May 31, 1578
– Martin Frobisher sailed from Harwich in England to Frobisher Bay in Canada,
eventually to mine fool's gold, used to pave streets in London.
May 31, 1692 – In connection with the Salem witchcraft
trials, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin and Gednew examined Martha Carrier, John
Alden, Wilmott Redd, Elizabeth Howe and Phillip English. Alden and English
later escaped from prison and did not return.
May 31, 1775 – During the American Revolution, the
Mecklenburg Resolves were allegedly adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
May 31, 1801 – The Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite was
founded.
May 31, 1819 – Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, Long
Island, New York.
May 31, 1852 – Argentinian explorer and academic Francisco
Moreno was born in Buenos Aires.
May 31, 1859 - The Philadelphia Athletics were formally
organized to play the game of Town Ball.
May 31, 1861
– During the Civil War, P. G. T. Beauregard was ordered to assume command of
the Alexandria Line.
May 31, 1862 – During the Civil War’s Peninsula Campaign,
the Battle of Seven Pines (or Battle of Fair Oaks) occurred as Confederate
forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engaged Union forces under
George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Va. Robert Rose of the Conecuh Guards was
killed during this battle, and James H. Thomas of the Conecuh Guards was
wounded. The Yankees lost 5,000 casualties to the Rebels’ 6,000.
May 31, 1863 – Pakistani-English captain and explorer
Francis Younghusband was born in Murree, British India.
May 31, 1863 – During the Civil
War, the siege of Vicksburg, Miss. entered Day 13.
May 31, 1863 – During the Civil
War, an affair took place near Patterson, Missouri.
May 31, 1864 – During the Civil War’s Overland Campaign, the
Battle of Cold Harbor began near Mechanicsville, Va. as the Army of Northern
Virginia under Robert E. Lee engaged the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S.
Grant and George Meade. The battle continued until June 12. Nicholas “Nick”
Stallworth of Evergreen, who joined the Conecuh Guards at age 15, was wounded
here. He became an attorney after the war, state representative and solicitor
of 11th Judicial Circuit. First Lt. Archibald D. McInnis of the Conecuh Guards
was also wounded at Cold Harbor.
May 31, 1864 – During the Civil
War, combats occurred at Bethesda Church, Mechump's Creek, Shallow Creek and
Turner's Farm in Virginia.
May 31, 1864 - A small convention
in Cleveland of Republican abolitionists unhappy with Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation and other things, nominated John C. Fremont for president.
May 31, 1879 – Gilmores Garden in New York, New York, was
renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and was opened to the
public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
May 31, 1880 – On this day, between the hours of 10 a.m. and
4 p.m. in front of the courthouse door of Conecuh County, county officials
planned to let the building of a new bridge over Sepulga River, where or near
where the Staple’s Bridge stood at that time, to the lowest and best bidder.
The successful bidder was required to give a good and sufficient bond in double
the amount of bid to keep said bridge in good repair, and for the safe passage of
the traveling public, for the term of five years, the county reserving the
right to reject any and all bids. Specifications and dimensions of bridge were
on file in Probate Judge’s office. F.M. Walker was the Probate Judge.
May 31, 1887 - Reflecting a scientific spirit that was rare
among frontier physicians, Tombstone doctor George Goodfellow rushed south to
investigate the effects of a powerful earthquake in the Sonora Desert of Mexico.
Though keenly interested in earthquakes, Goodfellow is best remembered today
for being one of the nation’s leading experts on the treatment of gunshot
wounds, a condition he had many opportunities to study in the wild mining town
of Tombstone, Arizona.
May 31, 1889
– During what is now known as the Johnstown Flood, over 2,200 people died after
a dam failed and sent a 60-foot wall of water over the town of Johnstown,
Pennsylvania.
May 31, 1906 – The Monroe Journal, in news from the Poplar
Springs community, reported that the Rev. G.W. McRae had changed his regular
appointment at Poplar Springs from the first to the second Sunday in each
month, and had also sold his home in Atmore and moved his family to Grove Hill
in Clarke County.
