Looking Backward 2.7.2013
25 Years Ago
February 4, 1988
Another winter storm attacked the Ozarks this week, bringing freezing rain and sleet Monday night, Tuesday and into Wednesday. Weather forecasters were predicting more freezing rain or snow Wednesday night.
Three Ava residents brought home ribbons from the Mercy Hospital Blizzard or Shine Run Saturday in Mountain Grove. Gary Emrick, Ava, placed third in his age group, 20-29, in the 5K Run. Jacinda Leonard and Rachel Irby, both of Ava placed second and third respectively in the One Mile Walk in the 13 and under age bracket.
Mr. and Mrs. Bud Everett (Sonya) wish to announce the birth of a daughter Bethany Lauren.
The 50th anniversary celebration of Clyde and Maxine Lirley, which was postponed Dec. 27, has been rescheduled to Sunday, Feb. 14, at Red Bank Baptist Church.
The box of Crayola Crayons, sold in 1903, contained eight colors and cost a nickel, says National Geographic World.
Cheerleaders at Skyline R-2 School are Amy Lansdown, Tracy Curtis, Cindy Hicks, Donna Hicks, and Amanda Smith.
FOIL & CLARK –– Here is wishing Mr. Ned Ferrell and Mrs. Eula Ferrell a happy birthday and many more.
COUNTY LINE –– Mr. and Mrs. Arlo Berry visited Gene Pool and children Saturday; it was Gene’s birthday.
On Friday, Jan. 29, Cory Jenkins and his kindergarten classmates at Plainview R-8 enjoyed a birthday party. Saturday, Jan. 30 was Cory’s sixth birthday.
You know you’re getting older if your knees buckle and your belt doesn’t.
FOX CREEK –– Carla Dobbs, who is attending SMU, spent the weekend at home.
50 Years Ago
January 31, 1963
Miss Linda Pettit, 17, Ava High School senior, was named the winner of the vocal division at the 5th annual Springfield Youth Symphony talent auditions held in Springfield Saturday, Jan. 26. She received a $25 award. Miss Pettit, a mezzo-soprano, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Pettit of Ava.
Asbury Burkhead, an attorney in the early history of Ava and Douglas County, was the first lawyer from here who held the position of circuit judge. Mr. Burkhead, the father of Mrs. Lilyan Clinkingbeard of Ava, was elected judge of the 31st judicial district in 1898, took office in January of 1899 and served the six-year term to January 1905. Douglas County is now part of the 38th judicial circuit.
Grocery stock of the Barnes Grocery has been moved during the past two days to a large new building, which is being finished in south Ava by Larkin Barnes. The grocery firm, purchased last month by Barnes from Stanley Brooks of Lebanon, is being moved from a building just west of the northwest corner of the square, which is owned by Ben M. Callaway.
A Wright County man wounded in a double shooting at a rural home near Mountain Grove Monday night remained in serious condition in a Springfield hospital. Prosecutor Al Turner said the father and son, who lived about a mile south of Mountain Grove, were involved in a dispute Monday, and the father asked the Mountain Grove night marshal for assistance in controlling his son. However, when the marshal and a state patrolman went to the home the father said he had changed his mind and did not want his son arrested. The argument flared again at the home shortly after 10 p.m. and the father and son struggled for possession of a pistol, which fired several times. Despite his abdominal wounds, the son drove to Mountain Grove, told his ex-wife that he had been shot, and officers were notified. Prosecutor Turner said he also told his former wife that he had shot and apparently killed his father.
The former building occupied for many years by the First Baptist Church of Ava, a block west of the high school building, has been purchased by the Ava Missionary Baptist Church.
Another cold wave hit the Ozarks and much of the remainder of the nation early this week, and another below-zero thermometer reading was recorded here Monday morning. The two-below was the seventh time this winter that the mercury has fallen under the zero mark.
It’s a toss up which are the most pathetic –– has beens, or going-to-be’s.
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Ellison (Corrine Beason) of Ava announce the birth of a son at 5:30 o’clock Friday afternoon, Jan. 25, in St. John’s Hospital, Springfield.
Miss Mary Jo Lakey, Southwest Missouri State College coed, has been elected 1963 Barnwarming Queen at SMS.
75 Years Ago
February 3, 1938
Prosecuting Attorney Willis H. Mitchell and other county officials this morning were in a quandary as to what course of action to pursue to bring to light any further information concerning the death of George Johnson, 44, of Roosevelt. Analysis of the man’s stomach disclosed that it contained arsenic, a poison. Lack of clues or evidence on which to base an investigation has had officials stumped. They would like to clear up the case but to do so would be a big expense to the county and the county’s budget for this year is already strained, according to County Clerk W.F. Givans. The cost of an inquest, according to Coroner Clarence Clinkingbeard, would be at least $50 and probably more. However, there is no evidence that anyone might have used the arsenic to do away with Johnson and no motive for such a deed can be found, according to the prosecutor.
The temperature here dropped to a new low point Monday morning according to records of the local office of the Forest Service. At 8 o’clock Monday morning the mercury went to 6 degrees above zero, the coldest reading recorded by the Forest Service this winter.
S.M. Moore and Mrs. Gertie Hitchcock of Cross Roads were married Wednesday at the home of the officiating minister, the Rev. D.A. Honeycutt, here.
Mr. and Mrs. Gorman Dye and family who have been living on a farm near Almartha, have returned to town and will operate the Kirk Hotel for Mr. Dye’s mother, Mrs. Sarah Kirk. Mrs. Kirk plans to remain in the hotel but will rest for a while. Mr. and Mrs. Dye took possession of the hotel late last week.
