The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, July 8, 2020 B-11 HISTORY Submit history photos: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg The 'Eskimaux' paper staff 1947 Members of the Winslow High School paper staff were, first row, Robert Ferguson, and Gettis Quick. In row two are Clarice June Hale (sponsor), Kenneth Hume, Nita Minor, Joan Heidorn, Ruth Edna DeBruler, Nina Morton, Rowena Chesser, Nancy Lee Ambrose, and Doro- thy Brittain. In the third row are Marvin Hopkins, Richard Clark, Helen Potter, Verta Vaughn, Lorraine Stephens, and Marcia Vinyard. The fourth row includes Bill Butcher, Joanne Simmons, and Mary Etta Curtis. The paper staff was in the year 1947 and put out the school news- paper, the "Eskimaux". SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday and Tuesday, March 2 and March 6, 1945 A car belonging to John Voyles was stolen while Mr. Voyles was in Evansville Tues- day and after a wide spread search by the Evansville po- lice, county police and state police the car was located just a block from where it was sto- len. Local citizens are prone to claim that someone switched street signs on Mr. Voyles but it is a matter of record that the thief was reported to police of Evansville. Though the car contained valuable merchan- dise nothing was removed. Walter McClellon of Peters- burg was injured a few days ago in the Standard mine, near Wheatland, Indiana, when he and three other fellow-work- man were injured when the top gave without warning in their room while digging coal. Mr. McClellan suffered a frac- tured vertabra and smashed foot. He was taken to the Good Samaritan hospital in Vincen- nnes. Mr. McClellan was com- pletely covered by the rock and coal would have been instant- ly killed, but dropped quickly between cars which held the weight off of him. His broth- er, Black McClellan of Daviess was one of the four men work- ing together, but received only slight injuries. Mrs. McClellan and daughter, spent Wednes- day at the hospital with him. Jasper defeated Sullivan, 65 to 35, Saturday night at the Coliseum in Vincennes to cap- ture the championship of the Vincennes regional tourna- ment, Bosse of Evansville was the high scorer of the state re- gional winners swamping Tell City under a 77-44 avalanche of field goals. Bedford upset Jeffersonville 45 to 38 at Bed- ford. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. les- ter Hamm, a boy, Donnie Lee, was born in the Daviess Coun- ty hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Graves, a boy, was born Sunday night, at their home n Winslow; To Mr. and Mrs. Robert Franz, of Harisburg, a girl, Connie Jo, was born Feb- ruary 28. Deaths: Mary Anne, of Pe- tersburg, died Wednesday evening, in the Good Samar- itan hospital, in Vincennes, a few hours after her birth; Mrs. Theresea Smith, 88, of Otwell, died Sunday, at 2:45 P.M., in her home; Abe Loeser, 61, of Winslow, died at 10 o'clock, at the Boehne Hospital, in Evans- ville. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Pike County Dispatch Thursday, June 2 1960 The 12 year old son of a couple who had moved from Winslow to Loogootee only a short time ago was drowned Wednesday, May 25, while wading in Boggs Creek, one and one-half miles east of Loogootee at 3:25 p.m. His body was recovered four hours later near the spot where he went down. Paul E. Woods, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Woods, was wad- ing in the creek with two other boys when he stepped intop a deep hole and sank out of sight. One of the boys searched the water for the youth, whikle the other rode his bicycle into Loogootee to notify police. State police and volunteer workers dragged the creek to recover the body. Paul was a sixth grade student in the Loogootee school, having moved there this year. He was born in Pe- tersburg February 16, 1948, the son of John W. and Wilma L. Graves Woods. The fami- ly lived in Pike county until the father accepted work in Loogootee and moved there. A wind storm struck Oak- land City and Pike County area early Sunday evening, causing thousands of dollars damage. The worse part of the damage was done in and near Oakland City where parts of buildings were torn apart, barns destroyed, large trees were uprooted and limbs of trees were hurled through roofs of homes. No serious injuries