Today in History for July 7, 2018

Reginald H. Dawson

July 7, 1520 – Spanish conquistadores defeated larger Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba.

July 7, 1534 – During the European colonization of the Americas, the first known exchange between Europeans and natives of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in New Brunswick occurred.

July 7, 1777 – During the American Revolutionary War, American forces retreating from Fort Ticonderoga were defeated by the British in the Battle of Hubbardton, the only Revolutionary War battle to be fought in Vermont.

July 7, 1817 – Walter H. Crenshaw was born at Abbeville Court House, S.C., the eldest son of Judge Anderson Crenshaw, who moved with his family to Butler County, Ala. in 1821. He served as a state representative, Speaker of the State House, state senator, President of the State Senate, officer in the state militia, and Butler County Criminal Court Judge.

July 7, 1834 – In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began.

July 7, 1846 – During the Mexican–American War, American troops occupied Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the U.S. acquisition of California. The U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison there.

July 7, 1852 – According to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, Dr. John H. Watson, Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, was born on this day.

July 7, 1860 – Musical conductor and composer Gustav Mahler was born in Kaliště, Bohemia.

July 7, 1861 – Genetics pioneer Nettie Stevens was born in Cavendish, Vermont.

July 7, 1861 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Great Falls, Virginia; and at Belington, Glenville and Laurel Hill in West Virginia.

July 7, 1861 – The Alabama River Rangers boarded the steamer Coquette at Bridgeport Landing and later that month became one of ten companies which formed the 13^th Alabama Infantry Regiment. Reginald H. Dawson was elected captain of the Alabama River Rangers at the time of its organization.

July 7, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Bayou Caches, Bayou de View, Round Hill and Devall’s Bluff in Arkansas and at Inman Hollow and Newark in Missouri.

July 7, 1862 – During the Civil War, a five-day Federal operation began in the Cumberland Gap area of Tennessee.

July 7, 1862 – During the Civil War, a 10-day Federal operation began in the Aransas Pass region of Texas, and a three-day Federal reconnaissance from Yorktown, Virginia began.

July 7-11, 1862 – 59^TH ALABAMA: The 59^th Alabama was involved in operations at Cumberland, Ga.

July 7, 1863 – The United States began its first military draft. Exemptions cost $300.

July 7, 1863 – Union Lt. Colonel Christopher "Kit" Carson, perhaps the most famous trapper and guide in the West, left Santa Fe with his troops and started his campaign against the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona. A famed mountain man before the Civil War, Carson was responsible for waging a destructive war against the Navajo that resulted in their removal from the Four Corners area to southeastern New Mexico.

July 7, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought with Indians at Grand Pass in the Idaho Territory; near Cumming’s Ferry and at Shepherdsville in Kentucky; at Funkstown and Harper’s Ferry, Downsville in Maryland; near Baker’s Creek, Iuka, and Queen’s Hill and at Ripley in Mississippi; and near Dry Woods, Missouri.

July 7, 1863 – During the Civil War, the Federal reoccupation of Maryland Heights, Maryland began. President Lincoln was upset that Union Major General George G. Meade would not strike a blow against the retreating Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

July 7, 1863 – During the Civil War, Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee was setting up camp around Chattanooga, Tenn. after losing most of the state to Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland.

July 7, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Van Buren, Arkansas; at Adairsville, Dark Corners, Vining’s Station, and Summerville in Georgia; at Brownville, Frederick, Middletown, and at Solomon’s Gap in Maryland; near Ripley, Mississippi; at Parkville, Missouri; and on Johns’ Island, South Carolina.

July 7, 1864 – During the Civil War, an 11-day Federal operation began between Kingston and England Cove in Tennessee.

July 7, 1864 – During the Civil War, Federal raids took placed at Brookville and Bayport in Florida.

July 7, 1864 – During the Civil War, the 3rd Division, 6th U.S. Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, arrived at Baltimore, Maryland, from its positions in front of Petersburg, Virginia to aid in the defense of Washington, D.C.

July 7, 1865 – During the American Civil War, four conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were hanged.

July 7, 1865 – Randolph County, Ala. native Lewis Powell, convicted of repeatedly stabbing Secretary of State William H. Seward in a failed attempt to kill him, was hanged alongside convicted Abraham Lincoln assassination conspirators Mary Surratt, David Herold and George Atzerodt.

