Wednesday, August 9, 2023

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for Aug. 9, 2023

16 YEARS AGO
AUG. 9, 2007

Evergreen weather observer Harry Ellis reported .38 inches of rain on July 31. He reported a high of 97 degrees on Aug. 4 and lows of 72 degrees on July 31, Aug. 2 and Aug. 3. Total rainfall for the month of July 2007 was 6.64 inches.

Conecuh County High School approaches 100th anniversary: This week marks 100 years since the passage of a state law that paved the way for Conecuh County High School in Castleberry.
According to local historian William Baggett of Castleberry, the Rural School House Law was passed by the Alabama General Assembly on Aug. 7, 1907. The law paved the way for the establishment of at least one high school in each of the state’s 67 counties.
“The hard work of many men and women in the Castleberry area was rewarded when the State of Alabama located the Conecuh County High School in Castleberry,” Baggett told The Courant last Thursday. “This was due in large part to the tireless labor of Elisha Downing Jr., who was Mayor of Castleberry, and Lenna Harold Downing, his wife and principal of Castleberry Elementary School.”
Conecuh County High School, a two-story building, was constructed in 1908 by Jesse Pinckney Baggett. That building was located across Cleveland Avenue from the present-day location of the Conecuh County Junior High School.
Classes first began at Conecuh County High School on Sept. 21, 1909 and a total of 54 students, in grades 7-11, attended the school during the 1909-1910 school year.

41 YEARS AGO
AUG. 12, 1982

Evergreen weather observer Earl Windham reported 0.07 inches of rain on Aug. 2, 0.13 inches on Aug. 7 ad 0.07 inches on Aug. 8. He reported a high of 92 degrees on Aug. 6 and lows of 67 degrees on Aug. 4 and Aug. 7.

Mrs. Annie Roan Price, 87, much beloved resident of 105 Stanley Street, Evergreen, died Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 10, in a local hospital.
Mrs. Price was the widow of the late L.W. Price Sr., former Judge of Probate of Conecuh County. She was born in 1894 in Thomasville and she and Judge Price moved to Conecuh County in 1920, living in Sparta for a few years and the rest of the time in Evergreen.
She was a charter member of the Evergreen Study Club and instrumental in founding the Evergreen Public Library, now the Evergreen-Conecuh County Public Library.

There have been three confirmed cases of rabies in Conecuh County within the last 10 months. Two of these cases were raccoons and the latest case was a bat. All three cases were from widely separated areas of the county.

Airman Herbert L. Dukes, son of Alonzo L. and Jessie M. Dukes of Rt. 3, Repton, Ala., has been assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, after completing Air Force basic training. He is a 1980 graduate of Repton High School.

66 YEARS AGO
AUG. 8, 1957

Belleville Post Office Is Closed On July 31: The Belleville Post Office was closed permanently on July 31, and former patrons are being served now on rural routes.
Patrons of the Post Office are now getting their mail on one of three routes: Castleberry Rte. 1, Evergreen Rte. E or Repton Rte. E.
A Post Office spokesman said the office at Belleville was closed as part of the economy drive. It has been the policy of the department to close the smaller post offices without a permanent postmaster. Mrs. W.C. Booker was an acting postmaster.

Conecuh County’s first bale of 1957 cotton was ginned in Evergreen Saturday and auctioned off the same day for the premium price of 52 cents per pound. The honor of producing the first bale of cotton went to Herbert Ellis of Evergreen, Rte. 1.
The bale was ginned at the Evergreen Gin, and shortly after, taken to the corner of West Front and Rural Streets where it was put up for auction.

The local National Guard Unit, Battery C, 117th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Infantry (Dixie) Division, returned Sunday from two weeks summer camp at Camp Shelby, Miss.
Capt. J. Randy Moorer, Commanding Officer, described the training as the best by the unit since he has been a member.
Making the trip were 54 men, three officers and one warrant officer.
A part of the second week was spent in the field under tactical conditions, with emphasis on firing the 105-mm howitzer, which is the primary mission of Battery C. On Friday, the unit participated in the 31st Division artillery parade.

91 YEARS AGO
AUG. 11, 1932

Bank of Evergreen To Open About Sept. 1: Arrangements have been completed for the opening of a new bank in Evergreen on or about Sept. 1, the exact date to be announced in a later issue. W.M. Newton, principal stockholder, will be its president; W.K. Horton, vice-president; and O.C. McGehee, cashier. The bank will commence business with a paid in capital of $25,000 and a surplus of $5,000. It will operate under the name, “Bank of Evergreen.”

J.D. Wright Appointed Treasurer Conecuh County: At a recent meeting of the Board of Revenue of Conecuh County, J.D. Wright was appointed County Treasurer. He promptly made the necessary bond and entered up his duties.

Two Evergreen Principals Receive Masters Degree: During the recent Summer session at Auburn, Prof. Paul Fisher, principal of the State Secondary Agricultural School and Prof. W.P. McMillan, principal of the Evergreen City School each received the degree of Master of Science from the graduate department of that institution.
These two educators have headed the two schools of Evergreen for the past several years, Prof. McMillan having completed his sixth year at the City School last spring and Prof. Fisher his fifth year at the Agricultural School.

AMERICAN LEGION MEETING: Regular meeting of Alma Martin Post No. 50 of the American Legion will meet at the courthouse Friday night, Aug. 12, eight o’clock. New officers will be installed.

116 YEARS AGO
AUG. 14, 1907

The 15th annual session of the Agricultural school will open on Mon., Sept. 2. The school will be presided over by Prof. W.W. Hall with the following corps of assistants: Prof. W.G. Slappey, Latin and mathematics; Miss Susie Carmichael, English and history; Miss Vida Mae Jones, principal preparatory department; Miss Irene Chapman, assistant in preparatory department; Miss Kate Colyer, principal primary department; Miss Carrie Clindenen, assistant in primary department; Prof. R.E. Black, director music department.
The chair of Agriculture and allied sciences has not been filled as yet but will be by the opening of school.
The matriculation fee for each term will be $4 for primary and $6 for collegiate department.

Dave Lee, John Barnett and Lillie Aarons, who were arrested in Pine Barren, Fla. about two weeks ago by Sheriff J.F. Irwin and who were suspected of the murder of Jim Bullock, which occurred near Gravella last March, were given a preliminary hearing before Judge F.J. Dean Friday and were released from custody.
Dave Lee and John Barnett proved that they were in Pine Barren at the time the crime was committed. Jane Barnett, wife of John Barnett, who was arrested shortly after the murder of Bullock, and who was also shortly afterwards released and again re-arrested, was bound over to await the action of the grand jury without bail.
The testimony of some witnesses showed that she knew something about the crime.

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