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| The Wilcox Hotel on Broad Street in Camden, Ala. |
On the front page of the April 7, 1921 edition of The Wilcox
Progressive Era, publisher Stanley Clifford Godbold reported that “in one of
the best games ever witnessed on the local diamond, the Camden High team won
from Monroeville by the score of three to two. Albritton for Camden pitched a
swell game, striking out 10 of the Monroeville players and fielded his position
in good style. He was ably supported by the rest of the team.”
In the April 14, 1921 edition of The Progressive Era,
under the headline “The Ross Home Burned,” it was reported that “last Saturday
morning about seven o’clock, while the family were breakfasting, fire was
discovered on the roof of the Mrs. Mary Ross home in Canton Bend, caused from a
spark falling on the roof, and the home, a six-room building, was totally
destroyed. Mrs. Ross died a few weeks since, and the home was occupied by her
son, Butch Ross, and sister and Miss Ratcliff. Almost all of the furniture and
many household articles, the family silverware brought from Scotland, and
several hundred dollars, were burned. The building and destroyed contents are
valued at about $4,000 and it is said, the insurance was only $1,500.”
On the front page of the April 21, 1921 edition of the
newspaper, under the headline “COMMERCIAL CLUB BANQUET,” it was announced that
a “fellowship feast will be held at the Wilcox Hotel on Mon., May 2, by the
Commercial Club of Camden. Preparations are being made for at least 60. It is
hoped by this means to stimulate more enthusiasm and closer cooperation of the
business and professional men of Camden. The committee to look after the
preparations is made up as follows: S.C. Godbold, J.M. Bonner, R.L. Hawthorne,
O.C. Weaver and J.A. McClurkin.”
On the front page of the April 28, 1921 edition of the
paper, under the headline “THE BOY SCOUTS,” it was reported that “last Saturday
afternoon a number of the Camden boy scouts, enjoyed a ‘Hike’ of several miles
into the Grampian hills. They left at 2 p.m., rambled in the woods, enjoyed the
delights of the fields, ate black berries and cooked their supper. One of the
boys got sick, and soldier style, they made a stretcher, and brought their sick
scout on in, to his home. They were officered by Prof. Webb, scoutmaster. Those
in the hike were Joe Bonner, John Spurlin, Tas Baggett, Edwin Riggs, Henry
Moss, Claude Felts, James Miller, Simon Miller, Hurtis Daniels, John Hybart and
Jessie McLeod.”
Well, I guess that’s all that space will allow for this
month. On the first Wednesday of next month, I plan to take a look at the
events of May 1921 in Wilcox County. Until then, if you get the urge to
research the county’s past yourself, take advantage of the Alabama Department
of Archives and History’s excellent selection of old newspapers on microfilm
and other resources. Their friendly and courteous staff will be more than happy
to get you started.
(Got a comment or question? E-mail Lee Peacock at
leepeacock2002@hotmail.com.)
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