Bill, you mentioned the store where Hayden Youngblood was killed...it was HICKMAN'S. I was only a little girl but remember vividly that day! We lived on the corner where Gault turned and went to the cemetary where he ultimately was shot.
You are right, Judy. I made a typo when re-typing Dad's 2001 article, which I've now corrected. I wrote an in-depth piece on The Gault saga for Troy Life magazine a couple of years ago. I can't re-publish the entire article because I don't own the copyright. However, this is an excerpt from the article that details what seems to have happened at Hickman's Store:
From my story: "About three miles from downtown Troy, Gault turned off Highway 29 and suddenly drove behind A. E. Hickman Grocery Store. The store, razed years ago, was located at the intersection of Highway 29 and Needmore Road. Rice (my late father) speculated in his book that Gault may have seen the funeral procession and turned to avoid it.
Whatever the circumstances, Gault’s Cadillac was now behind the country store.
Youngblood, who’d been told not to apprehend Gault by himself, no doubt felt he had to protect the operator of the store, Mrs. Frances Hickman Brantley, the daughter of the store’s owner and the wife of Troy Postmaster “Tack” Brantley.
Based on information broadcast on his police radio, Officer Youngblood had legitimate reasons to think Gault may try to take hostages.
Perhaps thinking he’d blocked Gault’s exit, Youngblood parked in a side drive, rushed into the store and asked Mrs. Brantley if she had a shotgun.
At about the same time, the Clio vehicle whipped into the driveway, which circled the building.
According to an account in The Troy Messenger, Mrs. Brantley asked, “What’s the matter?”
“There’s a bank robber in back of the store,” Youngblood replied.
“Oh my God,” Mrs. Brantley uttered.
James Jackson, a salesman with Petrey Wholesale Grocery, was the only other person in the store.
Mrs. Brantley did not have a shotgun, but did find a .22 caliber rifle. She was walking towards the front of the store, attempting to locate bullets for the rifle, when she heard one shot and then two more.
Apparently Gault had circled back around the building, spotted Youngblood and opened fire from his car.
While several published reports said Officer Youngblood was killed in the two-door entrance of the country store, others say he was killed while peering out a rear side door of the business.
When they heard the shots, both Mrs. Brantley and Jackson dove for cover behind counters. Neither she nor Jackson saw the exchange of gunfire nor Gault firing his weapon.
When Mrs. Brantley looked up, she saw a pair of man’s legs extending from the rear of a soft drink box.
According to another newspaper account, B. F. Ketchum, part of the three-man posse from Clio, was standing next to Youngblood and actually caught Youngblood’s falling body and helped ease the large man to the ground. According to the article, Youngblood’s blood “soaked Ketchum’s clothing.”
Youngblood died instantly from one shot to the center of his chest (one report said the bullet struck him in the heart).
Jackson and Mrs. Brantley rushed to the fallen officer. As Jackson checked for a pulse, Mrs. Brantley called an ambulance, even though she knew Officer Youngblood was almost certainly dead.
Realizing there was nothing he could do for Officer Youngblood, Ketchum took Youngblood’s service revolver, jumped back in his car and continued the pursuit of Gault ..."
Good idea for when I add video podcast features to this site. I'll put this in "my future projects" file, Melissa. Thanks for your support of this new site!
That's about it. But we are known for our fast-food restaurants. Travellers going through Troy to the beach - if they are not hungry - must cuss as there's a traffic light every mile on Highway 231. Trivia for local residents: What was the first franchise fast-food restaurant on Hwy 231? Hint: It wasn't McDonald's.
I wrote a story about this once. I know the answer!
Ron wins the prize! How about a subscription to The Troy Citizen? ... wait, you already have one.
Double DeLight (sp?) was on Highway 231 earlier, but that was a locally-owned restaurant started by Charles Nonnenman, who also started the Red Wave. Wilson's BBQ was the first restaurant on old Highway 231 (or the "strip" part of Hwy. 231). Wilson's, which had the best camp stew in Alabama, was started by the family of Mary Williams. I miss all three places!
Dad published a history of Troy ("Troy - 1838-2016") in 2016. The book's press run of 1,000 copies quickly sold out. Many people have asked me where they could get a copy of the book, but, alas, there's no where. I've always thought I could pay to print another 500 to 1,000 copies and sell them myself. I would/could even update the history from 2007-2024 and correct a few errors that always bothered Dad.
It occurs to me that if The Troy Citizen is a financial success, I could pay for this project and offer this book to more citizens. If anyone thinks this would be a worthwhile project or might be a book prospect, please pass along a note in the Reader Comments.
I could even give away a few books for gifts or prizes for subscribers!
As readers to The Troy Citizen will quickly learn (and probably already have), I have been known to make a few typos in my stories. Thanks to the edit function of Substack, I can quickly fix these mistakes as soon as I find them (which is usually 5 to 40 minutes AFTER I hit "send" on my stories).
I do employ our family dog, Annie, as my copy-editor, but - truth be told - Annie is not very good at her job.
Here's a short story and photo about Annie "at the job."
Bill, you mentioned the store where Hayden Youngblood was killed...it was HICKMAN'S. I was only a little girl but remember vividly that day! We lived on the corner where Gault turned and went to the cemetary where he ultimately was shot.
