Today in History for July 22, 2017

Prairie Mission Historical Marker near Catherine, Ala.

July 22, 1298 – During the Wars of Scottish Independence, at the Battle of Falkirk, King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeated William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk.

July 22, 1376 - The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin leading rats out of town is said to have occurred on this date.

July 22, 1587 – A second group of English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island off North Carolina to re-establish the deserted colony.

July 22, 1598 – Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice” was entered on the Stationers’ Register.

July 22, 1779 - Mohawk Indian Chief and Freemason Joseph Brant led a mixed force of Loyalists and Indians in surrounding a force of 120 colonial militiamen from New York and New Jersey at Minisink, New York.

July 22, 1779 - Sir James Wright resumed his role as royal governor of Georgia. He left on July 11, 1782, as the British evacuated Georgia.

July 22, 1788 – Early Conecuh County pioneer Chesley Crosby was born in Chester District, S.C. He came to Conecuh County in 1818 and settled at Hampden Ridge. He was “Coroner and Ranger” of Conecuh County in 1818 and “Justice of the Quorum” of Conecuh County in 1819. A longtime supporter of the Belleville Baptist Church, he also helped found one of the county’s first schools, Evergreen Academy, in 1840. One of the school’s original trustees, he passed away at his home between Belleville and Sparta on May 22, 1864.

July 22, 1793 – Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific Ocean becoming the first recorded human to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada.

July 22, 1797 – Early Conecuh County settler Edwin Robinson was born in Brooklyn, Windham County, Conn. He would go on to found Brooklyn, Ala. and name it after his former home in Connecticut. Brooklyn’s post office was established in 1829. Robinson died at the age of 83 on Feb. 8, 1881 in Brooklyn, Conn. He is buried in the South Cemetery in Brooklyn, Conn.

July 22, 1798 - The USS Constitution was underway and out to sea for the first time since being launched on October 21, 1797.

July 22, 1823 – William Bartram, one of America’s first professional botanists, passed away at the age of 84 while working in his garden in Kingsessing, Pa. Between 1773 and 1777, he went on a botanical and anthropological expedition through the Southeast, including Alabama, passing through Baldwin, Butler, Conecuh, Escambia and Monroe counties. He published the famous book, Bartram’s “Travels” in 1791.

July 22, 1839 – Isaac Betts became postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

July 22, 1844 - The Rev. William Archibald Spooner was born at 17 Chapel Street, Grosvenor Place, London, SW1. The lecturer became known for what are now called 'spoonerisms,' slips of the tongue where the consonants of words are reversed. One of his flubs was issued as he officiated at a wedding: "Son, it is now kisstomary to cuss the bride."

July 22, 1849 – Poet Emma Lazarus was born in New York City.

July 22, 1861 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Forsyth and Etna in Missouri.

July 22, 1861 – During the Civil War, Union General George B. McClellan was ordered to Washington to take command of the Army of the Potomac following the defeat at First Manassas. His appointment would delay the ending of the war by at least a year.

July 22, 1861 – During the Civil War, in a proclamation, Jefferson Davis accepted Tennessee as a member of the Confederacy.

July 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, an affair took place at Verdon and near Westover in Virginia.

July 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Florida, Mo. and near Tazewell, Tenn.

July 22, 1862 - The Confederate ironclad Arkansas fought with and ran off two Union ships. However, the Arkansas suffered damage to her engines.

July 22, 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln informed his chief advisors and cabinet that he would issue a proclamation to free slaves, but added that he would wait until the Union Army has achieved a substantial military victory to make the announcement.

July 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, a six-day Federal operation began out from Clinton, Ky.

July 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, Confederate forces captured and occupied Brasher City, La.

July 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Jackson, Miss. and at Eagleport, Ohio.

July 22, 1864 – During the American Civil War, at the Battle of Atlanta, Confederate General John Bell Hood led an unsuccessful attack on Union troops under General William T. Sherman on Bald Hill outside Atlanta.

