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| Confederate veteran John T. Brown |
April 12, 1606 - England adopted the original Union Jack as
its flag.
April 12, 1633 – Galileo Galilei was put on trial by the
Inquisition for supporting the theory that the Earth revolves around the sun.
April 12, 1770 - The British government repealed most of the
clauses of the Townshend Act, which placed import taxes on many of the British
products bought by Americans, including lead, paper, paint, glass and tea.
April 12, 1771 – In Lovecraftian fiction, a party of raiders
led by a secret committee of Providence, Rhode Island’s most powerful men
marched on the Pawtuxet farm of Joseph Curwen, a wealthy trader and sorcerer.
What exactly happened during the raid is unclear, but following this action,
Curwen was seen no more.
April 12, 1776 – During the American Revolution, with the
Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorized its
Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain. In other words,
North Carolina became the first state to vote in favor of independence from
Britain.
April 12, 1782 - In the Indian Ocean, the Battle of
Providien between the British and French took place.
April 12, 1806 – Congress appropriated $6,400 to build
1,152-mile long post road from Georgia to Mobile, Ala.
April 12, 1839 – The first meeting was held after the
organization of the board of trustees of the Evergreen Academy in Evergreen,
Ala.
April 12, 1839 – Russian geographer and explorer Nikolay
Przhevalsky was born in Kimborovo, Smolensk Governorate, Russian Empire (Now Russia).
April 12, 1857 – Flaubert’s first novel, “Madame Bovary,”
was published.
April 12, 1858 - Salt Lake City offered an uneasy welcome to Alfred Cummings, its first non-Mormon governor, which signaled the end of the so-called “Utah War.”
April 12, 1861 – The Civil War began when Confederate shore
batteries under the command of General Pierre G.T. Beauregard opened fire at
4:30 a.m. on Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South
Carolina. Beauregard began firing based on orders telegraphed to him from
Montgomery, Ala. Beauregard fired 4,000 shells from 50 cannons between April
12-14.
April 12, 1861 – During the Civil War, Federal
reinforcements from Fortress Monroe, Va. and a detachment of marines landed on
Santa Rosa Island near Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Fla.
April 12, 1862 – During the Civil War, a two-day Federal
reconnaissance to Bear Creek, Ala. began.
April 12, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Andrews Raid,
which is also known as the “Great Locomotive Chase” occurred, starting from Big
Shanty, Ga. (now Kennesaw).
April 12, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Little Blue River, Mo. and at Monterey, Va. A
Federal operation was also conducted in Marion County, West Virginia.
April 12, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought along the Amite River and in the vicinity of
Centreville, La.; at Long Island, S.C.; at Stewartsborough, Tenn.; and along
the Edenton, Providence Church and Somerton Roads in Virginia.
April 12, 1863 – During the Civil
War, a 12-day Federal operation between Camp Babbit and Keysville in California
began. Federal reconnaissance was conducted from Gloucester Point to the
vicinity of Hickory Forks, Va. Another Federal reconnaissance was conducted
from Winchester up Cedar Creek Valley in Virginia.
April 12, 1863 - Repeatedly for
three years, Abraham Lincoln had implored his generals to attack the enemy.
Their notion of the way to do that, based on what they had learned at West
Point, was to take the attack to the enemy’s capital. Lincoln’s idea was to
attack the enemy’s armies, primarily that of Robert E. Lee. On this day, Gen.
Joseph Hooker sent his new plan to his commander in chief. It consisted of an
end run around Lee to attack Richmond.
April 12, 1864 - Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford
Forrest's troops overwhelmed Fort Pillow and 580 Union troops on the
Mississippi River. It was believed by many that the Union defenders were trying
to surrender and were needlessly massacred. Fort Pillow is located in western Tennessee
in Lauderdale County.
April 12, 1864 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal
operation down the Tennessee River from Bridgeport, Ala. to near Triana, Ala.
began. A skirmish was also fought near Florence, Ala.
April 12, 1864 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of Van Vuren, Ark.; with Indians in
the vicinity of Fremont’s Orchard in the Colorado Territory; at Blair’s Landing
(or Pleasant Hill), La.; at Fort Bisland, La.; at Pleasant Hill Landing, Tenn.;
and in Matagorda Bay, Texas. A three-day Federal operation between Pont
Lookout, Md. to Westmoreland County, Va. began.
April 12, 1865 – During the Civil War, Mobile, Ala., the
last major Confederate port city, fell to the Union Army.