May 31, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that W.A. Mooney,
the “efficient photographer of Excel,” was in Manistee during the previous
week.
May 31, 1907 - William Wiggins, an industrious farmer living
near Monroeville, brought to The Monroe Journal office on this day the first
cotton bloom of the season, which was fully 10 days earlier than the first
bloom reported in 1906, notwithstanding the unfavorable weather conditions
which had prevailed.
May 31, 1909
– The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, convened for the first time.
May 31, 1911 – Postmaster Dean reported that during the
month of May 1911, the Evergreen Post Office handled 127,450 pieces of mail, an
average of 4,253 pieces each day.
May 31, 1911
– The hull of the ocean liner RMS Titanic
was launched.
May 31, 1913 - The baseball team of Belleville defeated
Evergreen in a one-sided game on this Saturday afternoon, 28-3. The features of
the game were the pitching by Avant and the homerun by Perrin Lindsey with two
men on bases, both of Belleville. Batteries for Belleville, Avant and R.
Lindsey; batteries for Evergreen, Whitley, Johnson and Blake, Williams and
Blake.
May 31, 1915 – The second day of Monroe County High School’s
four-day fourth-annual commencement exercises continued on this Monday with a
concert by the school’s music department at 8 p.m.
May 31, 1916 – As part of the closing exercises of the
Second District Agricultural School in Evergreen, this Wednesday was graduation
day and the auditorium was filled on that night “with friends of the graduates,
who entertained them with essays and orations,” according to The Conecuh
Record. Misses Mamie Lou Smith, Mae and Aline Chapman, Annie Lovelace Moorer
and Messrs. J.G. Lundy, Thomas Jackson, Bryan Northcutt and Percy Chapman
composed the graduating class. The commencement address was delivered by Dr.
Zebulon Judd of Auburn.
May 31, 1916 – A large crowd gathered for Monroe County High
School’s annual graduation exercises in the school auditorium. Dr. J.S. Thomas
of the University of Alabama delivered the graduation address.
May 31, 1916
– During World War I, at the Battle of Jutland, the British Grand Fleet under
the command of John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe and David Beatty, 1st Earl
Beatty engaged the Imperial German Navy under the command of Reinhard Scheer
and Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proved
indecisive.
May 31, 1917 - The Conecuh Record reported that several
heavily loaded troop trains passed through Evergreen during the previous few
days en route to Chickamauga. The troops were from Arizona.
May 31, 1917 – The Conecuh Record reported, in news from
the Castleberry community, that Capt. E. Downing Jr. of the First Regiment,
stationed at Mobile, came home for a few days that week.
May 31, 1917 – The Conecuh Record published the following
advertisement – “Washington, D.C. and return, $18.95, United Confederate
Veterans Reunion, June 4-8, Tickets sold June 1 to 6, Limit June 21, Extended
limit July 6, Extension fee 50 cents, Let us arrange your trip now as the
attendance will be large, Ask us about regular and special service, C.H. Mann,
D.P.A., Pensacola, Fla., C. Hawkins, Agent.”
May 31, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that completion
of plans for the 27th annual reunion of the United Confederate
Veterans to be held in Washington from June 4 to 8 was announced by Col. Robert
N. Harper, chairman of the citizens’ reunion committee. Harper stated that 16
hours of each day would be filled with patriotic, social and spectacular
events. President Wilson was expected to address the opening session of the
veterans on June 5. The parade was to take place on June 7. The visitors were
also to go to the battlefield of Gettysburg June 8 to take part in the
dedication of the Virginia memorial of which an equestrian state of General
Robert E. Lee was the central figure.
May 31, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that the
sheriff’s department effected a few days ago the capture of a negro labor agent
who had been operating in that section in violation of state laws. Officers had
been on the lookout for such agents for some time but previously were unable to
secure conclusive proof of guilt. The capture was effected at the L&N
Railroad station where the agent was awaiting transportation for himself and
several negro laborers whom he had engaged and for which he had wired his
employers. The negro gave his name as Sam Moore, claiming to hail from Bagdad,
Fla. When taken into custody a concealed pistol was found on his person, hence
he was held on two charges.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that P.E.
