The Press-Dispatch
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B-10 Wednesday, December 19, 2018 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, August 13 and 17, 1943 Friends and neighbors gathered at the home of Mr. Culmer Beck, Sunday to help him celebrate his 55th birthday. At the noon hour a delicious fried chicken din- ner with all the trimmings was served. The birthday cake, a large angel food was baked by Mrs. Howard Jen- kins. In the afternoon wa- termelon was served. Ev- eryone left late in the eve- ning wishing Mr. Beck ma- ny more happy birthdays. The Office of Price Ad- ministration (OPA) held out the "hope" Sunday night that eastern motor- ists might get a half-gal- lon increase in their basic gasoline ration of one and a half gallons a week, but said they would have to earn it by their own driving econ- omy in the next two weeks. Chester Bowles, gener- al manager of OPA told of plans to divert to the east- ern shortage area the fuel expected to be saved daily through the ration cut from four to three gallons, effec- tive at midnight in the west and southwest in a (blue network) broadcast. The Peach crop in Pike County came into its own this last Sunday and accord- ing to reported was gobbled up fast as pickers were al- lowed into the orchards. Prices ranged from $ 3 to $ 6.50 per bushel on the "pick them yourself" basis in most cases. One orchard reported seven cars waiting at 5 a.m. Sunday to get into the orchard. Jack Miller, medical stu- dent of Indiana University was awarded a gold medal in the Military Review held at Indianapolis, last Satur- day. He was one of four stu- dents Col R.L. Shoemak- er, Commanding Officer of Indiana university had formed four companies and Mr. Miller was made Cadet Captain over one company. He was awarded the med- al on outstanding military proficiency on drill, field and class work. One silver medal and two bronze med- als were given. The medals were given by the Indiana medical men at Camp Bow- ie, Texas. Marriages: Mrs. Mag- gie Stephens announc- es the marriage of her sis- ter, Miss Anna Marie Mc- New of Oakland City, Indi- ana, to Sergeant Cecil Ray Thelen who is stationed at Fort Bragg, North Car- olina. The wedding took place August at the home of the Rev. F.W. Brandt, of the St. Barnabas Lutheran Church of Charleston, Va.; The marriage of Miss Eve- lyn King, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry King, of Pe- tersburg, to Staff Sergeant James Harbinson, son of Harry Harbinson, of Penn- sylvania, Ariz., former res- ident of this city was per- formed Friday, August 13 at the parsonage of the Meth- odist church at 4:30 p.m. with the Rev. R.M. Taylor officiating; A very pretty wedding was solemnized Friday evening August 13 at the home of Elder Arley Griffith when Miss Geral- dine Bement became the bride of Mr. Randall Arnold. The bride id the daughter of Mr. Luther Bement former- ly of Petersburg, but now of Indianapolis. Births: Born Tuesday to Mr. and Mrs. Willice Leighty of Petersburg, a boy named Dalton Lee; A boy was born Wednesday to Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Jen - ne. The baby was named Michael Jefferson; Charles Harold is the name given to the boy born Tuesday to Mr. and Mrs. Harold Tray- lor of Iva. Deaths: The Reverend George Gilbert Burch, a na- tive of this county, and prac- tically all of his life a Gener- al Baptist minister, died at his home in Somerville, In- diana, Thursday morning at 10 o'clock, after an illness covering the past six weeks; Ora Belle Kinman died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Harold Kent, Tues- day morning at 5 o'clock; John Orville Cox, formerly of Pike County and a broth- er of George R. Cox of Mad- ison township died Aug. 9 in Los Angeles, California. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Tuesday and Friday, November 11 and 14, 1958 Persons in this area were startled last Friday night at approximately 8:40 p.m., when a small earthquake shook this area. Several persons reported houses shaking and dishes rattling, but no serious damage was reported. The quake hit harder in Evansville. Some thought it was an explosion and police and newspapers were flooded with telephone calls. Observers at Indiana University said the quake was the largest to hit this area since 1899. The ob- servers did say it was "lo- cal" in its origin, although the quake carries as far as St. Louis. The Petersburg Indians open their net season to- night at Huntingburg. They include Dave Klipsch, Jer- ry Sanders, Boyd Ashcraft, Alvin Hensley, Ron Weeks, Jim Cox, Dick Carey, An- cil Coomer, George Smith, Joe Hensley and Jerry Rob- ertson. Jim Coleman's Stendal Aces pulled the first upset in Pike County basketball play this season by drop- ping the Otwell Millers, 66 - 63, in an intra-county battle at Stendal Friday night. A tremendous last quarter ral- ly that netted 20 points was the difference in this close- ly fought contest. The Aces were trailing, 52-46, going into the last eight minutes of play. Gary Meyer, the high scoring Stendal senior, was high point man for the win- ners. Meyer had 23 points on eight field goals and sev- en free throws. Gary Lem- ond was high for the Roger Davis crew with 18 points. Phillip Kinman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Kin- man