You are right, Judy. I made a typo when re-typing Dad's 2001 article, which I've now corrected. I wrote an in-depth piece on The Gault saga for Troy Life magazine a couple of years ago. I can't re-publish the entire article because I don't own the copyright. However, this is an excerpt from the article that details what seems to have happened at Hickman's Store:
From my story: "About three miles from downtown Troy, Gault turned off Highway 29 and suddenly drove behind A. E. Hickman Grocery Store. The store, razed years ago, was located at the intersection of Highway 29 and Needmore Road. Rice (my late father) speculated in his book that Gault may have seen the funeral procession and turned to avoid it.
Whatever the circumstances, Gault’s Cadillac was now behind the country store.
Youngblood, who’d been told not to apprehend Gault by himself, no doubt felt he had to protect the operator of the store, Mrs. Frances Hickman Brantley, the daughter of the store’s owner and the wife of Troy Postmaster “Tack” Brantley.
Based on information broadcast on his police radio, Officer Youngblood had legitimate reasons to think Gault may try to take hostages.
Perhaps thinking he’d blocked Gault’s exit, Youngblood parked in a side drive, rushed into the store and asked Mrs. Brantley if she had a shotgun.
At about the same time, the Clio vehicle whipped into the driveway, which circled the building.
According to an account in The Troy Messenger, Mrs. Brantley asked, “What’s the matter?”
“There’s a bank robber in back of the store,” Youngblood replied.
“Oh my God,” Mrs. Brantley uttered.
James Jackson, a salesman with Petrey Wholesale Grocery, was the only other person in the store.
Mrs. Brantley did not have a shotgun, but did find a .22 caliber rifle. She was walking towards the front of the store, attempting to locate bullets for the rifle, when she heard one shot and then two more.
Apparently Gault had circled back around the building, spotted Youngblood and opened fire from his car.
While several published reports said Officer Youngblood was killed in the two-door entrance of the country store, others say he was killed while peering out a rear side door of the business.
When they heard the shots, both Mrs. Brantley and Jackson dove for cover behind counters. Neither she nor Jackson saw the exchange of gunfire nor Gault firing his weapon.
When Mrs. Brantley looked up, she saw a pair of man’s legs extending from the rear of a soft drink box.
According to another newspaper account, B. F. Ketchum, part of the three-man posse from Clio, was standing next to Youngblood and actually caught Youngblood’s falling body and helped ease the large man to the ground. According to the article, Youngblood’s blood “soaked Ketchum’s clothing.”
Youngblood died instantly from one shot to the center of his chest (one report said the bullet struck him in the heart).
Jackson and Mrs. Brantley rushed to the fallen officer. As Jackson checked for a pulse, Mrs. Brantley called an ambulance, even though she knew Officer Youngblood was almost certainly dead.
Realizing there was nothing he could do for Officer Youngblood, Ketchum took Youngblood’s service revolver, jumped back in his car and continued the pursuit of Gault ..."
Would it be too much to ask if you could ride around and video all the places you mentioned and post it? I know where some of them are but not all
Good idea for when I add video podcast features to this site. I'll put this in "my future projects" file, Melissa. Thanks for your support of this new site!
Arby’s, Waffle House and Blimpie’s.
What more does a person need…..
That's about it. But we are known for our fast-food restaurants. Travellers going through Troy to the beach - if they are not hungry - must cuss as there's a traffic light every mile on Highway 231. Trivia for local residents: What was the first franchise fast-food restaurant on Hwy 231? Hint: It wasn't McDonald's.
I wrote a story about this once. I know the answer!
Hardee’s?
Ron wins the prize! How about a subscription to The Troy Citizen? ... wait, you already have one.
Double DeLight (sp?) was on Highway 231 earlier, but that was a locally-owned restaurant started by Charles Nonnenman, who also started the Red Wave. Wilson's BBQ was the first restaurant on old Highway 231 (or the "strip" part of Hwy. 231). Wilson's, which had the best camp stew in Alabama, was started by the family of Mary Williams. I miss all three places!
Dad published a history of Troy ("Troy - 1838-2016") in 2016. The book's press run of 1,000 copies quickly sold out. Many people have asked me where they could get a copy of the book, but, alas, there's no where. I've always thought I could pay to print another 500 to 1,000 copies and sell them myself. I would/could even update the history from 2007-2024 and correct a few errors that always bothered Dad.
It occurs to me that if The Troy Citizen is a financial success, I could pay for this project and offer this book to more citizens. If anyone thinks this would be a worthwhile project or might be a book prospect, please pass along a note in the Reader Comments.
I could even give away a few books for gifts or prizes for subscribers!
As readers to The Troy Citizen will quickly learn (and probably already have), I have been known to make a few typos in my stories. Thanks to the edit function of Substack, I can quickly fix these mistakes as soon as I find them (which is usually 5 to 40 minutes AFTER I hit "send" on my stories).
I do employ our family dog, Annie, as my copy-editor, but - truth be told - Annie is not very good at her job.
Here's a short story and photo about Annie "at the job."
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/meet-the-co-author-of-my-newsletter
I appreciate anyone who might share this on local history sites or with friends and family members who are very interested in local history.