July 22, 1864 – George Morgan Rikard, 33, of Buena Vista, a private in the Alabama CSA Cavalry, was wounded in the Battle of Atlanta and died six hours later. According to the letter written to his wife, Caroline, by L.L. McCreary, Rikard was buried in the flower garden of Col. Robert Alston’s home nearby. Born on Aug. 15, 1830, a marker in his memory was later placed at the Buena Vista Cemetery in Monroe County, Ala. Sources say that George Morgan Rikard was one of five sons of Michael and Sarah Rikard, all of whom were killed in the Civil War. 

July 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Camp Gonzales, Fla.

July 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Berryville and Newton in Virginia; at Clifton, Tenn.; near Pine Bluff, Ark.; at Coldwater River, Miss.; and at Concordia and near Vidalia in Louisiana.

July 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, Union forces conducted a raid to Covington, Ga.

July 22, 1864 – The 2^nd Alabama Cavalry regiment lost a number of men at Atlanta. Dr. John Augustus Baldwin of Butler County was assistant surgeon in the regiment.

July 22, 1882 – Painter Edward Hopper was born in Nyack, N.Y.

July 22, 1886 - Col. S.J. Cumming of Camden and Col. C.J. Torrey of Mobile attended chancery court on this day in Monroeville.

July 22, 1888 - Biochemist Selman Abraham Waksman, discoverer of streptomycin, the first effective treatment of tuberculosis, was born in the Ukraine.

July 22, 1893 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jesse Haines was born in Clayton, Ohio. During his career, he played for the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970.

July 22, 1896 - W.R. Shirley was in Monroeville on this Wednesday. He had “almost entirely recovered from the effects of his recent injuries,” according to The Monroe Journal.

July 22, 1896 - Master Jno. “John” Stallworth left on this Wednesday on his “bike” via Pineville, to visit his old home at Bell’s Landing, according to The Monroe Journal.

July 22, 1905 – The Rev. C.M. Hutton of Fort Worth, Texas, the former chaplain of the 36th Alabama Confederate Regiment, accompanied by J.L. Marshall of Perdue Hill, visited The Monroe Journal office on this Saturday.

July 22, 1909 – The Conecuh Record reported that the Nashville American baseball team beat Evergreen in three games that week in Evergreen, Ala.

July 22, 1909 - At Huntington Avenue Grounds, Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers stole three bases in one inning.

July 22, 1914 – Alabama State Highway Engineer William Simpson Keller (Helen Keller’s half-brother) passed down the Old Stage Road in Conecuh and Monroe counties as part of a scouting party that included about 25 automobiles, surveying proposed trunk highway from Mobile to Montgomery.

July 22, 1915 – The Monroe Journal reported that the bridge across Lovett’s Creek on the Mount Pleasant Road collapsed “one day last week” when a heavily loaded wagon tried to cross it.

July 22, 1915 – The Monroe County Fair Association’s executive committee met in Monroeville on this Thursday and agreed to hold the Monroe County Fair on Oct. 19-21 of that year.

July 22, 1916 - A massive parade held in San Francisco, California, to celebrate Preparedness Day, in anticipation of the United States entrance into World War I, was disrupted by the explosion of a suitcase bomb on the west side of Steuart Street, just south of Market Street, near the Ferry Building, which killed 10 bystanders and wounded 40 more. The true identity of the Preparedness Day bomber (or bombers) remains unknown.

July 22, 1918 – During World War I, Army PFC John Henry Privett, 23, of Lower Peachtree was killed in action. Born on May 1, 1895, he was buried at Liberty Cemetery.

July 22, 1926 - Babe Ruth caught a baseball at Mitchell Field in New York that had been dropped from an airplane flying at 250 feet.

July 22, 1928 – Confederate veteran Robert Thomas Capers Robinson, 87, of Evergreen passed away. Born on Oct. 16, 1840, he was buried at Brushy Creek Methodist Church Cemetery in Conecuh County. During the war, he served in Co. D, 45^th Alabama Infantry Regiment.

July 22, 1932 – Herbert farmer G.R. Stinson brought the first open bolls of cotton of the 1932 crop into The Evergreen Courant’s office.

July 22, 1932 – Welcome Church, located about one mile from Travis Bridge on U.S. Highway 31, was destroyed by a tornado around 4 p.m.

