From the Courier-Post archives, late 1970s
Standing stately yet often unnoticed in Hannibal’s Central Park is a monument to a statesman who did much to improve the lot of Midwest farmers. A statue honoring William H. Hatch, whose career in Congress brought him fame and placed his home of Hannibal prominently in the public eye, was placed in the park after a Hatch Monument Association was formed in Hannibal during 1908.
Led by a group of local citizens, the association was organized to accomplish the erection to Hannibal of a suitable monument to the congressman. George A. Mahan was president of the group; Frank L. Schofield, vice president; John T. Holme Jr., secretary and A.R. Levering, treasurer.
An article in the February 29, 1908, edition of the Hannibal Courier-Post reveals that not only the people of Marion County, but those living in other states wished to participate in the establishment of a fund for the monument. Local business and professional men led the drive in Hannibal.
The article described Hannibal and its famous sons: “Hannibal has been true to her illustrious sons and ever have her sons been faithful to her. Hannibal can point with interest and with pride to men in high places in the literary world, in the front ranks of the railroad men of the country, in the lead with the palette and brush, ever in the front where the wheels of progress are to be moved. High up on the pedestal of Hannibal’s illustrious sons is blazoned the name of the late Col. William Henry Hatch, representative of the First Missouri district in Congress for eight consecutive sessions.”
The full-form statue of Hatch was erected on the south side of the park in honor of his vast accomplishments. Hatch was born in Scott County Ky., on September 11, 1833. He studied law after completing early education and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He soon left Kentucky and moved to Hannibal where he began practicing his trade. He was elected circuit attorney in 1858. Which was start of his political career.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Col. Hatch joined the southern forces and entered the militia service with the rank of captain and assistant commissioner of exchange. In this capacity he conducted the exchange of prisoners on the confederate side until the end of the war.
After the war, he returned to Hannibal where he practiced law until 1878, when he was elected representative from the First Missouri district Congress. He was re-elected seven times in succession. He served in the 46th-53rd Congresses, where he was noted for his championing of western and agricultural interests.
Hatch died at his Hannibal home on Dec. 23, 1896. During his lifetime perhaps his greatest accomplishment was the erection of the government building here. He secured the building which still stands at Sixth and Broadway for the district headquarters of the federal court. The building also housed a post office and weather bureau.
Hatch is perhaps best remembered today for the experimental station which was constructed on his farm, Strawberry Hill, after his death. His daughter, Sarah Rhoades Hatch, donated the property to the University of Missouri upon her death, and it was taken over by that institution in 1930. It was located at the present site of the district headquarters of the Missouri Highway Department.
The farm became a vital part of the agricultural industry by devoting much study to cutting feeding costs by use of alfalfa and sweet clover silage. The farm, which was owned cooperatively by the University of Missouri and the Bureau of Dairy Industry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, continued its operation until the early 1960s.
