Today in History for Aug. 9, 2017

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Aug. 9, 1173 – Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) began. It would take two centuries to complete.

Aug. 9, 1593 – Biographer Izaak Walton was born in Stafford, England. He is best remembered for his 1683 book, “The Compleat Angler.”

Aug. 9, 1776 - On Staten Island, Guy Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, returned from England and shared his belief that the Iroquois would choose to ally themselves with the British.

Aug. 9, 1790 - The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage, the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.

Aug. 9, 1809 - The first sale of public lands in Madison County, Ala. was held on this day. Georgia planter Leroy Pope purchased acreage around Big Spring and succeeded in having it selected as the county seat on July 5, 1810. White settlers had been arriving at Ditto's Landing on the Tennessee River and in the area of present-day New Market between 1802 and 1804. John Hunt, arrived from Tennessee and settled in the area known as Big Spring in 1805. That same year the Chickasaw ceded their rights to the area and the Cherokee ceded their lands in January 1806, and illegal settlement began in earnest. By the time Madison County was established by the Mississippi Territorial Legislature in December 1808, the village known as Hunt's Spring boasted a population of 300. Between 1810 and 1819, Madison County grew rapidly in both population and size with further public land sales. By the time Alabama became a state on December 14, 1819, Huntsville was a commercial center in the heart of a rich cotton-based agricultural region.

Aug. 9, 1814 - The Treaty of Fort Jackson was finalized after warring Creeks, under the leadership of William Weatherford, aka “Red Eagle,” surrendered to Gen. Andrew Jackson and ceded their lands to the federal government. This event opened up half of the present state of Alabama to white settlement.

Aug. 9, 1844 – James Berney Stanley, founder and longtime editor of The Greenville Advocate, was born in Hayneville in Lowndes County. During the Civil War, he served with the 17th Alabama and was severely wounded at Franklin, Tenn. He established The Advocate in November 1865.

Aug. 9, 1845 – Nicholas “Nick” Stallworth was born in Evergreen. On April 24, 1861 at Sparta, he joined the Conecuh Guards as a private at the age of 15, becoming the youngest member of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment. He was wounded in left forearm and right thigh at Cold Harbor (Gaines Mill) and later became adjutant of 23rd Alabama Regiment. He became an attorney after the war, a state representative and solicitor of 11th Judicial Circuit.

Aug. 9, 1848 - Martin Van Buren was nominated for president by the Free-Soil Party in Buffalo, New York.

Aug. 9, 1853 – Dr. John Watkins passed away at the age of 68 at Burnt Corn. He is buried at Old Bethany Baptist Church at Burnt Corn.

Aug. 9, 1854 – “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau was first published.

Aug. 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, Confederates scored a narrow victory at the Battle of Cedar Mountain as Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson narrowly defeated a Union force led by General John Pope at Cedar Mountain, Va. Union losses totaled 2,300 out of 8,000. The Confederates suffered 1,300 casualties out of 18,000.

Aug. 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, the U.S. Navy shelled Donalsonville, La.

Aug. 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Salem, Walnut Creek and Sear’s Ford, on the Chariton River, in Missouri.

Aug. 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, a Federal expedition was conducted against Indians from Fort Walla Walla to the Grand Ronde Prairie in the Washington Territory.

Aug. 9, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Garden Hollow, near Pineville, Ark.; at Ash Hill, Ark.; at Sparta, Tenn.; and at Brandy Station and Welford’s Ford in Virginia.

Aug. 9, 1863 – During the Civil war, a Federal expedition was carried out from Cape Girardeau to Poplar Bluff in Arkansas.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, now that Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, had surrendered and Fort Powell at Cedar Point had been abandoned, the Federal siege of Fort Morgan, Ala. began. Major General John Granger embarked for Navy Cove, four miles down the peninsula from Fort Morgan on the bay side of Mobile Bay. The commander of Fort Morgan, General Richard L. Paige, caused the gunboat Gaines to be burned, the hospital and other outbuildings. After landing, the Federals moved forward and by nightfall, Granger’s force was less than two miles from Fort Morgan.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred near Pond Springs in Northern Alabama.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, a six-day Federal operation began in Central Arkansas. Skirmishes were also fought at Hatch’s Ferry, Ark.; along Hurricane Creek and at Oxford, in Northern Mississippi; and near Sycamore Church, Va.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, an explosion of Federal ordnance at City Point, Va. occurred as two Confederate agents smuggled a bomb aboard an ordnance supply ship unloading at the docks. The initial blast caused sympathetic detonations of nearby ordnance.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, three months of active service by John S. Mosby’s force began in Virginia.

