Citizens Journal (Atlanta, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 44, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 1991 Page: 1 of 28
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Atlanta Public Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
YS/SSSSSSSm
VJSSffSj&kWSSSA
fSS^SSS/SSfSSJVSSSSSSSSSSSSPSySSSSSSSS/VSS^SSSSfSSSSSS,
Mk m
See Sports 1B
■ . '<;>
V////;///;;//;;////;;//;//;///)
mzmm
■Wk
warn . w
' : • •' ••
■"* a* *
m
ii.1' -
«H ;MWi
^mat "im-
Wmn
wmimM
w -w —
r
_ "stf * ""A
See Special
Picture Page 9A
mm W ATLANTA MEMt
Citizens jc r
CI
Dec 31 91
ATLANTA MEMORIAL LIBRARY
_ - - - -L L
USPS NO. 114-160 VOL 113, NO. 44 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1991
50 CENTS
CASS COUNTY, TEXAS • 2 SECTIONS, 24 PAGES
4
i
Journal stalf photo by JOHN COLEMAN
Just fiddlin' around
Locally acclaimed musician Beecher Stuckey fiddled away a portion of Saturday afternoon as part
of the musical entertainment offered at the Cullen Baker Fair In Bloomburg. It was cold, but the
sun shone and a good crowd turned out for the annual Bloomburg Volunteer Fire Department
funaralser. For more photos, see page 9A.
Cullen Baker relative visits fair
By JOHN L. COLEMAN
Managing Editor
The 1991 Cullen Baker
Country Fair is now history and
with it, a little history has been
made.
For the first time since the
fair's inception, a known de-
scendant of Cullen Baker
traveled to see what all of the
hoopla was about.
Robert Teel, the great-great-
grandson of Baker, and his
wife, Virginia, paid a visit to
Northeast Texas last weekend
to visit Baker's gravesite and at-
tend the fair in Bloomburg.
The Cass County Genealogi-
cal Society grabbed the chance
to talk to Teel and uncovered
some interesting facts about his
family's background.
It seems that following Cullen
Baker's violent demise, his
daughter Louise Jane went to
live with relatives in Mount
Pleasant. "Lou" later married a
man named Suggs and moved
to Indian Territory (Oklahoma),
where they operated the third
largest ranch in that region at
the time.
Mr. and Mrs. Suggs had two
children: a son, Alonzo and a
daughter, Jessie Mae. Jessie
married a Stamps and they had
a daughter, Isabelle. Robert
was a result of Isabell's mar-
riage to a Teel.
Cullen had other brothers
and sisters, including one
named Mahala, who married
Matthew Powell. Mahala Powell
remained in the Cass County
area and some of her descend-
ents still live here.
"Several of these descend-
ents were told of Mr. Teel's
planned visit and surprised him
with a family reunion of sorts in
the old Bloomburg State Bank
building," said fair publicity
chairperson Kathy Peacock.
"Many of those relatives
spoke kind words about 'Uncle
Cullen' and stated that many of
the terrible things said and writ-
ten about him actually involved
other desperadoes and the acts
were blamed on Baker.
"This could be why so many
people liked Cullen Baker and
thought of him as sort of a hero,
a Robin Hood," she said.
Friday, the Teels stayed in
Jefferson, where they visited
the grave of Mr. Teel's great-
great-grandfather. They said
they plan to return to the fair
next year and bring other family
members.
Council eyes fire plan,
retirement proposal
By JOHN L. COLEMAN
Managing Editor
Atlanta Mayor Pro-tem Dr.
Jesse Brooks quickly disposed of
two items on Monday night's city
council agenda by forming a com-
mittee to look into one suggestion
regarding the fire department and
tabling the formation of a com-
mittee on a city employee retire-
ment plan until Mayor Lawson
McKelvey returns. McKelvey, who
is recuperating from a fall in which
he fractured several ribs, is ex-
pected to form that committee at
the council meeting scheduled for
Nov. 18.
Brooks, substituting for McKel-
vey at Monday's meeting, said he
would rather wait and have the
mayor name the members of a
committee to look further into the
possibility of adopting a pension
and retirement plan for fulltime
city employees.
However, he named council
members Charles Riley and Ran-
dal Lee, along with city manager
Jim Long, to a committee charged
with researching the idea of es-
tablishing guidelines for Atlanta
Fire Department responses.
Mayor recovering from injuries
Journal Staff Report
Atlanta Mayor Lawson
McKelvey is recuperating from
injuries he received after falling
at his home last week. The
mayor reportedly suffered
several cracked ribs and minor
bruises.
According to Atlanta City
Secretary Sylvia Combest,
McKelvey slipped on a rain-
slick incline at his N. Louise
Street residence during the in-
clement weather Thursday. He
reportedly suffered a laceration
to his head, along with the frac-
tured ribs.
Reached at his home Tues-
day morning, the mayor said
he was sore and just resting.
He said he cracked three ribs,
skinned his left ear and bruised
his left hip and shoulder.
"The doctor says I may be
down for a month," he said. "I
don't know, but right now I'm
just taking it easy."
