The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 29, 2021 B-5 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.britannica.com Wednesday, Dec. 29 • U.S. Army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee (1890) • Texas enters the Union (1845) Thursday, Dec. 30 • U.S.S.R. established (1922) • Led Zeppelin filmed live for the first time (1968) Friday, Dec. 31 • Panama Canal turned over to Panama (1999) • Charter granted to the East In- dia Company (1600) Saturday, Jan. 1 • Johnny Cash plays San Quentin State Prison (1958) • The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect (1863) Sunday, Jan. 2 • Georgia enters the Union (1788) • Nixon signs national speed limit into law (1974) Monday, Jan. 3 • Martin Luther excommunicat- ed (1521) • The Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" safely lands on the Red Planet (2004) Tuesday, Jan. 4 • Utah enters the Union (1896) • President Nixon refuses to hand over tapes (1974) 812-354-8404 292 W. Main St. • Petersburg ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Hours: Tuesday, 8am - 5pm ursday, 8am - 5pm WALK-INS WELCOME Most insurances accepted. Adults & Children Thank you for making it a pleasure to serve you all! SIEMERS GLASS CO. INC. 902 Newton St., Jasper (812) 634-6500 1251 E. Broadway, Princeton (812) 386-1100 or 1-800-793-1676 Satisfied Customers Are Our Best Advertising "Since 1943" HOURS: MONDAY-FRIDAY: 7:30 AM - 5 PM Mason School 1906-1910 Spurgeon High School graduates of 1918 to 1922 attended the Mason school in 1906 to 1910. Bert McMurt- ry is the eleventh one in the second row. Bert and his wife, Freda, operated a grocery store in Spurgeon during the 1930s and 1940s. The photo was submitted by Don and Annetta Parke, of Newburgh SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday and Tuesday, Dec. 27 and Dec. 31, 1946 Four young Pike County peo- ple were injured in a train car crash Christmas day about 11:30 a.m. when the car in which they were riding crashed into the side of a Southern Railway train. The driver, Dewain New- ton, 20, is believed to have not seen the approaching train on the crossing south of Winslow. The car, a Ford V-8, now a com- plete wreck, was traveling north when the accident took place. First aid was rendered to all oc- cupants of the car immediately. Dewain Newton being rushed to the office of Dr. Kime in Pe- tersburg, who immediately sent him to the Washington Hospi- tal. Full extent of his injuries had not been determined at the time the paper went to press. The others in the car, Dewight Newton, 17, brother of the the driver, Kenilla Fay Pirkle, 16, and Bobby A. Brown, 15, were treated for bruises and shock, and returned to their homes. Homer Kays rewarded Mrs. Hattie Hayes, wife of "Doc" Hayes, for a favor of years ago. It seems that while a boy, Homer was in a watermelon patch and in some manner ran a knife into his arm, cutting an artery. The boys took him up to the near- est house, which happened to be the Hayes home. Mrs. Hayes dressed the wound and let him rest for sometime to recover from the loss of blood. Through the years that went by, Kays lost track of the woman and it was not until about two months ago that he located her and repaid her with a large basket of fruit and a ten dollar bill for the favor. Miss Mary Kathryn Gibson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Gibson, of Winslow, was killed when struck by a car while crossing a street in Indianapo- lis at dusk Christmas day. Miss Gibson was taking nurses train- ing at the Methodist Hospital. She would have graduated next May. Marriages: Nancy Joan Wat- kins married Stanley C. Bobbitt at the General Baptist Church in Oakland City on Sunday, De- cember 22 at 1:30 p.m.; Billie Holman and Mary Gilliland were married December 22. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Pike County Dispatch Thursday, Dec. 28, 1961 An Indianapolis sailor was killed instantly Thursday eve- ning in a one-car accident four miles east of the junction of Highways 64 and 61 in Pike County. The man, Edward Ar- nold Jackson, 20, was travel- ing alone when the accident occurred. Death was caused from a broken neck and other internal injuries when his car shot off the highway and land- ed near the edge of the water in a strip mine pit. According to witnesses, Jordan was trav- eling at an estimated speed of about 65 or 70 miles an hour. As his car rounded a small curve in the road, he seemed to lose control. One witness said that the car first crossed the center line, nearly hitting an oncoming car head-on. The car then went off the right side of the road, broke off four guard posts and tore down several feet of guard cable. A fter hitting the guard posts, the car traveled a short distance on the shoulder of the road. It then went down a steep bank, turned over and over and rolled to the edge of the water in the pit, about 50 feet down from the road. Many pine trees were broken off at the ground as the car plowed through them. The body of Jackson was found more than 50 feet west of the wrecked car. The body was near the edge of the water. It could not be car- ried up the steep bank to the road and had to be carried to a more gradual incline west of the wreck. Identity of the body was not known for certain for a few hours following the accident be- cause of identification papers in the sailor's billfold with two dif- ferent names. Police had to con- tact relatives in Indianapolis be- fore positive identification could be made. Denzil Walters, of Otwell, who is attending barber school in Indianapolis to learn how to work on heads, got his own head worked on in a different fashion this week. Mr. Walters is employed in a parking ga- rage during evenigns and had delivered a car to the Colum- bia Club on Monument Circle. Just as he stepped from the car, he was jumped by five youths, who beat him about the head. Six youths were arrested a short time later following a tip from a 40 -year-old man who was beat- en 10 minutes before Walters. The tip given to police by the older man was that he remem- bered the license number of the car the young thugs drove away in following his own beating. Marriages: Sharon Sue Wy- att became the bride of Russell E. Mahoney Saturday, Decem- ber 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the First Baptist Church; Cecile Gladish and John E. Caldemeyer were wed Saturday afternoon, De- cember 23 at the Oakland City Methodist Church. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Dec. 30, 1971 Beginning on Wednesday af- ternoon until Christmas Eve, five serious auto accidents were reported in and around Pike County, resulting in the death of four persons. A Vel- pen couple was killed in an ac- cident Wednesday near Augusta on Highway 64 as they were en- route to a Christmas programs at the August General Baptist Church. They were Mr. and Mrs. Leo Smith. Their daugh- ter, Anita, 14, was injured in the accident. Ronald J. Evans, driver of the other car, was also injured in the same accident. Earlier the same afternoon, a Monroe City girl, 15 -year-old Petty Jones, was killed in an accident near Monroe City. Later the same day, an Odon woman, Mrs. Wil- liam Woodruff, 51, was critically injured near Odon in a one-car accident, then was again hurt when the ambulance in which she was riding crashed on Main St. in Petersburg in front of the Index Notion Co. She later died as a result of the injuries from both accidents. At 10 :30 Thurs- day night, a man and woman were injured on Cart Road, west of Highway 57, when they over- turned in a 1960 Volkswagen van. They were Danny Culbert- ston, 23, and Bobbie Jo Smith. On the morning of December 24, Charles Ray Allen, 20, of Winslow, crashed his auto in- to two parked cars on Ninth St. in Petersburg, near the court- house. State police have not yet determined the cause of the accident in which Leo M. and Vonda L. Smith were killed. Mr. Smith, driving his family to Au- gusta, died of internal injuries in the accident. Mrs. Smith lived for a short time and died early last Thursday morning in a Huntingburg hospital. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Taylor, of Petersburg, in Daviess County Hospital, Thursday, a son; To Mr. and Mrs. Mark Fox, of Petersburg, in Daviess County Hospital, in Washington, Friday, December 24, a daughter, Keri Lyn; To Mr. and Mrs. Chester Keith Gore, of Oakland City, a daughter, Sunday, December 26 at Gib- son General Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Roger Garland, of Pe- tersburg, in the Daviess County Hospital, in Washington, a son, Jason Kent; To Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Boger, of Petersburg, in the Daviess County Hospital, Monday, December 27, a daugh- ter, Melissa Gary Renee. Marriages: Lenita Anne Hall and Bruce Wayne Halbert were married Saturday evening, De- cember 11 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Petersburg; Rebecca Jean Mercer and Albert Ray Kir- by were united in marriage on Saturday, December 11 at the First General Baptist Church in Oakland City. Deaths: Jesse Dixon, 89, of Winslow, died at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, December 23 in the Wirth Memorial Hospital; John P. Smith, 57, of Petersburg, died Wednesday, December 22 at the Good Samaritan Hospi- tal in Vincennes at 6 a.m.; Bes- sie Schuck Lemmon, 79, of Pe- tersburg, died at 8:45 a.m. Fri- day, December 24 in the Da- viess County Hospital; Elsaleah Miller, 65, of Petersburg, died at 4:15 p.m. Monday, December 27 at her residence; Robert E. Ed- wards, 52, of Otwell, died Friday at his home; Fred J. Buhr, 75, of Petersburg, died December 23 at 7:25 p.m. at Wuesthoff Hospi- tal in Rockledge, Fla.; Etna Cre- celius, 86, of Oakland City, died at 2:35 p.m. Tuesday, Decem- ber 28 at Oakland City Nursing Home; Felix Fleener, 72, of Oak- land City, died Tuesday, Decem- ber 21 at Gibson General Hos- pital. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Dec. 26, 1996 One of the wettest years on record is slogging to an end. Rainfall in Pike County is near- ing the record for the 120 years weather data has been record- ed. In 1877, the National Weath- er Service began keeping pre- cipitation records. Since that time, the record amount of rain- fall in one year is 63.14 inches for Evansville. There are no re- cords available over this time for Pike County. However, an official weather station operat- ed by Dewayne Abel, of Peters- burg, since the 1950s has re- corded 58.78 inches so far this year. This total does not include the half-inch or so that fell Mon- day and more was predicted for late Monday night and Tues- day morning. Average rainfall for this area is 43.62 inches. Al- ready, the area is more than 15 inches above normal. Snowfall for 1996 was more than three times the average of 9.1 inch- es. So far, there have been 35 inches of snow recorded in Pike County. In January, there was 17 inches, one inch in Feb- ruary, and then 13 inches in March. Nine of it fell on the last day of winter. So far, in Decem- ber, there has been four inches of snow and all of it fell before winter officially began. With an- other cold front moving in this week, the total could increase. Deaths: Kenneth L. Tray- lor, 72, of Washington, died at 12:34 p.m. Sunday, December 22 at Daviess County Hospital. Pregnant... or think you are? Call:1-877-257-1084 or Locally Call: 1-812-354-2814 • Free pregnancy testing • Free counseling and info. on pregnancy options. • Confi dential counseling for women & men who are suff ering from post-abortion syndrome. • Residential Care • Health and assistance referrals. • Training and education. • Assistance in getting baby and maternity clothes washpcc@sbcglobal.net www.washingtonpregnancycenter.com