A look back
By By Dr. Bill Stewart
Nov. 12, 1959-Falkville was the site of a touring circus today. Tents were erected near the city hall. Profits will be used for service projects of the Lions Club.
Nov. 12, 1959-Today was the last day of the 1959 regular Alabama legislative session. The Legislature passed a bill that will permit smokers to deduct the four cents per pack of cigarettes tax they pay from their income taxes. Another bill will cut off unwed mothers from the welfare rolls if they have additional illegitimate children while receiving public assistance.
Nov. 13, 1959-Two Somerville residents, a woman, 37, and her son, 17 months, were killed in a car wreck about a half mile east of Hartselle tonight when their vehicle was hit from the rear by a car driven by a teenager who was out of jail on probation after being convicted of committing a criminal offense.
Nov. 13, 1959-The Hartselle Library Board will be without the services of four members on a promise they have made to the city council. They say that they will quit unless money is appropriated to fund the local library. So far the council has not acted to give the library any money from the city’s treasury.
Nov. 13, 1959-Danville teen Jimmy Long sustained a broken leg and other injuries when he was involved in a wreck near his home tonight.
Nov. 13, 1959-MCHS won a decisive 26-7 victory over Rogersville there tonight. This was the last game of the season for the Tigers and gives them a 4-6 record for the season. David Norwood scored the first TD shortly after the game got started. The second TD came when Norwood passed to Jimmy Speegle who then proceeded to kick the PAT. Speegle also got the third TD when he caught a pass from Wayne Brown, going 40 yards to paydirt. Brown scored the last TD shortly before the game ended. MCHS has eight seniors who will be back next year.
Nov. 13, 1959-Finis James Self, 41, a Hartselle 4 resident, is in fair condition at Hartselle Hospital following a tragic auto accident tonight that resulted in the deaths of his wife, Marveline, and 17-month-old son, Johnnie. The Self car was struck from the rear by a vehicle being driven at a terrific speed by Somerville residents.
Nov. 14, 1959-Robert Atkins, a Hartselle 2 resident, suffered head and chest injuries this morning when the car he was driving on Highway 36 west went out of control and hit a bridge.
Nov. 15, 1959-The new 1960 auto tags must be installed on all cars today. Vehicles that still display ‘59 tags will be subject to ticketing.
Nov. 16, 1959-Roland Burgess, 22, Falkville 4, and Lois Sims, 22, Decatur, are recent recipients of a Morgan County marriage license.
Nov. 16, 1959-Dr. Wernher von Braun was not allowed by bureaucratic higher ups to appear on a TV program with a Soviet counterpart today. Most observers feel the gag order is due to von Braun’s opposition to transferring Army missile work to NASA.
Nov. 17, 1959-When the maid came to work at the Washington home of Sen. and Mrs. John Sparkman in Washington this morning she found that the place had been ransacked by thieves. The only thing missing, however, was a piggy bank kept by the Sparkmans (who are currently away from the capital) for their grandson.
Nov. 18, 1959-Several Hartselle area Masons are now on their way home from Montgomery after attending the annual grand lodge meeting. The state senator from this district, Robert R. Berryman of Town Creek, has been serving as grand master this year. There are now 436 Masonic lodges in the state with approximately 74,000 members, a record.
Nov. 18, 1959-The Massey PTA is going to give the money taken in from the recent Halloween carnival to the school for purchase of needed instructional materials. Fred Summerford, a prominent community leader, took the principal role in this initiative.
