The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 19, 2022 B-7 HISTORY Submit history photos: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Winslow High School band—1940 The Winslow High School Band in 1940 had several veterans of World War II who saw quite a bit of action. The United States became involved the war on December 7, 1941. Members of the band included, in row one, Billie Jean Lawrence, Jean Marshall, Margaret Jean Hale, Doris Jean Copeland, Lorraine Reed and Barbara Barnett; second row: Wilma Hardin, Ruth Jones, Ardalene Roe, Melvin Dierdorf and Eleanor McLaughlin (di- rector); third row: Juanita Tisdale, Mary Kathryn Woolsey and John Hunley; fourth row: James Pipes, Wilburn DeBruler, Frank Shaw, William Thompson and Barbara Smith; fifth row: George Barnett, Leon Ehrlich, Ford Reed and Odell Pirkle. SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday and Tuesday, Jan. 17 and Jan. 21, 1947 Jimmy Sandage, of Jimmy's Motor Sales, announces that he has taken on the Firestone dealership and he is planning to open a Firestone store in con- junction with the Kaiser-Fras- er Agency at 5th and Main. Mr. Sandage was one of 50 Fires- tone dealers to enjoy a dinner and meeting held Tuesday eve- ning at the Masonic Temple in Oakland City. Completing his remodeling program, Clarence Buchan- an has installed a modern so- da fountain in the Buchanan Drug Store on Main Street in Petersburg. The new fountain and matching stools are fitted with red leather and chrome fin- ishings. Indiana motorists were ad- vised today by the State High- way Commission that new red flasher lights were recently dis- tributed to the maintenance crews, to be used by workers when they are on emergen- cy jobs, and the commission urged caution on the motor- ist's part whenever he sights one of the signals. "Twenty-one accidents occurred in Indiana during December as a result of vehicles colliding with highway equipment while crews were at work," John H. Lauer, commis- sion chairman, stated. "This type of collision is especially prevalent when roads are icy. In order to protect the lives of motorists and crews, and less- en property damage, we have in- structed that all state highway vehicles shall display flashers when stopped on the road, or when engaged in emergency work, such as clearing snow. Drivers should begin slowing their cars immediately on see- ing this signal. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Joe Upton, of Petersburg, a son, Bobby Joe, at their home Janu- ary 3; To Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Freeland, of Petersburg, a son, James Eugene, at their home January 2; To Mr. and Mrs. Or- ville Knowles, of Cato, a daugh- ter, Paula Joan, December 26 at Oakland City Maternity Hospi- tal. Deaths: John Aders, 75, died Monday in Daviess County Hos- pital; Sarah Elizabeth Yarber, 84, of Stendal, died Tuesday at her home. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Pike County Dispatch Thursday, Jan. 18, 1961 Mr. and Mrs. Lester Froman and daughter, of Coe, are very fortunate to be alive today to tell the story of their accident Sun- day, January 7. They were on their way to Sunday school at the Liberty church in Monroe township when the accident oc- curred. As they neared the rail- road tracks, a train hauling coal from the Enos coal mine sound- ed its whistle. Mr. Froman, who wasn't expecting a train on Sun- day morning at 9:30, on hearing the whistle, applied his brakes and slid on the icy pavement into the path of the train. Mr. Froman's teeth were knocked out and Mrs. Froman received a fractured right jaw. Their daughter escaped without in- juries. They were taken to Gib- son General Hospital, where they were treated for their inju- ries and shock. Their 1955 Ford they were in was a total loss. Mrs. Froman was in Princeton Monday at the hospital, where she had to have her jaw lanced. Fire gutted the home of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Hart, near the Enos Mine overpass, on High- way 61, north of Spurgeon Thursday morning. The fire was discovered at 8:15 by Mrs. Hart when she went through the bed- room where her two small chil- dren were sleeping and found the closet at the foot of their bed all afire. She grabbed her two children and ran outside to summon help. A fter