Wallace, 21, of Ackerville had passed the mental and physical examination and
was in the U.S. training camp at Ft. McPherson, Ga.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Sgt.
Willy Murphy, 1st Alabama Cavalry and Cpl. Robert Young, 1st
Alabama Infantry, were recent Camden visitors.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that
Press Pharr of Caledonia recently killed in a pasture on Snells plantation and
near Bear Creek a monster rattlesnake with 13 rattles and six inches in
diameter.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that
Prof. Emmet Kilpatrick was now in Co. 4 (?) and also J. Brad Holman Jr., Esq.,
were in the officers training camp at Fort McPherson, Ga. Judson Hawthorn, who
was in Idaho in business, was also in the Second Regiment, U.S. Army, at San
Diego, Calif.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Reo.
Francis Pappy of Huntsville, formerly of Wilcox County, had received his doctor
of divinity degree from the Alabama Presbyterian College of Anniston.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Mrs.
Joedy H. Curry of Darlington had presented the editor with a large Rutabaga
Purivip that weighed 4-1/2 pounds. It was grown in her garden where she had
many fine, nice vegetables.
May 31, 1917 – This day’s edition of the Wilcox Progressive
Era contained the following notice: My cattle are branded O in right side.
Please notify me in case of any of them are found. H.H. Dale, Camden, Ala.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that the
McWilliams Medal, offered by Hon. R.E. McWilliams for the best average made in
the Camden Grammar School, was won by Jessie Lee Bonner, daughter of Dr. and
Mrs. E. Bonner. Grace Wallace and Jennie Stewart were next highest and received
honorable mention.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that
Mayor McIntosh and the council had made a contract with Mr. O.B. Bradford of
Selma to repair the second waterworks well, to furnish more water or build a
new well, so the Camden waterworks may be completed in a few weeks.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that the
county teachers association had elected the following officers for the ensuing
year: President, R.L. Griffin, Pine Hill; Vice President, J.B. Sellers,
McWilliams; Secretary, Miss Alberta Chambers, Snow Hill.
May 31, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that
President Wilson had been invited to address the Confederate veterans when they
assemble at the National Capital on June 7.
May 31, 1919 - Capt. Raymond Brown stopped off in Evergreen,
Ala. on this Saturday for a few hours to renew old acquaintances. Capt. Brown
was “with Co. E, the old Fourth,” which was encamped in Evergreen for a few
months in the spring 1917, shortly after the declaration of war by the United
States against Germany. He was first lieutenant at that time but after being in
France a short time he was promoted to the captaincy of his company.
May 31, 1919 - John Lassiter reached home on this Saturday
from overseas. He was wounded in one of the fierce engagements in France but
was at that time in excellent shape, according to The Evergreen Courant.
May 31, 1921 - Suffy McInnis began an errorless streak of
1,700 chances.
May 31, 1922 - Commencement exercises were scheduled to be
held at the State Secondary Agricultural School in Evergreen, Ala. on this
Wednesday at 8 p.m. The keynote speaker was Dr. Spright Dowell, President of
the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn. The senior class was the largest
in the history of the institution up to that point, numbering 17 boys and 15
girls. The class roll was as follows: Ruby Allen, Annie D. Brooks, Ira Mae
Bryant, Julius Edward Chapman, Harry Edwin Dickinson, Reginald Rex Golson, Eva
Myrtle Hurst, Daisy Leigh Harvell, Helen Lucille Hagood, Charles Thaddeus Ivey,
Aline Marie Johnson, Battie Drucilla Johnson, Mary Allen Johnson, Martha
Jennings Lundy, Carl Henry Middleton, Algia French Miller, Benjamin Franklin Miller,
Carlos Holgrove Mills, Samuel Robert Morris, Claudia Oswald, Ollie Phares, John
Carey Pritchett, James Edward Ridgeway, Joseph Pickett Rutland, Lucy Clare
Shannon, Johnnie Mae Shoemaker, Henry James Smith, Lemuel Robert Stallworth,
Robert Lee Stallworth, John Deming Stearns, Charles Robert Taliaferro Jr. and
Sara Elsie Williamson.
