Out of the past: April 3

1999

Steve Wright of Cape Girardeau, 48, formerly a member of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, was killed in a car accident in Tennessee Thursday; his wife, Kathy, a teacher at Cape Girardeau Central High School, was seriously injured in the accident, and his son, Scott, received minor injuries; the three were traveling to South Carolina to visit an older son, Corey, who serves in the military.

After several delays and more than two years after it was destroyed by fire, a new Mississippi County courthouse is finally taking shape at the location of its predecessor in downtown Charleston; more than 100 members of the Grand Lodge of Missouri Ancient Free and Accepted Masons gather to lay the cornerstone of the new building.

1974

Two incumbents — Bradshaw Smith and Oliver A. Hope — were returned to seats on the Cape Girardeau City Council, as voters in a city election here yesterday also gave overwhelming approval for annexing two separate outlying tracts of land to the city; likewise, Jackson voters gave strong support to the annexation of approximately 1,900 acres into the city limits.

Downtown Mall, consisting of 17 shops and possibly a department store, will be constructed in downtown Cape Girardeau at the northeast corner of Main Street and Broadway; the proposed business complex was announced yesterday by Downtown Parking Inc., which will own the structure; it will be located on a parking lot owned by the corporation and the sites of the State License Bureau and the Sinclair Oil Co. service station in the 200 block of North Main; both buildings will be razed for the new construction.

1949

A two-week revival campaign, conducted by the Rev. and Mrs. Dale Black, opens in the evening at Assembly of God Church, 1202 S. Sprigg St., and it will continue through Easter Sunday, when an illustrated sermon on the Resurrection will be given; the Blacks have done evangelistic work throughout the country and recently moved to Cape Girardeau, the Rev. Black’s original home.

The newly elected deacons — John L. Blue, Clyde M. Clark and Dr. James A. Kinder Jr. — are ordained during the morning worship service at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau; they, along with James R. Morehead, are then installed.

1924

A federal grand jury in Cape Girardeau at the next term of court, opening April 14, will investigate the sale of liquor prescriptions by physicians in Cape Girardeau and the immediate vicinity; the investigation, which may result in indictments, will be based on the number of prescriptions which have been sold, especially within the past 18 months.

Sixty-four cases are on the docket for trial at the next term of Federal Court, which opens in Cape Girardeau on April 14; there are 30 criminal cases and 34 civil actions; the grand jury will go into session on the opening day and will consider evidence presented by federal prohibition agents, post office inspectors and narcotics agents, who have been active in this section since the last term.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.