The Press-Dispatch
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C-14 Wednesday, April 4, 2018 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 Friday and Tuesday, November 20 and 24, 1942 Gene Dillon and Blythe Willis, of Winslow, suffered some very bad cuts and bruis- es about the face and limbs, Wednesday evening, when their car ran into the back of a semi truck and crashed in- to a telephone post, before it stopped in front of the Oak- land City College, in Oakland City. The car, a 1940 Ford, be- longed to Glen Nelson, of Win- slow, and was very badly dam- aged. The boys were rushed to the Miller hospital in the Boone ambulance, where their injuries were treated. Friday evening at the local gym, the Petersburg Indians won their third straight victo- ry of the new hardwood sea- son by defeating the Otwell Millers by a score of 51-33. The Indians were never in trouble with the Millers, tak- ing an early lead and hold- ing it throughout the game. In the preliminary game, Pe- tersburg won 18 -13, in a game that was close and hard fought throughout. About three weeks ago, Vir- gil Burton stepped into a hole at the Water Plant and broke one of his legs. Virgil Lut- trell, Saturday, while on the way to the plant, also broke a leg. Redeeming feature of the last broken leg was that it was wooden. Russell Dyer had to take over the operation of the water plant Saturday and Sun- day night because of the mis- hap. The run of stolen cars was added to Thursday and Fri- day night this past week with two cars stolen. On Thurs- day night, a car was taken from Chevrolet parking lot and was later recovered on a side street in Washington. No damage was reported on the car. Friday night, a car be- longing to Gerald Litherland, Manager of the Wabash Pub- lic Service Company, was sto- len from in front of his home and was later found here in town. The car had been driv- en about 80 miles. Chief of Po- lice Richard Hayes believes that he saw the car driven by the thief early in the evening but was unable to overtake the car. The Winslow Eskimos overwhelmed the Owensville Kicks, 36 to 18, Friday night on the Owensville floor. The Eskimos lead throughout the game. The Eskimos held a 23 to 10 margin at the half. In the first game, Winslow won, 24 to 16. Marriages: Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Harbison, Evans- ville, announce the marriage of their daughter, Hazel, to Petty Officer Herbert Wil- lis. The marriage was solem- nized in St. Louis, Mo., on October 27; Mr. and Mrs. Ar- thur Bechtel announce the marriage of their son, Cor- poral James Wilfred Bechtel, to Miss Florence Edwards, of Terre Haute. Births: Luther Vernon is the name of the boy born Wednesday to Mr. and Mrs. Luther Elliott, of near Peters- burg; A boy was born Novem- ber 18 to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Tomson, of South 9th Street; Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Davis are the proud parents of a girl born Thursday evening. The baby was named Margaret Sue; Verline is the name of the girl born November 19 to Mr. and Mrs. Verl White, of North 9th Street; A 9 -pound son was born November 16 to Ser- geant and Mrs. John B. Beck in Kalamazoo, Mich. The ba- by was named John, Jr.; A girl was born Monday to Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Carey, of South First St.; A boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Mitchell, November 10, at the Bluffton, Ohio hospital. The youngster has been named James Kind- er; Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Weit- kamp are the proud parents of an eight-pound baby girl. She has been named Anna Mae; Born Sunday to Mr. and Mrs. Boone Meadors, an eight- pound girl named Barbara Sue; A boy was born Mon- day to Mr. and Mrs. Marion Coomer, of this city. Deaths: Franklin Powers, one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of the Coats Springs commu- nity, died at the home of his daughter Tuesday, Novem- ber 17, from infirmities of his advanced age, being at the time of his death 88 years, 11 months and eight days of age; Mrs. Carrie Mason Beck, un- til a few years ago one of the most highly respected and widely known women of the south part of the south part of the county, died at the home of her daughter in Oakland City at 7 o'clock, Tuesday, November 17, after a short illness; Barker Beatty, widely known throughout this coun- ty in mining circles, and who was superintendent at the