May 31, 1922 – In connection with
the ongoing commencement exercises at the State Secondary Agricultural School
in Evergreen, Ala., a baseball game was scheduled to be held on this Wednesday
at 3:30 p.m.
May 31, 1927 - Johnny Neun of the Detroit Tigers made an
unassisted triple play.
May 31, 1927
– The last Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line after a production run of
15,007,003 vehicles.
May 31, 1930 – Clint Eastwood was born in San Francisco.
May 31, 1934 – On this Thursday, Evergreen’s baseball team
played the Andalusia Senators on the Evergreen field and lost, 10-6. Andalusia
left fielder Nelson led in the defeat of Evergreen with four runs. Evergreen’s
lineup in that game included Kendall, second base; Hanna, center field; Melton,
right field; Steen, third base; Fergison, shortstop; Hansen, left field;
English, catcher; Jones, pitcher; and Barfield, first base.
May 31, 1935 – In Lovecraftian fiction, Miskatonic
University’s Peaslee Australian Expedition reached the Great Sandy Desert.
May 31, 1935 – The State Secondary Agricultural School in
Evergreen, Ala. was scheduled to hold its 43rd annual commencement exercises.
Dr. S.J. Hocking of the University of Alabama was scheduled to deliver the
baccalaureate address, and the school’s principal, Prof. W.Y. Fleming, was to
present the seniors with their diplomas.
May 31, 1935 - Alabama author Sara Haardt died in Baltimore,
Md.
May 31, 1937 - The Brooklyn Dodgers ended Carl Hubbell's of
the New York Giants 24-game winning streak.
May 31, 1941 - The first issue of "Parade: The Weekly
Picture Newspaper" went on sale.
May 31, 1941
– During the Anglo-Iraqi War, the United Kingdom completed the re-occupation of
Iraq and returned 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
May 31, 1943 – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe
Namath was born in Beaver Falls, Pa. He went on to play for the University of
Alabama, the New York Jets and the Los Angeles Rams. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 1985.
May 31, 1945
– Italian-Austrian SS officer Odilo Globocnik, around 11:30 a.m., committed
suicide by biting on a cyanide capsule in Paternion, Austria. He was 41 years
old.
May 31, 1955 – Award winning pilot and engineer Dave
McKenzie graduated from Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Ala.
May 31-June 5, 1956 – In the first game of the season in
Evergreen’s Pony League, the Chicks beat the Pelicans, 14-12. The game started
on Thurs., May 31, but was called at the end of the third inning due to
darkness as the Chicks led, 7-4. The game resumed on Tues., June 5, and the
Chicks went on to win. Carl Dyess was the manager of the Chicks, and Moreno
White was the manager of the Pelicans.
May 31, 1961 - Jimi Hendrix enlisted in the U.S. Army.
May 31, 1963 - Graduation exercises at Repton High School
were scheduled to be held at 8 p.m. on this Friday night. Betty Jo Richards was
named valedictorian of the graduating class of 1963, which was announced by
H.E. Penny, principal of Repton High School. Faye Ellis had been chosen as
salutatorian. Twenty-five seniors were slated to receive diplomas.
May 31, 1965 – Lyeffion High School was scheduled to hold
graduation exercises on this Monday night at 8 p.m. in the school auditorium in
Lyeffion, Ala. Keith Holcombe was the valedictorian, and Bobbie J. Carter was
the salutatorian. Twenty-four seniors were expected to receive diplomas.
May 31, 1965 – As part of Operation
Rolling Thunder, U.S. planes bombed an ammunition depot at Hoi Jan, west of
Hanoi, and tried again to drop the Than Hoa highway bridge.
May 31, 1968 – Army PFC Jimmy Ray Thomas, 20, of Brewton,
Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam. Born on Sept. 9, 1947, he was a member of
Troop A, 1st Cavalry, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam.
He was buried in the Catawba Springs Cemetery in the Keego community of
Escambia County, Ala.
