House served as Higgins family home for 35 years
This photo of the old Higgins house, which was about to be razed, was published in the Friday, May 29, 1959 edition of the Hannibal Courier-Post. The house stood at the southwest corner of North Sixth and Center Streets. At the time of demolition, it was believed to be one of the city’s oldest buildings, 132 years old, dating to 1827.
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
Richard M. Higgins, appointed letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service by Postmaster John E. Catlett circa 1890, would go on to earn the esteem of Hannibal citizens, becoming among the most efficient and popular carriers on the force.
Higgins, born about 1863, was married to Bridget Cotter on April 30, 1896. The ceremony took place at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sixth and Lyon.
Before their marriage, Miss Cotter worked as head milliner for Brinkman’s store, 213 Broadway. Mr. Higgins had worked in several capacities during his adulthood in Hannibal, including that of boilermaker for the Hannibal & St. Joe Shops, and he was partnered with his brother, Thomas J. Higgins Jr., in a stove and tinware business at 815 Broadway. At the time of their marriage, Higgins was a carrier for the Post Office.
Two children were born to this marriage, Mary in 1897, and Aloysius J. Higgins in 1898.
As the new century began, Richard Higgins’ health began to deteriorate. Beginning on April 11, 1900, Higgins was granted vacation for a period of 15 days, while Herbert l. Rose stepped in to fill the vacancy on Route 2.
Higgins last carried mail along his route on May 7, 1900. He was not well at the time, but he was unaware of the seriousness of his illness. Early diagnosis was thought to be malaria.
But when his physician diagnosed Bright’s disease, the husband, now with a third child on the way, ultimately realized his fate.
When he died in late May 1900, at the approximate age of 40, his funeral at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, at Sixth and Lyon, was impressive in size. The horse and buggy entourage began at the church, and wound through Hannibal to St. Mary’s Cemetery on Palmyra Road, where he was laid to rest.
Higgins’ wife, Bridget Cotter Higgins, was the beneficiary of two insurance policies issued through Catholic organizations, and was ultimately left to raise their three children alone.
Within days of her husband's death, Bridget Cotter Higgins was counted by a census enumerator, boarding at 111 N. Sixth. The head of the household was T.C. Wilson, a real estate and insurance agent, along with his wife, Anna Wilson, and their daughter, Hazel. Wilson had leased the Dr. Charles E. Lamb property just two months prior, in mid April, 1900.
Also boarding at the house at the time was Bridget’s sister, Catherine Cotter, a popular dressmaker.
Richard Francis Higgins, the third Higgins child, was born about eight months after his father’s death, on Jan. 5, 1901.
Property disposal
In July of 1900, Bridget Higgins sold property that she owned, part of Lot 2 and all of Lot 3 in Jones’ Subdivision of Lot 26, Riverview Addition, to John A. Fry. The following year, Fry sold the property to Gordon W. McDowell, an engineer for the Burlington Railroad. (Today, a house stands on that property, on lots 2 and 3, the address 1005 Paris Ave.)
At some point, prior to or during 1901, Bridget Higgins, widow of Richard M. Higgins, purchased the property next door to the north of the Lamb property, at 115 (later renumbered 123) N. Sixth, and along with her family, she would continue living in the house until her death in 1918. Her grown children would live there into the mid 1930s, when they lost the property to a sheriff’s sale. By 1939, all three of the Higgins siblings had moved from Hannibal.
The building at 123 N. Sixth (a picture accompanies this story) would long serve as a boarding house, in addition to lodging for the extended Higgins family. (It was torn down circa 1959.)
Residing at 115 N. Sixth (later renumbered 123 N. Sixth):
In 1897: Rev. Volney C. Evers, pastor of the First ME Church
In 1895, Rev. Edward P. Little, pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church.
In 1894, Adrain T. Steward, an agent for Standard Oil Co.
In 1892: Eugene N. Bonfils.
Early Hannibal
Richard M. Higgins, the postal carrier, was the son of Thomas J. Higgins, whose roots in Hannibal extend back into the 1850s. A shoemaker throughout his career, the elder Higgins was also a decorated Civil War veteran: the recipient of a Medal of Honor for Gallantry on Field, presented to him in March 1910. ( A profile of his service experiences was published in the March 17, 1910, edition of the Hannibal Evening Courier-Post.)
The extended Higgins family lived for many years in the 100 block of South Eighth Street, on land which now encompasses the Hannibal Police station campus.
In 1875, Thomas J. Higgins’ boot and shoe store was located at 704 Broadway, on the north side of Broadway, across the street from the current police station.
Interesting sidebar:
Hannibal Clipper
Saturday, Sept. 30, 1876
A most exciting runaway occurred on Broadway, about 1 o’clock this afternoon. Indian Joe’s horse, attached to his dray, took fright in consequence of some disarrangement of the shafts, and ran up the street at a most curious rate. The draw was sometimes lifted high in the air, and switched about like a cow’s tail in fly time. Pedestrians sought safety in the first building within their reach, and persons who happened to be driving on the street whipped up for dear life to avoid a fatal collision. Joe had jumped off the dray early in the action, consequently his life was spared. After running at breakneck speed a distance of several blocks, the infuriated animal turned and ran into Higgins’ shoe shop, breaking down the door, shattering window-glass and spreading as much consternation as did the bull in the china shop.
The elder Mr. Higgins died in 1917.
Accomplished son
The eldest son of Richard and Bridget Cotter Higgins, Aloysius J. Higgins, graduated from St. Joseph Academy in 1916, and Hannibal High School in 1918. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, and from the School of Architecture at Harvard University. It was there that he earned the Kelley Fellowship, which included a honorarium of $2,500 per year for two years, allowing him to study in Europe, including Paris, England, Ireland, Germany and Belgium.
He returned to Hannibal, where he opened a business office, but left by the mid 1930s and located at Richmond, Va. There he became chief architect of Region 1 of the U.S. National Park services.
He died in 1952, and the following year, his widow was presented with a posthumous meritorious service award. The citation stated:
“The architect established himself as an authority in the field of historical restoration and preservation. Mr. Higgins was responsible for the plans for restoring many buildings of national significance, including the McLean House at Appomattox, the wartime buildings at Gettysburg, Pa., and the Castle Clinton national monument in New York City.”
The Brinkman’s store at 213 Broadway advertised new hats selected at market by Miss Bridget Cotter, in the May 8, 1889 edition of the Hannibal Courier-Post. Bridget Cotter was married to Richard M. Higgins on April 30, 1896. newspapers.com
Aloysius J. Higgins advertised his business in the March 12, 1926, edition of the Hannibal Labor Press newspaper. newspapers.com
Aloysius J. Higgins
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
