Today in History for July 28, 2018

Hattie Hooker Wilkins

July 28, 1527 – Spanish explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas, who founded the Columbian city of Santa Marta, died in Cuba at the age of 67 (or 66) after being stabbed five times by his own men, who were angry over his refusal to share gold he had acquired. He is buried at the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, the oldest cathedral in the Americas.

July 28, 1776 - Colonel Paul Dudley Sargent with the 16th Continental Regiment and Colonel Israel Hutchinson with his 27th Continental Regiment, both from Massachusetts, as well as several British ships, arrived at Horn’s Hook, New York. After gathering at Horn’s Hook, the Massachusetts regiments went on to Long Island, where they suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of brothers Admiral Richard and General William Howe.

July 28, 1814 - Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley eloped with 17-year-old “Frankenstein” author Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin on this day, despite the fact that he was already married. Shelley and Godwin fled to Europe, marrying after Shelley’s wife committed suicide in 1816.

July 28, 1844 – Poet and priest Gerard Manley Hopkins was born in Stratford, near London.

July 28, 1861 – During the Civil War, Confederate troops occupied New Madrid, Mo.

July 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes occurred at Guntersville and Stevenson, Ala.

July 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Helena, Old Town and Trenton in Arkansas; at Bollinger’s Mill, Moore's Mill, Fulton and Cross Timber in Missouri; near Humboldt, Tenn.; and at Culpepper and Raccoon Ford in Virginia.

July 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, railroads introduced the mail car, allowing mail to be sorted as a train travels.

July 28, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near High Grove and at Marshall in Missouri; with Indians at Stony Lake, in the Dakota Territory; at Richmond, Ky.; at Boone Mill, N.C.; and at Fayetteville, W.Va.

July 28, 1863 – During the Civil War, Confederate John Mosby began a series of attacks against General Meade's Army of the Potomac.

July 28, 1864 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Ezra Church began in Georgia as Confederates under General John Bell Hood made a third attempt to break General William T. Sherman's hold on Atlanta. The attack failed and destroyed the Confederate Army of Tennessee's offensive capabilities. The Confederates lost 3,000 men to the Union’s 630.

July 28, 1864 – During the Civil War, a two-day Federal operation began in the vicinity of Cedar Bluff, Ala.

July 28, 1864 – During the Civil War, fugitive slave laws were abolished.

July 28, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Scatterville, Ark.; with Sioux Indians at Tahkahokuty Mountain in the Dakota Territory; at Lithonia, Flat Rock Bridge, and near Campbellton in Georgia; at Morganza, La.; on the Big Creek in Missouri; and at Long's Mill, near Mulberry Gap, Tenn. An action also occurred at Four Mile Creek, Va.

July 28, 1864 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal operation began between New Berne and Manning’s Neck in North Carolina.

July 28, 1866 – At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream became the first and youngest female artist to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue (of Abraham Lincoln).

July 28, 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.

July 28, 1875 - Hattie Hooker Wilkins, the first woman elected to the Alabama State Legislature, was born in Selma. Wilkins helped found the Selma Suffrage Association in 1910 and served as an officer of the organization. She also was a member of the Alabama Equal Suffrage Association, which was established in 1912 by Pattie Ruffner Jacobs with the purpose of achieving the right to vote for white women in Alabama. Wilkins served as a board member and secretary of the AESA. The AESA disbanded in April 1920, but Wilkins remained politically active. She and other former AESA members organized the Alabama League of Women Voters, and Wilkins served as an officer. In the 1922 election, Wilkins and two other women ran for seats in the Alabama State Legislature, and Wilkins was the only successful candidate. Wilkins remained the only woman elected to the Alabama Legislature until 1937.

July 28, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that Allan McConico of Foshee, Ala. was on a visit to friends in Monroe County, Ala.

July 28, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that Cadet Challie Stevens and Tom Neal of Brewton had spent a few days with relatives and friends in Monroe County, Ala. the previous week.

July 28, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that cholera was playing havoc among the hogs in the northwestern portion of Monroe County, Ala.

July 28, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported baseball was “all the rage with the boys of Mexia now; they play every Saturday afternoon and have developed into very good amateurs.”

July 28, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that, according to The Brewton News, a “negro boy, while attempting to board a moving train at Kirkland one day last week, fell under it, the wheels passing over his body and almost severing it. He lived only a short while.”

July 28, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that, according to The Brewton Standard Gauge, a new organ for the Methodist church was to arrive in a few days.

July 28, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that, according to The Jackson Alabamian, Mr. McLeod had about a dozen men at work on the “college building” at that time. The building was to be “by far the most handsome one of any in the county.” The Alabamian also reported that during the past week, a rattlesnake, measuring five feet and seven inches in length and having 18 rattles, was killed at the ford of Harris’ Creek, near Gum Hill. A rabbit had been swallowed by the snake shortly before the killing.”

