New Market - info - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Few towns the size of New Market could boast of such a commodious building as the New Market Community Coliseum Building, designed and built by Ed Douglas in 1916 and dedicated in 1917. It was built by popular subscription of money, materials, and labor, and erected at a total cost of $5200. The New Market Community Coliseum Building Association’s board of fifteen directors managed and controlled the building’s use – charging reasonable rental and admission fees to maintain its upkeep. The first directors were H.B. Sayler, Newton Busenbark, John L. Childers, Leland G. Childers, Albert D. Seaman, L.B. Etter, Wallace Hester, William J. Miles, Robert Caplinger, Howard H. Munns, Albert J. Armantrout, and Edwin H. Douglas. The building stood four doors south of the school building on North Third Street and was the center of activity for most community affairs. It accommodated all overflow meetings for the churches, schools, and the entire community and supplied the school with a splendid house for its athletics, banquets, plays, and other extracurricular affairs. It also offered a source of entertainment on Saturday evenings as Silent Movies were shown there a few years before it was torn down. Upon the completion of the newly constructed school building in 1928, the coliseum was seldom used for school functions, and it was feared to be a fire hazard; so it was disbanded in 1933 and torn down the following year. Before the termination of the Association at the close of 1955, the money held by the organization was used for fire fighting equipment.

Note: No one seems to know if there is or ever was a picture of the Coliseum - sure wish there was

WORLD WAR I During World War I seventeen of our young men went overseas to serve their country. John Poynts was among the first of the World War soldiers of Montgomery County. Two of our boys made the supreme sacrifice – Daniel Miller, who died while in the service at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, after having served from June until September, and Morris O’Connor who died April 16, 1918, after having served since May 28, 1917. The New Market Chapter of the Red Cross began its initial work of sewing and knitting for the soldiers on July 9, 1917. A surgical dressing course, under the direction of Mrs. Newton Busenbark, was offered for the women of the Red Cross. Meetings were held twice a week in the basement of the Methodist Church until the close of the war. Mrs. Louise Swearingen succeeded Mrs. Busenbark and held that office until the war ended. It is interesting to know that outside of Crawfordsville, the New Market Chapter ranked first in the amount of work done in the county. Records revealed that the chapter supplied the following articles: 116 sweaters, 146 pairs of socks, 82 pair of bed socks, 235 bed shirts, 22 suits of underwear, 39 napkins, 111 dozen pillow cases, 22 comfort kits, 217 pajama suits, 13 wash cloths, 5 tray cloths, 25 aprons, 126 handkerchiefs, 208 towels, 35 gowns. Postwar activities included the continuation of surgical dressings and the making of garments for the war orphans.

WWII

DeBusk, Imogene. New Market: A century of progress p 118.

At the outset of World War II many local young men responded to their country’s call and returned safely home. However, Roy Glen Ruckles was among the early seamen from this locality to serve in the Merchant Marines. He lost his life while aboard a cargo ship which was sunk by German submarines in the Mermansk Straits. At that time more than half of the ships that entered that area were sunk. Another youth from this community, LeRoy White, son of Mr. and Mrs. David White, who resided three miles southwest of New Market, was aboard the Battleship California which was hit by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Although the ship was not badly damaged the captain ordered all men overboard and sank the ship to keep it from enemy hands. The seamen swam, fighting their way through ignited oils on the water, to shore where they found bodies of men lying all about. Although White made his way safely to barracks there was no way of getting word to his parents because of the disorder and confusion. A few days after the attack the White family received a telegram with the report that their son was lost in action. It was not until a month later that they received a letter from him, and although it had been censored, it carried the news they so desired – that he was alive and well. A second casualty from this area was Vance Pyle, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Pyle, who had attended school at New Market. He was serving in the United States Infantry when killed at St. Lo, France in 1944. Oscar Murrell, who also attended the New Market School, lost his life in action and was buried overseas. Joe Elliott, a New Market High School graduate, was among those on the wounded list, and suffered the loss of one arm.