The Press-Dispatch
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C-6 Wednesday, August 16, 2017 The Press-Dispatch HISTORY Submit history photos: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Tuesday, July 14, 1942 The opening of the new Gross Market, held Saturday in the institutions new home at the corner of Ninth and Main Streets, this city, was probably the most success- ful and most largely attend- ed event of the kind ever held in this city. Hundreds of old customers came to town to attend the event and to their weekend trading, and add- ed to these were hundreds of others from this and adjoin- ing counties who paid the old establishment their first visit in the new quarters. There was much excite- ment at Union, Friday after- noon when returns from Indi- anapolis, reveal that the dog, which bit Rosalea Garland, Saturday, July 4, died of ra- bies. Sheriff Willis made in- vestigation Thursday morn- ing and sent the dog's head to the State Laboratories in In- dianapolis. The returns came back, Friday afternoon, pos- itive. Sgt. John Dennison re- turned to San Antonio, Texas, Monday evening, after spend- ing a ten days furlough with relatives and friends. Births: Mr. and Mrs. Har- old Bonewits of St. Louis, Mo., are the proud parents of a boy born on July 9, named James Charles; An eight pound son was born Friday evening to Mr. and Mrs. Os- car Earle of Winslow. The ba- by was named Larry Dean. Deaths: Mrs. Hollie E. McGrady passed away at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes last Thursday eve- ning, following a major opera- tion. Death was attributed to complications arising follow- ing the operation; Word was received here Sunday that Mrs. Ted Carter had died in Armes, Iowa, early Sunday morning and the body would be shipped here for burial. The body arrived in Wash- ington at 1 o'clock Monday af- ternoon and was taken to the Harris Funeral Home, where friends may call; Billy Brit- tian, 9, died at the home of his foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Asbra Brittian, of Otwell, at 2 a.m. Monday. He had been ill of diabetis for sever- al months; Emil Uhlman, 85, died Friday afternoon at the Davies County hospital. He had been in failing health for two years; Cora Getzendimer, died at the home of her cous- in, Joseph Grable, late Sunday afternoon, after a long illness. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday, July 5, 1957 The VFW will have open house and a dance July 6. The Tune Hoppers will furnish music for the affair which will begin at 9 p.m. This will give the public a chance to see the remodeling now under way. Two teenage Winslow girls were slightly injured and two automobiles were damaged at 8:30 p.m. Friday night in an accident about two miles west of the main entrance of Pike County State Forest. Karen Inman, 16, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Inman, and Joan Brewster, daughter of Mrs. Viola Brewster, both had cuts about the mouth and were treated by a local doctor, according to Deputy Sheriff Allen W. Smith. Mr. Heber Benjamin, Pe- tersburg route 1, called the Press Office last week to identify Mystery Farm num- ber nine as the old Benjamin place four miles east of Pe- tersburg on the Otwell road. The farm was previously op- erated by his father, Lou Ben- jamin, and Heber has lived there all his life. Comprising 168 acres, the Benjamin farm is devoted to general farming. Marriages: Miss Judith Ann Scott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice E. Scott, Indianapolis, and Robert Vaughn Thomas, Indianap- olis, son of Mrs. Mildred O. Thomas were married, June 27, 1957, in the Mead- lawn Christian Church, Rev. William Walter officiating. Births: Mr. and Mrs. Paul Nance, Winslow, are the proud parents of a 7 pound 2 oz. son, David Paul, born on June 24 at Good Samaritan hospital, Vincennes. Deaths: Funeral servic- es were at 2 p.m. Monday for Thomas A. Hisgen, 71, who died suddenly at 8:45 a.m. Saturday while repairing a roof at the residence of his mother, Mrs. Ida Hisgen; Fu- neral services were Thurs- day at the Dorrisville Baptist church for W. F. McIlrath, 73, who dies Tuesday at his home in Harrisburg, Ill. He was a brother of Ralph McIlrath, route one, Winslow; Funeral services for Opal C. Tisdale, 52, a former resident of Vel- pen, were at 2 p.m. Monday, at the Velpen Methodist church, with Rev, N. I. Schoolfield, of- ficiating. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, July 20, 1967 Harold Hagemeyer of Sten- dal reported that a pond on one of his farms had been dynamited and dead fish were floating on the pond. Mr. Hagemeyer said he was in Bloomington Saturday and Sunday, July 1 and 2, and in Indianapolis attending a meeting on Monday, July 3 and the pond was dynamited while he was away. He stated that he found dead fish float- ing on the pond the morning of July 4 when he went to the pond to fish. He also stated that one of his neighbors told him they heard the explosion. Log Creek General Baptist church , six miles northeast of Lynnville will celebrate its 100 years on the 23rd of July. One of the oldest living for- mer pastor, Rev. Claude Hun- saker of Folsomville will de- liver the morning sermon. The afternoon will consist of special singing and history of the church will be given. The public is invited. The area Three Teen- er League playoffs will be- gin Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Legion Park in Petersburg. Opening the tourney will be the state winners, Mansfield, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. The winner of the Ohio-Mich- igan game will meet Peters- burg, Indiana champions, at 1 p.m. Sunday. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Norbert Greene, a son, Sun- day, July 9; To Mr. and Mrs. Bob Harris of Petersburg, Sunday, July 16, a daughter, Nici Ann; To Mr. and Mrs. James Cardinal, Saturday, July 8, a daughter, Theresa Ann; To Mr. and Mrs. Ron Underwood of Evansville, Saturday, July 16, a daughter; To Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mi- ley, Jr. of Wilmette, Il., a son, Brett Andrew; To Mr. and Mrs. George Larry of Peters- burg, a son, Larry Todd; To Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Robling of Otwell, Saturday, July 15, a son, Jesse Lyn. Deaths: Mrs. Mary B. Sims, 86, died at the Daviess County hospital in Washing- ton at 9:30 Thursday morn- ing three hours after suffer- ing a stroke; Edwin C. Rel- ler Sr., 50, of Stendal died at 9:20 a.m. Friday, July 14 at St. Mary's hospital, Evansville, following his second stroke; Mrs. Agnes Evans Breiden- baugh died at 10 p.m. Satur- day, July 15, at the Good Sa- maritan Hospital; Private services were at 4 p.m. Mon- day at the Corn Mortuary for Thomas Scott Parker, month and a half old son of Mr. and Mrs. Glen Parker of Mackey. Thomas Scott died Sunday morning at Riley hospital in Indianapolis following heart surgery; Tammie Sue Hunt died July 9, shortly after birth in the Copley Memorial hos- pital in Aurora, Mrs. Bessie Orr Montgomery, 79, of Pato- ka died at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 18 in the Gibson Gener- al hospital following several months of illness. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, July 16, 1992 The Pike County 4-H Fair opened Wednesday night with the Fair Queen Pageant. The midway was being put together Monday including a Ferris Wheel, an octopus, a giant slide and several oth- er rides. The amphitheater events for the remainder of the week are: hog wrestling at 7 p.m. Thursday, mini- spring races at 8 p.m. Friday and demolition derby at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. A new event for the fair is a 4-H Alumni picnic at 4:40 p.m. Saturday. The Petersburg Plan Com- mission certified the pro- posed zoning ordinance fol- lowing public hearing Tues- day night that was attended by approximately 15 people. The ordinance will be for- warded to the Petersburg City Council for consideration at its Monday night meeting. If adopted, the ordinance will be effective following proper publication. A recent survey of the city of Petersburg has found ap- proximately 50 lots that are overgrown with weeds, ac- cording to Mayor Randy Har- ris. Property owners of over- grown lots will be receiving letters advising them to cut the weeds. They will be given a time frame in which to rem- edy the situation, Harris