Wednesday, July 12, 2017

100-year-old news highlights from The Wilcox Progressive Era

Prof. Emmette Kilpatrick
What follows are 100-year-old news excerpts from the July 12, 1917 edition of The Wilcox Progressive Era newspaper in Camden, Ala.

Home Coming Day Sunday July 15: “Home Coming Day” of the Methodist church in Camden is to be July 15, 11 o’clock, 1917. Every feature of the first service in the new church that day will be recorded and kept as a mother of history. Every member of the church who can is requested to be present at Roll Call, and the members of the other churches in town are respectfully invited to worship at that hour with us.

FURMAN: Furman community has recently had a sad experience in the death of young Merritt Knight, son of Mr. J.E. Knight and wife, one of our most extended families. Our young friend and brother had completed his course in pharmacy at Auburn a year ago, and secured a position in Birmingham, when the country’s call came for men and he enlisted in the hospital corps and was stationed first at Newport, R.I. about the first of March of this year. He was later transferred to the Navy Yard hospital service at Chelsea, Mass., where he contracted pneumonia and died in a few days. His remains were shipped to his home by the government and on June 26 his body was laid to rest, clad in the Navy uniform of our great country, in which service he gave his young life.
In the presence of all our people, this is the first of the sons of Wilcox County to give up his life in this great war, was buried in the old Palmer cemetery at Furman.

Camden cannot boast of a large number of volunteers, but she can point with pride to the quality. Messrs. N.D. Godbolt and J.M. Bonner, two of our leading attorneys, have applied for admission to the Officers Reserve Training camps. Those already there are D.J. Salter and J.B. Holman. Messrs. Brad Holman and Prof. Emmette Kilpatrick are now stationed at Fort McPherson. Mr. Judson Hawthorne is serving in the Coast Artillery Training Camp in California.

Dale Lodge No. 25, A.F.&A.M., will meet in Special Communication on Thurs., July 12, inst., at 8 p.m. for the purpose of installing officers, balloting on petitions, transacting routine business of importance. Our proposition that will be made is to exempt from payment of dues during the period of the war all members of the Lodge who enters the Army. If the candidate is present, there will be work in the Entered Apprentice degree, by order of the Worshipful Master. – J.C. Benson, Secretary.

Mr. Edwin Hart has enlisted in the band of the Second Alabama Infantry and is now in training camp at Montgomery.

Hon. John T. Dale of Oak Hill was a visitor to Selma, reporting flourishing condition of all crops in this section, attributable to the recent fine rains.

Mr. J.P. Buck, commercial freight agent of L&N, with headquarters in Selma, was a Camden visitor Tuesday.

One year ago today, the Alabama River began to rise towards one of the greatest floods in the history of Montgomery. It reached its lowest level last July on the sixth day of that month when the gauge showed only 2.4 feet.
From that time on, the river rose steadily, going to 46.3 feet on July 9, 49 feet on July 10, 50.6 on July 11 and then reaching its unparalleled crest on July 12 with a maximum height of 51.7 feet.

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