Monday, June 24, 2024
‘SURPRISE!’
Shelby County Assessor Anne Thurston realizes just how many of her family members and friends gathered yesterday for a surprise 65th birthday party in her honor at the Civic Center. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Juneteenth Recognized Locally
Danny Russel, Abraham Lincoln impersonator, speaks at Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration at Sunset Park, attended by over 250 despite the heat. The mobile stage featured several local acts, and event organization leaders included James Garrett Jr., Keyen Macklin, Sarah Richardt and Leatha Martin. Additional pictures of the event are posted here. | photo above by ANNA TUNGATE
NOTEBOOK:
The Shelby County Plan Commission tomorrow will hear a request to subdivide 38 acres adjacent to 9147 N 250 E, Morristown, into three lots to be used as single-family building lots. Last year, the Plan Commission denied a request for waivers on the property to subdivide into more than three lots. County planning staff is recommending approval of the current request. The county plan commission meets tomorrow, Tuesday, 7 p.m., in the courthouse annex.
HOOSIER NEWS: Cashews are in increasingly high demand, with cashew milk already a $62 million market poised to triple in the next eight years. Cashews are crucial ingredients in nondairy cheese, a field that is predicted to double from $4 billion today to $8 billion in a decade. Plant-based cheese is already growing in popularity — the percentage of cheese products that used cashews was up 52 percent from 2022 to 2023 — and is expected to do so for some time. On the supply side, the amount of land used for cashews in Africa has increased thirteenfold from 1980 to 2020, and the continent is responsible for 58 percent of the global harvest. (Sherwood News/Numlock)
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The Infamous George Alberts: First Burial at Forest Hill
Editor’s note: The following was written years ago by the late David Craig, local historian
by DAVID CRAIG
Forest Hill Cemetery holds the graves of the famous and infamous. The first person to be buried in the cemetery belongs to the infamous. The chain of events leading to the death of George Alberts was taken from the Republican and Democrat papers.
George Alberts owned a saloon on the corner of Noble and Broadway Streets. He had a reputation as a bully. The Democrat reported Alberts beat elderly Allen Kelly in the saloon on Election Day of 1884. He then robbed him of eight dollars. George Alberts had also done time in the penitentiary.
An out-of-work baker, Jack Renner, came to Shelbyville looking for employment. He made George Alberts’ saloon the headquarters for his job search. Across Broadway Street stood the business of Madame Katie Hoyt. The nickname of the house was the Madame Hoyt Mansion.
Jack Renner went on a weeklong spree at the Hoyt Mansion. By the end of the week, he was in need of additional funds and telegraphed a brother in Connersville for money. The reply telegraph was to be delivered to George Alberts.
On the afternoon of November 5, 1884, George Alberts, accompanied by Sam Pyles, tried to deliver the message to Renner at Madame Hoyt’s. (Sam Pyles would be one of the ringleaders in the lynching of Charles Hawkins several years in the future.) Pyles was drunk, and the women would not allow either man to enter the house.
When Jack Renner received word that Alberts had a message for him, he went to the saloon. In the meantime, George Alberts and Sam Pyles had devised a plan to do in Renner and take his money. They would lure him to Alberts’ home on Mechanic Street and accuse him of a relationship with Alberts’ wife. Then a fight would begin, and they would get the best of Renner. Upon entering the saloon, Renner went up to Alberts and Pyles. He asked what the message was that Alberts had for him. Alberts told Renner to accompany him to his home and he would “prove something.”
Once the three men reached Alberts’ residence, Pyles and Renner remained outside while Alberts entered the home. George Alberts walked into the parlor and began to attack his wife with a pair of brass knuckles.
Hearing the screams of Mrs. Alberts, both men rushed into the house. As Renner entered the parlor, Alberts turned on him and said, “Now you'll get yours.” He began to strike Jack Renner with the brass knuckles. Renner reached into his coat, removing a .38 caliber pistol. Renner placed the barrel under the eye of Alberts and fired. He then turned on Sam Pyles but the weapon misfired. Pyles begged Renner to spare his life, according to the report in the Republican paper.
Sparing the life of Pyles, Renner hurried to Madame Hoyt’s to gather his thoughts and plan his next move. It was decided he should go to the jail and turn himself in.
