The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, May 19, 2021 D-3 HISTORY Submit history photos: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Source: www.history.com • Photo source: www.thenation.com Wednesday, May 19 • Lawrence of Arabia dies (1935) • Spanish Armada sets sail (1588) Thursday, May 20 • Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive patent for blue jeans (1873) • Spirit of St. Louis departs (1927) Friday, May 21 • American Red Cross founded (1881) • Connecticut enacts first speed limit law (1901) Saturday, May 22 • Great Emigration departs for Oregon (1843) • The War of the Roses (1455) Sunday, May 23 • Police kill famous outlaws Bon- nie and Clyde (1934) • Captain Kidd walks the plank (1701) Monday, May 24 • Brooklyn Bridge opens (1883) • John Hancock becomes presi- dent of Congress (1775) Tuesday, May 25 • "Star Wars" opens (1977) • Constitutional Convention con- venes in Philadelphia (1787) net edition pressdispatch.net/edition Web, Smartphone, Tablet Streamline the Headline! 812-354-8500 • 820 Poplar St., Petersburg, IN • ads@pressdispatch.net SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday and Tuesday, May 17 and May 21 1946 The 16 -month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Byron Fergu- son was drowned at the home near Clay Banks Thursday morning. A gate leading to a water hole near the house was always kept closed, but for once, the baby found it open and wandered to the edge of the hole and fell in. Further details of the incident are un- available. The group of selectees or- dered to leave for preinduction examination on May 15, 1946, were returned home without examination from the local board level. The present law prohibits the induction of reg- istrants under 20 years of age and, in accordance with Mrs. Simone Pitavin Mallettee, Chief Clerk of the Pike Coun- ty Local Board, none are avail- able between the ages of 20 to 25 years inclusive. However, 18 year olds are still required to register on their 18th birth- day. Mr. Earl E. Reid, Chair- man of the local board, has cancelled any board action un- til such time that the new reg- ulations are issued to this local board from National and State Headquarters. It is believes that the new regulations will be received and reviewed for board action by Wednesday, May 22, 1946, at which time the board expects to be in ses- sion. Mr. Reid and Mr. Vernie G. Eubanks, member of the lo- cal board, further state that no examinations or inductions of the age group 26 to 29 inclu- sive will be ordered by this lo- cal board until such time the armed forces find it advisable to proceed with the older age group. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. William Boyd Edrington, a daughter, Lenora Fay, Satur- day. Marriages: Betty Jo Davis became the bride of Eugene England Saturday evening at the United Brethren parson- age near Bowman; Mabel Ar- line Bruce and Robert Hugh Miller were married on April 30 ; Bessie Dyson and Ira Bar- rett were married at Oakland City Tuesday, May 14. Deaths: Barnum O. Bell, 73, of Otwell, died Wednesday night at the hospital in Wash- ington; Hovey J. Willis, 55, of Francisco, died at his home on Sunday; Rufus Hightower, 66, of Petersburg, died at Daviess County Hosptial on Friday. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Pike County Dispatch Thursday, May 18, 1961 Water weary people of Pike County began relaxing when the two main rivers flowing through the county, Pato- ka and White, began falling over the weekend. The Pato- ka reached its crest Friday and White River reached its crest Sunday. White River reached a stage of a little over 27 feet before it began falling slight- ly early Monday. Flood stage is 16 feet. The water lacked nearly three feet of being as high as in 1937, when the riv- er rose to nearly 30 feet. The water department in Winslow, which was working against a flood crest of higher than in 1937, never went out of oper- ation. Leo Williams, who had sealed the windows and part of the door to the pumping sta- tion, succeeded in his around the clock fight with the water to give the people of Winslow pure water during the flood- ing stage. Never before has the Patoka at