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| Mary McNeil Fenollosa |
May 5, 1494 – During his second trip to the Western
Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Jamaica and claimed it
for Spain. He named the island Santa Gloria.
May 5, 1776 - In North Carolina,
British Lieutenant General Henry Clinton issued a proclamation denouncing the
Patriots’ “wicked rebellion” and recommended that the inhabitants of North Carolina
return their allegiance to the king. He offered full pardon to all persons,
except Continental Army Brigadier General Robert Howe and North Carolina
Patriot Cornelius Harnett.
May 5, 1799 – U.S. Army Lieutenant John McClary (McLeary)
and soldiers of the 2nd U.S. Infantry, after marching from Natchez, took
possession of Fort St. Stephens from the Spanish and the United States flag was
raised for the first time on soil that would eventually belong to Alabama.
May 5, 1813 - Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard was born
in Copenhagen.
May 5, 1819 – William Cato (William Barrett Travis’
father-in-law) settled near the present day city limits of Monroeville, Ala. He
was born in Downing Creek, N.C. in 1780. He was the head
of several families that moved from Claiborne to the area that became known as
Centerville and, later, Monroeville. His settlement predated the establishment
of the Walker’s Tavern. Cato married Sarah Massey and they had one daughter,
Rosanna Elizabeth Cato, 1812-1848, the wife of William Barrett Travis.
May 5, 1822 – Butler County, Ala.
commissioners appointed this day as the day for laying out the town of
Buttsville (present-day Greenville) and locating the courthouse.
May 5, 1823 – George Peacock was near Stockton-on-Tees in
Durham County, England. Trained as an iron worker, Peacock’s “services were
very much in demand in the young iron industry of this country,” Jackson wrote.
“He had served as superintendent of various iron works at various places when
the war came on.” He would go on to found the G. Peacock Foundry in Selma, Ala,
which constructed the stairs for the Wilcox County Courthouse in Camden, Ala.
May 5, 1843 – Richard Francis Burton passed the regimental
exam for Hindustani.
May 5, 1859 – St. James Episcopal Church of Claiborne, Ala.,
now located on Whetstone Street in Monroeville, was organized and admitted to
the Diocesan Convention. The church’s first place of worship was the lower
floor of Claiborne’s Masonic Hall.
May 5, 1861 – During the Civil War,
security around Washington City was a constant worry for the United States for
very nearly the entire war. Troops to protect the government were now being
brought in by ship, as the rail lines were either in Confederate hands or in
constant danger from partisan saboteurs. On this day, General Benjamin Butler
improved the situation somewhat by capturing the Railroad Relay House on the
B&O line. This effectively secured the line from Washington, through
Annapolis, to Baltimore.
May 5, 1861 – During the Civil War,
Alexandria, Va. was abandoned by Virginia state troops. Fort Arbuckle and Fort
Cobb, in the Indian Territory, were also abandoned by Federal forces.
May 5, 1862 - Mexican forces defeated the French in the
Battle of Puebla. In a David-and-Goliath confrontation, the 8,000-strong,
well-armed French army was routed by 4,000 ill-equipped Mexican soldiers, and
though it wasn't a decisive battle in the course of the war, it became a symbol
of Mexican pride.
May 5, 1862 – During the Civil War,
skirmishes were fought at Dresden, Ky. and at Lebanon, Tenn.
May 5, 1862 – During the Civil War,
the Battle of Williamsburg was fought in Virginia.
May 5, 1862
– Major John Herbert Kelly of Wilcox County was promoted to the rank of colonel
in recognition of his bravery in leading an infantry regiment at the Battle of
Shiloh in April 1862.
May 5, 1863 – During the Civil War,
skirmishes were fought near Sherwood, Mo.; at Big Sandy Creek, Miss.; at King’s
Creek, near Tupelo, Miss.; at Peletier’s Mill, N.C.; at Obion Plank Road Crossing,
Tenn.; at Rover, Tenn.; and at Thompson’s Crossroads, Va.