Lit- tles, Blackburn and Muren mines at various times, before these mines closed, died at his home in Mexico, Mo., Sun- day, November 15 after an ill- ness of five months duration. He was near 60 years of age at the time of passing; Mrs. Lottie Ann Julian, of Spur- geon, died at 11:30 o'clock Tuesday night at the Welborn- Walker hospital in Evansville, where she had been a patient for four days; Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth DeTar, among the most widely and well known women of this county, died at her home in Winslow Fri- day morning, November 20 at 8 o'clock; Henry H. Leighty, residing four miles east of this city, died suddenly on the railroad track near the B. & O. station, in Washington, Sunday afternoon at 12:30 o'clock. Coroner Walter S. Williams, of Daviess county, said he died from a heart at- tack; Mrs. Elizabeth Parker, one of the oldest and widely known ladies of this city, died at the Fay France Convales- cent Home, in Petersburg, Sunday Evening, November 22, at 11:50 p.m., after a de- cline of health of the past few years; Permelia Ward, widow of the late George W. Ward, died at the home of her son, near Pleasant Ridge, Thurs- day afternoon at 2 o'clock, af- ter a long illness. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday, February 21, 1958 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kue- ster, of north 7th St., were driven out of their home Wednesday night after the couple had smelled heavy gas fumes. Local civil defense per- sonnel, Mayor L. Carol Thom- as, Hoosier Gas officials, Pub- lic Service officials, and city and state police departments were called to the home. Mr. Kuester noticed an odor and struck a match and threw it in- to the basement. An explosion resulted in little damage. Lo- cal officials were then contact- ed at approximately 9 p.m. It was impossible to determine the cause of the fumes, so the Kuester family was advised to spend the night elsewhere. Two Detroit, Mich., men were slightly injured when their car skidded off an icy Highway 57 in Patoka bottoms about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15. The accident happened just inside the county line. Thomas Anderson, driver of the car, suffered a cut head that required some stitch- es. Roosevelt Merriweather, a passenger, suffered a large lump on his left leg. Both were treated and released. Coleman Motors, Inc. re- ceived the county contract for five new trucks after the com- missioners met Monday, Feb. 17 in the Pike Court House. Coleman Motors will receive $11,389.20 to supply the new trucks. The Coleman bid was the lowest on all makes with trade-ins offered. The county traded in a 1952 Ford, a 1951 G.M.C., two 1951 Fords, and a 1952 International. Coleman was $2,793.40 lower on the to- tal low bid, and was at least $500 lower on each truck. This was the first time in ma- ny years that one dealer was contracted to supply all the trucks to the county. The Petersburg Indians dropped their third straight game in their final regular season effort Tuesday night at Monroe City, 58 -57, in an overtime tussle before a packed house. The Indians had fought an uphill battle all the way, after failing to find the basket in the early min- utes of the first half. Sam Coomer missed a one and one free throw with six min- utes left in the overtime and the last hope for a come back victory was erased when the Blue Jeans hauled the missed free throw off the backboards. Marriages: Saturday, Feb- ruary 8 at 10 o'clock in Holy Innocent Catholic Church at St. Louis, Miss Mary Jane En- gleman became the bride of Dr. Nicholis Kablain in a dou- ble ring ceremony read by Fa- ther Charles Roach. Births: Mr. and Mrs. Fen- ton Taylor, Evansville, an- nounce the birth of a daugh- ter, Mary Jo, on January 21; Born to Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Evans, Petersburg, a nine- pound boy, February 14, at the Jasper Memorial Hospital; Born to Mr. and Mrs. Linden Deffendall, Glezen, son; Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Broshear, of Washington, announce the birth of a daughter, Chan Ray; Mr. and Mrs. Donald Adams, Algiers, announce the birth of a son, Dennis Ray, Febru- ary 14. Deaths: Funeral services for Hugo D. Harmeyer were at the First General Baptist Church in Oakland City on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1958, after he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, which proved fa- tal on Monday, February 17; James Newton Offil, 91, Ot- well, passed away at the Ward Nursing Home, in Petersburg, at 3:40 p.m., Monday; Mrs. David Weber, Petersburg, re- ceived word Feb. 2 that her mother, Fr. Anna Kleinke, had passed away at her home in Germany after an illness of only two days; Dr. Jesse R. Lo- gan, 57, Evansville physician and surgeon, died February 16, 1958; Leonard Oxley, a long-time worker in the Re- publican party, passed away at his home near Petersburg at 5:50 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17. Mr. Oxley was 84 years old. He had been ill for some time. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, March 7, 1968 Mrs. Clayton (Marcia) Cur- tis, of Winslow, is shown mea- suring ingredients for Apri- crown Dessert Bread at the 1968 Pillsbury Bake-off in Dallas, Texas, the dessert that won her the trip to the bake- off. This is Mrs. Curtis' sec- ond time to win a trip to vie for the $25,000 bake-off. Her first trip was to New York in 1958. A model of the Holiday Homes, Inc. Nursing Home, now under construction, is on display in the lobby of the Pike County courthouse. The nurs- ing home is well under way. The location is about halfway between the Shamrock Drive Inn and Hornady Park on the south side of Pike Avenue. Walls of the new home are al- ready several feet high, and if weather conditions permit, the new home will be finished sometime around late spring or early summer. The Winslow High School Band Boosters voted to buy eleven new band uniforms at their last meeting, February 19. These uniforms are need- ed to bring the total, includ- ing Drum Major and Major- ette uniforms, to 74, which is the number of students in the band at the present time. A 1960 tractor trailer was struck by a freight train at West Broadway street cross- ing in Princeton Monday at 11 a.m. The driver of the truck, Julius B. Church, of Peters- burg, was attempting to back- up the truck when he killed his engine. Church jumped to safety just seconds before the train struck the truck. The tractor truck was owned by Fred G. Anderson, of Pe- tersburg. The tractor was a total loss. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Scott, of Monroe City, a son, Thursday, Feb. 29; To Mr. and Mrs. James Alvin Eckert, Petersburg, Tuesday, March 5, their first child, a son, James Stacey; To Mr. and Mrs. Denzil G. Elmore, Tuckson, Ariz., a daughter, Kimberly Ann, February 3; To Mr. and Mrs. John B. Grego- ry, of Huntingburg, a daugh- ter, Dorleskia Alice, born Sun- day, Feb. 18; To Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Teague, of Glezen, a son, Gary Ray, Sunday, March 3; To Mr. and Mrs. Donald Ro- bling, of Oakland City, a son, Lloyd Allen, on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Deaths: Funeral services for Ottis Davis, 74, lifetime resident of the Oakland City community, were at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Lamb Funeral Home; Memorial services for Mrs. Carl (Hazel) Brown, sis- ter of Mrs. Myrtle Conner, of Winslow, were Tuesday morn- ing at 10 :30 at Barnett and Son Funeral Home, Boonville; Mrs. Myrtle Hollingsworth, 81, of Oaktown, formerly of Petersburg, died Thursday at 10 :30 a.m. in the Restwell Nursing Home in Vincennes; Mrs. Lucille Norman, of Indi- anapolis, daughter of Walter J. and Pearl Shaw of Petersburg, died suddenly March 2 in an Indianapolis hospital from a heart attack. She was a patient in the hospital suffering from the flu when she suffered the fatal attack; Guy Slunder, 84, of Pikeville, died at 3:15 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 29 in Hunt- ingburg after a long illness; Mrs. Leone Brown, 81, of Ot- well, died at 5:20 a.m. at the home of her daughter in Oak- land City from a heart attack; Petersburg lost one of its fine citizens Saturday when Mrs. William Smalldon was called by death. She passed away Saturday, March 2, at 12:45 p.m. in the Daviess County hospital, where she had been a patient since suffering a ce- rebral hemorrhage Saturday noon, a week ago; Ray Robert- son, 79, died Friday, March 1 at his home in Bowman from complications of heart, kidney and other ailments; Services for Mrs. Ezra Stone, who died at 3 p.m. Saturday at her home in Princeton were conduct- ed at Colvin Funeral Home, Princeton at 2 p.m. Tuesday; Verlin C. Stephens, Sr., 56, of Littleton, Colo., died unex- pectedly Thursday, Feb. 29. TWENTY- FIVE YEARS The Press-Dispatch Thursday, March 4, 1993 Petersburg could have an- other