Today in History for Jan. 1, 2019

Richmond Pearson Hobson

Jan. 1, 1800 – John Hill Dailey was born in Ohio. He came to Alabama as a young man and first settled at Belleville. A few years later, he moved to Tunnel Springs, where he became an extensive planter and owner of many slaves. He passed away at the age of 91 on Sept. 29, 1891 and was buried in the Antioch Cemetery on Pine Orchard Road, near Tunnel Springs, Ala. (Some sources say he was born in Connecticut and that he died on Sept. 29, 1890.)

Jan. 1, 1836 – David People was given a license to sell whiskey and keep a tavern in Monroe County, Ala. for one year.

Jan. 1, 1896 – Confederate veteran Abner Dees died at the age of 75, according to The Monroe Journal. He was born on Oct. 15, 1820 and was buried in the Brady Cemetery at Drewry in Monroe County, Ala.

Jan. 1, 1898 – The City of Pensacola, Fla. established a full-time, paid fire department.

Jan. 1, 1900 – The Louisville & Nashville rail line between Pine Apple and Repton, Ala. was completed.

Jan. 1, 1900 - Alabama ushered in 1900 with cold temperatures and little fanfare. Snow was recorded in Birmingham and Montgomery at the start of the holiday weekend and freezing temperatures continued to Mon., Jan. 1. Most citizens did not celebrate the start of the 20th century until 1901 and The Birmingham Age-Herald remarked “the first day of the last year of the nineteenth century dawned dull enough in Birmingham.”

Jan. 1, 1901 - Alabama newspapers welcomed a new year and a new century. Declaring Jan. 1, 1901, as the first day of the 20th Century (and not January 1, 1900), the Montgomery Journal predicted that “Montgomery can well afford to welcome the year and the century with enthusiasm.” Likewise, the Birmingham Age-Herald carried a prominent front-page cartoon with a depiction of Father Time greeting the twin babies of the new year and the new century.

  

Jan. 1, 1906 – Medal of Honor recipient Richmond Pearson Hobson of Greensboro, the “Hero of the Merrimac,” was scheduled to deliver a lecture at the Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen, Ala.

  

Jan. 1, 1912 – The annual meeting of Camp Capt. William Lee, No. 338, of the United Confederate Veterans was held and G.R. Boulware was re-elected camp commander. Other officers elected included M.B. Salter, sergeant major; Rev. J.D. Wright, chaplain; Dr. W.B. Shaver, surgeon. Delegates to the next encampment were W.F. Tomlinson, J.T. Fincher and J.W. Cook.

  

Jan. 1, 1915 – A meeting of Camp William Lee, No. 338, was scheduled to be held. It was said to be the 24th Annual reunion of the United Confederate Veterans of Camp Wm. Lee, No. 338.

Jan. 1, 1915 – Alabama Gov. Emmit O’Neal appointed Ben. D. Turner, about 28 years old, of Washington County as the judge of the first judicial circuit to succeed Judge John T. Lackland of Grove Hill, who died on Dec. 25, 1914. Other candidates for the position included W.F. Herbert of Demopolis and J.B. Barnett of Monroeville.

Jan. 1, 1915 - Alabama author John Henrik Clarke was born in Union Springs, in Bullock County, Ala.

  

Jan. 1, 1916 – The 26th Annual Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans Camp, Capt. Wm. Lee, No. 338, was scheduled to be held at the Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen, Ala. During the reunion, members were to elect officers for the ensuing year and the collection of dues. All veterans who were physically able were required to attend and participate in the meeting.

Jan. 1, 1918 – Conecuh County’s “old vets” held their regular quarterly meeting and “quite a goodly number braved the bitter cold to be present at the meeting and to receive their meager allowance from the state. The small sum the old boys are paid is a great help to many of them who are growing too feeble to do very much otherwise.” The camp elected the following officers to serve the ensuing year: James T. Fincher, Commander; J.W. Powell, Lt. Commander; G.W. Northcutt, Adjutant; W.J. Tomlinson, Sgt. Major; Rev. D.J. Wright, Chaplain. L.J. Etheridge, one of the veterans from the northern part of the county, was not present at the meeting. “His friends and comrades learned with deep regret of his feeble condition. He rarely ever misses a meeting of the veterans,” according to The Evergreen Courant.

Jan. 1, 1918 - There were 7,591 bales of cotton, counting round bales as half bales, ginned in Wilcox County from the crop of 1917, prior to Jan. 1, 1918, as compared with 4,113 bales ginned to Jan. 1, 1917, according to C.S. Dale, Special Agent.