May 5, 1863 - As morning dawned on
this day, General Robert E. Lee prepared to launch another attack on Hooker’s
Union army, but found that they were in full retreat across the Rappahannock
and cancelled the plan. Both sides had more than enough to do in treating the
wounded, burying the dead, and tallying the survivors. In three days of battle
in Fredericksburg and around the Chancellor house the bloodshed had been
horrific: from an army of 134,000 the Union had suffered around 17,000
casualties. The southern losses were lower in numbers but higher in percent -
12,800 out of an army of 60,000, including the irreplaceable “Stonewall”
Jackson. He was on injured reserve after surgeons decided the wound in his
shoulder was so severe as to require amputation of the limb.
May 5, 1864 – 59TH ALABAMA: The 59th
Alabama served with Gracie’s brigade and the Dept. of Richmond, Va.
May 5, 1864 – 59TH ALABAMA: After advancing up
the James River, Union General Benjamin Butler took a position with the city of
Richmond on his right and Petersburg on his left. He aimed to scare the city
and wreck the railroads and communications below the city.
May 5, 1864 – After remaining a private in Co. D for most of
the Civil War, Lewis Lavon Peacock, was promoted to Fourth Corporal "no
doubt for service in the Bermuda Hundred campaign, where the 59th so
distinguished itself."
May 5, 1864 – During the Civil War, the forces of Union
General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee clashed in the
Wilderness forest in Virginia, beginning an epic campaign. Lee had hoped to
meet the Federals, who plunged into the tangled Wilderness west of
Chancellorsville, Va., the day before, in the dense woods in order to mitigate
the nearly two-to-one advantage Grant possessed as the campaign opened.
May 5, 1864 – Journalist Nellie Bly was born in Armstrong
County, Pa.
May 5, 1864 – During the Civil War,
skirmishes were fought near the mouth of Richland Creek in Arkansas; near
Tunnel Hill, Ga.; and at Graham’s Plantation and a Natchitoches, La. A naval
skirmish was also fought on the Roanoke River, N.C.
May 5, 1864 - Federal forces landed
at Bermuda Hundred and City Point (now Hopewell), Va. A five-day Federal
operation in Craighead and Lawrence Counties, Ark. began. Federal operation in
Meade and Breckinridge Counties, Ky. began.
May 5, 1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified,
abolishing slavery in the U.S.
May 5, 1865 – In North Bend, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati),
the first train robbery in the United States took place.
May 5, 1865 – During the Civil War,
an eight-day Federal operation between Pulaski, Tenn. and New Market, Ala.
began.
May 5, 1865 – During the Civil War, the Confederate District
of the Gulf surrendered about 4,000 men at Citronelle, Alabama.
May 5, 1865
– During the Civil War, the Confederate government was declared dissolved at
Washington, Georgia.
May 5, 1865 – During the Civil War,
skirmishes were fought at Summerville, Ga. and in the Perche Hills of Missouri.
May 5, 1866 – Memorial Day was first celebrated in United
States at Waterloo, New York.
May 5, 1879 - An election for mayor and four councilmen of
the Town of Evergreen, to serve for the ensuing year, was scheduled to be held
on this Monday. Mr. Mertins and Y.M. Rabb had been appointed managers of the
election. G.R. Farnham was the incumbent mayor.
May 5, 1884 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Chief
Bender was born in Crow Wing County, Minnesota. He went on to play for the
Philadelphia Athletics, the Baltimore Terrapins, the Philadelphia Phillies and
the Chicago White Sox. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1953.
May 5, 1885 - The Third Regiment, Alabama State Troops, was
formed in Selma on this Tuesday. Elected officers and noncommissioned officers
included S.W. John of Selma, Colonel; W.E. Yancey of Talladega, Lieutenant
Colonel; W.R. Oliver, Major; N.G. Winn, Adjutant; Z.J. White, Surgeon; T.F.