July 28, 1905 - Dr. Benjamin F. Riley, the author of Riley’s History of Conecuh County, “spent a few hours with Monroeville (Ala.) friends” on this Friday before his return to Houston, Texas.

July 28, 1906 - V.J. Herlong, the president of the Manistee Mill Co., was in Monroeville on this Saturday on business.

July 28, 1906 - G.W. Broughton had the misfortune to lose his dwelling and part of its contents by fire at Tekoa on this Saturday morning. The fire was discovered about 10 a.m. and was supposed to have originated from a faulty flue.

July 28, 1910 – The remains of prominent Conecuh County citizen and former Confederate officer Pinckney D. Bowles were scheduled to arrive in Evergreen, Ala. on the No. 1 passenger train from Tampa, Fla. Bowles passed away on July 25 at the age of 75 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Cobb, in Tampa, where he’d been several weeks prior to his death. His funeral was scheduled to be held on July 28 at 5 p.m. at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and was to be conducted by the Rev. H.T. Walden, the local Masonic lodge and Confederate veterans.

July 28, 1914 - World War I officially began when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, a culmination of the July Crisis, and one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo.

July 28, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the new brick store belonging to J.F. Williams at Brooklyn, Ala. was nearing completion and would soon be opened. The new store was to be under the management of J.F. Mitchell.

July 28, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the first open boll of cotton was brought into the newspaper office by Ben Quates, who lived near Old Town.

July 28, 1918 – During World War I, U.S. Army Cpl. Sidney Earnest Manning, a 26-year-old native of Butler County. would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions on this day near Breuvannes, France while serving with Co. G, 167^th Infantry, 42^nd Division. According to his Medal of Honor citation, when Manning’s platoon commander and platoon sergeant had both become casualties soon after the beginning of an assault on strongly fortified heights overlooking the Ourcq River, Manning took command of his platoon, which was near the center of the attacking line. Though himself severely wounded, Manning led forward the 35 men remaining in the platoon and finally succeeded in gaining a foothold on the enemy's position, during which time Manning had received more wounds and all but seven of his men had fallen. Directing the consolidation of the position, Manning held off a large body of the enemy only 50 yards away by fire from his automatic rifle. Manning declined to take cover until his line had been entirely consolidated with the line of the platoon on the front when he dragged himself to shelter, suffering from nine wounds in all parts of the body.

July 28, 1918 – During World War I, Army Cpl. Walter Wallace of Garland was killed in action while serving with Co. F, 167^th Infantry, 42^nd Division. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

July 28, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Robert G. McArthur of Brewton was killed in action in France with serving with the 167^th Infantry, 42^nd Division. He was buried in the Fort Crawford Cemetery in East Brewton.

July 28, 1923 – Forest Home (Butler County, Ala.) native Douglas Woolley “Dixie” Parker, age 28, made his Major League debut as a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies against the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis. The Cardinals won, 7-2.

July 28, 1927 – Poet John Ashbery was born in Rochester, N.Y.

July 28, 1929 - The Evergreen Greenies registered a 6-2 win over Florala in Florala on this Sunday afternoon behind the effective pitching of George Gaston. Gaston struck out 13 batters and except for the seventh inning, when the State Liners got both of their runs, was never in serious trouble.

July 28, 1932 – The Monroe Journal reported that, according to the last word received from William Barnett, Nick Hare and David Katz, they were at the Grand Canyon and had recently made a trip into Mexico. They were joined by two other boys, Otho Robinson of Atmore and Jack Dawes of Boston, who planned to make the trip to California with them.

July 28, 1932 – The Monroe Journal reported that A.T. Simmons was planning to open a grocery store in Monroeville, to be located in the Simmons Building. Shelving and fixtures were being installed and as soon as stock had been assembled, Simmons was to give due notice of his opening.

July 28, 1932 – The Monroe Journal reported that James A. Sanders was to be the new postmaster at Beatrice, to take charge of the office in the near future.

July 28, 1938 – In Alabama-Florida Baseball League action, the Evergreen Greenies, behind a strong pitching performance by lefty Joe Cudillo, beat the Andalusia Rams, 4-3, in Andalusia, Ala. This game was originally scheduled to be played in Evergreen, the league’s All-Star game was set to be played in Troy earlier that afternoon, which caused the Evergreen-Andalusia game to be moved to Andalusia, with the Greenies serving as the home team. The local players picked for the All-Star game were to play that afternoon in the All-Star game and then journey to Andalusia that night for the game with the Rams.

