February 5 through the years
100 Years ago – 1926
Health Officer R.M. Wilson was promoting typhoid vaccinations with the saying “Three syringefuls of injection are better than six weeks in bed.” His announcement continued: “If you live in the country or in unsewered areas of town, you had better look after the privy and see that it is repaired and made fly tight before the fly season. This is where you get your typhoid. Look about your spring or well and have the spring ditched around. Have the well fixed up with a pump and concrete top, water tight. This will keep the filth out which causes sickness.” Wilson also urged that children be given the toxin antitoxin to prevent diphtheria at any clinic going on in the schools now; and to have them vaccinated against smallpox. A nearby county had 58 cases of smallpox, and smallpox killed one person in Henry County in 1925.
Three cars were stolen in one night: R.M. Simmons’ Buick Coach, H.B. Byrd’s new Dodge Sedan and County Clerk T.C. Matthews’ car. All three were recovered quickly, one of them on Mulberry Street.
75 years ago – 1951
The final three of the Martinsville Seven were executed: John Clabon Taylor, 24 James Luther Hairston, 23; and Francis De Sales Grayson, 40. Picket marches around the White House grounds and other protesters held a march at the State Capitol in Richmond to lay wreaths where prayer vigils had been held since the Thursday four days before. All seven of the men had been accused of raping Mrs. Ruby Stroud Floyd, 32, on Jan. 8, 1949. Their sentences of execution had been handed down on May 43, 1949, and in the 20 months since, five reprieves were granted while the case was carried through the state and federal courts, four times to the U.S. Supreme Court or one of its justices. Meanwhile, the funeral for Frank Hairston Jr., 21, executed three days before, was held in East Martinsville.
50 years ago – 1976
Advertisement: “Give Your Valentine an Admiral Appliance. She’ll love you for it! Admiral economy-priced refrigerator/freezer, 14.3 cu, only 30 inches wide. See it now at Trent Furniture Company, Next Door to Post Office. Open Tonight ‘Til 9. Bassett.”
25 years ago - 2001
The Virginia State Bar suspended Martinsville attorney Rickey Gene Young’s license for 18 months based on how it assessed his handling of three separate civil matters: a wrongful death suit, a personal injury/liability suit and a sexual harassment claim.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.