July 22, 1932 – Novelist, essayist and short story writer Tom Robbins was born in Blowing Rock, N.C. He is perhaps best known for his 1971 book, “Another Roadside Attraction.”

July 22, 1934 – Outside Chicago's Biograph Theater, "Public Enemy No. 1" John Dillinger was mortally wounded by FBI agents.

July 22, 1934 – Evergreen’s baseball team was scheduled to play Chapman on this Sunday in Evergreen, Ala.

July 22, 1938 – The Dothan Browns beat the Evergreen Greenies, 1-0, on this Friday even though the Browns didn’t record a single hit. Greenies pitcher Lee Anthony had the Browns eating out of his hand for eight of the nine innings he pitched. In the sixth frame, the Browns pushed a run over to give them the margin of victory. A walk, two sacrifices and an error accounted for the lone run. The Greenies had scoring chances throughout the contest but lacked the punch to carry them across. The Browns were able to hit only three balls to the outfield off Anthony. Kraus ran his total chances to 21 in the game without a bobble. Anthony was the second hurler to pitch a no-hit game that season. Virgil Trucks of Andalusia had hurled two no-hitters. Anthony has missed two no-hitters by Danny Kraus spoiling one and pitcher John Koneff of Troy banged out a knock to ruin another no-hitter.

July 22, 1938 - Andrew R. Pierce, 52, well known and respected citizen of Repton, died suddenly about 8 a.m. on this Friday from what was generally supposed to have been a heart attack. Pierce was engaged in running some land lines near the place of Ike Bradley, farmer living four miles from Evergreen on the Montgomery highway, when he died. A young man who was helping him was the only one present and according to his statement Pierce fell over and died without saying a word. Deceased was born near Old Salem in Monroe County on July 18, 1886. He moved to Lenox in Conecuh County when a boy and lived there until he married. Since his marriage, he had lived in Repton. He engaged in farming, timbering and surveying. He did quite a bit of timber cruising and estimating. He was known throughout Conecuh County and adjoining counties and had many friends who were saddened at his passing. Pierce was buried at Repton Methodist Church Cemetery.

July 22, 1940 – William George Riley, the last surviving Confederate veteran in Conecuh County, Ala. (except for one who’d recently moved there from another part of the state), passed away at his home in Evergreen on this Monday at 5 p.m., at the age of 97 years, 10 months and 20 days. Born in the Old Pineville community near present-day Beatrice on Sept. 2, 1842, he enlisted in the Confederate military at the age of 19, served four years under General Forrest and was severely wounded in the Battle of Manassas. He and his family moved from Old Pineville to Evergreen in 1887. He was buried in the Old Evergreen Cemetery in Evergreen, Ala.

July 22, 1948 – Novelist S.E. Hinton was born Susan Eloise Hinton in Tulsa, Okla. She is perhaps best known for her 1967 book, “The Outsiders.”

July 22, 1951 – The baseball game between the Loree Dollies and the Bermuda Bears on this Sunday afternoon was rained out and was scheduled to be made up on Sat., July 28, at Bermuda.

July 22, 1951 - Harold Godwin and J.W. Windham pitched the league-leading Paul Aces to a pair of shutout wins over the last place Starlington club at Starlington on this Sunday. The double win increased the Aces’ margin over the rest of the league. In the opening game, Godwin sent the Starlington batters back to the bench with their bats dragging while his mates were hitting at a merry clip to win, 6-0. His batterymate was Joe McClain. Godwin also led his team’s hitting, getting two hits in four trips to the plate. Dunk Stinson threw for Starlington with Elmore Stinson doing the catching. Elmore and Tank Stinson, with a hit a piece in three and two trips to the plate, respectively, topped the Starlington batters. In the nightcap, it was J.W. Windham who had the Starlington batters on their heels as the Aces eased out a 2-0 win. Joe McClain was again the Paul catcher. Tank Stinson worked on the hill for Starlington with Dud Stuckey behind the plate. Harold Godwin again led the Paul hitting with two for three including a second inning triple. McClain had two for three also. H. Black and J. Harrison, with one hit in three trips to the plate each, led the Starlington batters.

