Spectator Shelf

125 Years Ago
May 29, 1901

Joshua B. Taylor and Miss Grace McLeod will be married at the home of the father of
the bride, Mr. J. B. McLeod in Fabius township this evening at 8:30 o’clock. The attendants will be John J. McLeod and Miss Maud Hansbrough, and the ceremony will
be performed by Rev. O. L. Brownson.
Last Sunday afternoon Conrad Happel and wife, with their little six-year-old son John,
paid a visit to the city cemetery. While the parents were not noticing him, the little boy
took hold of a tombstone which toppled over and struck him on the back of the head,
cutting a deep gash several inches long. The wound bled profusely and at first it was
feared the skull had been fractured. It proved to be only a scalp wound, however, and
the little fellow has now about recovered.
Henry Gillispie and wife returned this morning from Stuttgart, Arkansas, where they
have been spending the winter.
Last Saturday about noon a flue in the residence of Mrs. India P. Logan caught fire and
before it could be extinguished burned quite a bit a hole in the roof around the chimney.
When the danger was thought to be over an explosion, supposed to be caused by coal
gas, took place and threw a lot of burning soot out into the sitting room, setting fire to a
curtain and burning holes in the carpet and upholstery of the furniture.
Logan Owsley, Charlie Willock, and Thos. Rogers, employees in Marshal Fields’ dry
goods house in Chicago, are home on a two weeks’ vacation.

100 Years Ago
May 26, 1926

A crew of men and equipment from the Lyttig Construction Co. yesterday began the
work on grading North Main Street preparatory to laying the concrete. This stretch of
concrete, which is a part of the state road, will extend from the foot of Mill Hill north to
the brow of the hill, just past the John King residence.
The work of graveling the block on Lafayette street where the Community Sales are held has been completed and the street presents a neat appearance. As the city had no money for this purpose, the work was paid for by private subscriptions.
The annual opening day of the Bay de Charles Fishing Club will be held tomorrow.
Rain is badly needed in this section. The ground is dry and baked and many fields have been abandoned until rain comes.
Robert Snodgrass died at his home northwest of Philadelphia, Monday evening at 6
o’clock after a lingering illness of heart disease at the age of 64 years.
Miss Louise Gottman, of Quincy, was the weekend guest of her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Fred Gottman.
A baby boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Exon of Emerson yesterday.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Vogt of the West Ely community are visiting her parents, Rev. and
Mrs. H. H. Wallner.
J. Howard Kelley went to St. Louis this afternoon to meet his mother Mrs. Mary A.
Kelley, who is returning from Florida, where she spent the winter.

85 Years Ago
May 28, 1941

Seven from Palmyra and rural Marion county, were graduated from Hannibal-LaGrange
College this morning. They are Charlene Isabel Carroll, Esther Marie McPike, Leo Francis Rothweiler, Melvin Dayle Wagner and John Henry Boetjer, all of Palmyra; and
Robert Lear Feaster and Wilma Louise Glascock, Philadelphia.
On Wednesday evening, June 4th, at 7:30, there will be a dedicatory service of the
newly purchased parsonage of the Methodist church.
Junior Kessell, a student in the University of Missouri, spent the week end with his
parents, north of Palmyra.
Henry Bock, formerly of Emerson community, who has been attending National School
of Aeronautics in Kansas City, left Friday for Buffalo, New York, where he has
employment with Curtis-Wright corporation.
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Disselhorst are the parents of a son, born at Levering hospital in
Hannibal, Tuesday morning, May 27. This is their second child, the other being a son,
also.
Mrs. Oscar Schnitzer, Mrs. Ben J. McPike Jr., and son, Bradley, spent Sunday with Mr.
and Mrs. Roland R. Ray, in Marshalltown, Iowa.
Melvin Crane, son of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Crane, achieved an unusual attendance
record at Palmyra grade school. When graduated with the eighth grade class May 16,
he had a perfect record for attendance extending over a period of six years and was
never tardy during that time.