Aug. 9, 1867 – Rev. Fielding Straughn of Belleville, one of Conecuh County’s earliest settlers, passed away at the age of 83. Straughn was among the first settlers in Bermuda, originally known as Graham’s Saloon, in 1817. Born in 1783, he was buried in the Straughn Cemetery in Conecuh County, Ala.

Aug. 9, 1877 - Paleontologist Timothy Abbott Conrad passed away in Trenton, N.J. He studied the fossil beds at Claiborne for two years with Charles Tait and published the first geologic map of Alabama. During his time at Claiborne, Conrad shipped cases full of fossils back to Philadelphia for identification.

Aug. 9, 1879 – A meeting of ex-Confederate soldiers was held in Evergreen, Ala.

Aug. 9, 1886 - Commissioners Court convened in Monroeville on this Monday with commissioners Herrington, Locklin and Green present. The Monroe Journal reported that “there was a larger number of people from all parts of the county attending commissioners court this week than usual.”

Aug. 9, 1897 – George Bradley was tried for the June 17 murder of Richard Rumbley at Rumbley’s store near Pleasant Ridge. Bradley was found guilty and hung on Sept. 17, the second hanging in Monroe County since the Civil War.

Aug. 9, 1899 – Everette Howard Brown was born in Conecuh County, Ala. During World War I, while serving with the 167th Regiment, 42nd U.S. Division (Rainbow), he would be killed in action on July 27, 1918 in France. He enlisted in the Alabama National Guard’s Co. G, 1st Ala. Infantry in Bay Minette on June 17, 1917. He is buried in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Fere-en-Tardenois, in France.

Aug. 9, 1899 – P.L. (Pamela Lyndon) Travers, the creator of Mary Poppins, was born Helen Lyndon Goff in Mayborough, Queensland, Australia.

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that Mr. J.W. Wilkerson was up from Manistee the first of the week.

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that “our genial and generous sheriff Mr. M.M. Fountain will accept the thanks of The Journal for two fine watermelons.”

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that cotton was beginning to open, “reminding us of the approach of fall.” The first open bolls of the season were reported to The Journal by Russell Broughton of Monroeville and Hixon Bros. of Hixon on July 29.

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that the following officers of Blacksher Masonic Lodge No. 593 were elected for the ensuing year: D.C. Mims, Worshipful Master; J.F. Lambert, Senior Warden; T. Lomax, Junior Warden; L.B. Farish, Chaplain; J.H. Brown, Treasurer; Wm. Grimes, Secretary; A.T. Ellis, Senior Deacon; R. Seals, Junior Deacon; W.M. Seals, Tyler.

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from the Manistee community, that “new life has sprung up in the Masonic Fraternity at this place. The brotherhood of various lodges have united and will endeavor to establish a lodge some time in the near future. We will be pleased to have any brother who would like to become a charter member to meet at Manistee on Saturday night, Aug. 11, at seven o’clock.”

Aug. 9, 1906 - A storm of wind, hail and rain on this Thursday at Pineville injured the corn and cotton “very much and tore up the trees in a belt of country just beyond our neighborhood.”

Aug. 9, 1906 - The Monroe County Masonic Conference closed a “most pleasant and profitable” three-day session at Tunnel Springs on this Thursday. The conference convened on Tues., Aug. 7, with representatives present from all chartered lodges in the county and a number of visitors from adjoining counties. The following officers were elected: D.C. Mims, Worshipful Master; S.H. Dailey, Senior Warden; J.W. Hadley, Junior Warden; R.E. Barnes, Secretary-Treasurer. The 1907 session of the Conference was to be held at Blacksher Lodge in Maros, Ala.

Aug. 9, 1907 – The first Boy Scout encampment concluded at Brownsea Island in southern England.

Aug. 9, 1910 – Alfred Robert “Son” Boulware Jr. was born. Many believe Boulware was the inspiration for Harper Lee’s Boo Radley. He died of tuberculosis on May 2, 1952 and is buried in Monroeville, Alabama’s Pineville Cemetery.