July 7, 1865 - Mary Surratt was executed by the U.S. government for her role as a conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Many expected President Andrew Johnson to pardon Surratt because the U.S. government had never hanged a woman. Ever since her death, numerous sightings of Mary Surratt’s ghost and other strange occurrences have been reported around Fort McNair. A hooded figure in black, bound at the hands and feet as Surratt had been at the time of her execution, has allegedly been seen moving about. Several children of soldiers have reported a “lady in black” who plays with them.

July 7, 1882 – War of 1812 veteran John Green died at the age of 92. Born on March 8, 1790, he was buried in the John Green Cemetery near Burnt Corn in Conecuh County.

July 7, 1887 – Artist Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia.

July 7, 1896 - The Knights of Pythias had a pubic installation of officers at Tinella. The weather was so bad that only a few people attended, according to The Monroe Journal.

July 7, 1898 – U.S. President William McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.

July 7, 1900 – Warren Earp, the youngest of the famous clan of gun fighting brothers, was shot and killed by John Boyett in a gunfight at the Headquarters Salone in Willcox, Az. Later, Boyett was tried for murder and found innocent on the grounds that he had acted in self-defense

July 7, 1906 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige was born in Mobile, Ala. He would go on to play for the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Browns and the Kansas City Athletics. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

July 7, 1906 - Enon Lodge planned to have a public installation of Masonic officers on this Saturday, and all sister lodgers were invited to attend. The Lodge planned to have Dr. R.M. Cunningham to be with them on the occasion.

July 7, 1906 - W.H. Tucker, postmaster and merchant at Jones Mill, visited Monroeville on this Saturday.

July 7, 1906 - Fred L. Hancock, the murderer of Prof. Jesse Troutman, who escaped from jail in May 1906 and was recaptured in Kansas City, committed suicide in his cell in the Brewton jail on this Saturday night by swallowing an ounce of carbolic acid. He left a note in which he said “he was going to a place where he would receive a just trial, where only the truth was told and where he would not be tried by prejudiced people.”

July 7, 1907 – Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein was born in Butler, Mo.

July 7, 1909 – An intruder entered the home of F.M. Rountree in Conecuh County, Ala. and was shot, but the intruder got away.

July 7, 1912 – Jim Thorpe, a former two-time college football All-American, won the pentathlon at the fifth modern Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.

July 7, 1915 – Author and poet Margaret Walker was born in Birmingham, Ala. Her mother’s relatives lived in Greenville, Ala. and she set a portion of her 1966 novel, “Jubilee,” in Greenville. Walker is best known for her collections of poetry and her novel, “Jubilee,” which is based on her maternal grandmother's memories of slavery. Walker taught for many years at Jackson State University in Mississippi and she died in 1998.

July 7, 1915 – Mrs. J.G. Barrow suffered a broken collarbone during an automobile accident on this Thursday evening on Cary Street in Evergreen, Ala. She was in the car with her daughter, Mrs. Buford Powell, when their vehicle’s brakes failed going up the street’s steep incline, went down the embankment and overturned. No one else was injured, but the vehicle’s windshield was “demolished.”

July 7, 1916 – Congressman Thomas J. Heflin was expected to speak at a United Daughters of the Confederacy Independence Day celebration at Perdue Hill on this day. As it was not possible for Heflin to be with them on any other date, the UDC “gladly postponed our celebration of the Fourth three days in order to have such a distinguished guest.” They planned to have “an all-day picnic, a pleasing program, music, dancing, a parcel post auction and lots of good things to eat at reasonable prices,” according to The Monroe Journal.

July 7, 1917 - British Army Council Instruction Number 1069 formally established the British Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), authorizing female volunteers to serve alongside their male counterparts in France during World War I.

July 7, 1928 – The Evergreen Motor Car Co. was scheduled to officially open in its new location inside “the pretty new building recently completed on Rural Street.” All seven models of the New Ford Car were to be on display on this day, several of which have not been shown in Evergreen, Ala. before.

July 7, 1930 – Congress approved the funds to build the Hoover Dam.

July 7, 1930 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, died at the age of 71 in Crowborough, Sussex, England.

July 7, 1933 – Journalist and novelist John Logue was born in Bay Minette, Ala. and he grew up in Pine Apple, Greensboro, Evergreen and Auburn. He went on to play basketball at Auburn University and graduated in 1955 with degrees in journalist, English and history.

July 7, 1933 – Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author David McCullough was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.

July 7, 1937 - During the All-Star Game, Earl Averill hit a line drive that broke one of Dizzy Dean's toes.

