The Press-Dispatch
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C-4 Wednesday, August 9, 2017 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, July 10, 1942 Charles Leighty suffered a badly crushed left leg Monday when a rock fell on his leg, while he was working in the Bradfield Coal Mine, three miles east of town. He was brought to the office of Dr. Logan where an x-ray showed the bone to be broken in four places, between the knee and ankle. The fracture was reduced and he was taken to his home, east of here. Floyd Ferrell was arrest- ed by State Excise officers and the State Police Sunday at his home in the communi- ty of Hartwell, Ind. for the il- legal selling of liquor. Three men, Paul Riddle, Howard Houchin and Alt Houchin all of near Winslow were arrest- ed for buying illegal liquor. The men were taken before Judge Wood, Monday and Ferrell was given a $25.00 fine and cost and the other three $10.00 fines and cost. The Psi Iota Xi sorority held a pledge service Monday evening at the beautiful coun- try home of their new presi- dent, Mrs. Jake Wellman. The pledge service was given to the new pledges, Mrs. Agnes Werner, Mary K. Krause, Pat- ty Manhart, Mrs. Opal Smith, Velma Lee Beasley and Mrs. Melen Gross' in the flower garden of the Wellman home. Fred Brown, Spanish- American war veteran died Thursday morning at 1:15 from injuries sustained by explosion of dynamite which had been stored in the smoke house, at his home, three miles northeast of Winslow on the Cato road. He never regained consciousness. Republican state commit- tee members, meeting to draft preliminary plans for the elec- tion campaign, announced to- day a policy of holding small political rallies, with empha- sis on precinct gatherings. Births: Born July 3 to Mr. and Mrs. H. K. Otheim at the Iowa Methodist hospital room 546, Des Moines Iowa, a ba- by girl. Marriages: Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Biggs announce the marriage of their son Lieut. Woodrow Biggs, to Miss Martha M. Howells, of Bridgeport, on July 4 at 7:00 p.m; Announcement was made Thursday of the mar- riage of Miss Betty Grisdale of Detroit, Michigan to Ed- ward Lucas, also of Detroit. The marriage ceremony was performed by Rev. John Ed- ward Martin at the Redford M. E. church in Detroit, May 30. Deaths: Mrs. Holle B. Mc- Grady passed away at the Good Samaritan hospital in Vincennes at 2:30, Thursday afternoon, following a major operation; The baby boy to Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Black- burn, passed away at the home, in this city eight hours after birth. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday, June 28, 1957 Parents and children un- der 18 were given an official definition of delinquency this week by Mayor Carol Thom- as after several complaints of undue noise on the streets af- ter ten o'clock at night. A child under the full age of eighteen years is delinquent if he "wan- ders about the streets of any city between the hours of ten o'clock p.m. and five o'clock a.m. without being on any law- ful business or occupation." Over 200 attended open house in the new Medical Arts Building between 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday. Following the open house, out of town guests were entertained at the residence of Dr. John M. Kidd in Petersburg and at the coun- try home of Dr. and Mrs. J. W. Elbert. Four Petersburg Boy Scouts are in the midst of big plans for their forthcominh trip to the Boy Scout Jambo- ree at Valley Forge, Pa., July 12 to 18. William Crawford, Vice- President of Enos Coal Com- pany, Petersburg, has su- scribed $1,000 - the first "chal- lenge gift" conforming with the Mead Johnson foundation, Inc. gift- for the Boys Scout Camp Expansiopn Fund. Continued wet weath- er compounded the woes of pocket area farmers this week and some predicted that 1957 crops are now about seven weeks behind normal plant- ing and cultivation schedules. Marriages: Miss Jane Elizabeth Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.S. Jones of Nashville, Tenn., recently be- came the bride of Jerry Alan Songer, son of Mr. and M,rs. W. A. Songer of Petersburg. Deaths: Funeral Servic- es for John T. Erwin, 86, will be at 10 a.m. today (Friday), at the Winslow General Bap- tist Church; Funeral services were held at Augusta Gener- al Baptist Church at 2:30 p.m. Thursday for Mrs. Doris Nor- rington, 40, who dies at 6:25 p.m. on Monday; Funeral ser- vices were held at 2 p.m. Tues- day in Poindexter chapel in Washington for Orville Floyd Wratten, 42, who was found dead in his wrecked car in a creek bottom northwest of Washington Saturday. