‘Hannibals’ ‘goal tosser’ was valedictorian in ’05
Thomas C. Bacon, a Hannibal attorney, autographed a copy of his new book, “Mirror of Hannibal” for Lela Adele Tucker. Miss Tucker was valedictorian of the Hannibal High School Class of 1905.
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
Lela Adele Tucker, daughter of veteran Burlington steam locomotive engineer William H. Tucker and his wife, Bessie, graduated at the top of the 1905 class of Hannibal High School.
The class consisted of 16 graduates: 12 girls and four boys.
Her valedictory speech was dedicated to the various roles women play throughout their lives.
Miss Tucker spoke philosophically of various types of women woven into one:
The Hannibal Weekly Journal reported on June 9, 1905:
“She discussed the woman in the home, the society woman, the business woman, the club woman and showed that these are different phases of the same type of women, the woman who is striving to attain to lofty aims and make her influence felt, for good in the world.”
The Tucker family lived at 217 S. Ninth Street, in a two-story frame house on the northeast corner of Ninth and Lyon.
On Sept. 19, 1905, Miss Tucker left for Columbia, Mo., in order to attend the State University.
Shortly after her first year of schooling concluded, the family was faced with a major tragedy: Her father, W.H. Tucker, died at his home at 11:25 o’clock on the morning of May 22, 1906, following a lingering illness. He was just 51. At the time of his death, he was working as an engineer on a Burlington passenger train.
Rather than return to Columbia for schooling in the fall, she accepted an offer to teach in room 4 at Central School. Her principal was Miss Martha Ray. In her class there were a total of 50 students, 26 boys and 24 girls.
Inscribed book
That same September, Thomas H. Bacon, a Hannibal attorney, presented Miss Tucker with an inscribed copy of his new history book, “Mirror of Hannibal,” thanking her for her inspiration for the inclusion of a local geology chapter within the book. (That book is now in the possession of Robert Spaun.)
Ardent suitor
On the night of her high school graduation, Miss Tucker attracted the attention of a young Hannibal man, recently graduated from law school, who had returned to his hometown to start a career in the practice of law.
His name was Berryman Henwood. The story of their meeting and courtship was included in the announcement of their marriage, published in the Oct. 18, 1907, edition of the Hannibal Morning Journal:
“Dame rumor has it that Mr. Berryman Henwood, just back from college and entering upon his profession, discovered Miss Adele Tucker on the night of her graduation in June 1905, and fell suddenly and desperately in love with her, but Miss Tucker at that time had other dreams, a university course, a career perhaps. However, the young man proved such an ardent wooer that she was forced to realize that the most worthy career for any woman to have is to make a home for a husband, and that her mentality will find its true expansion in keeping pace with the growth of his mind, outstripping it, perhaps, at times, and reaching conclusions intuitively that he can arrive at only after carefully weighing the law and the evidence.”
The two were married at her mother’s home, 217 S. Ninth. They descended the home’s stairway together, and exchanged vows in the decorated parlor before some 150 assembled guests. After a wedding trip, they made their home with the bride’s widowed mother.
The Henwoods lived in Hannibal until 1927, when Berryman Henwood was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court. They had four children, Ethelyn Henwood, who died in June 1934, while a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia; First Lt. Berryman T. Henwood, who was killed in Okinawa in July 1945, while serving in the Marine Corps; and daughters, Virginia Henwood Gottlieb (1914-2003), and Mrs. Marion H. Truesdale (1918-1975).
Mrs. Henwood died in 1937.
Mr. Henwood died in 1955.
On the court in 1904
Adele Tucker was not only a scholar, she was an athlete as well.
Sailor-style white shirts with accenting scarves, long fluid skirts and lace-up leather shoes - this was a representative uniform worn by Hannibal High School’s girls basketball team in the spring of 1904, when Adele Tucker was a junior.
With the new high school building at Tenth and Broadway under construction but not yet complete, accommodations were made for a match-up between Hannibal and Louisiana girls, to take place outdoors, at Athletic Field, located at Chestnut and Lamb, May 19, 1904.
Sallie (Metcalf, Mrs. W.T.) Loudon of Hannibal, and Miss Holliday, a teacher at Louisiana, served as umpires, and John Vandiver of Hannibal was referee.
The clocks were set, allowing for two 15-minute halves, and a 10-minute intermission.
Game time was 11 a.m.
The Pike County News reported in its May 19, 1904 edition:
“The Hannibal team lined up with Misses Katherine and Florence Helm as centers; Misses Aileen Davidson and Elsie Busjaeger as guards, and Adele Tucker and Katie Eichenberger as goal tossers. Miss Eichenberger was relieved in the second half by Miss Edna Worrell. Miss Marguerite Rightmire and Mary Baskett were substitutes.”
For Louisiana: “The lineup for the Louisiana team was as follows: Misses Alice Vasconcellos and Anna Jump, centers; Irene Nolin and Estelle Templeton, guards; Clinnie Rule and Georgia Dever, goal tossers; and Julia Duncan, Helen Wald and Mary Jump, substitutes.”
Hannibal won the match by a score of 8 to 4.
The Pike County newspaper credited the following:
“Features of the game were the effective work of the Misses Helm and the brilliant plays of Misses Adele Tucker and Edna Worrell on behalf of the Hannibals, and Misses Georgia Dever and Irene Nolin of the visitors.”
Following the game, both teams were hosted by Misses Katie May (Katherine) and Florence Helm, who entertained at the home of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. John C. Helm, (at 419 N. Sixth). “The members of the Hannibal team and their friends were present, and the occasion was a most delightful one.” - (Saturday’s Hannibal Courier.)
One year later, members of Hannibal High School’s Class of 1905 graduated, in a ceremony staged in the new high school’s auditorium.
The names will sound familiar. Adele Tucker, the aforementioned goal tosser on the girl’s basketball team, won first honors in her graduating class of 16. Second honors were bestowed upon Florence Helm, the basketball team’s center. Elizabeth Helm was valedictorian of the class of 1904.
“The Mirror of Hannibal,” published in 1905. In 1990, J. Hurley and Roberta Hagood republished “The Mirror of Hannibal,” adding an index.
This is a photo of what “might be.” This photo, from Steve Chou’s vast collection, shows a girls' Hannibal High School basketball team. In the accompanying article, a basketball matchup is described between teams from Hannibal and Louisiana. In the article, names are listed. It is possible (but not proven) that the girls named in the article are the same as the girls pictured. If they are not the same, they are from the same era. Lila Adele Tucker played basketball for the “Hannibals” in 1904.
Mary Lou Montgomery 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