April 12, 1865 – Union raiders destroyed Montgomery, Ala. as
the local militia refused to attempt to defend the former capital of the
Confederacy. A skirmish was also fought in the vicinity of Montgomery, Ala. on
the Columbus Road.
April 12, 1865 – Around 3 a.m., Montgomery, Ala. mayor W.L.
Coleman and a party of prominent citizens rode out to Union lines under a flag
of truce. There, to the delight of Wilson and his men, they surrendered the
city. The general immediately posted guards at key streets and buildings, and
when everything was secured the entire force, with the band playing and their
commander at their head, rode four abreast into the capital.
April 12, 1865 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought with Indians in the vicinity of Tallahassa Mission
in the Indian Territory; and at Swift Creek, N.C. A two-day Federal operation
between Port Hudson and Jackson in Louisiana began. Four days of Federal
operations against Indians in the Nebraska Territory began. A 13-day Federal
operation against Indians in the New Mexico Territory began. Federal forces
occupied Raleigh and Salisbury in North Carolina.
April 12, 1869 – The Mobile Bar Association, which organized
on March 29, 1869, filed its Declaration of Incorporation.
April 12, 1877 - A catcher's mask was used in a baseball
game for the first time by James Alexander Tyng.
April 12, 1880 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
Addie Joss was born in Woodland, Wisc. He would go on to play for the Cleveland
Broncos/Naps. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.
April 12, 1886 – Monroe County (Ala.) Commissioners Court
convened on this Monday with commissioners J.W. Herrington, T.B. Green and D.W.
Davis being present.
April 12, 1886 – The Rev. M.M. Graham of Burnt Corn, who was
also the Monroe County Superintendent of Education, was in Monroeville on this
Monday.
April 12, 1887 - Alabama industrialist Henry DeBardeleben
and his partners sold the first lots for the new city of Bessemer. Located 12
miles southwest of Birmingham and named after Henry Bessemer, the British
inventor of the Bessemer steel process, the community was envisioned as a
steelmaking center. Within a year Bessemer had a population of 3,500 and
boasted a large industrial complex.
April 12, 1896 – The Rev. W.A. Locke filled his regular
appointment at Old Salem on this second Sunday of the month.
April 12, 1905 - Author Howard Weeden died in Huntsville,
Ala.
April 12, 1905 – On this Wednesday evening, Capt. Richmond
Pearson Hobson, the hero of the “Merrimac,” delivered a lecture on “American
Naval Supremacy” at the courthouse in Monroeville, Ala. The courthouse was
“filled with the county’s most prominent and intelligent citizens” to hear the
lecture.
April 12, 1905 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Mrs.
A.L. Rumph of Perote was spending some time in Evergreen, Ala., visiting her
sisters, Mrs. J.B. Murphy and Mrs. J.G. Lundy. Rumph was the director of the
Children of the Confederacy, Alabama Division, U.C.V.
April 12, 1905 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Luther
Jackson was “having a residence erected on Bruner Avenue, which will be an
ornament to that portion of town.”
April 12, 1905 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Repton,
Ala. would “shortly have another brick building.” Carter Bros. was erecting a
“nice brick store.”
April 12, 1905 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Dr.
H.B. Williamson had moved his office to the apartments he formerly occupied
over the bank.
April 12, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that plowing
and planting was “in full blast” in the Jones Mill vicinity.
April 12, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from
the Pine Apple community, that O.D. Chappelle, the mail carrier, was “quite
sick” on Thurs., April 5, and Fri., April 6.
April 12, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from
the Wilkinsonville community, that Bernard Myrick was thrown by his horse on
Sun., April 8, but wasn’t seriously hurt.
April 12, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from
the Wesley Chapel community, that Miss Willie Watson’s school closed a few
weeks before.
April 12, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from
the Pineville community, that Miss Genie Burns was at home, her school at
Shiboleth having closed on March 29.
April 12, 1916 – Children’s book author Beverly Cleary was
born in McMinnville, Oregon.
April 12, 1917
– During World War I, Canadian forces successfully completed the taking of Vimy
Ridge in northern France from the Germans, after three days of fierce combat
and over 10,000 casualties suffered.
April 12, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that the
concrete foundation for the Lazenby Mercantile Company’s new brick store on
Northside had been completed and work on the erection of the walls was to begin
soon.
April 12, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that the “cold
snap usually occurring about the Easter season was manifested in the drop of
several degrees in temperature and the appearance of light frosts on two
successive mornings.”
