the Kleine Brewery was in Sections 4 and 5 of Wardlaw Addition. The land fronted the eastern side of Fulton Avenue, then went east up the hill. Early Sanborn maps show that the land was parallel to what was then known as Ravine Street, later renamed Spring Street. While there is a short driveway leading from Fulton Avenue east up the hill in 2026, the road going up the hill to serve the brewery no longer exists. At one time, there was an ice house on the property, and extra teams of horses had to be used to pull the ice wagons up the hill. A partial way up the hill, Spring Street (which is now a wooded area) theoretically intersected with another now non-existent road in this block, Guernsey.

Henry C. Kleine owned the land that these Fulton Street houses now stand on until his death in 1899. The properties were sold at a partition sale in 1902 in order to settle his estate, and later developed by owners and developers. Behind these houses, up the hill to the east, was the Kleine Brewery and ice house, from circa 1879 until the late 1890s. Photo by Robert Spaun.

In 1871, Hannibal newcomer Henry C. Kleine advertised his grocery store, which was located at what was referred to as 303 Broadway “across from the public square.” The address was more likely 403 Broadway, as printed in the 1873 directory. By 1879, he was operating the grocery store on Broadway, as well as a brewery on Fulton Avenue. (Hannibal city directories accessed via the Hannibal Free Public Library’s website.)

The layout for Kleine’s Brewery is included in the 1899 Sanborn map, accessed vis the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection, MU Digital Library. The red represents brick structures; blue represents stone structures; and yellow represents frame structures. Ravine Street was later renamed Spring Street. There is currently no street sign designating the historic street.

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: “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