July 28, 1938 – Before a record crowd of 2,300 in Troy, the Alabama-Florida Southern All-Stars baseball team beat the Northern All-Stars, 9-3.

July 28, 1938 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Conecuh County’s population had been estimated at 26,105 as of July 1 by the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the State Department of Health.

July 28, 1939 – Prominent merchant, cattle breeder and planter Harris Eugene “Harry” Stillings, 56, passed away at his home at Hybart, Ala. after a heart attack. Born on Jan. 17, 1883 in Alabama, he was buried in the Reaves Chapel Memorial Cemetery in Wilcox County.

July 28, 1940 – Monroeville, Ala. businessman Charles Finklea was scheduled to leave for Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, where he was to buy fall and winter goods for the Finklea & Finklea Store.

July 28, 1940 – Monroeville and Thomasville’s baseball fans were scheduled to play at 3:30 p.m. at the “new High School” in Monroeville, Ala. Digman and Stevens were to pitch for Monroeville, and “Auburn star” Slick Andress and Hill “of the University” were to pitch for Thomasville. They had played six times earlier in the season, and Monroeville had won all but one.

July 28, 1941 – Aug. 2, 1941 - One of the largest troop movements ever to pass through Evergreen, Ala. was seen when the 31st (Dixie) Division, composed of National Guard units from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana passed through the area en route to the maneuvers at Dry Prong, La. The group consisted of about 6,000 trucks and 18,000 men. The total length of each echelon was 66 miles, so that as the last truck was passing through Evergreen each day, the first one was entering Grove Hill.

July 28, 1951 – The Loree Dollies were scheduled to play the Bermuda Bears on this Saturday afternoon at Bermuda. The game was originally scheduled for Sun., July 22, but was rained out.

July 28, 1955 – Evergreen City Clerk G.L. Wilkinson announced that the Evergreen City Council had approved the lease to acquire the parking lot property behind Dr. R.W. Stallworth’s office at the south end of West Front Street in Evergreen, Ala. Evergreen city officials hoped the parking lot would relieve the congested parking downtown on Fridays and Saturdays and create more parking in No Man’s Land.

July 28, 1956 – English explorer Robert Swan was born in Durham, England.

  

July 28, 1958 – Mobile, Alabama’s Milt Bolling made his final appearance in the Major Leagues, taking the field for the final time with the Detroit Tigers.

July 28, 1962 - A movie version of “The Miracle Worker,” a play about the early life of Alabama author Helen Keller, was released.

July 28, 1965 – Workers began putting down the base material on the new Monroe County (Ala.) Airport and expected to have the airport paved and ready for use in about three months.

July 28, 1965 – During the Vietnam War, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

July 28, 1972 - In response to Soviet accusations that the United States had conducted a two-month bombing campaign intentionally to destroy the dikes and dams of the Tonkin Delta in North Vietnam, a CIA report was made public by the Nixon administration.

July 28, 1974 - A shooting in the Johnstonville community early on this Sunday morning resulted in the death of a man, serious wounding of a woman and the arrest of her husband. Artis Wright, 46, was charged with murder and assault to murder and was being held in the county jail. Bond had been set at $10,000 and action waived to the grand jury. According to investigating officers, the shooting took place in Wright’s yard. He told officers that he came home from church around 11 or 11:30 and his wife was not there. He decided to wait up and see “what was going on.” L.J. Walker, 38, drove up into the yard about 2:30 a.m. and in the car with him were Wright’s wife, Roberta, 41, and Luesandy Samuels, Wright opened fire with a .38 pistol and his first shot hit Walker in the head, killing him instantly. The two women jumped out of the car and ran and Wright shot twice more hitting his wife in the back and arm. She was carried to McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton where her condition Wednesday was reported as guarded. The Wrights and Walker all live on Rt. 1, Castleberry. The Samuels woman was from Detroit and was visiting the community.

July 28, 1976 – The Tangshan earthquake, measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude, flattened Tangshan in the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851, making it the deadliest earthquake in modern history. Some in China suspect that the true number of fatalities could be double or triple the number reported by Chinese officials.

July 28, 1978 – The Steiner House in Greenville, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

July 28, 1983 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the following Conecuh County High School cheerleaders were among over 155 junior and senior high school cheerleaders who participated in the 15^th annual Alabama High School Athletic Association Cheerleading Clinic at Troy State University: Sharon Baggett, Tammy Benjamin, Jacqueline Booker, Elizabeth Cantrell, Kim Covin, Tracy Covin, Teresa Jones, Miss Stringer, Robin Weaver, Vicki Weaver and Gloria Wiley. Sponsors Elaine Covin and Margie Kirksey also attended.

