In the spring of 1870 a board of trade was organized in Hannibal, with:

 H. R. F. Lakenan, president

Josiah Hunt, Geo. Bacon, Sr., and J. A. McVeigh, vice-presidents

W. C. Foreman, secretary ; C. O. Godfrey, J. F. Hawkins, J. T. K. Hayward, A. R. Levering, and J. R. Winchell, executive committee.

The present Hannibal Board of Trade was organized July 25, 1882. The officers were:

D. M. Dulany, president

W. A. Munger treasurer

J. K. Hayward, vice-president

A. R. Leverinrg treasurer

Charles N. Clark, secretary

W. H. Loomis, J. B. Price, J. T. Barber, W. B. Drescher, directors

W. B. Drescher, A. J. Settles, and Benton Coontz, trustees.

The efficient secretary, in his well-written report of the operations of the board during the first year of its existence, says:

The city has made marked progress in the right direction, and in all that has been accomplished of a public nature the Board of Trade has played an important part, and in some of the most important has been the originator and borne the entire responsibility. This is true of our township indebtedness, which, under its management, ahs been reduced $88,160, and the annual interest decreased $113,289.20. On January 1st, 1883, over $100,000 of the debt was due, and holders of our bonds were pressing for payment; $75,000 had been extended on the tax books for collection. All this has been adjusted. The debt has been reduced from $352,640.00 to $264,480.00 and the interest from ten per cent per annum to six. The debt having been refunded with bonds running twenty years, or may be paid after five years, at the option of the township. There is now no matured debt against Mason township, our creditors satisfied, and our self-respect restored and our township debt placed in course of easy extinction. By this one transaction every tax payer in Mason township, and, consequently in Hannibal, has been save in cash, that he must otherwise have paid the collector long before this, $2.55 on each $100 of the assessed value of his property, both real and personal.