Mangum Jr., Sergeant Major; Christian Laubeinheimer, Color Sergeant. Units
registered in the regiment included the Talladega Rifles, the Morgan Rifles,
the Pelham Guards, the Wilcox Greys, the Pelham Rifles, the Selma Guards and
the Pettus Rifles.
May 5, 1890 – Novelist Christopher
Morley was born in Haverford, Pa.
May 5, 1895 – On this Sunday afternoon in Monroeville, an
out house near Judge Sowell’s residence “was discovered to be one fire, and but
for the prompt arrival of assistance, the dwelling would have been consumed.”
May 5, 1895 - Mr. and Mrs. Jno. I. Watson departed for
Mobile on this Sunday on the steamer Nettie Quill. They returned on May 8, a
Wednesday.
May 5, 1904 – Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at
the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans threw the first
perfect game in the modern era of baseball. It was the third perfect game of
the Major Leagues overall.
May 5, 1905 – Former Marengo County (Ala.) Probate Judge
S.B. Prowell (possibly Powell) shot and instantly killed J.S. Trigg, an
intimate friend, at Linden on this Friday. Prowell was angry over a report
charging Prowell with an “extensive shortage.” Trigg was trying to restrain
Prowell during an argument, and Prowell dropped a pistol, which went off,
killing Trigg. (Trigg's tombstone in the Old Spring
Hill Methodist Cemetery in Marengo County, Ala. indicates that his first name
was John and that he actually died on May 4, 1905.)
May 5, 1905 – The train between Pine Apple and Beatrice,
Ala. wrecked on this Friday. The same train wrecked again the following day, a
Saturday.
May 5, 1910 - An explosion at Palos
Coal Mine No. 3 in Jefferson County, Ala. killed 84 miners. At the time it was
the second-worst mine disaster in Alabama history, and it followed on the heels
of a mine explosion at nearby Mulga that killed 40 miners. The Palos tragedy
also marked the first time that the Red Cross led a disaster relief effort in
Alabama.
May 5, 1913 - A movie version of
Alabama author Mary McNeil Fenollosa's book “The One Hundred Dollar
Elopement” was released.
May 5, 1914 – Early that morning, the Negro Baptist Church
near the orphanage in Evergreen, Ala. burned down. The fire was discovered
around 4 a.m. and was a total loss. Arson was suspected as the cause.
May 5, 1916 - Fanny Whitcomb died in Evergreen, Ala. at an
early hour on this Friday morning at the home of her son, J.C. Whitcomb, on
Main Street. She was the oldest woman in Evergreen, being about 83 years of
age, and was “much beloved by the entire community.” She was the widow of the
late H.J. Whitcomb and before her marriage was Miss Fanny Chapman of Lancaster,
New Hampshire. In 1865, Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb moved from New Hampshire to
Chicago, where they made their home until about 1901, when they moved to
Evergreen. The Whitcombs were among the first northern people to spend the
winters in Evergreen and the largest tourist hotel, ‘Hotel Whitcomb,’ which
burned some years prior to 1916, was named for Mr. H.J. Whitcomb. At the time
of her death, she was survived by one son, J.C. Whitcomb, editor of The Conecuh
Record. After religious services, conducted by Dr. Dickinson at her home, Mrs.
Whitcomb was laid to rest by the side of her husband in the Evergreen Cemetery
at 10 a.m. on Sat., May 6.
May 5, 1917 - Robert B. Hines, the 18-year-old son of Mr.
and Mrs. Fred P. Hines, formerly of Belleville, died in St. Thomas, Ky., where
he was attending a military training school. The cause of his death was said to
have been pneumonia. The body was shipped to Canoe, where his parents lived,
for interment in the Hall Family Cemetery. His tombstone indicates that he was
a member of the Army’s 13th Infantry Division at the time of his
death. He was born on Sept. 29, 1898.