will be presented the Eagle Rank Award at a Spe- cial George Rogers Clark District Court of Honor to be held Monday night, Nov. 17 at 7:30 o'clock at the First Methodist church. Phillip is an explorer in the newly organized Explorer Post No. 151 of Petersburg. He transferred from Boy Scout Troop 151 where he has been active for the past five years. He has served the troops as a patrol lead- er and senior patrol lead- er. He is an ordeal member of Kiondago Lodge, Order of the Arrow of Evansville. The public is cordially invit- ed to attend this ceremony. Mrs. (Midge) Royal Ben- jamin came up with one of the top games of the bowl- ing season. Mrs. Benjamin rolled a 213, which is an ex- tremely high score for the ladies. Not only was Mrs. Benjamin's score high for the ladies, but also topped any effort by the men. Mrs. Benjamin carries an av- erage of around 131. She bowls in the Petersburg Couples League at Wash- ington. Mrs. Leslie Cox fell at her home on the Alford road Monday and was tak- en to the Good Samaritan hospital where it was deter- mined she had broken her right shoulder in two places and her left arm just above the wrist. Marriages: Miss Elzena Leighty, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Homer Leighty became the bride of A 2/c Leonard Blaize, Sunday af- ternoon at 4 p.m. at The Pe- tersburg Church of the Naz- arene. Deaths: Hartman Schae- fer, 81, Main Street, passed away Saturday, November 8 at 5:45 p.m. in the Da- viess County hospital after a lingering illness; Thom- as Douglas Williams, Jr., 65, of Petersburg, passed away Sunday, November 8 at 11:30 p.m. at his home on 1st and Sycamore streets, of carcinoma; Carl C. (Pop) Brock, age 74 years, India- napolis, passed away Thurs- day, October 30 at St. Fran- cis Hospital; The Rev. Ear- nest A. Powers, 83, former resident of Winslow, died Sunday at Nashville, Tenn., where he was residing; Mrs. Anna Louise Alexan- der, 83, widow of Ulysses Alexander of Velpen, died Monday afternoon at 3:25 at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Alvey Chambers in Velpen; Henry A. Minehart of Petersburg died at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Good Samaritan hospital in Vin- cennes where he was tak- en Sunday when he fell and broke his hip. Death was caused by complications from the fracture. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday,November 21, 1968 James E. Hill, Peters- burg and Jack H. Boerky, of Princeton were involved in a two-car accident Satur- day, November 16 around noon at Main and Warnock Streets in Princeton. Mr. Boerky allegedly pulled out from Warnock Street onto Main Street in front of Mr. Hill, causing the collision. The two men were taken to Gibson General hospital where Hill received sevens stitches to close a wound in his chin. Mr. Boerky suf- fered three cracked ribs. They were released after treatment. Passengers in the Hill car were bruised and shaken and one child suffered a nose bleed. In- vestigating officers were Dunning and Harvey. Oakland City College opening up their 1968 -69 basketball season against Harris Teachers College of St. Louis scored an im- pressive 86 -70 victory. The young Oaks shot 52 percent from the field to 46 percent for Harris and the Oaks hit 68 percent from the chari- ty stripe while Harris hit 46 percent from the line. An 18 year old Glezen boy was awarded $25,000 for personal injuries in Gib- son Circuit Court Thursday. The suit was venued to Gib- son county from Pike coun- ty and was filed on behalf of Bobby Joe McCandless against Robert W. Varner of Evansville following a motorcycle-car accident in July 1966. Nancy Weeks, age 17, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Weeks of the Glezen community, went to India- napolis Monday, accompa- nied by her parents. She entered Robert Long Hos- pital Tuesday and will un- dergo open heart surgery on Thursday, today. Deaths: A beautiful young Winslow woman's life was snapped out Friday evening in a car, tractor- trailer accident on the rain slick highway 64, seven and three tenths miles west of Huntingburg. Mrs. Vicki Young Austin, 22, died in- stantly from multiple frac- tures and a crushed chest when the car she was driv- ing collided with a trailer tractor, owned by Richard- son Lumber Company of Oakland City, driven by Ru- fus Lee, 61, Winslow; Benja- min Hays, 83, retired farm- er of Hazelton, died Friday, November 15 in the Good Samaritan Hospital in Vin- cennes; Leslie Smith, 55, fa- miliarly known as "Scoop" of Petersburg, died Sunday, November 17 in the Holiday Home in Petersburg where he had been a resident five weeks; Claude "Pollie" Lu- ttrull, 82, of Petersburg, died at 4:45 p.m. Monday, November 18 in the Prai- rie Village nursing home in Washington; Mrs. Zaida P. Jones, 89, of near Hazelton, died Thursday, November 14, in the Gibson General Hospital; Mrs. Minnie Ann Ragle, 77, of Stendal, died at 9:45 p.m., Thursday, at the Forrest Del Nursing Home in Princeton; Mrs. Irene Graves Hatton, 60, of Ayrshire, died Monday in the Gibson General hospi- tal where she had been sev- eral weeks suffering from cancer. TWENTY- FIVE YEARS The Press-Dispatch Thursday, November 18, 1993 Judge Lester Nixon will be honored at the 15th an- nual Pike County Chamber of Commerce awards din- ner