The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Feburar y 2, 2022 C-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.cnn.com Wednesday, Feb. 2 • First Groundhog Day (1887) • Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman dies at age 46 (2014) Thursday, Feb. 3 • Woodrow Wilson dies (1924) • New England Patriots win first Super Bowl (2002) Friday, Feb. 4 • First U.S. President elected (1789) • Patty Hearst kidnapped (1974) Saturday, Feb. 5 • Beckwith convicted of killing Medgar Evers (1994) • Hank Aaron is born (1934) Sunday, Feb. 6 • Elizabeth becomes queen (1952) • German sub sinks U.S. passen- ger ship California (1917) Monday, Feb. 7 • Beatles arrive in New York (1964) • The Great Baltimore Fire be- gins (1904) Tuesday, Feb. 8 • Mary Queen of Scots behead- ed (1587) • First execution by lethal gas (1924) Future Homemakers of America officers —1979 Future Homemakers of America officers in 1979 at Pike Central were, front row: Rachael Wright, vice president; Cindy Stephens, president; and Diana Barnhart, sec- retary; second row: Sherrie Hays, recreation leader; Pam Richardson, treasurer; Dana Cannon, parliamentarian; and Katie Brumfield, public information chairman. SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday and Tuesday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 4, 1947 Denby Bruce, trustee of Lockhart township brought in a copy of The Petersburg Press dated January 23, 1919. The co- py had accumulated in the trust- ee's files. The editor in those days had written of the Apri- cot trees being in bloom and of gas being struck on the Arnold farm. In the advertising col- umns Charles Carlisle had Ford Runabouts offered for $500 and touring cars for $525. Checking back in an old school book used in Pike Coun- ty Schools in 1865 was found a question series used to teach the student more about the counties than is taught at pres- ent about the state. The book was broken down by counties and the chapter on Pike County had a few questions that without a doubt many today cannot an- swer. Such questions as: In what part of the State is Pike Coun- ty? Bound Pike County. When was it organized? In what con- gressional district is it? How many square miles does it con- tain? What is its population of Petersburg? Where is it situat- ed? What is its latitude? What is its longitude? When was Pike county settled? Name some of the early settlers. Names of its rivers. How many townships in the county? Draw a map of the county. The book also had some elementary geography on the state and its location to orient the student before beginning the county by county study. A new 3-cent stamp commem- orating 100th anniversary of the birth of Thomas A. Edison goes on sale Feb. 11 at Milan. At his birthplace. Color background is purple. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Ade Routt, of Washington, a daugh- ter, Martha Elizabeth, Saturday, February first; To Marshall and Violet Coberly, a daughter, Kar- en Ann, on Feb. 1, at Cornwall Hospital in Aauckland, New Zealand. Marriages: Helen Goodpas- ture and Franklin Blackburn were married at two o'clock Sunday afternoon at the home of the groom; Thelma Huffman and Roy Melvin were married on Monday, January 27, at Ot- well. Deaths: Mary E. Ruff, 77, died Tuesday night at the home of her daughter; Frank Selby, 70, died Wednesday morning at his Glezen home. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Pike County Dispatch Thursday, Feb. 1, 1962 Pike county's first fatali- ty from a car wreck in 1962 claimed the life of a 16 -year-old boy, James Robert Cooper, Fri- day night when the car he was driving went off highway 61 at Enos Corners, snapped off a utility pole, crashed trough a fence and came to rest in a field a short distance from the high- way. Four other youths were in- jured in the crash, none seri- ously. All were admitted to hos- pitals and were released after treatment. According to author- ities, young Cooper was driv- ing when he attempted to pass a car driven by Charles Dou- gan of Surgeon. They said the car was traveling at a high rate of speed and when it attempt- ed to pass Dougan, it went off the left side of the road, slid 650 feet, came back onto the road for 84 feet and then went off the right side of the road where it crashed into a utility pole and broke it off, slashed through a farm fence and stopped a short distance inside the fence. Coo- per was thrown from the car head-first into the fence and wire cutters had to be used to remove the body, which was ly- ing face down in a mud hole in the tangled fence. Death was instantaneous and caused from a fractured skull and broken neck. According to the other boys in the car, the five youths had left Spurgeon following the Spurgeon and Mackey bas- ketball game and had gone to Winslow to the Teen Center. At about 11 p.m. they decided to go home, where they were headed when the accident oc- curred. Four of the high school boys were members of the Spur- geon basketball team. Cooper had played on the varsity team Friday night for the first time. He had been a member of the reserve team and after an out- standing performance Tuesday night against Castle Heights, Coach Kayo Smith started him out with the first team Friday night. Young Cooper was a good student and well liked by all of his classmates. They had elect- ed him president of their class for three straight years. He was also a member of the Red Plaid club, the Hi-Y and the Surgeon Methodist church. Injured in the crash were David Yager and Maurice Wilkey who were taken to the Stork hospital in Hunting- burg for treatment and Philip McCrary and Joel Wilhite who were taken to the Princeton hos- pital for treatment. Authorities said that had the car hit the pole six inches to the left probably all of the boys in the car would have been killed. Had the car been six inches to the right, the car would have missed the pole and only gone through the fence into the field. James Rob- ert Cooper was the son of Jer- ald and Virgina Griffith