May 5, 1918 – The cornerstone for the new industrial school
for Negroes at Evergreen, Ala. was scheduled to be lain during a ceremony that
was to include an address by Major R.R. Moton, who was head of the Tuskegee
Institute. Morton was the successor to Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee.
May 5, 1919 - The delegation from
Italy—led by Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando and Foreign Minister Sidney
Sonnino—returned to the Versailles Peace Conference in Paris, France, after
leaving abruptly 11 days earlier during contentious negotiations over the
territory Italy would receive after the First World War.
May 5, 1919 - Mr. and Mrs. John T. Williams were happy on
this Monday afternoon when a message came from their son Harmon advising of his
safe arrival in New York from overseas. He was expected to reach home in a
short while, according to The Evergreen Courant.
May 5, 1940 - Al Schacht, Clown Prince of Baseball and
sometimes self-styled Baseball’s Goodwill Ambassador, was booked to appear in
Brewton, Ala. on this Sunday afternoon before a game with Tallassee. Schacht,
billed as Public Laughmaker No. 1 and also Baseball’s Greatest Drawing Card,
had broken more than 150 attendance records in the previous three years. During
his third season as a traveling baseball clown, 1939, Schacht traveled 50,000
miles, showing in 111 cities and towns, from Coast to Coast, in 40 leagues,
adding over a half-million paid admissions to the minor league attendance for
1939.
May 5, 1945 - A Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart
Mountain in Oregon, killing the pregnant wife of a minister and five children.
May 5, 1946 – Evergreen’s baseball team was scheduled to
play Milton, Fla. in Evergreen on this Sunday at 3 p.m.
May 5, 1947 - Alabama journalist Eddy Gilmore of the Associated
Press was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting (International)
for his correspondence from Moscow in 1946.
May 5, 1958 - Alabama author James Agee was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his book “A Death in the Family.”
May 5, 1962 – Senegalese explorer, author and director
Nicolas Vanier was born in Senegal.
May 5, 1965
– The Warlocks, later known as The Grateful Dead, made their first public
appearance in Menlo Park, California.
May 5, 1970- In Cambodia, a U.S.
force captured Snoul, 20 miles from the tip of the “Fishhook” area (across the
border from South Vietnam, 70 miles from Saigon). A squadron of nearly 100
tanks from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and jet planes virtually leveled
the village that had been held by the North Vietnamese.
May 5, 1972 - South Vietnamese
troops from the 21st Division, trying to reach beleaguered An Loc in Binh Long
Province via Highway 13, were again pushed back by the communists, who had
overrun a supporting South Vietnamese firebase.
May 5, 1973 - Conecuh County High School of Castleberry
captured first place in six of 16 events and piled up 91 points to easily win
the 2A sectional state track qualifying meet on this Saturday in Andalusia. The
nearest challenger, Slocomb, had only 5-1/2 points. Godwin won first place in
three events to pace the Blue Devils. He won the 100-yard dash with a time of
10.3, the 220 in 22.6 and the triple jump with 40.8. Carter won the mile in
4:45.7 and Holland took the two-mile event in 11:15.3. The CCHS team also won
the mile relay. Other Blue Devils picking up points were: Etheridge, second,
and Darby, fourth, in the 440; Stallworth, third, and Booker, fifth, in the
880; James, third in the mile; Lyons second in the two-mile; Philyaw, second,
and McGuire, fourth, in the 120 hurdles; Carter, second, and Ryals, fourth, in
the 120 high hurdles; Ryals, second in high jump; Godwin, second, and Ryals,
fifth, in board jump; Philyaw, third in triple jump; Coleman, fourth in shot
put; Coleman, second, and Carter, fourth, in discus. The CCHS team finished
second in the 440 relay.