50 Years Ago
June 2, 1976

Don Hevel, Missouri-Arkansas district governor of Kiwanis International, was presented
a coveted life membership to the organization last Tuesday at the ladies night banquet.
The William Andresen family will host the 1976-77 American Field Service student at
Palmyra High School.
Manuel Ramon Ramirez Umana will arrive here from Athenas, Costa Rica, mid-summer.
Michelle Lynn Crane, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otis Crane, celebrated her first brithday
on Sunday, May 23.
Miss Diana Snow, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Snow of Palmyra, took her vows
and was conferred with the Grand Cross of Color, Order of Rainbow for Girls, on
Saturday evening, May 15 at 7 p.m. in the Masonic Temple in Hannibal.
The top five honor students were named at Palmyra High School during the annual
awards assembly held in the high school gymnasium last Thursday morning. They are
Anne Lewis, Laine Snodgrass, Pam Sutton, Dennis Gottman, and Alice Bross.
Outstanding students honored at the Palmyra Middle School were Duane Martin, Jami
Thorington, and Teresa Hathaway.
Officers installed at the May meting of Ann’s Palmyra China Painters were Mrs. James
Losson, president; Mrs. James Lovegreen, vice-president; and Mrs. Jack Triplett,
secretary-treasurer.

25 Years Ago
May 30, 2001

Travis E. Glass, 21, of Palmyra was arraigned in Ralls County Circuit Court Tuesday for
the charge of first-degree murder of the strangulation death of a 13-year-old Hannibal
girl. He was taken into custy Friday after Steffini R. Wilkins of Hannibal was found
murdered at a public access area along the Salt River north of New London.

Marion County deputies will be going off the time clock and back on salary for the first
time in eight years. Sheriff John Waldschlager addressed the Marion County.

Commission during their meeting Tuesday to ask permission to switch all commissioned
deputies to salaried employees and to abide by the Fair Labor Standard Act.
Four students have been selected to attend this year’s Girls State activities in June.
Maggie Redd and Lee Phillips, Palmyra High School; and Revee Booth and Erin Wright,
Marion County R-II High School, will have the opportunity to learn about citizenship and how their government works when they attend Missouri Girls State June 24-30.
The First Baptist Church in Palmyra was the setting for the May 5, 2001, wedding of Luz
Angela Diaz, Bogota, Columbia, and Scott Childers, Columbia, Mo. The bride is the
daughter of Luis E. Diaz and Concha Riveros, Bogota, Columbia. The groom is the son
of Murray Childers, Quincy, Illinois, and Roswitha Childers, Palmyra.
David L. and Rosalie Smith, Palmyra, will be observing their 45th wedding anniversary
on June 2, 2001. The couple was married June 2, 1956 at the Waldo Avenue Baptist
Church in Independence, MO. Mrs. Smith is the daughter of the late Mathew and Mary
Pursley Hightower, and Mr. Smith is the son of Helen Wilcoxon Smith, Odessa, MO, and
the late Estel Smith, a former Mayor of Odessa Commission during their meeting Tuesday to ask permission to switch all commissioned deputies to salaried employees and to abide by the Fair Labor Standard Act.
Four students have been selected to attend this year’s Girls State activities in June.
Maggie Redd and Lee Phillips, Palmyra High School; and Revee Booth and Erin Wright,
Marion County R-II High School, will have the opportunity to learn about citizenship and how their government works when they attend Missouri Girls State June 24-30.
The First Baptist Church in Palmyra was the setting for the May 5, 2001, wedding of Luz
Angela Diaz, Bogota, Columbia, and Scott Childers, Columbia, Mo. The bride is the
daughter of Luis E. Diaz and Concha Riveros, Bogota, Columbia. The groom is the son
of Murray Childers, Quincy, Illinois, and Roswitha Childers, Palmyra.
David L. and Rosalie Smith, Palmyra, will be observing their 45th wedding anniversary
on June 2, 2001. The couple was married June 2, 1956 at the Waldo Avenue Baptist
Church in Independence, MO. Mrs. Smith is the daughter of the late Mathew and Mary
Pursley Hightower, and Mr. Smith is the son of Helen Wilcoxon Smith, Odessa, MO, and
the late Estel mith, a former Mayor of Odessa