Today in History for July 26, 2014

Troy David Jenkins

July 26, 1775 - The U.S. postal system was established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general.

July 26, 1862 - Skirmish occurred at Spangler’s Mill, near Jonesborough, Ala.

July 26, 1863 - Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his men are captured at Salineville, Ohio, during a spectacular raid on the North.

July 26, 1864 – Confederate Major General Dabney H. Maury was assigned command of the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, headquartered in Mobile, Ala.

July 26, 1914 – The L&N Railroad began running a new train between Georgiana and Flomaton, where it connected with regular trains running to Mobile and Pensacola. The new train left Georgiana at 6 a.m. with the trains departing from Mobile and Pensacola at 4 p.m. This allowed patrons to transact business in Mobile and Pensacola or at any point along the line and return home the same day.

July 26, 1918 – During World War I,  Army Cpl. James E. Hendrix of Roy (Frisco City), Army Pvt. Horace Rigsby of Georgiana and Army Pvt. William T. Cheatham of Greenville were killed in action. Also on this day, Army Pvt. James Boggan of Atmore “died from wounds” during World War I.

July 26, 1921 – Humorist Jean Shepherd was born in Chicago, Ill. The 1983 movie, “A Christmas Story,” is based on his 1967 book, “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.”

July 26, 1951 – During the Korean War, Army PFC Isaac Lee Jr. of Monroe County was killed in action.

July 26, 1952 - Alabama Senator John Sparkman was named the Democratic vice-presidential running mate with Adlai Stevenson. Sparkman was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama in 1936 and served in that body until 1946 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1979. The Democratic ticket lost the election to Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

July 26, 1959 - Alabama author Rick Bragg was born in Piedmont, Ala.

July 26, 1962 – Lewis Ramsey, head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Evergreen High School, resigned to accept head coaching position at Brookwood High School in Tuscaloosa.

July 26, 1977 – Troy David Jenkins was born in Phoenix, Az. Jenkins grew up in Evergreen, Ala., graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1995, and was fatally wounded in April 2003 while serving in Iraq.