April 12, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that Dr. G.W.
Gaillard of Perdue Hill was among Monroeville friends during the previous week.
April 12, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that Profs.
G.A. Harris and H.E. Jones and Misses Mamie Burroughs and Willie Johnson of
Monroe County High School attended the meeting of the Alabama Educational
Association in Montgomery during the previous week.
April 12, 1917 - The Monroe Journal printed in this day’s
edition of the newspaper the official list of qualified voters in Monroe
County. “Any elector duly qualified whose name may have been inadvertently
omitted should lose no time in furnishing proper proof to the probate judge in
order that his name may be restored or added to the list,” the newspaper said.
April 12, 1920 – Conecuh County (Ala.) Circuit Court began
on this Monday afternoon for a two-week term. Judge Leigh organized the grand
jury with T.M. Mills as foreman.
April 12, 1925 – In Lovecraftian fiction, rescuers found
Gustaf Johansen, the only survivor of the Emma’s crew.
April 12, 1926 - Alabama author Amelie Rives's play “Love-in-a-Mist” opened on Broadway.
April 12, 1933 – Major League Baseball catcher Charlie Lau
was born in Romulus, Mich. He would go on to play for the Detroit Tigers, the
Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Athletics.
April 12, 1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the
world at 231 mph, was measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New
Hampshire.
April 12, 1934 – The O.B. Finklea Store at Buena Vista, Ala,
which was built by J.J. “Jack” Finklea and was known as the “big store,” was
totally destroyed by fire between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on this Thursday. “The
morning being rather chilly, a fire was burning inside the store, and it is
presumed that flying sparks ignited the roof,” according to The Monroe Journal.
“A hard wind which blew all day Thursday drowned the noise and the roof was at
the point of collapsing before those inside the building knew of the fire. Only
a small bit of goods was saved from the burning building and most of the
attention of the firefighters was turned to saving the adjacent property.”
April 12, 1934 - F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel "Tender Is
the Night" was first published.
April 12, 1934 – The contract for the paving of .509 miles
in the town of Monroeville, Ala. was let on this Thursday afternoon by the
State Highway Department. The Sullivan, Long & Hagerty Construction Co. of
Bessemer was low bidder on the job, getting the contract for $30,586.88. The
contract called for reinforced cement concrete pavement and it was expected to
extend from the Lucian Jones Motor Co., at the northwest corner of the square,
south to the Monroe County Bank corner and then east to the Monroe Motor Co.
corner, then south to the forks of the road at the H.G. Brantley store.
April 12, 1935 - Slight damage was done to the roof of the
G.B. Barnett home by fire on this Friday night, according to The Monroe
Journal. The fire, discovered about 11 p.m. by passersby returning from the
circus, was thought to have been started by burning soot. Several small holes
were burned in the roof before the flames were extinguished.
April 12, 1935 - Bids on the paving job, which was to
include the north and east sides of the Monroeville, Ala. square, were opened
on this Friday morning in the office of the State Highway director in
Montgomery. Low bidder on the job was the Sullivan Long & Hagerty
Construction Co. of Bessemer, who submitted a price of $14,537 for the job.
April 12, 1939 – Playwright Alan Ayckbourn was born in
London.
April 12, 1940 – Major League Baseball pitcher Woody Fryman
was born in Ewing, Ky. He would go on to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the
Philadelphia Phillies, the Detroit Tigers, the Montreal Expos, the Cincinnati
Reds and the Chicago Cubs.
April 12, 1942 – Around 11 p.m., John T. Brown, “the last
Confederate veteran in Conecuh County,” passed away at the age of 95 at his
home in the Welcome community after a brief illness of only a few days. A
native of South Carolina, he moved to Conecuh County, Ala. about six years
before his death. Born in 1847, he is buried in the Welcome Methodist Cemetery
in Conecuh County.
April 12, 1944 – Major League Baseball second baseman and
shortstop Terry Harmon was born in Toldeo, Ohio. He would go on to play for the
Philadelphia Phillies.
April 12, 1944 - Alabama author Lillian Hellman's play “The Searching Wind” opened on Broadway.
April 12, 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed
away at the age of 63 from a cerebral Hemorrhage at a resort in Warm Springs,
Ga. Harry Truman was sworn in as president.
April 12, 1945 - Staff Sgt. Cortez D. Mixon, the 23-year-old
son of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander J. Mixon of Excel, was killed in action on Luzon.