July 22, 1951 - The Shreve Eagles took both ends of a doubleheader from the Centerville Rookies on this Sunday afternoon in Brooks Stadium in Evergreen, where the Rookies played their home games. In the opener, Chester (Check) Ellis bested league-leading pitcher George Gaston by a 6-1 score. Seven Rookie errors paved the way to Gaston’s second loss of the season. Ellis checked the Rookies with but six hits, well scattered. His mates backed him up by committing but one error and touched Gaston for seven hits. Georgie Brown was the Shreve catcher. Dennis Andrews relieved Gaston in the third and gave up but one run. Clint Ward was behind the plate. Ellis was Shreve’s leading hitter with two hits in three trips. Herbert Sanford had two for four. Randy Moorer with three hits, single, double and triple, in as many trips led the Rookies. In the second game, the Eagles rallied for two runs in the fourth inning of a five-inning encounter to register a 6-5 win. Ferrill Smith started and was relieved by Ellis in the fourth. Leroy Smith was behind the plate. Dennie Andrews started for Centerville and gave way to Jeff Moorer in the fourth. Bailey did the catching. James Barlow had two for three to lead the Shreve batters. The Rookies divided their six hits up. Centerville made seven costly errors in this game also and gathered but five hits.

July 22, 1955 – The Evergreen Giants beat the Yankees, 16-7. Standout players for the Giants included winning pitcher Leon Stinson, Eddie Lambert and Terry Trawick. Standout players for the Yankees included losing pitcher H.W. Ward, Ronnie Byrd, Reuben Hyde and Bob Miller.

July 22, 1955 – James Tucker Sr., a farmer from Castleberry, Ala., brought in the first bag of cotton from the 1955 crop to the Conecuh County Agent’s Office.

July 22, 1962 - Jackie Robinson became the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

July 22, 1965 – Atmore’s Little League All-Star team beat Monroeville’s All Stars, 7-1, in the area tournament in Atmore. Charles Rawls collected Monroeville’s only hit. Other outstanding Monroeville players in that game included Bill Grant, Riley Dawson and Ronnie Taylor.

July 22, 1967 - General Maxwell Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam and now a consultant to President Lyndon B. Johnson, and presidential adviser Clark Clifford toured South Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea to sound out opinion on the possibility of another summit conference on the situation in Vietnam.

July 22, 1968 - Nguyen Thanh Le, North Vietnamese spokesman at the Paris peace talks, told reporters that the Honolulu conference revealed that “the position of the United States remains infinitely obstinate.”

July 22, 1975 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee had his U.S. citizenship restored by the U.S. Congress.

July 22, 1976 - Weather reporter Earl Windham reported a high of 100 degrees in Evergreen, Ala. for the second day in a row.

July 22, 1976 - Conecuh County High School’s Quarterback Club was scheduled to hold a special meeting on this Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. All members were urged to attend.

July 22, 1987 - The U.S. began its policy of escorting re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers up and down the Persian Gulf to protect them from possible attack by Iran.

July 22, 1991 – The Ackerville Baptist Church of Christ in Ackerville and Prairie Mission (also known as the Prairie Mission School and Prairie Institute) near Catherine, both in Wilcox County, Ala., were added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

July 22, 1991 – The Hank Williams Sr. Boyhood Home in Georgiana, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

July 22, 1991 - Police arrested Jeffrey Dahmer after finding the remains of 11 victims in his apartment in Milwaukee. Dahmer confessed to 17 murders and was sentenced to life in prison.

July 22, 1999 - Alabama author and illustrator Dorothea Warren Fox died in New Fairfield, Conn.

July 22, 2003 – Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attacked a compound in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year-old son, and a bodyguard.

July 22, 2003 - U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch, a 19-year-old prisoner-of-war who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital, received a hero’s welcome when she returned to her hometown of Palestine, West Virginia.

July 22, 2004 - The September 11 Commission's final report was released. The 575-page report concluded that hijackers exploited "deep institutional failings within our government." The report was released to White House officials the day before.