Winslow reached the level which it reached Fri- day without stopping the wa- ter supply to the residents of the community. Farmers in Pike County fear they will not be able to plant corn in the river bottoms because it will take weeks before the flooded land cay dry and be worked and planted. Accord- ing to county agent Bill Rob- inson, the fields will probably be planted in some other crop. A heavy rain Sunday evening in Pike County caused minor flooding in some areas where it was impossible for the water to run off due to the already flooded conditions. If farm- ers are unable to plant profit- able crops this year, it will be four out of five years they have yielded to flood waters. Russell William Sharp, 14, son of Eugene and Avis Jen- kins Sharp, who live three miles east of Somerville, was electrocuted near noon Wednesday, May 10 when he touched a utility line. He did not attend school Wednesday and left home about 10 a.m. on the pretext of going fish- ing. A fter her failed to return to his home Wednesday after- noon, a night-long search be- gan and his body was found about 6:15 a.m. Thursday, May 11 lodged in the trunk of a tree, located in the front yard of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Mills, who live about a mile from the Sharp home. Paul Henson, the Mill's son, who is about the age of the Sharp youth, discovered the victim's body in the tree. Authorities said the youth suffered burns on his thigh and fingers. It was thought that he had slipped while climbing the tree and struck the electric wire be- fore becoming lodged in the tree fork. He was a freshman at Mackey High School. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Eversoll, of Alford, a son, Grant O'Neal, Friday, May 12 in the Daviess Coun- ty Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Denver Bolin, of Oakland City, a daughter, Kathie Re- nee, Sunday, May 14 in Da- viess County Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Glendal Ashby, of Ot- well, a daughter, Tamera Dee, at Memorial Hospital on Tues- day, May 9. Deaths: Rev. Arley Grif- fith, 78, of Petersburg, died in at Good Samaritan Hospi- tal at 4:10 a.m. Monday; Elsie Hardin, 65, died Friday morn- ing at Turner Nursing Home in Vincennes; James L. Quig- gins, 71, of Glezen, died at his home at 2:25 p.m. Tuesday; Della Thompson, 72, of Spur- geon, died at 1 p.m. on Tues- day at the home of her daugh- ter. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, May 20, 1971 Graduation from the three Pike County high schools next week will be 180 seniors. Ot- well will graduate 37, Winslow 63 and Petersburg 80. Bacca- laureate services for the Ot- well seniors will be Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the Otwell gym- nasium. The Rev. Earl Beat- ty will be the speaker. Com- mencement exercise will be Thursday, May 27 at 7:30 in the gymnasium, with Dr. Jack B. Dougherty as speaker. Sun- day afternoon at 2 p.m., the Rev. C.N. Personett, pastor o Petersburg Nazarene Church, will deliver the baccalaureate address at the Petersburg gymnasium. The Petersburg seniors will receive their diplo- mas at commencement exer- cises Friday, May 28 at 8 p.m. in the gymnasium. Dr. Paul Root, of Oakland City College, will be the speaker. Winslow seniors' baccalaureate service will be at the Winslow General Baptist Church Sunday night at 7:30. The Rev. Mrs. Edith Bruner will deliver this ad- dress. Commencement will be Tuesday, May 25 at 8 p.m. in the gymnasium, and the speaker will be Dr. Tourney. County Sanitarian How- ard Lytton urged all pet own- ers to have their pets inoc- ulated against rabies. He said that there have been ra- bies outbreaks in surround- ing counties among wild ani- mals, such as skunks. Sunday night, a Pike County resident reported that a raccoon came into his yard acting strange. He said he bird dog was tied in the yard and that he was as far from the animal as he could get. The raccoon was laying on his back when he went out to see what was go- ing on. He took a gun out and when he approached, the ani- mal ran toward him, accord- ing to Mr. Lytton. He then shot the raccoon in the head, not re- alizing that animals killed in that manner could not be test- ed for rabies. Mr. Lytton point- ed out that if it is necessary to shoot an animal suspected of rabies, try not to hit it in the head. He urged everyone to keep up their pets and hunt- ing animals. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sherman, of Peters- burg, in the Daviess Coun- ty Hospital, Friday, May 14, a daughter, Michelle Jeree; To Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Bolin, of Winslow, in St. Joseph's Hospital, Thursday, May 13, a daughter, Bobbie Jo. Deaths: Anna May O'Dell Reed, 83, of Oakland City, died at 11:20 p.m. Friday, May 14 at Good Samaritan Hospital; Chester Walker, 66, of Oak- land City, died Saturday at Wirth Hospital; Cheryle Hop- kins, 63, of Oakland City, died Sunday at Gibson Gener- al Hospital; Edmond Fulcher, 80, of Petersburg, died at 8:50 a.m. Saturday enroute to Da- viess County Hospital; Joseph H. Givens, 83, died at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Gibson General Hospital; Edythe Lane, 71, of Oakland City, died Sunday at Welborn Baptist Hospital in Evansville. TWENTY- FIVE YEARS The Press-Dispatch Thursday, May 16, 1996 Lechner's Inc. Excavating, of Jasper, began tearing down the old Stendal school build- ing early Tuesday morning and planned to be finished or nearly finished by Tues- day evening. The school had been considered a safety haz- ard and community leaders acquired the money to de- molish the building through a state grant. The grant will also be used to refurbish the school's gym into a communi- ty center. The building was re- built in 1934 following a fire the year before. The original building was constructed in 1910. Classes were in session at Stendal School until 1971 with elementary students at- tending. The last graduating class was in 1966. The murder trial of a 16 -year-old Evansville boy had been postponed to No- vember 18, according to Pike County Prosecutor Jeff Bies- terveld. Biesterveld said he requested the delay in the tri- al because results from DNA evidence the prosecution and Indiana State Police collect- ed have not been available. Kelly Craig, 16, of Evansville, was set to be tried on May 20 in Pike Circuit Court for the murder of Shannon Wentzel, 15. She was a former girlfriend of Craig's. Craig and two other men, James Brian, Powell, 24, of Chandler, and Leon Jones, 21, of Ann Arbor, Mich., have all been charged in the beat- ing, rape and murder of Went- zel. Craig is charged with mur- der, criminal deviate conduct while using deadly force and rape. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Scott Parker, of Petersburg, at Good Samaritan Hospital, May 4, a daughter, Alexandrea Michelle; To Tracy Newberry and Heather Ellis, of Peters- burg, at St. Joseph's Hospital, May 6, a son, Kristoffer Allen. Marriages: Dawn Boger and Steve Gaines were unit- ed in marriage April 13 at the First United Methodist Church in Petersburg; Karla Corn and Dan Poth were mar- ried Sunday, March 31 at the Lincoln Chapel. Deaths: Clifford Paul Moore, 79, of Hazleton, died at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, May 12 at Good Samaritan Hospital; Christopher James Polen, 18, of Otwell, died at 4:15 a.m. Sat- urday, May 11 at his residence; Betty A. Miley, 66, of Peters- burg, died at 6 a.m. Thurs- day, May 9 at her residence; Lillian D. Tevault, 96, of Oak- land City, died at 2 p.m. Fri- day, May 10 at Cypress Grove Rehabilitation Center in New- burgh; C. Hansell Carter, 76, of Monroe City, died at 8:50 a.m. Friday, May 10 at Crest- view Nursing Home in Vin- cennes; Howard I. Russell, 73, of Winslow, died at 2:50 p.m. Saturday, May at Wirth Regional Hospital; Mary Cath- erine Capehart, 69, of Otwell, died at 9:15 a.m. Monday, May 13 at Memorial Hospital in Jasper; Norman O'Neal Tray- lor, 65, of Otwell, died at 7:55 a.m. Thursday, May 9 at Heri- tage Nursing Home in Jasper; James Tatom, 58, of Otwell, died May 6 at his residence. Hilbert Pride—CCC camp Hilbert Pride was in a Civil Conservation Corpora- tion uniform, according to Mrs. Ruth A. Pride, who submitted the photo. According to Mrs. Pride, Hil- bert's cousin, Addis Pride, of Otwell, was a supervi- sor with the Vincennes area group. Hilbert was a bar- ber in Otwell following his service.