May 5, 1976 - Patrick Henry Junior College’s baseball team
competed in the Alabama Junior College Athletic Association state baseball
playoffs for the first time in school history and were defeated by both Calhoun
and Chattahoochee Valley at Faulkner State in Bay Minette on this Wednesday.
The Patriots lost the opening game, 10-5, after giving up a three-run lead to
the Warhawks of Calhoun in the fifth inning. They lost 6-4 in the second game
that afternoon to Chattahoochee Valley of Phenix City. Players on Patrick
Henry’s team that season included Johnny Bartlett, Buddy Black, Al Carr, Nicky
Cofield, Eddie Crockett, Jerry Ferrell, Robert Fischer, Wayne Griffith, Tim
Pullen, Larry Snowden and Greg Wright. John Lampkin was head coach.
May 5, 1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds registered
his 3,000th Major League hit.
May 5, 1983 - Tribute was paid to
all the athletes of Sparta Academy at the annual All-Sports Banquet, sponsored
by the Sparta Quarterback Club in the school gymnatorium. Joey Johnson was
winner of the coveted D.T. Stuart Jr. Sportsmanship Trophy. Russ Raines was
winner of the equally desired Jerry W. Peacock Memorial Trophy. Winners of the
various awards in the respective sports follows: Football: best blocker, Mike
Wilson; best defensive player, Wes Brown; best academic average, Britt McNeil; hustler,
Wes Brown; sportsmanship award, Joey Johnson; and captain, Russ Raines and Wes
Brown. Baseball: leading hitter, Al Etheridge; captain, Russ Raines; academic
average, Mike Wilson; best defensive player, Joey Johnson; sportsmanship award,
Ed Carrier; and hustler, Joe McInvale. Basketball: hustler, Russ Raines;
defensive player, Russ Brown; rebounder, Chris Blatz; best field goal
percentage, Chris Blatz; best free throw percentage, Chris Blatz; academic
average, Britt McNeil; sportsmanship award, Vince Watts; and captain, Chris
Blatz. Girls basketball: captain, Cheri Johnson; sportsmanship award, Cheri
Johnson; defensive award, Cheri Johnson; best field goal percentage, Tammy
Booker; academic average, Jan Coker; hustler, Raye Ann Gall; best rebounder, Tina
Bybee; and best free throw percentage, Leah Carrier.
May 5, 1985
– Ronald Reagan visited the military cemetery at Bitburg, Germany, and the site
of the Nazi concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen, where he made a speech.
May 5, 2000 - The Harper Lee Award for Alabama's
Distinguished Writer was given to Alabama author Helen Norris at the Alabama
Writers Symposium in Monroeville, Ala.
May 5, 2000 - An unusual planetary alignment occurred on
this day with Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn more or less
positioned in a line with the Sun. Though some predicted it, this event did not
herald the end of the world.
May 5, 2006 - The Harper Lee Award for Alabama's
Distinguished Writer was given to Alabama author Wayne Greenhaw at the Alabama
Writers Symposium in Monroeville, Ala.
May 5-6, 2016 – Witnesses reported seeing “something
strange” in the sky in Lyeffion on this Thursday and Fridayy around 9 p.m. The
incident began on May 5 when neighbors called the person who filed a report
with MUFON to say that “there was something strange in the northern sky.” The
witness then went outside and saw a “glowing, reddish orange object,” which to
the naked eye appeared to be just a “strange light.” The witness pulled out a
set of binoculars and with those he could see that the light “had an oval or
disc shape and emitted a soft glow.” The witness said that the object certainly
wasn’t a blimp because of the way it “jigged” in the sky. A first, the
witnesses wondered if the object might be a helicopter, but noted that it was
“totally silent.” The object also displayed flight characteristics that seemed
impossible. “It would hover stationary, then move up, down, horizontally and
diagonally at incredible speeds,” the witness said. “It was demonstrating
movements as if a laser was being jigged in the sky.” The witness noted that
the sky was clear at the time and there was nothing but forest in the area.
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