Coo- per and was born in Evansville April 19, 1945. He had lived in the Spurgeon community all of his life and was a junior in the Spurgeon high school. Surviv- ing with the parents are a broth- er, Paul Cooper; and his grand- mothers, Mrs. Gail Griffith of Spurgeon and Mrs. Elsie Coo- per of Oakland City. Funeral services were conducted from the Pemberton Funeral Home in Lynnville at 10 :30 a.m. Monday with the Rev. Carl Huston Offi- ciating. Burial was in the Spur- geon cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Chris Graves have just received word that their son-in-law, William Al- bert, has just been promoted from Ensign to Ltjg. Ltgd Al- bert is in the USN and is now serving aboard the USS Ever- glades AD24, whose home port is in Charleston, South Caroli- na. Ltjg. Albert resides on the lovely Isle of Palms with his wife and four children. He is married to the former Cynthia Frasier, daughter of Mrs. Graves. Deaths: James Robert Coo- per, 16, of Spurgeon, died Fri- day, night, January 26; Sarah Frances Creek, 92, of Augus- ta, died Monday, January 22 at 2:35 a.m. at the Allison nursing home. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Feb. 3, 1972 Members of the Ladies Chris- tian Circle met in the basement of the First Christian Church Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, January 25 and 26 to make lap robes for the patients of Holiday Home. Sewing ma- chines hummed and much conversation was heard as the members pinned, cut and sewed the robes. This is the Circle's first project of the new year. At- tending Tuesday night were offi- cers, Mary Harting, Wanna Lee Shoaf and Aileen Grubb. Others attending were Blanch Smith, Donna Randall and Virginia Campbell. Attending Wednes- day morning were Mary Hart- ing , June Naylor, Nora Haw- baker, Peggy Warner, Berniece Warner and Sadie Morning. Many members who could not come to the church made robes at their homes or furnished ma- terial. Mary Harting, Wanna Lee Shoaf and Donna Randall delivered 43 lap robes to the nursing home. Youngs in Winslow: Apples sold for 3lb. bag for .59¢; Red and White Florida Orange Fro- zen juice six- 6 ounce cans for $1.19; All- purpose white po- tatoes, 20 lb. bag for 79¢; and Fresh ground chuck was 89¢ per pound. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence E. Kiefer, of Peters- burg, a son, in Good Samaritan Hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Ul- yssus (Leon) Wheatley, of Pe- tersburg, a daughter, Jackie Elaine, Thursday, January 27 at Daviess County hospital; To Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Paul Knight, of Petersburg, a daughter, Glenda Renae, Wednesday, January 26, at Wirth Osteopathic hospital; To Ms and Mrs. Jerrry Wright of Petersburg, a son, Christopher Joseph Andrew, Thursday, Jan- uary 26, at the Daviess County hospital. Marriages: Constance Chamness and PRC Michael Persinger USMC were married at two o'clock Thursday after- noon, in Birdseye; Cynthis Ful- cher and Michael Brown were married at six o'clock Saturday, January 22, in Petersburg. Deaths: Gertrude B. Bot- tom, 74, of Campbelltown, died at 9 p.m., Sunday, January 30, at the Indiana University Medi- cal center; Fred C. Richardson, 63, of Oakland City, died at 6:10p.m., Wednesday, January 26, at Oakland City rest home; Pearl E. Arnold, 71, of Oakland City, died at 4:15 p.m., Wednes- day, January 19, at Gibson Gen- eral Hospital; Della P. Stradt- ner, 63, of Petersburg, died at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 1, at her residence. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 Indiana State Trooper Mike Hildebrand was named a "Dis- tinguished Hoosier" by Indiana Governor Evan Bayh before he left office. Hildebrand was pre- sented the award by the Evans- ville State Police Post Com- mander Jim Verley last week at Petersburg Elementary School, during DARE graduation. Hil- debrand is known as "Trooper Mike" to the school children. He was the first Indiana State Trooper in Indiana to teach the DARE classes to elementa- ry school children. The Distin- guished Hoosier is the second highest honor an Indiana resi- dent can receive from the Gov- ernor and the highest award a State Trooper may receive from the Governor. Only the "Saga- more of the Wabash" is a high- er award, but State Troopers are not eligible for that award. Anita J. Bolin, 29, of 1245 East CR 475 S, was traveling north on State Road 61 when she lost con- trol of her 1988 Ford Mustang due to a heavy layer of ice on the roadway. Bolin crashed in- to a utility pole and broke it off. More than $5,000 damage was done to her car. Fire department and ambulance personnel had a difficult time getting to the wreck because of an ice storm that dumped a heavy coat of ice on area roads Monday night making them extremely slick and hazardous. The wreck hap- pened around 10 ;30 p.m. during extremely adverse driving con- ditions. Births: To Stan and Camy Beadles, of Francisco, a daugh- ter, Mariah Nikkol, on Dec. 18 at Mary's Hospital in Evansville; To Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Graig, of Otwell, a son, Clint Matthew, on Jan. 25 at Memorial Hospi- tal in Jasper; To Mr. and Mrs. David Neukam, of Winslow, a son, Anthony Jordan, on Jan 22 at Memorial Hospital in Jasper. Marriages: Kathy Corne- lius and Tim Fears were mar- ried December 14 in Nashville, Tenn.; Wanda Brewster and Floyd Gayhart, Jr. were mar- ried Saturday, Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. Deaths: Robert E. Tharp, 76, of Washington died Satur- day, Jan. 25, at 10 :39 a.m. at Da- viess County Hospital Emer- gency Room; John P. Minton, 56, of Buckskin, died Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. at South Bald- win General Hospital in Gulf Shores, Ala.; Eloise Heldt, 64, of Fort Branch, died Monday Jan. 27, at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville. net edition pressdispatch.net/edition Web, Smartphone, Tablet Streamline the Headline! 812-354-8500 • 820 Poplar St., Petersburg, IN • ads@pressdispatch.net