What Happened 25 – 50 – 100 Years Ago This Month
By: Ben Sanderford
January 1994 – 25 Years Ago
The Johnston County Board of Commissioners agreed on a set of measures for providing water to Corinth Holder School. The board also elected to extend the water line from Highways 27 and 50 in Benson to Harnett County.
Hales Chapel Baptist Church, near Emit, chose Rev. J. Michael Ariail of Alabama to be its new pastor.
The governments of Johnston County and Selma decided against placing Polk Youth Center prison between Selma and Pine Level after consultation with local residents.
The 1993 Report Card showed that only 35.5 percent of Johnston high schoolers scored better than the state average.
Mr. Shinobu Dobashi, Principal of Yuzurihara Elementary School, Japan, visited Clayton Elementary to invite teacher Leigh Ann Cannady and a student to his school.
January 1969 – 50 Years Ago
Jennifer Faye McLamb became the first baby born in Johnston County in 1969 and winner of the annual Baby Derby.
Electrical power was interrupted in Smithfield while crewmen upgraded the circuits from 4,160 volts to 12,500 volts.
James H. Griffin of Smithfield became President of the North Carolina Chapter of the Soil Conservation Society of America.
Johnston County Commissioners endorsed the candidacy of H. Shelton Castleberry, a Wilders Township native, for membership on the State Highway Commission.
James Ray Dennis of Selma returned home on leave from Vietnam, where he won seven medals serving as a Navy hospital corpsman.
Ellen Broadhurst Taylor became President of the Smithfield Garden Club, of which she was a charter member.
January 1919 – 100 Years Ago
Mr. C.C. Lee reported that two members of the Four Oaks community, Mrs. R.D. Massengill and Mrs. T.R. Allen, had died of the flu.
Dr. Thel Hooks of Smithfield sent a letter to his wife saying that he would soon be returning home from Europe, where he was serving as a captain.
J.C. Stancil put up a farm, including two houses and four horses, for rent five miles north of Benson.
Fire was detected in the grocery department of the Cotter-Underwood Company. The firefighters’ water caused more damage than the flames.
Part of the Princeton-Smithfield Road became nearly impassable due to bad weather.
The Meyers-Davis orchestra of Washington, D.C. played at the Neuse German Club’s dance.