Aug. 9, 1914 – The Battle of Mulhouse began, part of a French attempt to recover the province of Alsace and the first French offensive of World War I.

Aug. 9, 1914 - Barely one week after the outbreak of the First World War, German Minister of War Erich von Falkenhayn puts Walter Rathenau of the large electronics firm Allgemeine-Elektrizitats-Gellellschaft (AEG) in charge of organizing all the raw materials for Germany’s war production.

Aug. 9, 1915 - The midsummer term of the Monroe County Law and Equity Court convened for a two-week term in Monroeville, Ala. There were three convictions for felonies during the term. One defendant was given a two-year penitentiary sentence and two received sentences to hard labor for 18 months and six months, respectively. Fines imposed during the term amounted to about $1,000.

Aug. 9-11, 1916 - The three-day Conecuh County Masonic Conference was scheduled to be held at the Repton Masonic Lodge. J.M. Pearson, chairman of the Committee on Work of the Grand Lodge, was expected to conduct the conference. P.S. McKinley was Secretary.

Aug. 9, 1916 - The preliminary hearing in the case of the State vs. J.M. Wiggins, charged with the murder of K.W. Smith, began before Judge I.B. Slaughter on this Wednesday morning and was still in progress as The Monroe Journal went to press. The object of the hearing was to determine whether or not the defendant was entitled to bail.

Aug. 9, 1916 - Dr. G.W. Sally, a “prominent physician” of Flomaton, visited Monroeville on this Wednesday.

Aug. 9, 1922 – Poet Philip Larkin was born in Coventry, England.

Aug. 9, 1930 – Major League Baseball infielder Milton Bolling was born in Mississippi City, Miss. During his career, he played for the Boston Red Sox, the Washington Senators and the Detroit Tigers. After his playing days, Bolling spent more than 30 years with the Red Sox, first as an executive assistant to owner Tom Yawkey, and later as an area scout based in Alabama.

Aug. 9, 1934 – Evergreen’s baseball team beat Florala in both games of a double header, 4-1 and 2-1.

Aug. 9, 1936 – During the Summer Olympic Games of the XI Olympiad, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the games.

Aug. 9, 1938 – Franklin D. Roosevelt passed through Evergreen, Ala. about 10 p.m. on a train bound for Washington.

Aug. 9, 1940 - A movie version of Alabama author Octavus Roy Cohen's book “I Love You Again” was released.

Aug. 9, 1942 – Major League Baseball center fielder Tommie Agee was born in Magnolia in Marengo County, Ala. He would go on to play for the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White Sox, the New York Mets, the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is best known for making two of the greatest catches in World Series history, both of which occurred in game three of the 1969 World Series.

Aug. 9, 1945 – H.S. Hagood baled the first bale of cotton of the 1945 season in Conecuh County at the gin plant of the Evergreen Mfg. Co.

Aug. 9, 1945 – During World War II, Nagasaki was devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, was dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 35,000 people were killed outright, including 23,200-28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers. The bombing came three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, and Japan surrendered on Aug. 14, 1945.

Aug. 9, 1945 - The first network television broadcast occurred in Washington, D.C. The program announced the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.

Aug. 9, 1949 – Best-selling mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman was born in New York City’s Lower East Side. His first novel was 1985’s “When the Bough Breaks.”

Aug. 9, 1950 - A man lost his life in a tragic accident in Conecuh County on this Wednesday morning about 9:30. The accident occurred on the edge of town where the Owassa Road comes into Skinnerton Highway at Parmer’s Station. The dead man was Zion Miller, age about 60. The accident was investigated by Cpl. Louie Phillips and Patrolman J.W. Kendricks of the Alabama Highway Patrol, who gave this account. Miller was riding in the cab of a truck of the Hamiter Lumber Co. The chain holding a load of lumber broke, and Miller jumped from the cab and fell under the wheels of the truck. His skull was crushed. The truck did not leave the highway, but the lumber was spilled over the steep embankment. According to Capt. O.T. McDuff, officer in charge of the Evergreen District of the Alabama Highway Patrol, Miller was the 11^th traffic fatality in Conecuh County that year as compared to only one in 1949. McDuff added that Miller was the ninth person killed by traffic accidents within the vicinity of Evergreen.

