Stately house on corner of Richmond, Broadway

This 1890’s house served as home for at least three generations of Richmond family members. Francis Richmond (1826-1908) was the first generation; then his son, Francis Denny Richmond (1857-1949); and Francis Denny Richmond’s children, including Mary Richmond, Robertus Love Richmond and Wendell Richmond, grew up in this house. 2023 photo by Mary Lou Montgomery

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

Four generations:

Francis Preston Richmond (1783-1844)

Francis Richmond (1828-1908) and Mary Jane Boyd Richmond (1829-1907)

Francis Denny Richmond (1857-1949) and Carrie Ella Love Richmond (1861-1938)

Francis Love Richmond (1899-1985) and Clara Mae Edwards Richmond (1900-1988)

• Dates from Find A Grave

Thirty-year-old Philip H. Knighton, in May 1880 working as a clerk for J.P. Richards’ real estate office, served as notary for a transaction that officially transformed previous farmland south of Broadway into a residential neighborhood.

Known as Richmond’s Addition, the property is located between Hayden Street to the east, (to the east of the old Blessed Sacrament Church) and to the west, inclusive of the lot containing the building that most recently served as Twisted Juniper Yoga, 2319 Broadway. Richmond’s Addition encompasses property on the south side of Broadway, and includes lots attached to Chestnut, Hope, Spruce and Gordon streets.

The key north/south corridor is Richmond Street, which intersects with Broadway.

Richmond is the surname of family members who subdivided this acreage: believed to be children of Francis Preston Richmond (1783-1844) and his wives, who included Susanna Stottlemeyer Richmond (1784-1823) and Catherine Powell Richmond (1801-1881).

Gathered together in Mr. Richards’ office on that late May day, in the years before anyone conceived of automobiles or air conditioning, Richmond family members gathered. Mr. Richards’ office was at the rear of the second floor of what was then the Farmers’ and Merchants’ Bank (on the northwest corner of Main and Center streets.)

John P. Richmond, born in 1811;

Joseph Richmond, born in 1813;

Joshua Richmond, born in 1815;

Elizabeth Richmond Bird, born in 1817 (widow of Abram Bird); and

George W. Richmond, born in 1844.

Also present was Abram Bird, (estimated age of 38) believed to be the son of Elizabeth Richmond Bird. Abram served as attorney in fact for the transaction.

The five Richmond offspring in turn signed the legal document designating the former farm land as Richmond’s Addition to the city of Hannibal. The aforementioned Philip H. Knighton notarized the legal document.

The following year, Catherine Powell Richmond, the family matriarch who had been a widow since 1844, died.

Neighborhood

The majority of houses in this neighborhood were (and remain today) small frame single-family dwellings, which were earlier occupied by blue-collar workers and their sometimes extended families. Nearby were factories and the railroads, and beginning in the late 1800s there were street cars operating along Hope Street to connect this neighborhood and its occupants to downtown.

One of the largest houses in the development belonged to the Richmond family, located on the northeast corner of Richmond and Broadway. The two-story, four bedroom Victorian-style house, numbered over the years as 1643, 1733 and finally 2147 Broadway, would serve as home to at least two generations of Richmonds: Francis Richmond (1826-1908) and later his son, Francis Denny Richmond. (1857-1949)

The house was constructed circa 1890, according to records provided by the Marion County Assessor’s office.

By 1894, Francis Richmond (1826-1908) and Jane Boyd Richmond had moved their family north from Buffalo, Pike County, Mo., to Hannibal, and settled here. He was a life-long stonemason, and might be credited with the home’s foundation, made from quarried limestone. Located at the city limit’s western boundary (in 1894), the 3,168-square-foot house was constructed on lots 21 and 23 of the Richmond Addition.

Early settlers

The aforementioned Francis Richmond, born 1826 in Frederick County, Maryland, came west with his father, Francis Preston Richmond (1783-1844), settling into Missouri when the state was the “new West.”

Francis Richmond (born 1826) was married to Mary Jane Boyd in the mid to late 1840s, together welcoming some 10 children to their family.

By 1900, Francis and Mary Jane Richmond’s children were grown and on their own, and Mr. and Mrs. Richmond shared their large house with Mary Jane’s sister, Mrs. Frank (Margaret) Baxter.

By 1907, Frank and Mary Jane had moved west to 1911 Broadway. Frank and Mary Jane’s son and daughter-in-law, Frank Denny Richmond (1857-1949) and Carrie, moved into the big house on the NE corner of Broadway and Richmond. In 1911, living with Frank D. and Carrie were three of their children: Mary Richmond, a student; Robertus Love Richmond, a clerk for the MK&T Railroad; and Wendell Richmond, a student.

They continued to live out their lives at 2147 Broadway. Carrie Love Richmond died in 1938 at the age of 76, and Frank Denny Richmond died in 1949, at the age of 91. they are buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

1908 death notice

Upon Francis D. Richmond’s death, the Quincy Daily Journal published in its Aug. 31, 1908 edition:

“Dies on his 82nd birthday

“Hannibal, Mo. Aug. 31 - After completing full 82 years of life, Francis D. Richmond, one of Hannibal’s and Marion county’s oldest settlers, took his flight on the eighty-second anniversary of his birth. He was born Aug. 28, [1826], and he died at 8 o’clock last evening. Mr. Richmond was born in Maryland and came to Missouri when fourteen years old, settling in Marion County. At the age of 21 he married Mary J. Boyd of Pike county, who died about a year ago, at the age of 76 years. Four daughters and four sons survive.”

Note the evenly cut limestone blocks that serve as the foundation for the 1890’s era house located at 2147 Broadway. Francis Richmond (1826-1908) was a stonemason by trade, and was the first generation of his family to call this house his home. He likely may be credited with the stonemason work on his own house. The neighborhood in which this house stands is named for the Richmond family members who lent their surname to the Richmond Addition in 1880. 2023 Photo by Mary Lou Montgomery

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," "The Historic Murphy House, Hannibal, Mo., Circa 1870,” “Hannibal’s ‘West End,’ and the newest book, “Oakwood: West of Hannibal.” Montgomery can be reached at Montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com