Staff Sgt. Mixon entered the service in November 1942 and had served in the
infantry on New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, New Zealand, New Guinea and in the
Philippines. In a letter to his parents, his commanding officer and chaplain
spoke in the highest terms of his faithful service as a soldier.
April 12, 1947 - Espionage and military thriller author Tom
Clancy, whose books included “The Hunt for Red October” and “Patriot Games,”
was born in Baltimore, Md.
April 12, 1950 – The baseball teams from Frisco City High
School and Beatrice High School were scheduled to play in Beatrice in the
opening game of the season for both schools. The opening lineup for Beatrice
included the following: Bennette, pitcher; Robinson, catcher; Brown, first
base; McPherson, second base; Luker, third base; E. Shannon, shortstop; J.
Shannon, left field; C. Wright, center field; Covan, right field. Ralph Baas
and T.J. King pitched from Frisco with I.D. Byrd behind the plate.
April 12, 1951 – The Evergreen (Ala.) Golf Club’s Sixth
Annual Invitational Tournament was scheduled to be played.
April 12, 1952 – Poet Gary Soto was born in Fresno, Calif.
April 12, 1960 – Around 11 a.m., Conecuh County Sheriff
James “Shorty” Brock, Evergreen Police Chief Johnny Andrews, Deputy Sheriff
Mancel Pearce and Highway Patrol Sgt. Tom Melton captured convicted murderer
Russell Lee Harris, 32, formerly of Brewton, in front of Olen’s Department
Store in downtown Evergreen, Ala. Harris was an escaped prisoner from the
Georgia State Prison at Leesburg.
April 12, 1961 - Walt W. Rostow,
senior White House specialist on Southeast Asia and a principal architect of
U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine, delivered a memorandum to President John F.
Kennedy asserting that the time had come for “gearing up the whole Vietnam
operation.”
April 12, 1963 - Police used dogs and cattle prods on
peaceful civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Ala.
April 12, 1965 - A meeting for all persons interested in the
Evergreen Pony League was scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. on this Monday at the
Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen, Ala.
April 12, 1966 - Emmett Ashford became the first
African-American Major League Baseball umpire.
April 12, 1975 - In Cambodia, the
U.S. ambassador and his staff left Phnom Penh when the U.S. Navy conducted its
evacuation effort, Operation Eagle.
April 12, 1976
– NBA center and power forward Brad Miller was born in Kendallville, Indiana.
He went on to play for Purdue, the Charlotte Hornets, the Chicago Bulls, the
Indiana Pacers, the Sacramento Kings, the Houston Rockets and the Minnesota
Timberwolves.
April 12, 1979 - Danny Bowen pitched a five-inning no-hitter
as Monroe Academy pounded Sparta Academy, 10-0, at Volunteer Park on this
Thursday. The big right-hander struck out 10 of the 17 batters he faced in
overpowering the Warriors. Other standout Monroe players in that game included
David Carpenter, Sammie Carter, Mitch Jones, O’Neal Jordan and Doug Smith.
April 12, 1981 - The New York Giants drafted University of
North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor as their first-round pick and the
second selection overall in the NFL Draft.
April 12, 1981 – Boxing great Joe Louis, aka “The Brown
Bomber,” a native of LaFayette, Ala., died of a heart attack at the age of 66
in Las Vegas.
April 12, 1988 - The Evergreen (Ala.) City Council met on
this Tuesday night in a special announced meeting to make appointments to the
Evergreen Gas Supply Board. The following appointments were made: T.L. Sims,
two-year term; Jones Sasser, four-year term; and Willie Willis, six-year term.
The council was scheduled to meet the following Tuesday night for its regular
meeting.
April 12, 1994 - Local weather observer Harry Ellis
reported 1.85 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala.
April 12, 2002 - A first edition version of Beatrix Potter's
"Peter Rabbit" sold for $64,780 at Sotheby's. A signed first edition
of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" sold for $66,630. A copy of
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," signed by J.K. Rowling
sold for $16,660. A 250-piece collection of rare works by Charles Dickens sold for
$512,650.
April 12, 2004 - The Philadelphia Phillies played their
first game at Citizens Bank Park.
April 12, 2004 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit
his 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career list.
April 12, 2007
– A suicide bomber penetrated the Green Zone and detonated in a cafeteria
within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more
than 20 other people.
April 12, 2009 - Local weather observer Harry Ellis reported
3.45 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala.
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