July 7, 1939 – The children and relatives of John Cunningham Sr. celebrated his 90th birthday with a barbecue at the Evergreen Country Club. A native of Monroe County, who was born near Tunnel Springs, was the oldest living alumnus of Mobile’s Spring Hill College in 1939.

July 7, 1939 – Perry Hudson of McKenzie, while swimming in Pigeon Creek above Davis Dam on this Friday afternoon, got too close to the dam and was carried over, striking on the rocks below the dam with such force that he was instantly killed.

July 7 1939 – National Baseball Hall of Fame catcher and third baseman Deacon White died at the age of 91 in St. Charles Township, Ill. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013.

July 7, 1940 – Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was born Richard Starkey in Liverpool, England.

July 7, 1947 – The Roswell Incident, the (supposed) crash of an alien spaceship, occurred near Roswell in New Mexico.

July 7, 1948 - Photos of an alleged alien, nicknamed 'Tomato Man,' were taken at a UFO crash site in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.

July 7, 1948 – Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck bought Satchel Paige’s contract on Paige’s 42nd birthday, and Paige made his Major League debut two days later, entering in the fifth inning against the St. Louis Browns with the Indians trailing, 4-1. Paige gave up two singles in two innings, striking one man out and inducing one batter to hit into a double play. The Indians lost the game, 5-3, in spite of Paige’s contribution.

July 7, 1948 - Officials of the Brewton Millers entry in the professional Class D Alabama State League planned to hold an “Evergreen Night” on this Wednesday and planned to reserve around half of the seats for Evergreen fans. Businessmen in Brewton and Evergreen had purchased several hundred tickets to the game and were to distribute them in Evergreen. Half the grandstand and half the bleachers were to be roped off for Evergreen fans and a large attendance was expected to represent the city. The Millers were to play the Greenville Pirates in the game that was to feature the events of “Evergreen Night.” Game time was set for 7:30 p.m.

July 7, 1953 - The Dodgers set a major league record when they got a home run in their 24th consecutive game.

July 7, 1955 - Officials in China and Hanoi announced that Beijing would extend 800 million yuan (about $200 million) in economic aid to Hanoi.

July 7, 1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into law.

July 7, 1963 - The Evergreen National Guard unit was scheduled to leave from Fort Dave Lewis on this Sunday morning for two weeks annual summer camp at Fort McClellan, Anniston. A total of 46 men, 43 enlisted men and three officers, were expected to take part in the camp. The unit was comprised of three platoons of the 131st Quartermaster Co. (Petroleum Distribution). The other units were located at Jackson. 1st. Lt. Elbert Williams was company commander. Other officers were 1st Lt. Marcus O’Gwynn and Chief Warrant Officer Hunter Hines. Williams stated that a number of other guard units would be moving through the area on this Sunday on their way to camp.

July 7, 1964 - Shea Stadium hosted it's first and only All-Star game.

July 7, 1964 - Gen. Maxwell Taylor, the new ambassador to South Vietnam, arrived in Saigon.

July 7, 1966 – The Monroe Journal reported that the “Old Courthouse Dilemma” remained, even after a poll of the county commission. Built in 1903, the courthouse, according to a recent survey of an engineering firm, was still safe for use. But the question was, should the old courthouse be allowed to remain in its present condition, detracting from the new courthouse which was completed in September 1963 at a cost of $600,000. After all occupants of the old courthouse were moved into the new courthouse some 50 yards away, new occupants moved into the old courthouse. A poll of the commissioners on whether the old courthouse should be torn down, left as is, or remodeled, showed a divided opinion of the members and still no definite plans on the old courthouse’s fate. Two of the members, M.L. Pearce and David M. Nettles, said they thought the courthouse should be torn down “if,” one, Fonde Williams of Finchburg, was in favor of leaving the courthouse and remodeling it, another, Jerry Steele of Beatrice, said he would have to know more about the economical value either way while another board member was non-committal.

July 7, 1966 – The Monroe Journal reported that Sgt. Harry Ikner, who served with the First Brigade, 100^th Airborne Division in Vietnam, had recently returned to the states. His wife, Sue, his daughter, Kris, and son, Harry Jr., visited with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ira L. Ikner, for 15 days before reporting for duty at Fort Bragg, N.C.

July 7, 1969 - A battalion of the U.S. 9th Infantry Division left Saigon in the initial withdrawal of U.S. troops, the first of 25,000 troops that were withdrawn in the first stage of the U.S. disengagement from the war.

