Today in History for Aug. 23, 2014

John Wesley Hardin

Aug. 23, 1790 – Early Conecuh County pioneer and minister Alexander Travis was born in Edgefield District, S.C.

Aug. 23, 1861 – During the Civil War, Allan Pinkerton, head of the new secret service agency of the Federal government, placed Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow under house arrest in Washington, D.C.

Aug. 23, 1862 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred near Trinity, Ala.

Aug. 23, 1864 – Confederate 4th Cpl. Lewis Lavon Peacock, who is buried at Flat Rock in Conecuh County, was granted a 45-day furlough on this day after being admitted earlier to the General Hospital at Howard’s Grove in Richmond, Va. for sickness after the Bermuda Hundred campaign.

Aug. 23, 1864 – The Battle of Mobile Bay ended with the Confederate surrender of Fort Morgan. Alabama had seized the fort from federal control in January 1861 and then turned it over to Confederate forces, which, until August 1864, used it to keep the U.S. Navy out of Mobile Bay, while letting blockade runners in. The surrender of Fort Morgan left Wilmington, N.C. as the last port open for Confederate blockade runners.

Aug. 23, 1865 - The trial of Henry Wirz began. He had been charged with conspiracy to injure the health and lives of Union soldiers and murder. The trial lasted two months and he was executed on Nov. 10.

Aug. 23, 1877 – Texas Ranger John Armstrong arrested John Wesley Hardin, who lived for about 18 months in Pollard, Ala., in a Florida rail car near Pensacola, and returned the outlaw to Texas to stand trial for murder.

Aug. 23, 1911 – The Woodmen of the World baseball team beat the Knights of Pythias, 21-9, in “one of the greatest games of ball ever played in Evergreen.”

Aug. 23, 1914 - Alabama State Highway Engineer William Simpson Keller (Helen Keller’s half-brother) led a group through Evergreen while scouting a route for a new trunk road between Montgomery and Mobile. They came to Evergreen from Georgiana and were received by a large crowd that included a band from Brewton. They were treated to a large barbecue dinner at the Country Club and greeted guests from Evergreen, Greenville, Georgiana, Garland, Owassa, Castleberry, Brewton, Pollard, Burnt Corn and Pensacola. Speeches were delivered by Rep. E.C. Page, attorneys Jas. A. Stallworth and E.E. Newton, the Hon. J.F. Jones and the Rev. A. Arnold Ross. Keller’s party departed Conecuh County early the next morning.

Aug. 23, 1982 - Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners was tossed out of a game for throwing an illegal spitball.

Aug. 23, 1989 - Pete Rose, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball after being accused of gambling on baseball.

  

Aug. 23, 2013 – “Devil’s Pass,” a fictionalized movie about the Dyatlov Pass Incident, was released in theaters.