were report- ed in the storm. A rain storm which followed the heavy winds filled small creeks and flooded low places in the entire area. The damage to single homes in the Oakland City area ran into the thou- sands of dollars. Hardest hit by the big wind was the Law- rence Black farm about one- half mile of northwest of Oak- land City, Two large barns, a large tool and implement shed and a two car garage attached to the large home were destroyed. The new screen at the Oakland City Drive In Theater was blown down and the roof was blown off the barbecue building at The Heights Cafe. Many trees in Oakland City were pulled from the ground and crashed to the ground. Mon- day and Tuesday most of the people in Oakland City were busy clearing downed trees and limbs from the streets and sidewalks. Deaths: Mrs. Loumi- ra Caldemeyer, 68, of sten- dal, died Monday, at 7:30 p.m.; Mrs. Vivian Lewis, 60, of Winslow, died Tuesday, at 5:45 a.m., at her home; Brady M. Clark, 49, of near the Alford Community, died Monday, at 6:30 a.m., in the Daviess County hospital. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, June 18, 1970 The worst wind storm of this century struck Peters- burg last Sunday evening. The ominously black sky, around dusk, noted by per- sons in Princeton and Ha- zleton moved east. Turning south toward Petersburg, it struck violently with hurri- cane like force preceded with hail. Driving torrential rain of cloud burst proportions it roared through Petersburg. It seemed to cross the riv- er slightly west by north. It sounded like the roaring of a railroad train. This sound, following the spate of hail, gave every indication of a whirlwind traveling in the sky. This twister seems to have first struck down at the entrance road to the Walnut Cemetery, where it uproot- ed the big trees, heaping them into a shambles and blocking the entire area. Ev- ery block in town had trees down in one fashion or anoth- er. The public, being able to get about on Monday, could discover the widespread ex- tent of the damage. Public authorities were busy with the task of cleaning up the debris. It seems we are in storm season, such as Indi- ana suffers from year to year. And a well known newspaper syndicated prophetess says that Indiana will be hit hard with storms this year. A huge crowd was on hand Sunday afternoon to greet the grand old steam loco- motive when it puffed into Oakland City on the South- ern Railway on its historical route from Louisville to St. Louis stopping at its former stops along the line. The 2- 8 -2 Mikado steam locomo- tive 4501 passed through Southern Indiana and South- ern Illinois, stopping in the Indiana towns at English, Huntingburg, Oakland City and remaining overnight in Princeton. It picked up pas- sengers along the line. Due to the large number of pas- sengers on board when it reached Oakland City it could not accommodate all who wanted to ride the train from there to Princeton. Ma- ny were at the highway 61 crossing south of Winslow to see the train pass through. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. A. Kenneth Austin, of Oak- land City, a son, Glen Ever- ett, was born on Tuesday, June 2, at the Gibson Gener- al Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Tom Leighty, of Petersburg, a daughter, Kristi Jo, was born on Wednesday, June 10, in the Good Samaritan hospi- tal; To Mr. and Mrs. Larry R. Willis, of Petersburg, a son, Roger Dale, was born Fri- day, 29,in the Daviess Coun- ty hospital. Marriages: Miss Lynette Eads, of Winslow, and James William Farless, of Brazil, were married Saturday eve- ning, June 13, at the Winslow United Methodist church. Deaths: Henry Scales, 88, of Petersburg, died Sun- day, June 14, at 10 :30 p.m., in a nursing home in Conners- ville;Mrs. Katie Newkirk, 78, of Petersburg, died Thurs- day, June 11, at 6;30 a.m., in the Daviess County hospi- tal;Mrs. Dessie Freeland, 56, of Petersburg, died Wednes- day, June 10, in the Robert Lonhg Memorial Hospital. TWENTY- FIVE YEARS The Press-Dispatch Thursday, June 1, 1995 The search for a missing 17-year-old Evansville youth ended in tragedy Monday morning when Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Officer Eddie Gammon dis- covered the body of Jason Ben- gert floating in a stripper pit. DNR Public Information Offi- cer Mike Kellner said prelim- inary