Lee proposes benefits
"It seems like ever since I've
been following city politics that it's
always been an issue," Lee said
of the retirement idea. "But I have
gotten some information on what
it would cost the city and what
benefits it would provide and I
think it's time we looked ahead to
something like this for city
employees."
After reviewing several plans
used by other cities in the region,
Lee said it looked like one of the
best plans would involve the city
matching a 5 percent contribution
by the employee.
Lee said the city could imple-
ment that type of plan for less
than $32,000.
"I think it's right that we do this,"
he said. "We need to provide
Please see COUNCIL page 2A
City approves bids for new
police department vehicles
Journal Staff Report
The Atlanta City Council Mon-
day voted to advertise for bids on
a new fire department vehicle and
a used ambulance while electing
to award a bid on two new police
vehicles.
The council opted for a sedan-
type vehicle for the fire depart-
ment to use on city business
rather than go for a more
utilitarian selection. The council
had earlier agreed to look for a
Suburban or possibly a van that
would be used when department
personnel travel to seminars and
training schools.
"We looked at Suburbans and
at stretch vans and they were just
too much out of our budget
range," City Manager Jim Long
told the council. "We have
budgeted $15,000 for a fire chief's
vehicle and those other vehicles
ranged from $18,500 to $21,000.
And you just can't find a used
one."
Long suggested that the city
draw up specifications that would
result in the purchase of a pas-
senger car in the $14,000 price
range of those purchased for the
police department.
"Is a car going to do it?" asked
councilman Porter Hunter. "I
thought the reason we were look-
ing for a Suburban was because
of the number of people we had to
transport to these schools."
Fire Chief Waylon Jackson
agreed, but said that when lug-
gage is figured in and the
availability of a vehicle to those
going to different locations at the
training sites, two vehicles would
be necessary.
"We would be looking at taking
a personal vehicle and a city
vehicle in any case," Jackson
said.
Hunter said he felt that if a Sub-
urban was what was needed, then
the city ought to spend a little
more and acquire one. But he
voted with his fellow council mem-
bers to advertise for bids on a
passenger car.
Please see CARS page 3A
District judge
sentences 8
Cass County District Judge
Jack Carter sentenced eight
defendants in criminal cases this
week.
Howard VanZandt, 70, received
25 years in the penitentiary for
theft by worthless check. District
Attorney Neal Birmingham said
that the unusually high sentence
was because of VanZandt's prior
criminal record, "and the fact that
he had just been released from
prison for a prior hot check con-
viction when he started his last
spree."
Birmingham commented that on
a 25-year sentence, most
prisoners would serve about two
years; however, the Texas Legis-
lature passed a law that became
effective on Sept. 1 providing for
accelerated discharge of the el-
derly, the disabled, the retarded
and several other categories of in-
mates. Because of his age and
physical condition, VanZandt may
be released very soon.
In other court action, Charles
Cowart, 21, received 10 years in
prison for delivery of marijuana
Please see COURT page 3A
Journal staff photo by VALERIE EAVES
Potential prize porker
This student was one of many FFA 8nd 4-H members unloading his hog at the Cass County Exposi-
tion Building Tuesday morning to prepare for the Cass County Hog, Broiler and Rabbit Show. Watch
for complete show results In Sunday's Citizens Journal.
NEWS BRIEFS
Fire district sets luncheon
Cass County Fire District No. 1 will hold its annual Chicken N'
Dressing Dinner on Sunday at the McLeod School cafeteria. Serving
will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the cost is $4 for adults and
$2 for youth under 12. All proceeds go to further the fire stations at
Huffines, McLeod and Kildare Junction.
Defensive driving offered
The Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce will offer a defensive
driving course Saturday at the chamber offices at 305 E. Hiram. The
fee is $25 and reservations must be made at the chamber office
before Thursday.
Social Security rep to visit
A representative of the Texarkana office of the Social Security Ad-
ministration has scheduled a visit to Atlanta for Nov. 21. People hav-
ing business with Social Security will be seen on a first come, first
served basis from 8.45 a.m. to noon. Afternoon visits are by appoint-
ment only.
Seminar on checks slated
A seminar to help area merchants cut down on the number of for-
geries and hot checks this holiday season will be held Nov. 14 at 7
p.m. in the Atlanta City Hall Auditorium. Cass County Assistant Dis-
trict Attorney Randal Lee will be the speaker. The seminar, which is
free, is geared toward area merchants, business people, clerks and
cashiers.
2 REGULAR
CHEESE CONEYS
2 FRIES AND
2 MEDIUM DRINKS
Hwy. 59 • 796-8177
ALL FOUNTAIN
DRINKS
PRICE
Why Pay Full Price Anywhere else,
When You Can Get
Fountain Drinks Sor 1/2 Price
z:30 p.m. - S p-m. Mon. Frl.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Coleman, John. Citizens Journal (Atlanta, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 44, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 1991, newspaper, November 6, 1991; Atlanta, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth348204/m1/1/?q=music: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Atlanta Public Library.