Jan. 1, 1919 - J.D. Salinger, the author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” was born Jerome David Salinger in New York City.

Jan. 1, 1919 – Evander Tennant McWilliams at the age of 48. McWilliams was named the first postmaster at McWilliams in 1900 and the McWilliams community was named after him. Evander was buried alongside his wife and parents in the Bethel Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Cemetery at Oak Hill.

  

Jan. 1, 1925 – Monroe Journal editor Q. Salter editorialized that with this day’s issue of the newspaper, The Journal “enters upon its 59th year of publication, 37 of which have been under the present management. Assuming the duties and responsibilities of the position as a beardless youth with little experience, the publisher has endeavored to steer a consistent course, adhering steadfastly to those ideals which he believed to be for moral and social welfare and for the material development of town and county. He has doubtless made many mistakes and fallen into many errors of judgement during these years, but an indulgent public has generously overlooked them and accorded consistent patronage far beyond his merit, for which he is grateful.”

Jan. 1, 1925 – The Monroe Journal reported that Mr. Noble J. Sproule of Stenen, Saskatchewan was visiting his sister, Dr. Ida A. Fraser. Mrs. Sproule and children had been in Monroeville for several weeks, and when Mr. Sproule left his home the temperature was 30 below zero.

Jan. 1, 1926 – Coach Wallace Wade’s University of Alabama football team, the first southern team to be honored with an invitation to the Rose Bowl, beat the University of Washington, 20-19, in Pasadena, Calif. This was the first of six Rose Bowl appearances for Alabama and the first time a southern football team was invited to play in a national bowl game. That year’s Rose Bowl was also carried from coast to coast on network radio for the first time.

Jan. 1, 1926 - The fire siren called Evergreen firemen to the residence of Mr. A.A. Williams on Bruner Avenue on this New Year’s morning. Within a short while after the fire was extinguished at his residence, fire was discovered in the cotton office of Williams over the Binion Grocery & Feed Co. on West Front Street. Williams was out of town at the time.

    

Jan. 1-2, 1934 – The Purcell Stage Circus, featuring monkeys, dogs, pony and clowns, which had played at the Grand Theatre in Montgomery, was scheduled to play at the Evergreen Theatre on this Monday and Tuesday in Evergreen, Ala.

Jan. 1, 1939 – The new Commercial Hotel, which had been under construction since mid-summer, was scheduled to open in Monroeville, Ala. The 30-room hotel was owned by Mrs. W.B. Strong.

Jan. 1, 1939 - Alabama author James Seay was born in Panola County, Miss.

Jan. 1, 1952 - As of this date, there were four Confederate Pensioners living in Monroe County, all widows of former Confederate soldiers. They were Mrs. Susan C. Easley of Beatrice, Mrs. B.A. Porter of Frisco City, Mrs. B. Sawyer of Frisco City and Mrs. Sadie O. Sellers of Peterman. Their names were published in the Jan. 17, 1952 edition of The Monroe Journal.

Jan. 1, 1953 - Legendary singer-songwriter Hank Williams died at the age of twenty-nine near Oak Hill, West Virginia. Over 20,000 people attended his funeral in Montgomery, Ala. Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 and received the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement award for Performing Achievement in 1985.

Jan. 1, 1953 – Alabama, under head coach Harold Drew, beat Syracuse, 61-6, in the 1953 Orange Bowl in Miami, Fla. Offensive left guard Jeff Moorer of Evergreen, Ala. played all of the last quarter on offense and he is believed to be the first Evergreen athlete to play in a college football bowl game. Other players on Alabama’s team included Bart Starr, Tommy Lewis of Greenville and Hootie Ingram. Lewis scored two touchdowns in the game.

  

Jan. 1, 1954 – Rice beat Alabama, 28-6, in the 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. Rice won the game, but its victory was overshadowed by Greenville, Ala. native Tommy Lewis and his "12th man tackle" of Rice running back Dicky Moegle in the second quarter.

  

Jan. 1, 1959 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Cadet Tal Stuart and Nell Stuart spent the weekend with Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Harper in Montgomery and attended the Blue-Gray football game.

Jan. 1, 1959 – The Monroe Journal reported, under the headline “Journal Is Moved To New Quarters,” that, effective Jan. 1, The Monroe Journal would be located in new quarters in Monroeville. Both the office supply division and the printing shop had been moved a block further down Mt. Pleasant St., and were now housed in the building formerly occupied by the Sam Williams Farm Supply, next to the City Hall. The new quarters had been completely remodeled and when moving of all equipment was complete, The Journal would have one of the most modern weekly printing plants in Alabama.

