This Week in History Sept. 23-27: Wife murders husband with poisoned peas
Robert Tate, who has confessed in the Marion, Ill., jail to being a party with his wife to a murder plot, is a Muhlenberg County young man. He is the son of William Tate, of Muhlenberg County and is 25 years of age. Admitting that he knew Mrs. Ruby Herrington Tate intended to poison her former husband to marry him and that he made no effort to stop her, Tate promised a full confession to Sheriff Galligan. Mrs. Herrington married Tate twenty days after the death of her first husband. The poison was placed in a cup of peas in Herrington's lunch box taken to the coal mine where both men worked.
Sept. 23, 1924, Daviess county officials have practically abandoned the theory that Harry A. Cooper, former county road engineer, who has been strangely missing after executing a $2,000 bond for his appearance in court to answer a charge of fraudulently appropriating his own use of county funds, committed suicide. The finding of a county automobile on the banks of Panther Creek in which Cooper drove away from the courthouse led many to believe he had ended his life by drowning himself in the creek.
Sept. 24, Ira Puckett was arrested on a warrant charging him with selling white liquor to Walter Flint and Jesse Cowell. The arrest was made at Puckett's home at Gatewood. Puckett was placed in the holdover and will be arraigned before Judge Watkins. He denies his guilt.
Sept. 25, W. D. Blackwell, district warden of the state game and fish commission and J. H. Pittman, one of the three state wardens at large for Kentucky — both gentlemen residing at Greenville — were in the city in the interest of the meeting that will be held at the American Legion to organize a Fish and Game Protective association. The meeting Thursday will be in charge of C. J. Meredith, superintendent of wardens, and George Waggoner, executive agent of the state department, Frankfort.
Sept. 26, the police were called to the home of R. W. Owen late last night when Mrs. Owen discovered a strange man standing on the rear porch. The man had disappeared when the police arrived a few minutes after receiving the call. It was also reported that a man was seen prowling about the home of J. T. Griffith late last night. For several nights, residents on Frederica Street have been disturbed by a man attempting to enter their homes.
Sept. 27, William Chatterton, under arrest at Rock Island, Ill., confessed to the wrecking of the Golden State Limited on the Rock Island lines at Fairport, Iowa, the police announced. Two sleeping coaches were derailed and a number of passengers were injured. The boy said he removed bolts from a switch, adding that he did it just to see the cars pile up. The boy declared that two men had plotted with him to wreck the train.
Sept. 23, 1974, Mrs. Frank Montgomery discussed "Women in Politics Today" at the September meeting of Business and Professional Women's Club held at Gabe's restaurant. The guest speaker is president of the Owensboro League of Women Voters. Refuting the idea that politics is of necessity, crooked or dirty, Mrs. Montgomery asserted that in reality politics is the practical exercise of self-government.
Sept. 24, McLean County's new juvenile curfew law has caused no problems, according to Sheriff William Jones. McLean Fiscal Court adopted a curfew for persons under age 18. Under the new law, it is unlawful for a person under 16 to be out after 11 p.m. unless accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult with parental consent. Parents who permit their children to violate the curfew law are subject to a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and six months in jail.
Sept. 25, vandals have inflicted an estimated $5,000 worth of damage to the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. It was not known exactly when the vandalism occurred. Services were held in church Sunday evening; the vandalism was discovered Monday. Fires had been set in three places and an organ and piano were heavily damaged. A clock, which had been ripped from the wall, showed a time of 11:25.
Sept. 26, Hancock County has received an emergency allocation of 40,200 gallons of gasoline from the Kentucky Petroleum Allocation Office in Frankfort. Approval for the fuel was given late yesterday afternoon after most of the county's 18 service-station operators met with a representative of the allocation office. The operators received instructions on filling out allocation forms. County Judge James Fallin said he hopes better utilization of the forms will eliminate the need to apply for the emergency allocation. He estimated that without the emergency allocation some 75% of the county's service stations would be without gasoline today.