Jack Renner walked calmly into the jail and surrendered to Sheriff Conger’s wife. He gave her the .38 caliber handgun and went quietly to his cell.
George Alberts had died almost instantly from the massive head wound. He was buried on November 7, 1884. His burial was the first of thousands in Forest Hill.
Mr. Renner was cleared of any wrongdoing by the county coroner. The coroner's report determined Jack Renner acted in self-defense.
Both local newspapers agreed that Mr. Alberts was paid back for the harm he had done to others. His wife was one of the few people in Shelbyville to mourn his passing.
This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
2014: Twenty-nine properties were on the county’s compliance board meeting agenda regarding nuisance issues. Board president Betsy Stephen told each property owner she expected progress to be made by the next month’s meeting.
2004: It was unclear whether there would be funds for fireworks at Derby Days in Morristown after the Town Council opted not to fund the fireworks display. A new roof for the park shelter had taken most of the parks funds for the year and the town had only received 80 percent of its property taxes due to delays from reassessment.
More than 40 students, parents, teachers and government officials spent a week visiting Shelbyville’s sister city, Kambara, and Tokyo. Mayor Scott Furgeson and Kambara Mayor Kanji Yamazaki met for a traditional meal.
1994: A nationwide penny shortage hit Shelby County. Compton’s Dairy stores were getting only one roll of pennies per store each day, Norma Zimmerman said. The Shelbyville Walmart was limited to $15 in pennies a week. The store normally used $100 in pennies on weekends alone, Tammy Roland, cash office clerk, said. Genean Reece, with Bank One on Public Square, said her bank was not short of pennies but was only supplying for customers because she couldn’t “supply pennies for the whole town.”
1984: W.S. Major Hospital’s 60th anniversary outdoor party was well attended. A newspaper photo showed Libby Gallagher, 113 E. Mechanic; Mildred Moore, 105 St. Marys St.; and Betty Runnebohm, 750 Fourth St., eating cake and ice cream at the event.
1974: A Shelbyville-owned stock car was winning many races throughout the region. Hobert Brinson owned the 1967 Chevelle, which was sponsored by Barb’s Beauty Shop in Shelbyville. The pit crew for the car included Jim Roberts, Charles Brinson and Bob Lewis of Shelbyville and Herb Brinson of Waldron. The car had won several races in Indianapolis.
1964: Ten girls had entered the county fair queen contest, but only two of the names were released. They were Lou Ann McVey, 17, Southwestern High School, and Sherri Barlow, 18, Triton Central High School student. Those two were known because Caroll Thurston had told The Shelbyville News they had been nominated by the Rural Youth Club, of which he was president.
1954: Two Major Hospital nurses aides received $100 awards from the Shelby County Medical Nursing Education Fund. The awards were payable to the nursing school of their choice upon enrollment. Recipients were Kathryn Schneider and Mary Kay Yoder. The awards were made annually to deserving applicants to qualified senior girls entering the field of nursing.
1944: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Chappelow, 227 Van Ave., were notified their son, Sgt. Ernest Carl Chappelow, had been wounded in action on Biak Island. The letter said he was recovering satisfactorily.
1934: Company A and the regimental band of the 151t Infantry, Indiana National Guard, presented a formal mount at 7:30 p.m. on Public Square. The public was asked to keep the east side of the square entirely clear, and to park automobiles on the west side, facing east, so that the lights from the car would illuminate the drill.
1924: The Shelbyville Republican reported that “some of the prettiest (yards) in the state can be found here in Shelbyville, and within good walking distance from the main part of the city.” The West Mechanic St. homes of W.E. Brown, M.R. Senour, Harry Auman and John D. DePrez featured “almost every flower imaginable.” People daily would walk down the street marveling at the flowers, the paper said.
1914: Oral Jones and his Chevrolet touring car, which also held his wife, his mother Alice Jones and Cora Tindall, crashed while trying to make the Campbell hill, north of town on Michigan Road, on high speed. Jones forgot to use the emergency brake while coasting down the hill, causing the car to pick up excessive speed. The car went into the ditch and into the embankment. “The car then would have turned over but for the fortunate strength of the fence against which the car was riding,” The Republican said. Although the passengers were “badly scared,” no one was injured.
OBITUARIES
None today.