Lavoo brothers find railroading unlucky

Hannibal, Missouri, situated as it is on the western bank of the Mississippi River, served as a gateway to the west during Charles’ youth. And the home where he was raised — on Broadway extension (the main corridor from the river west) — was in the early years considered countryside, outside of Hannibal proper.

His generation was the first to attend public-funded schools, which were established in Missouri following the Civil War. Those of his generation were also called upon to serve during the Spanish-American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898). Charles Lavoo was among those who stepped up to serve their country, enlisting in Company F, 4th Missouri Infantry. Family information indicates he was wounded during transport home from the conflict.

Railroad career

Like his younger brother, Christopher C. Lavoo, Charles David Lavoo went to work for the railroads. In 1901, while working as a fireman for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, (the first railroad to cross (east west) the state of Missouri) Charles Lavoo was injured while on duty.

A report in the Oct. 25, 1901 edition of the Chariton Courier, located at Keytesville, Mo., noted that Charles Lavoo fell from his engine, landing on his head. Badly bruised, he remained unconscious for 24 hours. During the next three weeks, his mind remained blank, according to the newspaper account of Oct. 14. “He had been brought home and was walking out in the yard when his real senses came back to him in an instant".

“I was unable to realize my situation at first,” said Mr. Lavoo. “I immediately sought my folks, and for the first time found what had happened to me. I cannot recollect a thing that transpired during the three weeks that lapsed. My case certainly puzzles me.”

Effects from the injury lingered. In early August 1902, the Marion County court ordered that Charles Lavoo be sent temporarily to the Fulton Asylum for care and treatment.

Gambling

Back in Hannibal in November 1905, Charles Lavoo was caught up in a gambling house raid at Walter Bryant’s saloon at 108 South Main St., south of Broadway and two blocks west of the river.

Policeman William Webb guarded the front exit, and the other officers, George W. Ham, Henry Stuart and T.A. Wallace, entered the gambling room by way of the rear door, just back of Henry P. Long’s drug store, 211 Broadway.

The Quincy Weekly Whig reported on Nov. 16, 1905: “At the time of their entrance the house was pretty well filled with individuals, busily engaged in crap shooting, and one card game was in progress.

“The crowd undertook a miniature riot in their first excitement at the appearance of the officers, but cooled down remarkably quick and quietly accompanied the blue coats to headquarters, where they succeeded i giving bond and were released to again assemble this afternoon at 2 o’clock, with Judge McNeal in the chair.”

Butcher

Barely scathed by the police raid, by 1910, Charles had trained as a butcher, and was operating a meat market at 103 Lindell (later renumbered 510 Lindell.) In 1916, he had relocated his butcher shop to the aforementioned two-story brick building located at 2300 Market, at the intersection of Gordon and Market. Following his mother’s death in 1917, he made his home on the building’s second story.

There he would operate his business into the early 1920s. Later tenants in the building were Robert L. Hawkins, who operated a grocery store while Lavoo continued selling meat; in 1923 Charles S. Gruber managed a meat market in this locale; and in 1925, Dave Ewing and Sons sold meat on the premises. Four years later, Ewing’s meat market was located at 310 N. Main.

The building, as described in last week’s story, is better remembered today as the former home of Bluff City Dairy.

Charles D. Lavoo died on Oct. 8, 1961, at the U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Danville, Vermillion County, Ill. He is buried at Hannibal’s Holy Family Cemetery.

C.C. Lavoo

Christopher Columbus Lavoo (1879-1932) four years younger than the aforementioned Charles David Lavoo, settled in Pueblo, Colo., where he and his wife, Bertha, raised their family.

Working as a conductor for the Missouri Pacific railroad, his usual route was between Pueblo, Colorado, and Horace, Kansas. At Horace, his routine was to bunk in the caboose.

That’s where he was found murdered on Friday, Dec. 9, 1932.

The Quincy Herald Whig of Dec. 14, 1932, carried a crime scene report:

“It was at first believed that he had been the victim of an accidental shot from a revolver, which he always carried. An investigation by officials at Horace discredited the accident theory upon the grounds that the calibre of Mr. Lavoo’s gun was small while the bullet hole behind the left ear of the dead man was made by a larger bullet.

“The interior of the way car showed signs of a terrific struggle. An automatic found on the floor showed one shot fired and the mechanism jammed. There was a bullet hole in the wall of the way car and the door was locked. Mr. Lavoo always carried a considerable sum of money and wore several diamonds. Neither the money nor the diamonds were taken. It is believed that the murderer attempted robbery, which was repulsed by Mr. Lavoo, and made his escape through the cupola of the way car after becoming frightened by the noise made by the struggle and the shots.”

Despite an intense investigation spurred on by Mrs. Lavoo, a culprit was not convicted of the murder.

Homestead

Information gathered from newspapers, Sanborn maps, estate papers and Hannibal city directories suggests that the Lavoo family lived in the block of Broadway, east of Division Street, as early as 1875.

The accompanying Sanborn map shows two brick, two-story houses on the north side of Broadway extension, built at a slight angle to the street, numbered 1420 and 1422.

Today, these same two houses remain, and are numbered 1506 and 1510.

It is believed that the Lavoo family lived in each of these houses during times of their residency in Hannibal.

Listed in the 1885 Hannibal City Directory at 1422 (1510) Broadway was Peter Lavoo, the family patriarch, a Hannibal contractor.

In 1923, the family members living next door to the east at 1420 (1506) Broadway included Bessie and Elizabeth Lavoo, who operated a millinery shop at 1700 Market; and their sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Frank P. McIntyre.