Old newspaper excerpts from The Monroe Journal newspaper in Monroeville, Alabama

U.S. Navy radar picket destroyer escort USS Forster (DER-334)

SEVEN YEARS AGO

FEB. 17, 2011

Marvin’s eyeing Monroeville: A retailer that carries building supplies, lawn and garden equipment as well as many household products has its eyes on Monroeville.

Marvin’s Building Materials and Home Centers, Inc., plans to locate in the former Food World building, according to Monroeville Mayor Mike Kennedy.

Kennedy made the announcement during the council meeting Tuesday.

Blackmon resigns as Shields’ coach: The Monroe County Board of Education approved several personnel changes last Thursday during its meeting in Monroeville, including the resignation of another J.F. Shields’ football coach.

Herbert Blackmon, who served as the school’s co-head football coach last season along with Jerome Sanders, resigned from his football coaching duties. Sanders resigned a co-head football coach last month.

Bosarge named Cattleman of the Year: The Monroe County Cattlemen’s Association named Daren Bosarge “Cattleman of the Year” during its yearly banquet held Jan. 20 at the Monroeville Community House.

Bosarge served as president of the association for the past two years. He breeds and raises pure-bred Brangus cattle. Along with breeding, he is a beef cattle ultrasound technician and an artificial insemination technician.

Bosarge is president of the Alabama Breeders Association and is a member of the South Eastern Brangus Breeders Show Committee.

32 YEARS AGO

FEB. 20, 1986

Although no tornadoes were reported by the National Weather Service for Monroe County on Monday, strong winds destroyed two mobile homes and uprooted trees.

In Megargel, a mobile home used for an office by Lum Childs was turned on its side by strong winds. No one was in the mobile home at the time.

A mobile home belonging to Rocky Sims of the Manistee area was destroyed by the winds. No one was home when it occurred.

Repton wins title again: It was expected to happen again, and it did Friday night, when the Repton High School Bulldogs took a 45-39 basketball victory in overtime J.U. Blacksher at Frisco City High to repeat as the 1A Area 2 tournament champions.

Repton’s 6-foot-8, 240-pound senior center Tommy Dukes scored 23 points to guide the Bulldogs to the victory, which became the school’s fourth straight area championship under 11-year head coach Hugh Wilson.

The Bulldogs’ three-game sweep through the five-team tournament included wins over Bayside Academy, the host Frisco City team and Blacksher.

Missile seen at Mineola: Saturday morning while working on his Mineola farm, Kenneth Jaye heard a loud roar overhead.

“I looked up when I heard the roar and recognized it at once to be a cruise missile,” said Jaye, a retired U.S. Navy engineer.

He said the missile was about 500 feet off the ground and was moving through the air about 100 yards ahead of two tracking planes.

And a Navy spokesman was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that a Tomahawk cruise missile with an inert warhead was successfully tested Saturday over the Gulf Coast.

57 YEARS AGO

FEB. 16, 1961

Earl Tucker of Thomasville, widely-known columnist and humorist, will be featured speaker at a banquet meeting of the Monroe County Cattlemen’s Association Monday night in Monroeville.

The program will get underway at seven o’clock in the ballroom of the Community House, Vanity Fair Park.

Mr. Tucker is well known for his newspaper column, “Rambling Roses and Flying Bricks,” which has been published in a collection in book form. He is also a popular speaker throughout Alabama.

The J.U. Blacksher High School basketball quintet of Uriah, winner for two years of the First District Class A tournament, will be seeking the title for a third straight season in the meet set for T.R. Miller High School gymnasium in Brewton Feb. 22-25.

The Uriah group was seeded first for the tourney, while the Monroe County High School team of Monroeville was seeded second. Uriah won the Monroe County varsity tournament championship, while Monroeville holds the championship trophy for the Pine Belt Conference tournament.

Uriah is undefeated thus far this year in regular season play, excluding tournament games.

David Liddell, mayor of Camden, was a business visitor in Monroeville Friday.

Ryland Serves Aboard Radar Picket Ship: Western Pacific - William S. Ryland Jr., chief radioman, U.S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Will Ryland of Monroeville, Ala., and husband of the former Joan E. Fonesca of Fall River, Mass., is serving aboard the radar picket ship USS Forster operating with the Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific.

82 YEARS AGO

FEB. 20, 1936

Prominent County Citizen Dies In Selma: William Richard King, 43, of Lower Peach Tree died about six o’clock last Thursday morning in a Selma hospital, where he had been a patient since Jan. 26. Stricken with jaundice three weeks ago, he was taken to Selma where he underwent an operation the week preceding his death.

A lifelong resident of northwest Monroe County, he had extensive farming interests in this section. He was one of the two children of the late E.D. King and Nan Maiben King; a great-grandson of General Edward D. King, founder of Judson and Howard colleges; and a lateral descendant of William Rufus King, at one time vice president of the United States.

Mr. King was prominent in all phases of life in his home community, being Master of the Lower Peach Tree Lodge and lay leader in the Methodist Church.

The body was sent from Selma to Lower Peach Tree, where funeral services were conducted by Rev. A.V. Jones, pastor of the Methodist Church, at two o’clock Friday afternoon. Interment was made in the Lower Peach Tree cemetery.

Mr. and Mrs. Hunter McDuffie of Franklin are receiving congratulations upon the birth of a son at the Vaughn Memorial Hospital in Selma. He will bear the name Hunter McDuffie Jr.

URIAH: The debating team of the Blacksher High School is leaving Friday to go to Auburn where it will debate the subject of Socialized Medicine with the debating team of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute.

HYBART: Dr. Campbell filled his regular appointment at the Presbyterian Church Sunday.

132 YEARS AGO

FEB. 19, 1886

Two more prisoners were jailed last week.

Mr. Ernest Ricou’s handsome new storehouse is rapidly nearing completion and will be ready in a few days for the reception of his goods, where he will be pleased to see and wait upon his many friends.

We have heard numerous remarks made about the dilapidated condition of the graveyard at the Methodist church, recently, and not without cause, as the leaves of two winters or more have been suffered to collect on many of the mounds, almost erased by age – that mark the last resting place of those whom we love and who were once among us. The fencing, also, around many of the graves has fallen into decay. This matter ought to be attended to out of respect to them.

Rev. M.M. Graham of Burnt Corn, recently appointed superintendent of education of this county, was in town Wednesday.

Mr. John McDuffie of River Ridge, one of Monroe’s most successful farmers, was in Monroeville Wednesday.

Sheriff Burns has been absent for several days on official business.

Postmaster Seymour is improving slowly.

DIED – in Monroeville on Sunday morning, the 14 inst. after an illness of several weeks, Mr. Thomas Clausell.

Chancery Court – The February term of the Chancery court for this county adjourned yesterday evening after dispatching an unusual amount of business for one day. Chancellor Foster seems to be so familiar with his duties that he is enabled to make his decisions with great promptness and at the same time with correctness.