100 YEARS AGO — 1912
Boyle County did herself proud by giving Woodrow Wilson a majority over both Taft and Roosevelt. For a time is was thought in some quarters that a considerable number of Democrats would vote for Col. Roosevelt, but the returns disprove that belief. The election was very quiet throughout the county. Officers report no drunkenness whatever and no arrests were made.
News has been received that the Ely family was on board the Titanic when the ship struck the iceberg and went to the bottom of the Atlantic. George Ely was well-known here. He was a dealer in produce, buying eggs, chickens and such. For a long time some of his daughters were pack peddlers and sold goods at most of the houses in Danville. His daughter Mary, who was about 17, had been accompanied to Palestine by her father and brother Thomas, and all were returning to this country on the Titanic.
However, it’s also been noted that Sam Nichols, cashier of the Boyle Bank & Trust Company received a letter from George Ely at his home in Syria in August and therefore it seems to be a mistake about his going down on the Titanic. There seems to be considerable mystery about the matter as Ely stated before leaving that he would return to Danville after spending a few months at his home in the old country.
Bleeding, bruised and battered, Central University from Danville fought to the finish the terrific loss to the University of Tennessee boys in Knoxville on Saturday. The final score was 66 to 0. The Tennessee players were much more experienced and out-weighed Central’s men by 18 pounds to the man.
Earlier in the day seven of the players and Coach O’Brien had a very narrow escape from instant death while in Knoxville. When the team stopped at the Imperial Hotel before the game, the coach and seven men boarded the elevator and while in it, the elevator dropped two stories to the cellar. Had they been up a few stories higher, it would have been instant death to them all.
A real blizzard raged in the Knobs Friday night. A heavy snow fell on the peaks of the mountains and covered all the vegetation. The snow has not melted as yet. The thermometer registered below 20. And, the second crops of cherries, blackberries and other fruits which were beginning to ripen were totally destroyed.
75 YEARS AGO — 1937
The Boyle Fiscal Court has voted to move records and equip the new vault addition to the county clerk’s office. Bids will be taken for a connecting door with the old vault and new equipment. The court also ordered a wood floor be installed in the basement to the new vault and that metal shelving, desks and other furniture and proper lighting be installed.
One of the largest specimens of petrified wood ever found in Kentucky has been discovered in Boyle County near Brumfield and is now on exhibition at the geology museum of the University of Kentucky. This specimen is from the New Providence shale in the Mississippian age. The Boyle County petrified wood is blackish gray and looks almost as if it were real wood. The original lines and grain are visible on the ends just like fresh cut wood. It is about a foot long and about three inches through the middle. Petrification of wood is seldom found in Kentucky.
Durham & Morgan are advertising used cars this week. All of these cars have been through the shop and are ready for the road. Your old car will make the downpayment. During the company’s first anniversary sale the deals include: 1929 Whippet Coach, $75; 1930 Chevrolet Coach, $135; 1933 Plymouth Sedan, $365; 1933 Chevrolet Panel Delivery, $250; and a 1937 Terraplane 72 Brougham, $625.
50 YEARS AGO — 1962
Close to 3,000 voters residing in the 11 precincts in the Danville Independent School District cast their ballots and upset all three incumbents to the school board. Newly elected school board members are Dr. Louis Beto with 2,120 votes; Mrs. Helen Davis with 1,420 votes and Briscoe Inman with 1,394 votes.
Members of the Boyle County Utopia Club, of which Joe Tucker is president, will conduct a special project in cooperation with Boyle County farmers to help raise more money toward this county’s quota and proportionate share of the approximately $300,000 estimated as the cost of the new 4-H Club Camp being built for local 4-Hers and others from this part of the state in Nicholas County. Boyle was allocated a quota of $11,000 as its fair share to raise.
To help this county reach its goal, every tobacco grower, which is every farmer in Boyle, will soon be visited and asked to give a stick of tobacco for the club to sell. By being liberal, Boyle County farmers will have the satisfaction of knowing they have done their share toward helping to build a much needed camp for 4-H boys and girls.
25 YEARS AGO — 1987
Deer hunting has been halted because of a ban against being in private or public forest. The ban was issued by the governor’s office because of the danger of forest fires. The ban closes all state and private forests to most of the public. It stops the bow season for deer. Gun season which starts in some zones on Nov. 14, may have to be rescheduled if the emergency proclamation is continued. The proclamation was issued because fires have damaged over 24,000 acres in eastern Kentucky since Oct. 1.
Democrat Wallace Wilkinson, a native of Casey County, said his record victory in the campaign to become Kentucky’s governor proved that the American dream was possible for him and is still possible for Kentucky. Wilkinson broke three 12-year old records — the percentage of the vote, the 231,332 vote margin, and his victory in 115 of Kentucky’s counties, including all but two in 28 in the traditionally Republican 5th Congressional District.
Wilkinson’s first political victory was also the state’s most expensive election. He spend $4 million to win the Democratic nomination, including a $2.3 million personal loan, which has since been repaid, and $2 million in the general election.
