The Press-Dispatch
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C-12 Wednesday, November 13, 2019 The Press-Dispatch HISTORY Submit history photos: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday and Tuesday, July 7 and July 11, 1944 A fire, which created a lot of excitement occurred Sat- urday afternoon at 1 o'clock at the post office. The news spread rapidly and in a few minutes, a large crowd had gathered in the street to find that the awning over the front door and window was ablaze. The origin of the fire would probably have remained a mystery had it not been for Bobby Tucker and Jimmy Hightower, who were stand- ing in front of the building, saw a man raise his hand with a cigarette between his fingers and rest it on one of the awning rods. Accidental- ly, the cigarette touched the awning and flames shot up immediately. The boys noti- fied the post office officials and also called the fire de- partment. The fire was soon extinguished, but the awning covering was badly damaged. A Hudson car, owner by Carol (Bill) Harvey, of Alford, crashed into the plate glass window of the store building formerly occupied by Gross' Supermarket, Saturday short- ly after noon. Mr. Harvey drove up to the curb and the brakes failed to hold and the car rolled onto the pavement and into the front of the build- ing. Two glasses in the front of the building were broken and the car was slightly damaged. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Robling, of Hazleton, a boy, Richard, born July 3; To SK. 2/c Wilford Wilder and wife, of Winslow, a son, Wil- ford Wayne, on July 4 in the Oakland City Maternity Hos- pital; To Corporal and Mrs. George Kinman, of Winslow, on July 3 at Maternity Hos- pital in Winslow, a girl, Ju- dith Ellen; To Mr. and Mrs. Charles Goodpasture, a boy, born July 9; To Mr. and Mrs. Carl Griffith, of Petersburg, a baby girl, Carletta Fay, on Wednesday; To Mr. and Mrs. Paul Grable, a girl, Sandra Sue, born Saturday morning. Marriages: William Wat- son and Maude Miller were united in marriage on Tues- day morning, July 4 at about 9 o'clock at the Free Method- ist parsonage; Dorothy L. Ja- cobs and Lieut. John Rogers were married at 10 o'clock Wednesday evening June 28 in the Canal St. Methodist Church in New Orleans, La.; Virginia Carrico and Don- ald Walton were wed on Sat- urday afternoon at 3 p.m. by Rev. Frank McLaughen at his home; Ellen Foley and Carey Ward were united in marriage on Monday morning by Rev. Frank McLaughen. Deaths: John Finn Dean, 85, formerly of Petersburg, passed away on July 5 in Indi- anapolis; Peter Sherman, 86, of Petersburg, died on July 7 at 4 o'clock in the state hospi- tal in Logansport. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Thursday, October 8, 1959 Quick thinking by Howard Parker, owner of the Parker Drug Store in Winslow, made possible the arrest of a wom- an and two men shortly be- fore 5 p.m. Monday. The trio had forged a prescription for a large amount of dilaudid, a very strong narcotic. The trio was picked up by State Troop- er Paul Oxendine and Win- slow Town Marshal Ray Hag- gard after the trap had been set by police officers and Mr. Parker. Mr. Parker received a call at 11:30 a.m. on Monday from Evansville from a man claiming to be Dr. William Ritchie. He said he had writ- ten a rather large prescrip- tion for Sally Reynolds so she didn't have to make extra trips to Evansville from Spurgeon to get the narcotic. Parker be- came suspicious and called Dr. Ritchie's office in Evans- ville. The real Dr. Ritchie said he did not write that prescrip- tion and hadn't written one for dilaudid in years. Park- er then called Trooper Oxe- ndine and Marshal Haggard and the trap to catch the per- sons was set. The police offi- cers waited all afternoon be- fore the trio appeared. Short- ly before 5 p.m., a car with one woman and two men parked on Main St. A fter presenting the prescription, Parker sent his clerk out to retrieve the po- lice officers, who entered and arrested the trio immediate- ly. The woman arrested was Catherine Ryan, 50, and the men arrested were William Burden, 46, and Leo Sartore, 46. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Traylor, of Otwell, a son, October 1 at Memori- al Hospital in Jasper; To Mr. and Mrs. Robert Garland, of Otwell, a son, Mark Alan, Sep- tember 19 at Memorial Hospi- tal; To Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Davis, of Oakland City, a son, Jeffry Bryan, born Thursday, October 1 at Deaconess Hos- pital; To Mr. and Mrs. Everett Eilert, of Velpen, a son, Jim- mie Lee, born Tuesday, Sep- tember 27 in Stork Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Bob F. Ro- throck, of Winslow, a daugh- ter, Kimberly Sue; To Mr and Mrs. Edward Earl Howard, of Otwell, a daughter, Vicki Lou- ise, born Tuesday, October 6 in Jasper Memorial Hospital. Marriages: Janice Under- hill and Ray Jenkins were married Monday afternoon, October 5 at 1 o'clock in the First Methodist Church in Oakland City. Deaths: Mrs. Ruth Wis- caver, of Otwell, died at the Daviess County Hospital Wednesday afternoon af- ter giving birth. Her new- born child also passed away; Priscilla Rumble, 89, of Pe- tersburg, died at the Colvin Nursing Home in Washing- ton at 5:45 p.m. Saturday; Sibbie Britton, 83, of Peters- burg, died at her residence at 9:15 p.m. Saturday night; Joan Marvis Byrd, 29, of Pe- tersburg, died suddenly at her home on Saturday. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, October 23, 1969 Sula Mae Johnson, 70, of Second and Sycamore St., Petersburg, received serious injuries Sunday afternoon in a car-pickup truck accident. The accident occurred at the Waterworks Rd. and Highway 61, just south of White River. Mrs. Johnson received a frac- tures skull, severe facial lac- erations and a crushed chest. Her husband, Charles John- son, and Mrs. Dorthy Rose Austin were also injured in the accident. Johnson was listed as being in fair condi- tion with hematoma of the skull and possible brain con- cussion. Dorothy Rose Aus- tin, passenger in the pickup truck, received small lacer- ation abrasions on the face and bruises on her arms and elbows. According to investi- gating officers, Archie Aus- tin was traveling out of town and turned onto Waterworks Road. Charles Johnson was headed into town and when Johnson turned, they hit head on. Austin was driving a 1969 Chevrolet pickup truck and Johnson a 1962 Ford. Both ve- hicles were a total loss. Austin was charged with driving left of center. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Daniel James Esarey, of Pe- tersburg, by adoption, a son, Joseph Daniel; To Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Traylor, a daugh- ter, Tina Marie, born at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday at Daviess County Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Maurice R. Wilkey, of Winslow, in Jasper, Memori- al Hospital, Sunday, October 19, a son, Chad Maurice. Marriages: Anita Gail and Airman Stanley Kent Mullen were united in marriage at the Church of Christ in Arthur by Elder George Fiscus, October 4 at 7 p.m. Deaths: James Keith Bakeis, 27, of Petersburg, died Friday, October 17 at 10 :30 p.m. at Good Samari- tan Hospital; Pvt. 1st Class Douglas A. Lemond, 21, of Petersburg, died Tuesday, Oc- tober 11 in a station hospital in Da Nang, Viet Nam; Earl R. "Red" West, 48, of Peters- burg, died suddenly Wednes- day, October 15 at 9:30 p.m. at the home of some friends; Virgil L. "Cudge" Hamm, 70, of Winslow, died at 4:40 a.m. Tuesday, October 21 in Good Samaritan Hospital; Loss- ie Edwards, 84, of