said. If the weeds are not cut by the end of the time limit the city has the power to go on prop- erty, cut the weeds and bill the owner. Marriages: Deanna Sue Whitehouse, of Petersburg, and Jeff Ray Bush, of Win- slow, were united in marriage June 6 at Otwell United Meth- odist Church with Rev. Fred Carpenter officiating; Con- nie Hanebutt and Kiply My- ers, both of Evansville, ex- changed wedding vows Sat- urday, June 6, at 6:30 p.m. at Salem United Church of Christ in Huntingburg. Rev. Michael Thompson and Rev. John Hand, grandfather of the bridegroom, officiated the double ring ceremony. Births: To Christopher and Toni Martin of Monroe City, Wednesday, July 8, their first child, a son, Brian Chris- topher; To Albert and Chris- ty Courtney of the U.S. Army stationed in A zores, July 7, a daughter, Ashton Christine, To Mr. and Mrs. John Fish- er, of Washington, July 7, a daughter, Kelly Elizabeth. Deaths: Jason Eugene Fears, 16 months, of Hazel- ton, died Saturday, July 11, at 11:45 a.m. at Cardinal Glen- non Hospital in St. Louis, Mo.; Alma M. Wira, 79, of Buckskin, died Saturday, Ju- ly 11, at 8:15 p.m. at her res- idence; Victor E. Catt, 85, of Bloomington, a former resi- dent of Petersburg, died July 4 at Greenwood Village South in Greenwood, Robert S. Phil- lips, 70, of Oakland City, dies Sunday, July 12, at 5:52 p.m. at Methodist Hospital in Indi- anapolis; Floyd E. Benton, 81, of Buckskin, died Tuesday, July 7, at St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville. By Sandy McBeth Pike County Historical Society Brenton also served as one of the early County Commis- sioner along with Moses Har- rell and Jesse Traylor. Peter and Eleanor had the follow- ing children: James Madison (married to Lucy C. Black), George (married to Mary Hawkins), Nancy (married John O. M. Selby), Wesley (married Betsy Ann Crow), John W. (married Anna Ter- rell), and Peter, Jr. (married to Nancy Tislow). Henry, the third child of James and Catherine Brenton was married in 1808 to Eliza- beth Coonrod in Pike Coun- ty. He served during the War of 1812 with his brother, Rob- ert in Capt. John Johnson's Company as a private. Henry owned a farm in the commu- nity and was appointed over- seer of the poor on June 21, 1815. He was appointed by the County Commissioners to "view roads" in the new coun- ty, one listed as "leading from the mouth of Henry Brentons lane to the mouths of Hosea Smith and George Wallaces lanes" and the "road leading to Wright's ferry" in Madison Township. Henry was also ap- pointed Commissioner of the "State road leading from the Wabash opposite to Mt Car- mel to Petersburgh thence to the high lands on White river". On May 10, 1824 Ar- chibald Campbell was ap- pointed to fill the position as Henry Brenton was deceased. Henry and Elizabeth's daugh- ter, Catherine married James Milburn. A fter Henry's death Elizabeth later married Ben- jamin Marker. The fourth child of James and Catherine Brenton was son, John who married De- genracy Caldwell on August 31, 1816 in Gibson County. He was deeded land in Gib- son County in 1819 and died in May of 1820 leaving a wife and one child, Elizabeth (mar- ried James Caress). Mary "Polly" Brenton, daughter of James and Cath- erine was married to Jona- than Walker on May 9, 1811 in Knox County, Indiana Ter- ritory in an area which later became Dubois County. Jon- athan served during the War of 1812 in the same compa- ny with her brothers, Robert and Henry. Jonathan Walker is mentioned in Goodspeed's 1885 History of Pike And Du- bois Counties, Indiana. ""One of the prominent characters of the early days was Jona- than Walker. He was one of those large, robust, pugilis- tic fellows who attracted at- tention in any crowd on ac- count of physical vigor. His fighting ability was of the highest order and he lost no opportunity for exhibiting it. In fact he was rather quarrel- some and sought opportuni- ties to display himself. He was known from Vincennes to Louisville along the "trace" that crossed Dubois County. About the year 1840 he was in- dicted and tried for the mur- der of a shoe-maker at Hunt- ingburgh, but was acquitted." This was known as the first murder trial in Dubois