doctor practicing fam- ily medicine as soon as Mon- day. Syed I.H. Shahid, M.D. will begin practicing in Pe- tersburg at the former offices of retired physician Dr. Don- ald Hall. Dr. Shahid arrived in Washington, where he will be a member of the Daviess County Hospital staff and op- erate the clinic in Petersburg located at Seventh and Poplar Sts. He had practiced at a fam- ily clinic in California since 1976 and in the United States since 1973. Three Alford residents were injured in an accident as they were going to visit a rela- tive in the hospital Monday af- ternoon. Harry Ashcraft, 71, and Eunice P. O'Neil, 67, were going to visit Leland Ashcraft, who is in the hospital, when the accident occurred. Ash- craft was stopped behind a school bus just over a hill crest on Highway 61 when Ja- son Smith, 21, of Petersburg, failed to stop and hit the vehi- cle in the rear after skidding 75 feet, according to Indiana State Police. All three were taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes with neck and back injuries. The United Mine Work- ers of America strike against the Bitumonious Coal Oper- ators Association has been ended, at least for 60 days. Roger Meyers, a member of the International Executive Board for Indiana said it was announced at 11 a.m. Tuesday by UMWA president Richard Trumpka that there would be a 60 -day extension on the con- tract. Myers said the BCOA had agreed to furnish certain documents regarding owner- ship of coal lands, which the UMWA had requested. He said this was the reason they had filed an unfair labor prac- tice against the BCOA. My- ers said the strike had been called off until May 3. Oliver Parker, of Poplar St., Petersburg, used a snow blow- er to clear some of the 10 inch- es of snow from his driveway and sidewalk, Thursday eve- ning. The 10 -plus inch snow combines with a seven-inch snow two weeks ago made February 93 the "snowiest" February on record. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Holmes, of Petersburg, at St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville, Sunday, Feb. 28, a daughter, Ashley Dawn. Deaths: Jack D, Vaughan, 62, of Campbelltown, Win- slow, died Friday, Feb. 26 at 8:59 a.m. at Memorial Hos- pital in Jasper; Wayne Ed- ward Waller, 63, of Cincinna- ti, Ohio, formerly of Winslow, died Feb. 24 at his residence suffering from fibroid tumors in the lungs; Jerry W. Rowe, 54, of Winslow, died Thurs- day, Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville following a lengthy illness; Albert W. Egan, 82, of Evansville, father of Anita Te- vault, of Petersburg, died at 11:20 a.m. Monday, March 1 at Brentwood Convales- cent Center; Thelma Decker Sanneman, 77, of Vincennes, died Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 23 at Good Samaritan Hos- pital in Vincennes; Delores J. McDowell, 69, of Oakland City, died Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 9:44 a.m. at her residence; Leslie B. McAtee, 92, native of Pike County, died February 24 in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Cal- vin L. Cooper, 40, of Oakland City, died Monday, Feb. 22, at 4 p.m. at Valdosta, Ga., suf- fering from a gunshot would to the chest while driving his truck. According to Valdosta coroner, his death was ruled as a homicide. Cooper had been working in construc- tion for a few months and was enroute to Oakland City; Nan- cy Pairlee Napier, 77, of Hunt- ingburg, formerly of Peters- burg, died Friday, Feb. 19 in St. Joseph's Hospital in Hunt- ingburg. 1967-1968 Petersburg Fourth Grade Classmates Pictured above are students from Miss. Regina Miller's 1967-1968 Peters- burg fourth grade class. Top row: Doug Mercer and Judy Whittington. Bot- tom row: Marria Whittington and Greg Robling. Wednesday, April 4 • Dr. King is assassinated (1968) • Washington begins march to New York (1776) Thursday, April 5 • Pocahontas marries John Rolfe (1614) • Rosenbergs sentenced to death for spying (1951) Friday, April 6 • First modern Olympic Games (1896) • Battle of Shiloh begins (1862) Saturday, April 7 • Auto pioneer Henry Ford dies (1947) • John Wayne wins Best Actor Oscar (1970) Sunday, April 8 • Hank Aaron sets new home run record (1974) • Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister, dies (2013) Monday, April 9 • Robert E. Lee surrenders (1865) • Germany invades Norway (1940) Tuesday, April 10 • ASPCA is founded (1866) • John Paul Jones sets out to raid British ships (1778) Source: History.com