Oakland City, died Saturday noon at Gibson General Hospital; Louis B. Weiss, 68, of Oak- land City, died suddenly at his home Saturday morning; Esta Matteson, 62, of Peters- burg, died at 4:30 p.m. Sun- day, October 19. TWENTY- FIVE YEARS The Press-Dispatch Thursday, October 6, 1994 An enhanced 911 system may have hit a snag that could cause an undetermined de- lay in the system's implemen- tation in Pike County. Coun- ty Commissioners received a letter from GTE telling them an "exclusive" agree- ment between them and dis- tributors of the "PSAP" sys- tem prohibited anyone but GTE from selling the prod- uct in Pike County. Commis- sioner president Arvel Grubb said he didn't think it was go- ing to cause a delay, but he wasn't sure. Pike County bid the project earlier this year and CMI was the lowest bid- der. GTE failed to submit a bit. However, the bid specifi- cations and deadline was ad- vertised. Grubb said none of the bidders were sent invita- tions to bid. A Petersburg girl escaped serious injury Wednesday af- ternoon when she was hit by a slow moving car while rid- ing her bicycle. Jami Vande- venter, 6, of 1405 Main St. had only minor injuries. Cuts and abrasions to her knee were the worst injuries, according to police. Vandeventer was riding her bicycle down an alley along a stockade fence and rode into 15th St. in front of Nelda F. Davis, 46, of 15th St., Petersburg, who had just turned off of Highway 57 on- to 15th St., when the accident occurred. According ot po- lice, Davis attempted to miss Vendeventer, as there were about 2 feet of skid marks made by her front right tire. According to Petersburg Po- lice Chief Mike Key, most of the skid marks were made in loose gravel on the blacktop from the alley. Key said the girl had only minor injuries. Mrs. Davis was treated by EMTs for possible heart prob- lems following the accident. No citations were issued. Births: To Barbara L. Whitman-Walburn and Tim- othy L. Walburn, their first born, Daykotah Lee Whit- man-Walburn, Sept. 26 at Good Samaritan Hospital. Deaths: Pansy Bush, 75, of VElpen, died at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, October 2, at Memo- rial Hospital; Katherine E. Casper, 80, of Francisco, died Friday, Sept. 30 at 4:22 p.m. at Wirth Osteopathic Hospi- tal in Oakland City; Evelyn M. Garrison-McCandless, 66, of Oakland City, died Thursday, Sept. 29 at Deaconess Hospi- tal; Ruth J. Brittian, 93, for- merly of Otwell, died Satur- day, Sept. 24 at 7:30 pm. 1989 Pike Central Freshman Boys' Basketball Team Pictured above are the members of the 1989 Pike Central freshman boys' basketball team, front row (l to r): Jason Gryder, Ryan Loos, Jason Edrington and J.D. Sorgius; second row: Derek Brewster, Jeremy Echert, Andy Rothrock, Chis Gowen, Joey Meyer and Ronnie Brown; third row: Chris Morton, Neil White- head, Todd Meadors. Jeremy Whitehead and Robbie Crews; back row: Coach Brian Wahl, Craig Shoobridge, Chris Bailey, Joey Fuhrman, Derek Horrall and Trevor Keller. Photo from archive. Wednesday, Nov. 13 • Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated (1982) • Indiana Textbook Commission member charges that "Robin Hood" is communistic (1953) Thursday, Nov. 14 • "Moby-Dick published (1851) • Apollo 12 lifts off (1969) Friday, Nov. 15 • First stock ticker debuts (1867) • Articles of Confederation adopted (1777) Saturday, Nov. 16 • Fort Washington is captured (1776) • Oklahoma enters the Union (1907) Sunday, Nov. 17 • Elizabethan Age begins (1558) • Suez Canal opens (1869) Monday, Nov. 18 • President Lincoln travels to Gettysburg (1863) • Mass suicide at Jonestown (1978) Tuesday, Nov. 19 • Lincoln delivers Gettysburg address (1863) • James A. Garfield is born Source: History.com SUBSCRIBE TODAY! We're not afraid to shed some light on the truth. 812-354-8500