Jan. 1, 1959 – The Monroe Journal reported that Miss Nelle Harper Lee of New York City was a guest of her father, A.C. Lee, and her sister, Miss Alice Lee, in Monroeville.

Jan. 1, 1959 – The Monroe Journal reported that stores and business houses in Monroeville were scheduled to be closed all day on Thurs., Jan. 1, as part of the annual New Year’s observance. Students in Monroe County schools returned to classes Mon. Dec. 29, but were to have a half-day holiday on New Year’s Day. Vacation period for Monroe Mills, which began Dec. 23, was to continue until Mon., Jan. 5.

Jan. 1, 1960 – The first traffic fatality in Alabama of 1960 occurred early on this Friday morning on State Highway 41 near Range when Ulysses Glenn, a 27-year-old convict was fatally wounded when he was thrown from a truck hauling prisoners to work.

  

Jan. 1, 1963 – Lee Roy Jordan of Excel was named the MVP of the Orange Bowl, a game in which Bear Bryant’s 9-1 Alabama Crimson Tide beat 8-2 Oklahoma, 17-0, in Miami, Fla. With President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in attendance, Jordan recorded an Alabama bowl record of 31 tackles in the victory. The game was broadcast nationally on ABC.

  

Jan. 1, 1967 – Pro Football Hall of Fame outside linebacker and defensive end Derrick Thomas was born in Miami, Fla. He went on to play at the University of Alabama and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

Jan. 1-2, 1975 – The “Call of the Wild,” based on Jack London’s famous story and starring Charlton Heston, was to be shown at the Pix Theatre in Evergreen, Ala. on this Wednesday and Thursday. W.B. Epperson was the theatre’s manager.

  

Jan. 1, 1976 – The first baby born in the Monroe County Hospital in 1976 was Albert Leon Rabon, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilber Rabon of Castleberry. Born Jan. 1 at 3:42 a.m., Albert weighed nine pounds, two ounces and was 21 inches long.

Jan. 1, 1978 – On this night, the Conecuh County (Ala.) Rescue Squad located and rescued lost hunter Dennis Monk, who was reported missing by his hunting companion about 6:15 p.m. in the Murder Creek Swamp area. Monk was found around 10:30 p.m. and was brought out of the swamp around 1 a.m. on Jan. 2. Alabama State Troopers, Conecuh County Sheriff’s Deputies and Evergreen police assisted in the search.

Jan. 1, 1978 – The Dickinson House, located on Dickinson Avenue in Grove Hill, was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

  

Jan. 1, 2001 - The second phase of Alabama’s mandatory liability insurance requirements began as the Alabama Department of Revenue started mailing insurance verification survey forms to vehicle owners.

Jan. 1, 2002 - A movie version of Alabama author Walker Percy's book “The Moviegoer” was released.

Jan. 1, 2006 – Monroeville, Ala. was featured in National Geographic magazine in a story titled “To Catch a Mockingbird” by Cathy Newman with photos by Michael Nichols.

  

Jan. 1, 2009 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Sparta Academy’s Cody Baggett and Nick Andrews had both been named to this year’s Alabama Sports Writers Association high school football all-state team. Baggett, a 6-foot-0, 180-pound senior, was named as an AISA honorable mention wide receiver. Andrews, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior, was named as an AISA honorable mention place-kicker.

Jan. 1, 2009 – The Monroe Journal reported that J.F. Shields Principal Marion McIntosh recognized varsity boys basketball coach Jerome Sanders and varsity girls basketball coach Herbert Blackmon at the first home basketball game of the 2008-2009 season. Blackmon was recognized for being named The Monroe Journal’s 2007-2008 Coach of the Year and Sanders was recognized for being named the 2007-2008 Southeast Region Coach of the Year.

  

Jan. 1, 2016 – A UFO was reported seen around 7:15 p.m. on this Friday in Pinson, about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham, Ala. The witness in this case, along with his wife, mother and daughter, reported seeing three, unusual lights in the shape of an inverted triangle in the southern sky. The witness said these lights were larger and brighter than the visible stars, and the strange lights were orange or yellowish-orange in color. The witnesses watched as the lights moved “very slowly” to the east and appeared to rotate slightly. In all, the witnesses watched these strange lights for three to four minutes before the lights disappeared behind clouds to the southwest.