July 7, 1970 – Marine Lance Cpl. David Marshall Haveard, 22, of Brewton, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam. Born on April 23, 1948, he was buried in the Green Acres Memorial Park in Brewton.

July 7, 1963 – Edgar Award-winning author Tom Franklin was born in Clarke County, Ala. Raised in Dickinson, he won an Edgar for Best Short Story in 1999 for “Poachers.” His novel, “Hell at the Breech,” a fictionalized version of the Mitcham War of Clarke County, Ala., was published in 2003.

July 7, 1975 - A Milton, Fla. woman lost her life in an accident on this Monday morning at about 11:30 on Interstate Highway 65, some 7-1/2 miles north of Evergreen, Ala. Norma H. Redmond, 42, of Rt. 5, Milton, was killed and her husband and son were injured in the crash. The Redmonds were traveling north in a pickup pulling a camper trailer behind them when a tire blew out and control of the vehicle was lost. The truck and camper left the highway and overturned in the median. State Trooper John E. Hooper investigated the accident.

July 7, 1977 – The Evergreen Courant reported that J.W. Coburn of Evergreen and his ‘No. 6’ had been seen regularly in the winner’s circle on the dirt tracks of the area for several years now. J.W. drove and won often at the Flomaton Speedway.

July 7, 1977 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Donnie Reed, a 170-pound junior athlete, won the first Repton High School Athlete of the Year Award recently at the Conecuh County school. The award was to be given each year as the result of a point system each athlete was graded by. Reed had the jump on all the other Repton athletes by competing in all five sports at the school. He quarterbacked the varsity football team, was a guard on the basketball B team, played shortstop on the baseball team, ran the 220 in track and was a member of the school’s first wrestling team. Reed, son of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Reed of Repton, directed the school’s football team to the most successful season ever. Over the past two years, under his quarterbacking, Repton has had a 14-2 record. Described by Repton Coach Hugh Wilson as a good passer and runner, he accounted for over 190 yards of offense in the spring jamboree.

July 7, 1977 - Weather observer Earl Windham reported a high of 100 degrees on this day in Evergreen.

July 7, 1980 – The Reeves Chapel Methodist Church and Cemetery near Camden, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

July 7, 1981 – American mystic and activist Peace Pilgrim died at the age of 72 in Knox, Indiana. On Jan. 26, 1956, The Evergreen Courant reported that Peace Pilgrim, who had walked over 7,600 miles on her pilgrimage for peace, passed through Evergreen over the weekend on her way to Montgomery. Peace Pilgrim began her 100-mile walk in Alabama at Castleberry, walking into Evergreen after dark. She spent the night at the bus station, The Rebel, and began her long trek about 7 a.m. the next morning. On Sun., Jan. 22, about 3:30 p.m., she was seen a few miles above Georgiana, and several people reported having seen her Mon., Jan. 23, the last in the afternoon, about two miles above the junction of the Ft. Deposit road and the new highway, at Priester’s.

July 7, 1984 – Weather reporter Earl Windham recorded 1.11 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala.

July 7, 1987 - Alabama author Sara Henderson Hay died in Pittsburgh, Pa.

July 7, 1988 – The Evergreen Courant reported that new Evergreen High School head football coach Hugh Fountain was asking all boys interested in playing junior varsity and varsity football to meet with him every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the field house.

July 7, 1988 – The Evergreen Courant reported that former Executive Vice President Bill Johnson had been appointed President of Poole Truck Line, Inc. The appointment was announced by John Bowron, President of NEOAX’s I.U. International Truckload Group, Poole’s parent company.

July 7, 1997 – The Turkish Armed Forces withdrew from northern Iraq after assisting the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War.

July 2, 2000 - Amazon.com announced that they had sold almost 400,000 copies of "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire," making it the biggest selling book in e-tailing history.

July 7, 2005 – New Hope Baptist Church in Natchez, Ala. was added to National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

July 7, 2009 – Evergreen UFO witness Eva “Swan Turner” Maraman died at the age of 67 in Mobile. Born on July 10, 1941 in Butler County, Ala., she is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Georgiana.

July 7, 2011 – National Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder, third baseman and manager Dick Williams passed away at the age of 82 in Las Vegas, Nev. During his career, he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Athletics and the Boston Red Sox, and he went on to manage the Red Sox, the Oakland Athletics, the California Angels, the Montreal Expos, the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.