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, July 13, 1967 Mrs. Bessie Willis who lives with her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Rob- ert Lindsay in the east end of Winslow suffered a badly bro- ken left arm Thursday morn- ing at the Tisdale's East End Grocery. Mrs. Willis' arm was broken in several places at the wrist. She tripped over a case of soft drinks as she was try- ing to get out of the way of a delivery man. She was taken to the Daviess County hospi- tal where she remained until Tuesday morning. The 12 queen candidates entered in the 1967 Miss Pike County beauty pageant will appear on television chan- nel 7 Evansville Saturday, July 22. The taped broadcast will be shown on the 6 and 10 p.m. edition of the Tri State news. Candidates will also be guests of the Pike County Fair Board at a dinner set for Thursday, 20, at the Holiday Inn, in Vin- cennes. The Teener League base- ball team from Mishawaka, scheduled to play here last Saturday afternoon, failed to show up for the game and Pe- tersburg was automatically named Indiana state cham- pion. No reason was given for the Mishawaka team not arriving for the scheduled game. A $103,000 insured loan and a construction grant to develop a community water system has been approved by the Farmers Home Adminis- tration, reports Dwight Flan- ingham, the Agency's County Supervisor. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Erwin of Riley, a son, Edward Duane, born July 4; To Mr. and Mrs. Larry Eye of Oakland City, a daughter, Sheri Rena; To Mr. and Mrs. Paul Coleman of Route 1, Win- slow, a son, Brian Kent, Fri- day, July 7 at St. Joseph Hos- pital; To Mr. and Mrs. Den- nis Martin, a son, John Leo; To Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bes- hears of Evansville, Monday, July 3, twin daughters, Kelle Ann and Mary Ann. Marriages: Miss Connie Griffith, daughter of Mrs. Elise Griffith and the late Shirley Griffith, became the bride of William L. Houchins, son of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson Houchins, at 7:30 p.m. Friday evening in the church of the Nazarene in Petersburg. Deaths: Frank "Dutch" Liibs died in the Harris Am- bulance enroute to the hos- pital from a self-inflected 22 caliber pistol wound at 7:20 p.m. Sunday evening; Mrs. Ruth B. Pounder, 65, one of Glezen's fine Christian wom- en, died unexpectedly, Sat- urday, July 8, at the home of her neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Mose Howard; Funeral ser- vices for Mrs. Bessie M. Ris- ley were conducted at the Free Methodist church Mon- day at 2 p.m. by the Rev. L. M. Gaines, Claude Cluster, Petersburg resident for the past 50 yars, died Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Bethel Sanatar- ium, Evansville; Kelly Lee Mason, four year old daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. James T. Mason of Oakland City died Saturday at her home follow- ing an illness of ten months of leukemia; Homer W. Heath- man, Jr., 48, former Winslow resident and former Oakland City school teacher died Tues- day in Sun Tower Hospital in El Paso, Texas at 7 p.m. after a long illness. