RISON - Anyone passing through downtown Rison last Thursday evening may have noticed a little commotion going on it in front of the old Cash Grocery building in the 200 block of Main Street. It wasn't someone going through the downtown area smashing out windows - it was someone trying to retrieve what turned out to be a part of local history.
Johnny Howard of Rison said he felt he had covered all his bases with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department before trying to get a century-old safe he had bought from the late Mark Cash back in 2015 that was still inside the building.
Since the roof had collapsed in the back half of the building, Howard said he had informed the sheriff's department that he received permission from the owner to break out the front window to get to the safe. When he started to carry out his plan at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday, someone apparently thought he was on a rampage breaking out windows in downtown Rison and contacted police.
A visit with the sheriff's department as well as with Rison Mayor Charles Roberts finally cleared up the matter. Howard said he decided leave and come back after all the businesses in the downtown area had closed at about 9 p.m. More than two hours after arriving back at the store, Howard said he was finally rolling out the big safe onto a trailer he had backed up to the broken window. Using a winch to slowly pull it onto the trailer, when it finally made it onto the back of the trailer, it was so heavy it lifted the back of his truck off the ground. He estimated it weighed about 4,500 lbs.
Howard said the doors of the safe were open and nothing was inside.
When he finally got it home, he said he noticed that it was originally built by the Mosler Safe Company in 1901. Upon further inspection, he could see the faded inscription of Farmers and Merchants Bank on top of the safe. Local historian Stan Sadler said the Farmers and Merchants Bank insignia on the safe ties ...
To access content, please login or purchase a subscription.