stopping a car to send for help, she put the two children, who were dressed only in pajamas, in their car in the garage and started the mo- tor to keep them warm as the temperature was below zero. Mr. Hart, who drives a large truck for Enos Coal Mining Company, was going over the overpass and saw the house on fire. He was on of the first on the scene. Upon arriving, he asked where the children were. Then saw that the garage doors had in some manner become closed. They immediately opened them so the children would not be- come asphyxiated. Spurgeon and Lynnville fire departments responded, but the fire made such headway the contents of the home could not be saved. The siding had confined the fire to interior, burning it complete- ly out. Mrs. Hart states that she had started to the basement to wash, but decided to drink a cup of coffee before washing. A fter finishing the coffee, she start- ed through the bedroom on her way to the bathroom. Had she gone on to the basement when she first started, in all probabil- ity, the children and Mrs. Hart would have lost their lives in the fire. They have three children, Sherry Lynn, 10, who had left for school, Sandy Kay, 5, and Kathy, 1, who were in bed. The Hart family was taken into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Enos McKinney, where they spent two nights. Mrs. Hart and chil- dren then went to the home of her sister, Mrs. Myrtle Snyder, in Vincennes. Mrs. Hart stated that they are now batching in the Maude Williams property in Spurgeon until they can find a place to rent or buy. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Jes- se Loveless, of Petersburg, a daughter, born January 12; To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Schmidt, of Petersburg, a daughter, born Monday in the Daviess County Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Rod- ney Dixon, of Winslow, a daugh- ter, Debra Deanne, in Daviess County Hospital January 7. Deaths: Caper Beck, 88, of Baldwin Corner, died at the resi- dence of his daughter in Glezen; Linus Guimond, 54, of Oakland City, died at 11:45 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Hospital; William Crow, 66, of Oakland City, died at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Stork Hospital. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Jan. 20, 1972 Homer E. Cox, 73, of Peters- burg, was killed instantly in a one-car auto accident Tuesday morning around 10 :30 a.m. while traveling east on High- way 65 west of Petersburg at Shawhan Corner. Death was attributed to massive head in- juries. Mr. Cox, driving a 1970 Oldsmobile, headed through a curve without turning the auto and ran across a ditch. When the car hit the ditch, it sailed 45 feet through the air, landed on its top, then bounced over on its wheels, skidding anoth- er 150 feet, according to police. The car was so mangled it had to be pried open to allow work- ers to remove the body. Mr. Cox retired as a Petersburg city mail carrier in 1965 after 37 years of service. The new highway 57 bridge across the White River has been named the "Gil Hodges Bridge" in honor of the Petersburg High School graduate who has be- come world-famous in baseball. Gil is manager of the New York Mets and in 1969, led them to a world championship. Construc- tion of the bridge has been shut down until the second week of March. Some of the concrete flooring of the bridge was put in place before work stopped for the winter. The old bridge will be torn down after the new one is put into use. A 1969 Oldsmobile belonging to John Hunley, or Winslow, was completely destroyed by fire Saturday night as he was return- ing home from work. John told police he started to light a cig- arette with a kitchen match by striking it with his thumbnail. He said as he struck the match, the head flew off and evidently went under the front seat. Lat- er, the fire started and he pulled the car off the road near the Ayr- coe Mine east of Oakland City on Highway 64. Men from the mane came to his aid but were unable to extinguish the flames. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Paul Thompson, of Winslow, a daughter, Catherine Elaine, Fri- day, January 14, in Wirth Memo- rial Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Michael Gilbert, of Petersburg, in St. Joseph Hospi- tal, Tuesday, January 11, a son, Donald Joseph; To Mr. and Mrs. Hurshel Robling, of Petersburg, in Welborn Baptist Hospital, Monday, January 17, a daugh- ter, Cynthia Ann; To. Pvt. and Mrs. Mark Russell, of Winslow, a son, Jason Allen, Tuesday, Jan- uary 11, at St. Joseph's Hospital. Marriages: Elizabeth Miller and Neal Bailey were united in marriage Sunday afternoon, De- cember 19 at the First Baptist Church in Petersburg. Deaths: Elsie Faye Pancake Myers, 31, of Petersburg, died at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, January 15; Carl Frederick Corn, 57, of Petersburg, died at Daviess County Hospital on Sunday at 9:05 p.m.; Charles Jack McGil- lem, 68, of Petersburg, died at 6:10 p.m. Monday, January 17 at Gibson General Hospital; Flu- da Florence Simpson, 91, of Pe- tersburg, died Tuesday, January 11 at the Holiday Home; Lizzie Corn, 77, of Arthur, passed away at 6:06 a.m. Saturday morning at her home; Cannie Hart, 73, of Petersburg, died Friday, Jan- uary 14 at Gibson General Hos- pital; Ada B. Arnold, 86, of Pe- tersburg, died at 9 a.m. Monday, January 17 at the home of her daughter; Lester R. Shadley, 69, of Petersburg, died Wednesday morning, January 19 at Good Sa- maritan Hospital. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Jan. 16, 1997 A former Pike County man has been named the top rank- ing military official in Indiana's National Guard and Air National Guard. Robert Mitchell, a 1995 Petersburg High School gradu- ate, took command Tuesday of the Indiana forces. He is now, which makes him the top rank- ing military official in Indiana. Mitchell is a two-star Major General. He retired on Decem- ber 6, 1996, after 41 years in the military. "I had been retired al- most 45 days," said Mitchell pri- or to going back on active du- ty to take the top spot. Mitch- ell, who lived many years in Winslow, and is currently a res- ident of Jasper, said he would be working out of the Indianapolis headquarters. His wife, Caro- lyn, is a native of Winslow, and his mother, Charlotte Morgan, resides in Petersburg. The Silver Dollar Saloon was find $500 for "unlawful gam- bling," according to the Indi- ana Alcoholic Beverage Com- mission. ABC Chairman Kevin J. Schaefer announced the fine last Wednesday. According to the ABC, the fine stems from June 26, 1996, when excise offi- cers Terry Bauer and Scott Bed- well enter the The Silver Dollar Saloon and found four gambling machines. Bauer said in his re- port he spoke with owner Rus- ti Barr. He said she left a table where they were talking to her and went to the back saying she needed to tend to food cooking on the grill. But on her way to the back, she spoke with an em- ployee, Katherine Cockerham, who claimed to be off work. Ac- cording to Bauer's report, Cock- erham then started walking to- ward an exit with a black vinyl purse. Bauer then asked Cock- erham if the purse was hers and was told it was. Excise officers read both women the Miranda warning. Barr refused to sign a waiver and said she wanted an attorney present. Bauer said they would not ask any more questions, but positive identifi- cation of the purse would have to be made before it could be removed from the tavern. Ac- cording to the report, Bedwell told them they were request- ing permission to search the purse, just to be shown some form of identification from the purse to identify it as Cocker- ham's. When the women re- fused, Bauer opened the purse and found it contained 68 slips and pieces of paper which were numbered and had individu- als' names and dollar amounts on them. Also found was an en- velope containing $ 3,800 cash and four plastic bags, each bag had slips which all had the same number on them, according to Bauer's report. Bauer added in his report that "no personal items or items of any other na- ture were found in the purse." Officers confiscated $5,770.40 and 84 record slips. Deaths: Gilve White, 62, of Petersburg, died at 12:40 a.m Tuesday, January 14 at Reid Me- morial Hospital in Richmond; Lewis W. Weisheit, 68, of Jas- per, died at 3:40 a.m. Friday, January 10 at his residence; Lil- lie P. Logestan, 87, of Oakland City, died at 4:50 p.m. Monday, January 13 at Welborn Baptist Hospital; Bertha V. Liniger, 80, of Oakland City, died at 10 p.m. Sunday, January 12 at Welborn Baptist Hospital.