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, July 9, 1992 Peterburg's water depart- ment saw 'water' works in- stead of fireworks on July 4, when an eight inch waterline break turned into a six foot tall geyser that blew a large hole in Seventh St. near the Post Office. Despite torrential rains in Indianapolis that flood- ed northside streets deep enough for people to swim on them, the White River is ex- pected to only raise about two to three feet and remain about 10 feet below flood stage. A rural Otwell family lost their double-wide home to a fire that is believed to have started from a clothes iron that was left on, according to Jefferson Township Fire De- partment Fire Chief Faron McLaughlin. A double wide trailer owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Hendricks was con- sumed by fire Monday after- noon. McLaughlin said a pass- erby noticed the fire about 3:45 p.m. abd called the fire department. Bart McCandless was named principal at Gibson Southern in a special meeting of the South Gibson School Board on Tuesday night. Mc- Candless was offered a three year contract with a salary of $58,500. He is to assume his position on Monday, July 27, according to the agreement. Gary Horrall was elected president of the Pike County School Board during a reorga- nization meeting last Thurs- day. The vote was 3-2 in favor of Horrall over previous board president Delmas Culbert- son. Jerry Barrett and Roger Young were named vice-pres- ident and secretary, respec- tively, by the board. Marriages: Laura Ann Barr and Richard Alan Wil- liams were united in marriage at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, at Winslow General Baptist Church in Winslow. Deaths: Floyd Chan- dler, 90, of Oatsville, died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, at Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Oakland City; Goldia R. Maxey, 89, of Oakland City, died Tuesday, June 30, at 9:50 p.m. at Good Samaritan Nurs- ing Home in Oakland City; Larry Wayne Millard, 26, of Houston, Tex. died Saturday afternoon, July 4, at Method- ist Hospital in Houston; Geor- gia C. Lee, 81, of Shoals, died Friday, July 3, at 1:29 p.m. at Memorial Hospital in Jasper; Edith Lucille Cassidy, 82, of Princeton, formerly of Hazel- ton, dies at 5:15 a.m. Wednes- day, July 1, at Holiday Manor Covalescent Center in Princ- eton following an extended illness; Raymond Jackson, 78, of Washington, brother of Lester Jackson of Peters - burg, died at 12:40 a.m. Tues- day, July 7 at Eastgate Manor Nursing Center. He moved to Daviess County in 1964 from the Dutchtown community in Pike County. By Sandy McBeth Pike County Historical Society In December of 1816 when Indiana became a state, James and Catherine found them- selves now living in the new- ly formed county of Pike as it was formed from a portion of White River Township, Gib- son County and portions of Knox County. James was one of the men appointed by the County Commissioners to view a road "leading from Pe- tersburgh to Levi Kinmans ferry and from thence to Por- tersville". Many of James and Cath- erine's children were young adults when the family moved to the Indiana Territory. Their son, Robert married Ellen "Betsy" Pride, the daugh- ter of Woolsey Pride, known as the "first white settler" in Pike County. Her father built the blockhouse known as White Oak Springs. Robert served as a sergeant in the Indiana Militia in the War of 1812 and was at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He operated a mill on the "Patoca" in 1817 as mentioned in the early re- cords of the County Commis- sioners along with a ferry on the same river. Robert and Ellen had the following chil- dren: Peter (married to Ra- chel Chappell and after her death to Frances Catherine Thomas), Eleanor (married to William Coleman), Appama (married to Job Chappell) and Phoebe Ann (married to Ira Hurst). A fter Ellen's death Robert married Catherine Borders in Pike County on October 5, 1819 and had the following children: John Bor- ders (married to Ruth Miller Heady), William H. (married to Elizabeth B. Payne), Cath- erine A. (married to John Da- vidson), Henry Kursey (mar- ried to Debora Harned), Nar- cissi (married to Robert Stew- art) and Robert S. (Three of their sons served in the Civil War from Pike County. Hen- ry K and Robert S. were both killed while in service. John B. survived.) Robert served as the administrator of his fa- ther's estate. When Appama Brenton married on October 5, 1828 to Job Chappell she was thirteen years old and he was fifteen. According to Chappell Fam- ily History in 1830 a group of people moving to