John Fawcett, manager of the local Carnation Company milk receiving station, was elected vice chairman of the Ozarks Parish of the Missouri Jersey Cattle club, in a meeting at Marshfield Thursday of last week.
Ava will soon have a modern dress shop for ladies – watch for announcement of opening of the Polly Prim Shop.
Sheriff Lincoln M. Barnes, deputy Lester Eslick and Constable Harrison Hughes of Sparta were driving along a country road in the vicinity of the Norman Sturdefant Store in the northwest corner of the county early Friday night when they were stopped by a car standing in the middle of the road. Occupants of the car, five men all apparently more or less under the influence of alcohol, were out fixing a flat tire.
Dan Bushman and Charley Spurlock who have occupied the George Johnson building on the south side of the square vacated this location Monday. Mr. Bushman moved his shoe store and shop into the building with the Davenport Barber Shop and Mr. Spurlock moved his barbershop to the Ava Hotel. Mr. Johnson plans to remodel his building and it will be occupied by another business concern in the near future.
ROCKBRIDGE –– Three more weeks of school here. Attendance is rather low at present owning to so many of the children having whooping cough.
100 Years Ago
February 13, 1913
The “drys” have a majority in the Missouri legislature and some very good measures are being considered. There is one thing about Representative Haskins and our friend Kyle, their votes in a test are recorded with the “drys” and for law, order and good government.
DENLOW – Casper Pennington handed his friends a surprise package last Sunday when he returned from Joplin with a bride.
Paul Fletcher, local agent of the Waters Pierce Oil Co. is erecting an oil warehouse on his property near the depot.
Tom Kay has moved into the property he recently purchased of T.E. Glass in the northeast part of town.
I want to know the man’s name that brought a woman and child to Marshfield, Mo. Aug. 18, 1878, and left them at the courthouse late in the evening. The woman gave her name as Nancy Killman, wife of Jacob Killman. Any information of the man or woman will be appreciated. C.S. Robertson, Marshfield, Mo.
Hamburg-American Cruise Line Cruises to the Panama Canal and West Indies, 2 cruises from New Orleans by the S.S. Kronprinzessin Cecilia leaving Jan. 23 – Feb. 10. The ideal route for tourists from Western States, 16 days – $125 and up and 8 cruises leaving New York.
GIRDNER JOTTINGS – Small Pox patients are now out of danger.
STONEY POINT –– It’s a brand new baby girl at Dee Burkes. All concerned doing fairly well. Dee is as happy as a June bug in a peach tree, ready to greet you with an extra hearty “Hello.”
GOODHOPE NOTES –– The snow that fell last Saturday and Sunday nights was hailed with delight by the Good Hope rabbit hunters.
Mr. Avery Gunnels has made the purchase of a buggy the last few days.
Van Emsick seems to be the champion Flinch payer of town.
It is to be deplored that there are yet a few in town that want to fight every proposition for improvement that comes before the people. Other sections of the country are building up and making good roads, while we haven’t a foot of road in the county, and if some people could have their way, we never would.
Barnyard Hygiene. A little Babbitt’s Pure Lye or Potash and a lot of water applied to hen coops nests and roosts, eradicates vermin. Used on stable floors, mangers and feeding boxes, it keeps disease germs away from horses and cattle. Be sure to get Babbitt’s, the can of a hundred uses. Highest in Strength, but not in Price. Only 10¢. B.T. Babbitt, New York City.
125 Years Ago
February 10, 1888
Quite a number of papers state that a new society called the “Wheel” is being organized among the farmers in Southwest Missouri. They explain that the Wheel is an organization which claims as its intentions the uniting of farmers and the breaking down of monopolies. They do this by, as they claim, compelling merchants to sell to all members of the Wheel at 10 percent above cost price, and in case a merchant refuses the proposition, they will put a store of their own and furnish the members all goods at actual wholesale cost. The organization is said to be making rapid progress in Mississippi, Scott and Cape Girardeau counties.
Recent figures show that the industrial growth of the south during the first half of 1887 was far greater than ever before.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark., Feb. 7. –– A call for law and order meeting drew about one hundred citizens to the Courthouse last night. The principal object of the step was to devise a method to secure the vigorous enforcement of prohibition in this city.
Baltimore has many well-to-do Negroes among its citizens. There are nineteen whose aggregate wealth is $300,000. Of these, Joseph Thomas, a boss stevedore, is worth $80,000, and James L. Bradford, a grocer, is quoted as worth $40,000. James A. Trotter, the Massachusetts gentleman of color who is now recorder for the District of Columbia, is making a small fortune in Washington. He received a $1.50 for every deed he records, and has sometimes taken in $125 in one day. It is not strange he should wear a silk hat and terra-cotta gloves.
Miss Emily Eleanor Woodward, aged 20 years, of Greenwich, England, died recently from tight lacing. She had eaten a hearty supper, and hurriedly dressed herself to go out. The pressure around the waist, combined with overexertion, caused death.
A German is reported to have invented a paper that resists the action of both fire and water. Asbestos, aluminum sulphate, chloride of zinc, and resin soap are the ingredients. Paper is now used in the shape of compressed blocks for the building of the sides of chimneys.
A Colored woman, the wife of Willis Ellis of Albany, Ga., gave birth the other day to twin boys. They are said to have weighed the enormous amount of thirty-seven pounds, one turning the scales at twenty pounds, the other at seventeen, the heaviest babes ever known. Mother and children are doing well.
Born to D.S. Frazier on the 6th inst., three fine girl babies all alive and doing well. Also, on the same day, born to James Frazier, a bouncing baby. It seems like the old man proved the best, as he came to see him and raised him two better. Hurrah for the old man, this is the life of the game poker. Never be bluffed.
The population of the United States is now estimated at 61,000,000.