autopsy results indicate Bengert drowned. Bengert's death is being treated as a criminal investigation due to the circumstances, according to Kellner. The tragic discov- ery ended a desperate three- day search of a remote, iso- lated region located between Spurgeon and Stendal in an area west of the Log Creek Church and cemetery, approx- imately one mile from the Pike County/Warrick County line. Kellner said he happened to be at a Shell station in Lynn- ville on Saturday at approxi- mately 2:30 p.m. when he was approached by two teenag- ers. They told him they had been camping with a friend and that he had walked out of the camp site in search of firewood about midnight and never returned. Bengert had walked out of the camp site without a flashlight and had only a butane lighter to light the way. When the youths fell asleep and awoke to find that Bengert was not at the camp site, they decided to search for him and had spent hours traveling various trails in the area in search of their friend. Kellner and other DNR offi- cers had tried to track Be- gert's movements of the night before but were hampered by the early morning heavy rains and the 14-hour delay in re- porting the youth's disappear- ance. Within a few minutes the word went out that a 17-year old youth was missing. Volun- teers from all over Pike Coun- ty (and surrounding areas) re- sponded to the call for help. El- ements of the Spurgeon, South Patoka, North Patoke and lockhart Township Volunteer Fire Departments were on the scene within half an hour. The search was postponed at least three times Saturday because of severe weather warnings and breaking thunderstorms. At 7:45 p.m., the search was postponed until the next morning. By the time Sunday morning came around, there was as many as 100 more vol- unteers. A Civil Air Patrol air- plane and two helicopters also joined the search. What would ultimately prove to be one of the most important additions to the search efforts were four search and rescue dog teams from Ohio Valley Dog As- sociation of Evansville. Two dog teams had traced Ben- gert's scent to a stripper pit, but had eventually lost it. The next morning, the authorities called the Knight Township Fire Department's and had them send in rescue divers to conduct a further search of the pit. On his way back, Gammon was doing a visual check of the pit and discovered Bengert's body at 9:02 p.m. Pike County residents will receive their new addresses this week. Ernest Hume, Di- rector of the E-911 system , said letters with the new ad- dresses will be mailed this Thursday and Friday. He said they will contain the new ad- dresses that crrespond with the new enhanced 911 sys- tem, that gives everyone a street address, even on coun- ty roads. It also will have in- structions on how to display the new address. This will af- fect everyone, except those in Petersburg, who already have a street address. Births: To David and Ter- ri Waltz, of Petersburg, a son, Dexter Andrew, was born May 18, at the Good Samaritan Hospital, in Vincennes. Deaths: Ferral Pride, 66, of Princeton, died Friday, May 26, at 9:51 p.m., in the Grandview Hospital, in Bowl- ing Green, Kentucky; Ray C. Jones, 82, of Petersburg, died Monday, May 29, at 2:10 p.m., at Petersburg Healthcare Cen- ter. Source: www.history.com • Photo source: chicagoreader.com Wednesday, July 8 • Liberty Bell tolls to announce Declaration of Independence (1776) • Paris celebrates 2000th birthday (1951) Thursday, July 9 • Wimbledon tournament begins (1877) • Florence Blanchfield becomes first female army officer (1947) Friday, July 10 • Monkey Trial begins (1925) • U.S. Patent issued for three- point seatbelt (1962) Saturday, July 11 • "To Kill a Mockingbird" published (1960) • Babe Ruth makes MLB debut (1914) Sunday, July 12 • Medal of Honor created (1862) • "Disco Demolition" night at Chicago's Comiskey Park takes place (1979) Monday, July 13 • Live Aid' concert raises $127 million for famine relief in A frica (1985) • First World Cup (1930) Tuesday, July 14 • French revolutionaries storm Bastille (1789) • Billy the Kid is shot to death (1881) LOUIE CAMPBELL Sales Professional lcampbell@patriotonline.com CALL OR TEXT 812-899-6267 @LouieYourCarGuy HWY. 64 W. • PRINCETON "Quite Simply, A Better Experience!" 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