Coun- ty. Jonathan and Mary Bren- ton Walker had the follow- ing children: Jonathon J., Jr. (married to Elizabeth ? and later to Polly Mayo), Peter B. (married Martha Jane Win- kler), Mary (married Thomas Sumner), Catherine (married Svord Clayton Beard), Samp- son (married Nancy Beebe), Dessick (married Prudence Mayo, Celia H. Waller, Mary E. Benett, Matilda T. Rad- ford), Almond Bloomfield, Charlotte (married Elijah Wil- son, Sr.), Lurena Ann (mar- ried Jacob Goodman) and In- diana (married Harvey Van- diver). Charity Brenton, another daughter of James and Cath- erine married in Pike County on August 21, 1818 to James Harris. She died shortly after the birth of her second child, Margery Harris of malaria. Her first child, Newton (born before her marriage to Har- ris) was raised by her parents as a Brenton. Newton later be- came a teacher and ran a gro- cery store in Winslow from 1851 to 1884 known as Bren- ton & Winslow. He served as postmaster of Winslow dur- ing the war years. Newton married Julia Masters, but she died five months later. He then married Nancy Cole- man and they had eight chil- dren: Byron, Theodore, Julia A., Emily F., Sarah A., Mary M., Clara and Elmer E. The youngest child of James and Catherine was El- len Nancy Brenton. She mar- ried another early pioneer, Jacob Harbison, the son of James Harbison a Revolution- ary War soldier from South Carolina. Jacob also saw ser- vice during the War of 1812, serving alongside Ellen Nan- cy's brothers. They had three sons, James, Richard and Wil- liam. A fter Catherine, his first wife died in 1830 James Bren- ton remarried to Mary Ain- sey on September 14, 1830. He was allowed $23.33 a year for his pension which he ap- plied for in 1832. His widow received a pension until her death. James Brenton died on June 16, 1836 in Pike Coun- ty and is buried in the "Old Methodist" cemetery on In- dian Mound, one mile west of Petersburg on Highway 56. He has a bronze Revolution- ary Service marker placed by the Cradle of Liberty DAR. Some of the descendants of James Brenton carry the following surnames: Bren- ton, Robling, Scott, Hawkins, Walker, Coleman, Chap- pell, Hurst, Davidson, Stew- art, Harris, Harbison, Sel- by, Dillon, Wiggs, Stillwell, Frost, Howard, Fowler, Sum- ner, Beard, Wilson, Vandiv- er, Goodman, Wisdom, Gray, Pierce, Craig, Colvin, Kin- man, Thompson, Lomax, Milburn, Miller, Ellis, Smith, Black, Wheeler, DeMotte, Al- exander, Radcliffe, Ward and Laws. Descendants of James Brenton live throughout Pike County as well as the rest of the United States, many not even knowing they descended from such an honorable man. Those descendants are able to join organizations such as the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution and the Indiana Pioneer Society. For more information contact the Pike County Historical Soci- ety at the Pike County His- tory Center, 1104 East Main Street, Petersburg James Brenton, Early Pioneer and Revolutionary War Veteran 1918 Lincoln School, Monroe Township Front row: Paul Cato, Lawrence Black, Jack Mason, Mary Wheeler and Beatrice Griffth. Second row: Basil Wheeler, Silas Cato, Inez Ferguson, Mildred Mason, Lillian Griffith, Dora Black and Teacher, Eth- el Langford SHS Graduate 1914. Third row: Arvil Wheeler, Virgil Griffith, Ben Cato, Minnie Black and Phyllis Ferguson. Photo provided by Orville Skinner, Jr. Wednesday, August 16 • Gold discovered in the Yukon (1896) • Babe Ruth dies (1812) Thursday, August 17 • Woodstock Music Festival concludes (1969) • Hitler's last living henchman dies (1987) Friday, August 18 • Coup attempt against Gor- bachev begins (1991) • Genghis Khan dies (1227) Saturday, August 19 • First race is held at Indianap- olis Motor Speedway (1909) • USS Constitution earns its name "Old Ironsides" (1812) Sunday, August 20 • First around-the-world tele- gram sent, 66 years before Voyater II launch (1911) • The Menendez brothers mur- der their parents (1989) Monday, August 21 • Hawaii becomes 50th state (1959) • Theft of Mona Lisa is discov- ered (1911) Tuesday, August 22 • Althea Gibson becomes first A frican-American on U.S. ten- nis tour (1950) • Redcoats land at Long Island (1776) Source: History.com