125 years ago, 1897
Taken directly from the Youngstown Vindicator:
“A somnambulist. Mrs. Theresa Uehlinger of Plum Street takes a lonely walk from home to hospital. She goes in night clothes and stocking feet — her condition now regarded as serious.
“A case of somnambulism was brought to the attention of the authorities at an early hour this morning, and for a number of hours the whereabouts of Mrs. Theresa Uehlinger, wife of George Uehlinger, of 325 Plum Street, was unknown. She had walked from her home on Plum Street to the city hospital, which is quite a distance, in only stocking feet and night clothes, and as a result, her condition today is considered precarious. Just what time she left home is unknown to her husband.
“Soon as he found her missing, word was communicated to police authorities. Albert Banks was on the West Side beat, where the woman resides. He searched high and low for her. Soon she was located in City Hospital.
“Her husband was at once notified and the woman was cared for with all possible haste. She was talked to afterward and gave no reason why she left her home to go to the hospital, saying she did not know what she was doing.
“Mrs. Uehlinger is aged 55 years and has been an invalid the past five years. Her ailment seems to have baffled the physicians and lately she has submitted to a number of operations, all of which seemed to do little good. The nature of her ailment is a severe pain located in the head and chest.
“For the past three years Mrs. Uehlinger has been in bed almost continually. She had been a patient at the hospital last week and Thursday night came home.
“Never before has she walked in her sleep. She said the pain was so severe it almost drove her crazy. Her condition is of such a nature as to cause alarm. Her husband is a barber and conducts business on Mill Street. It is thought the long walk in the manner she took it, may prove fatal, as the weather was unusually cold.”
40 years ago, 1982
The eyes of the sports world were on Niles as Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. received the Sandalini’s Man of the Year award at its annual Sports Banquet. More than 800 people were on hand for the ceremony held at the V.I.P Entertainment Complex and nearly 30 of them spoke in tributes to DeBartolo.
Tommy Lasorda, Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was joined by several other managers, including Chuck Tanner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Dave Garcia of the Cleveland Indians. Several local sports stars also joined in, including former Youngstown State University star Ron Jaworski and Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.
The tributes poured in for several hours, but no one in the massive crowd seemed to be restless. Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. made the official presentation to his son. They stood in front of the Super Bowl XVI trophy, which DeBartolo Jr.’s San Francisco 49ers had just won.
“I want to thank my family, to whom I owe everything and last but not least to all my friends out here tonight,” DeBartolo Jr. stated as he accepted the award.
• Compiled from the archives of The Vindicator by Traci Manning, Mahoning Valley Historical Society curator of education.