Aug. 9, 1956 - The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

Aug. 9, 1960 – Kathy Jane Beasley, age six, was killed in a two-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 31, two miles north of McKenzie. Her mother, Bobbie Fay Beasley; a 15-month-old named Paul; Dempsey Goodwin of Detroit, Mich.; and Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Hanks of Akron, Ohio were also injured in the accident. Goodwin and the Hanks couple were all in the same vehicle and were on their way to visit Goodwin’s brother in Evergreen.

Aug. 9, 1961 – Greening Masonic Lodge No. 53 was dedicated on Edwina Street in Evergreen, Ala. and the cornerstone of the new lodge building was laid in a ceremony conducted by officers of the Grand Lodge. The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Aug. 9, 1964 – Monroeville’s team in the Conecuh Amateur Baseball League split a doubleheader against league leading Damascus in Monroeville, Ala. Monroeville lost the first game, 3-0, but won the second game, 4-3, behind the pitching of lefthander Gary Downs.

Aug. 9, 1966 – The first bale of cotton of the 1966 crop in the entire state of Alabama was ginned in Evergreen, Ala. on this day at the Evergreen Gin Co. J.T. Ward, well-known farmer and agricultural leader, brought Alabama’s first bale to the gin on this day, and this was the first time it was known that Conecuh County produced the first bale. Ward’s first bale weighed a net of 502 pounds and graded Middling 1-1/6 inch staple. It was auctioned off on Aug. 12 at the Evergreen Gin, bringing a premium price of 79 cents per pound, a total of $396.35. Weil Brothers of Montgomery bought the cotton.

Aug. 9, 1967 – Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and return specialist Deion Sanders was born in Fort Myers, Fla. He went on to play at Florida State, the Atlanta Falcons, the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

Aug. 9, 1967 - First Marine Division launched Operation Cochise in the Que Son valley. Meanwhile, the First Cavalry Division continued with Operation Pershing, a major clearing operation in the Binh Dinh province designed to improve the security situation in support of the ongoing pacification effort.

Aug. 9, 1969 – Followers led by Charles Manson murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent at Tate's residence in Los Angeles, Calif. Charles Manson and several members of his cult were later convicted of the crime.

Aug. 9, 1973 - The U.S. Senate committee investigating the Watergate affair filed suit against President Richard Nixon.

Aug. 9, 1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first President of the United States to resign from office. Gerald R. Ford took his place, and became the 38th President of the United States.

Aug. 9, 1975 - The New Orleans Superdome was officially opened when the Saints played the Houston Oilers in exhibition football.

Aug. 9, 1975 – The T.R. Miller Mill Co. of Brewton won the Evergreen Quarterback Club’s softball tournament in Evergreen, Ala. on this Saturday. Johnston’s Big T team won second, and a team from Slocomb finished third in the tournament, which was organized by the Rev. Zedoc Baxter and Terry Coleman. Other teams in the tournament, which was held to raise funds for a new Evergreen High School football dressing room, included Flxible Southern, Conecuh-Monroe Counties Gas District, Southern Equipment of Brewton and a team from Selma.

Aug. 9, 1976 – Sept. 11 hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Aug. 9, 1976 – Actress Jessica Capshaw was born in Columbia, Mo.

Aug. 9, 1976 – Actress Rhona Mitra was born in Hampstead, London, England.

Aug. 9, 1976 – Actress Audrey Tautou was born in Beaumont, Puy-de-Dôme, France.

Aug. 9, 1981 - Major League Baseball teams resumed play at the conclusion of the first mid-season players’ strike.

Aug. 9, 1985 – NFL quarterback JaMarcus Russell was born in Mobile, Ala. He went on to play for Williamson High School, LSU and the Oakland Raiders.

Aug. 9, 1988 – Evergreen weather reporter Harry Ellis reported 1.02 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala.

Aug. 9, 1988 – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton, who was born in Clio, Ala., appeared in his last Major League Baseball game.

Aug. 9, 2010 – British explorer Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River.

Aug. 9, 2015 – Pro Football Hall of Fame halfback and flanker Frank Gifford died at the age of 84 in Greenwich, Connecticut. During his career, he played for Southern Cal and the New York Giants. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977.