May 31, 1969 – U.S. Army PFC Billy Wayne Pettis, 21, of
Castleberry, Ala., was killed in action in Ben Luc, Long An, Vietnam. Up to
that point, he was the fifth Conecuh Countian to lose his life in Vietnam,
where he arrived on March 10, 1969. Funeral services were held June 7 at Oak
Grove Holiness Church at Sandcut with the Rev. L.L. Smith and the Rev. Cobb
officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery. Born on Feb. 29, 1948 in
Castleberry, he was an infantryman in Co. B, 5th Battalion, 12th
Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade. Pettis was featured in
the June 27, 1969 edition of LIFE magazine in a cover story entitled “The Faces
of the American Dead in Vietnam: One Week's Toll.” Pettis was awarded the
Purple Heart Medal, the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Infantry Badge.
May 31, 1970 - About 75 communist
soldiers who had seized key outposts in the city of Dalat, 145 miles northeast
of Saigon, managed to slip past 2,500 South Vietnamese militiamen and soldiers
who had surrounded their positions.
May 31, 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday
Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurred
on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial
Day of May 30.
May 31, 1972 – Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island near
Pensacola, Fla. was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
May 31, 1973 – Joseph “Joe” Leon Reddoch, probably Monroe
County’s most avid sports fan, died on this Thursday in Monroe County Hospital.
He was 74 years old. He was active in the Monroe County Little League and was a
renowned supporter of all the school teams in the county. He belonged to several
school booster clubs in the area and was perhaps Patrick Henry’s most
enthusiastic Patriot fan. He was instrumental in raising money for scholarships
for PHJC athletes.
May 31, 1973 - The Monroe County Babe Ruth League opened its
season with a bang on this Thursday night at the local Babe Ruth Park, with the
Reds and Tigers capturing wins. The Tigers shut out the Yanks, 13-0, as the
Tigers’ pitcher, Rhett Barnes, threw a no-hitter. In the process, Barnes struck
out 12 batters.
May 31, 1974 - Alabama naturalist and author Blanche Evans
Dean died in Goodwater, in Coosa County, Ala.
May 31, 1976 – Irish actor Colin Farrell was born in Baldoyle,
Dublin, Ireland.
May 31, 1976 – NBA small forward Matt Harpring was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio. He went on to play for Georgia Tech, the Orlando Magic, the
Cleveland Cavaliers, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Utah Jazz.
May 31, 1981 – Major League Baseball starting pitcher Jake
Peavy was born in Mobile. So far during his career, he has pitched for the San
Diego Padres, the Chicago White Sox, the Boston Red Sox and the San Francisco
Giants.
May 31, 1982 – Italian mountaineer and explorer Carlo Mauri
died in Lecco, Italy.
May 31, 1990 - The first episode of "Seinfeld"
aired on NBC.
May 31, 1992 - The final episode of "Night Court"
aired on NBC.
May 31, 1997 - Ila Borders became the first woman to pitch
in a minor league baseball game, when she entered a game in relief for the St.
Paul Saints of the Northern League. Mike Veeck, son of famous baseball
impresario and promoter Bill Veeck, owned the Saints, and signed Borders to
garner publicity for his team and the Northern League, an independent minor
league not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Borders, though, was more
than an attraction: She could throw strikes, and she went on to pitch in the
Northern League for three years.
May 31, 1999 - Weather observer Harry Ellis reported that
total rainfall for the month of May 1999 was 5.17 inches.
May 31, 2003 - In North Carolina, Eric Robert Rudolph was
captured. He had been on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list for five years for
several bombings including the 1996 Olympic bombing.
May 31, 2005 – Vanity
Fair magazine revealed that Mark Felt was Deep Throat, the secret source
that led to the uncovering of the Watergate scandal. The family of Mark Felt, a
former FBI official, revealed that he had been the source for the Washington
Post.
May 31, 2011 – Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Andy
Robustelli died at the age of 85 in Stamford, Conn. During his career, he
played for the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants. He was inducted into
the Hall of Fame in 1971.
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