THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - VOL. 105
(Johnson County)
RUNNING THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE - Ben Lane, of Wrightsville, Georgia, driving a 1966 Chevrolet, placed 26th in the 1967 Daytona 500. Lane, whose prize winnings totaled $1120.00, finished 141 of the 200-lap race, just two spots behind David Pearson and ahead of racing greats Buddy Baker, LeRoy Yarborough, A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, and Bobby Allison. The race was dominated by Mario Andretti and Fred Lorenzen. Greensboro Record, February 27, 1967, p. 21.
LIGHTS OUT! WATER TOO! - In the early months of October 1917, the lights went out in Wrightsville. The broken-down powerhouse was unrepairable. The town’s citizens came together in a mass meeting to attempt to quickly resolve the problems but to no avail. J.H. Harrison, the powerhouse superintendent, set out to completely rebuild the power plant. Electrical service was sporadically restored, but a severe winter storm and vandals kept the lights out until mid-February of 1918. And to make matters worse, there was a shortage of water and when water was plentiful, the lack of electricity made it nearly impossible to pump it to homes and businesses. Macon Telegraph, Oct. 12, 1917, Feb. 4, 1918.
HOME MAIL DELIVERY - In today’s world, when the practice of U.S. postmen delivering mail to the mailbox on your front door is beginning to slowly disappear, the family of W.E. Parker, of Wrightsville, Georgia, would have preferred that the mailman leave their mail in the box out by the street. Early in the predawn hours of January 16, 1960, mail truck driver Benjamin Hull fell asleep at the wheel, left the roadway some 165 yards from the Parker home, and made a beeline through Parker’s storehouse, striking the wall of their home and landing in the kitchen. Miraculously, the family wasn’t preparing an early breakfast, and no one was injured, except the house, which suffered approximately $1000.00 in damages. Augusta Chronicle, Jan. 20, 1960, p. 3.
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED. Two cars were approaching each other on Highway 319 near Wrightsville when the car occupied by Herbert and R.W. Jackson of Bartow veered into another car, which was headed from New York to Marianna, Florida, and driven by Lucille Colosimo. Colosimo’s husband, Philip and Salvatore Carbone, along with Lucille, were killed. Two other passengers, N.J. Zelman and Jack Shomer, were injured. What was remarkable was that Lucille, Philip, and Salvatore were the lead vocalist, saxophonist, and trombonist of Ray Eberle’s band. Eberle, a main member of Glenn Miller’s band, led his own band after Miller’s untimely death in World War II. The Bridgeport Post, January 20, 1958.
CELEBRATED SURVIVOR - In the early days of February 1944, a United States Army Air Force plane’s crew parachuted to safety after the pilot lost control of the plane over Wrightsville. The plane crash and the crew’s survival were somewhat unnewsworthy except one of the crew, Lt. William Arnold, was the son of Edward Arnold. The senior Arnold was a leading Hollywood actor for four decades and the President of the Screen Actors’ Guild. Omaha World-Herald, February 5, 1944.
EVENING UP THE SCORE - Wrightsville farmer, J.T. Miller, fathered at least twenty-two children, whose birth took place in the autumn of 1939. Miller had three wives. His second wife quintupled that record to ten. His third wife also had an even ten to bring the count to eleven girls and eleven boys - enough for a football game, brothers against sisters. The Atlanta Constitution, April 26, 1939.
THAT STINKS - Two days after Christmas in 1949, two thousand tons of fertilizer ignited at the plant of Lovett & Co. in Wrightsville, the fire lasted more than one day as billows of putrid smoke covered the town. Soon, the stinking smoke spread outside of the town limits for miles. The town’s firemen didn’t mind fighting the fire; they did mind the sickening smoke. Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, Dec. 28, 1949.
BALTIMORE BISHOP - Bishop A.W. Wilson, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, gave the dedicatory sermon for the opening of the First Methodist Church in Wrightsville on December 4, 1899. Savannah Morning News, Dec. 5, 1899.
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