Today in History for Sept. 29, 2014

Jefferson Columbus Davis

Sept. 29, 1862 - In Louisville, Ky., Union General Jefferson Columbus Davis mortally wounded his commanding officer, General William Nelson. Nelson had slapped Davis during a quarrel in a hotel lobby. Davis chased Nelson upstairs and shot him. Davis was never court-martialed.

Sept. 29, 1864 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant attacked forces under Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of New Market Heights (Chaffin's Farm/Fort Harrison). The attempt failed.

Sept. 29, 1864 – J.W. Daniels of the Conecuh Guards was wounded at Fort Harrison in Richmond, Va. He returned to Conecuh County after the war. 

Sept. 29, 1864 - Confederate General John Bell Hood began tearing up the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

Sept. 29, 1888 – Dr. Samuel S. Gaillard was born in Perdue Hill. A third generation doctor, he was the first intern at Mobile Infirmary when it opened in 1910. He was a specialist in radiology and roentgenology and served in WWI and WWII. He attended West Point Military Academy, Louisville (Ky.) Medical School and graduated from the University of Alabama Medical School in 1910.

Sept. 29, 1895 – Joseph Banks “J.B.” Rhine, widely considered to be the "father of modern parapsychology," was born in Waterloo, Pa.

Sept. 29, 1896 – Confederate Gen. Nathan B. Forrest moved northward from the Sulphur Branch Trestle Fort in Limestone County, which he captured four days earlier, to destroy other bridges after sending prisoners southward to the Tennessee River.

Sept. 29, 1890 – Outlaw train robber Rube Burrow arrived at the home of John Barnes near Castleberry, four weeks after his eighth and final train robbery near Flomaton. After breakfast, Burrow departed, headed for Repton.

Sept. 29, 1942 – Conecuh County officials released several hundred pounds of iron fixtures that were parts of the old gallows at the Conecuh County Jail in Evergreen to the local salvage committee for use in the manufacture of war materials. The old gallows hadn’t been used since the county’s last legal execution on Jan. 22, 1926.

Sept. 29, 1951 - The first network football game was televised by CBS-TV in color. The game was between the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania.

Sept. 29, 1954 - Willie Mays, centerfielder for the New York Giants, made his amazing over-the-shoulder catch of a fly ball hit by Cleveland Indians first baseman Vic Wertz to rob Wertz of extra bases in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. The catch has gone down as one of the greatest in the history of baseball.

Sept. 29, 1957 - The New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds before moving to San Francisco, Calif.

Sept. 29, 1972 – Greenville beat Evergreen, 22-12, at Brooks Memorial Stadium in Evergreen.

Sept. 29, 1986 - The television program “Miscalculation,” teleplay by Alabama author Robert McDowell, is broadcast as part of the “Amazing Stories” series.

Sept. 29, 1987 – Conecuh County Rabies Inspector Jim Bricken, DVM, anounced that a raccoon found on Sept. 27, 1987 in the Old Town community was positive for rabies.