tonight, November 18, at 6:30 at the Petersburg El- ementary School cafeteria. Speaker for the evening will be Mary Ann Snyder of the Indiana Chamber of Com- merce. Along with Judge Nixon the program will in- clude awards honoring the towns of Winslow and Ot- well. A barn near Pikeville was destroyed by fire last Friday night. Lockhart Township Fire Chief teve Houchins said the barn owned by Charles Paul Coleman was completely engulfed with flames when they arrived at about 10 p.m. Four trac- tors and an antique pedal tractor were also destroyed in the blaze. Houchin said the cause of the blaze has not been determined, but a state fire marshal is inves- tigating. A large hole was left in Highway 364 on Sunday evening when a flash flood- ing from more than six inch- es of rain washed out a cul- vert and about a 15 foot wide hole in the State Highway. Only about a two foot strip of blacktop on the down stream side of the road was left dangling. The road was closed Sunday evening. A fire damaged the house trailer of John and Shannon Dillon in Winslow. Accord- ing to Nina McCandless the fire apparently started in the bedroom, but a cause is unknown. She said no one was home at the time of the fire and it was noticed by Charlie Sharp who was walking down the street and saw smoke. He told Bill and David Gayhart, who were working outside and they called the fire depart- ment at about 11:45 a.m. last Thursday. McCandless said fire damage was limited to the bedroom, but it was hot enough to melt plastic on the bathroom cabinets. She said there was a lot of smoke and water damage as well and the trailer was "totaled." Three people suffered minor injuries in a Sunday night accident near Glezen. Jack Hamm, Jr., 29, Peters- burg, was driving south on Highway 57. He stopped, waiting for traffic to turn left into his driveway when Dan A. Rosaldo, of Evans- ville failed to see him and crashed into the back of his car, according to Dep- uty Sheriff William Walk- er. Walker said three pas- sengers in Rosaldo's car sustained minor injuries and were taken to Welborn Hospital in Evansville. Ro- saldo was ticketed for fail- ure to reduce speed to avoid accident. Damage was esti- mated at $2,000 to $ 3,000 on both vehicles. Marriages: Jody Benja- min and J.D. Cummings of Petersburg were united in marriage on October 16 at 5 p.m. at the Alford United Methodist church. Deaths: Edwin O. Boyd, 65, of Petersburg died Tues- day, Nov. 9 at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville suf- fering from heart complica- tions; Grover "Cotton" Hag- er, 88, of Decker, died at 3:50 p.m. Monday, Nov. 8 at Crestview Nursing Home in Vincennes; Grace Rathfon Wolf, 86, a former resident of Petersburg, and sister of Olive Liibs of Petersburg, died October 30 at her resi- dence in Miami, Fla.; Helen Esther Oxley, 77, of Peters- burg, died at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. at Daviess County Hospital in Wash- ington; Leo George How- ard, 96, of Petersburg, for- merly of Velpen, died at 5:55 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10 at Memorial Hospital in Jas- per; Joyce Kaible, 77, of Pe- tersburg, formerly of Hunt- ingburg, died Thursday, Nov. 11 at Memorial Hos- pital in Jasper; Eugene M. Briner, of Princeton, died at 11:25 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9 at Good Samaritan Hos- pital in Vincennes; Naomi Grabbe, 89, of Vincennes, died Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 1:25 a.m. at Good Samari- tan Hospital in Vincennes; Eulette E. Johnson, 75, of Oakland City, died Monday, Nov. 15 at 4:45 p.m. at Good Samaritan Nursing Home, Oakland City; Effie G. (Pat) Jones, 80, of Princeton, mother of James A. Jones, of Petersburg, died Wednes- day, Nov. 10 at 8:15 p.m. at Gibson General Hospital in Princeton; Verner Gray, 87, of Otwell, died Monday, Nov. 15 at 8:20 a.m. at Me- morial Hospital in Jasper. Old Fort, 1807, Petersburg, Indiana Woolsey Pride established the first settlement at White Oak Springs in 1800. This was about one-half mile west of the present Petersburg. Pride came from North Carolina, and other families and friends made the move by 1807. Becoming alarmed by ru- mors of Piankashaw and Delaware Indians in other settlements, he erected a block house to furnish protection for himself and his neighbors. The two-story, square building, sturdily constructed of huge oak logs, with port holes in its walls, was in an excellent state of pres- ervation when it was torn down in 1918. Photo submitted by Joan Woodhull Wednesday, December 19 • President Clinton impeached (1998) • Thomas Paine publishes "American Crisis" (1776) Thursday, December 20 • Elvis Presley is drafted (1957) • Berlin Wall opened for first time (1963) Friday, December 21 • Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Scotland (1988) • Apollo 8 departs for moon's orbit (1968) Saturday, December 22 • First gorilla born in captivity (1956) • Continental Congress creates a Continental Navy (1775) Sunday, December 23 • Van Gogh chops off ear (1888) • George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief (1783) Monday, December 24 • Soviet tanks roll into A fghanistan (1979) • War of 1812 ends (1814) Tuesday, December 25 • The Christmas Truce (1914) • Washington crosses the Delaware (1776) Source: History.com