July 28, 1983 – The Evergreen Courant reported, under the headline “Incident at City Hall,” that ill feelings between Evergreen Mayor Lee Smith and City Councilman Lomax Cassady that had long simmered came to a boil on the morning of Wed., July 20. After a verbal exchange, the two men swapped blows in the council meeting room at City Hall. The mayor received treatment including stitches on the head and lips at the emergency room of Evergreen Hospital. The councilman also had a “fat lip.” Both men said that they regretted the incident and were embarrassed by their participation in it.

July 28, 1983 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Kenneth Lavon Ausby had taken the oath of office as a policeman with the Evergreen (Ala.) Police Department. The oath was administered by Conecuh County Judge of Probate Frank T. Salter. Taking part were acting Chief of Police James Powell and City Councilman John E. Smith.

July 28, 1983 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Douglas Edward Griffin, 25, of Evergreen, Ala., had been charged with capital murder in the shooting death of Patrick Frank Dale, 27, also of Evergreen, whose decomposed body was found near Camden the week before. Griffin, who was arrested July 22 in Evergreen, was being held in the Dallas County Jail, but was to be tried in Wilcox County. Dale was shot twice in the upper body with a shotgun on July 16, and his body was found in a wooded area just of Alabama 89 in Wilcox County, according to Wilcox County Sheriff Prince Arnold. His 1977 Chrysler was later found in Tuscaloosa.

July 28, 1984 - Katrina Riley, the daughter of Robert and Jackie Riley, won the title of 1985 Conecuh County Junior Miss on this Saturday night.

July 28, 1984 – Stanley Johnson and Harry Crabtree, both from Conecuh County, Ala., teamed up to catch a 21-pound blue catfish on this Saturday in Camden. Johnson was on the reel, and Crabtree used the dip net to land the fish, which was supposedly caught on a bream hook.

July 28, 1989 – Patricia Ann George of Beat One, a member of the Hillcrest High School band, was instantly killed in a one-vehicle accident when it left County Road 29 and crashed into a wooded area about 6:30 a.m. on this Friday. The wrecked automobile was discovered by Conecuh County Chief Deputy Sheriff Leroy Farrell, who lived in the area, as he was driving to work. George was driving the car and was alone. Some authorities believed that she probably fell asleep at the wheel. It was known that she had worked the night shift at a Georgiana 24-hour restaurant. State Trooper Marty Griffin investigated.

July 28, 1990 – Monroeville, Alabama’s first Wal-Mart store, which was located off the Highway 21 Bypass, opened for business with the grand opening to follow on Aug. 1, 1990. The store manager was Helen Wiygul, and the store employed 150 people.

July 28, 1990 – Edward Scott Brown, 16, of Frisco City, Ala. was fatally injured in a one-car accident on this Saturday around 3:30 a.m. at the intersection of I-65 and State Highway 21, about six miles north of Atmore. Brown was traveling north on Highway 21 when he lost control of the 1982 Pontiac Trans Am he was driving, hit the overpass bridge column and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Born on Aug. 12, 1973, he was buried in the Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery.

July 28, 1991 - Dennis Martinez, 36, of the Montreal Expos pitched a perfect game to lead his team to a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the 15th perfect game in Major League history.

July 28, 1993 - Author Harry Middleton died in Hoover, Ala.

July 28, 1994 - Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers pitched the 16th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.

July 28, 1996 – The remains of a prehistoric man were discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains would be known as the Kennewick Man.

July 28, 1997 – This day’s edition of the Miami Herald reported an incident in which six British tourists and their guide, Dan Rowland, saw a Skunk Ape on Turner River Road, just north of Ochopee, Fla. According to Rowland, the unknown ape-like creature was between six and seven feet tall, “flat-faced, broad-shouldered, covered with long brown hair or fur and reeking of a skunk.”

July 28, 1999 – Six historic locations in Clarke County, Ala. were added to the National Register of Historic Places. Those locations included the Bush House at 168 North Church Street in Grove Hill (built in 1912); the Stephen Beech Cleveland House, also known as The Lodge, in Suggsville (built in 1860); the John A. Coate House, located on Dubose Street in Grove Hill (built in 1855); the Cobb House in Grove Hill (built in 1865); the Gainestown Methodist Church and Cemetery in Gainestown; and the Jesse Pickens Pugh Farmstead, a 289-acre homestead near Grove Hill.

July 28, 2011 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 2001 relating to United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq was adopted.

  

July 28, 2014 – “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” premiered on NBC. In this adventure TV series, Grylls took celebrities on a two-day trip in the wilderness. The celebrities who took part in the 6-episode series are Zac Efron, Ben Stiller, Tamron Hall, Deion Sanders, Channing Tatum and Tom Arnold.