Illinois stopped at their farm to eat their lunch. While there, one of the men noticed water seep- ing out of the ground near the pond where he was watering his stock. He dug in around the water and a spring sprout- ed up. This man was Thom- as Lincoln. Job built a fence around the spring, calling it the "Lincoln Spring". It sup- plied fresh water for years be- fore it was found to have be- come contaminated during a typhoid epidemic and was filled it. Anyone who has studied the history of Pike County has heard the name Peter Brenton. One of his cabins stands in Hornady Park as a remembrance of the begin- nings of our community. Peter was the second child of James and Catherine Brenton. He al- so served with his brother in the Indiana Militia in the War of 1812, saw service in the Battle of Tippecanoe and was commissioned an ensign on May 10, 1815. Peter married Eleanor Smith around 1807. He was a farmer and operat- ed a carding machine. In Feb- ruary of 1817 he came forward along with Henry Miley, Hen- ry Miley, Jr. and John Coon- rod donating land to form the county seat of the newly formed Pike County. They do- nated a total of 112 acres of fine hill-top land located about 3/4 of a mile east of the settle- ment of White Oak Springs. The donation was made to form a perfect rectangle for the town site and was valued at that time for $20,000.00. (For an idea of the original size of Petersburg, imagine a rectangle formed from the lines of 5th Street and 12th Street by Spruce Street and Maple Street.) Main Street, "laid-off" following part of the "Old Buffalo Trace" was 100 feet wide and a third of a mile long running "from Hen- ry Miley's ash tree to Peter Brenton's new building". The town was named Petersburg in his honor as he donated the majority of the land. True to his character, Peter turned around and bought the lots in the new town from the Coun- ty Commissioners where his home was located. Peter was also a carpenter. He was com- missioned to build the first jail for the new county. Ac- cording to an account writ- ten in the book, Pike Coun- ty History, Bicentennial Edi- tion 1776 -1976 the new jail was "twenty feet square, two sto- ries high, with double walls, one foot apart, the space be- tween being filled with up- right timbers. The cells were located on the first floor, and the only entrance to them was through a trap door in the floor of the upper story. Its cost was $1340." Peter was paid $278.67 for building the jail. James Brenton, Early Pioneer and Revolutionary War Veteran 1968-69 Otwell Fourth Grade Class Front row: Diana Winkle, Janet Blaize, Vicki Kabrick, Sandra Wood, Roxanna Russell, Roberta Redman, Laurie Ritterskamp, Li- sa Hollis, Cathy Henson, Linda Whaley, Sue Houtchins, Ernest Futrell, Randy Foster, Dennis Wiscaver, Charles Clements and Mar- jorie Poselwait. Second row: Alicia Adams, Suzie Cockerham, Donna Houtsch, Kim Anderson, Janel Ruckriegle, Teresa Whitehead, Cheryl Russell, Kimberly St. Onge, Pamela Lee, Joe Uppencamp, Anthony Klem, Joe Ragle, Mike Teague, Tracey McLaughlin, Eric Meadors and Jeffrey Gilliland. Third row: Mrs. Walker, Randy Buchta, Steven Meyer, Mike Burkhart, David Sorgius, Dale Wiscav- er, Mark Wiseman, Danny Wiscaver, Pat Dillon, Kevin Schnarr, Sherril Woodall, Martha Ragle and Sandra Coffman. Wednesday, August 9 • Manson cult kills five people (1969) • Jesse Owens wins 4th gold medal (1936) Thursday, August 10 • Smithsonian Institution creat- ed (1846) • Truman signs National Secu- rity Bill (1949) Friday, August 11 • Federal prisoners land on Al- catraz (1934) • Last U.S. ground combat unit departs South Vietnam (1972) Saturday, August 12 • Skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex discovered (1990) • East Germany begins con- struction of the Berlin Wall (1961) Sunday, August 13 • Berlin is divided (1961) • A ztec capital falls to Cortez (1521) Monday, August 14 • Blackout hits Northeast Unit- ed States (2003) • Russians settle Alaska (1784) Tuesday, August 15 • The Woodstock festival opens in Bethel, N.Y. (1969) • Henry Ford leaves Edison to start automobile company (1899) Source: History.com