First week of April, 1926, 1951, 1976 & 2001
APRIL 1 100 Years ago – 1926
The Ladies Auxiliary American Legon of Fieldale met in their hall. Guest Mrs. T.F. Wilson spoke on the origin of the Claude Wells Post. Claude Swanson Wells was the son of the late W. Hamlin and Pocahontas Shumate Wells. Claude Wells, 19, left his Henry County farmhouse on May 15, 1918, to serve in the war. He was sent overseas in Co. D. 11th Infantry and soon reported as missing in action. After the war, in 1923, his friends who also had served in war organized an outpost of Pannill Post, American Legion, of Martinsville, and in 1924, they established a local post, which they named for him. In 1926 the post had 15 members, who were expecting the post to grow with more members.
75 years ago – 1951
Harry Cline lost three fingers on his left hand while working at Gravely Novelty Plant and spent several days recuperating in Martinsville General Hospital.
50 years ago – 1976
Bassett insurance agent John M. Richardson Jr. was hired as the Henry County administrator, replacing Lawrence M. Martin, whose appointment to that post had been controversial.
25 years ago - 2001
A local chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, the international sorority for women educators, was formed locally. Its charter members were Donna Anthony, Kathy Byrd, Felita Claybrooks, Kathy DeFriece, Libby Gray, Patricia Koger, Jannie Koumparakis, Jennifer McDaniel, Katina Petit, Kerry Ratliff, Kathy Shelton and Sharon Waskiewicz.
APRIL 2 100 Years ago – 1926
Hooker-Bassett Furniture Company employee Thomas I. Howell died from injuries sustained at the plant after his work shift was over. “For some months, many of the employees of the factory had made use of the air hose for cleaning their clothes after the factory closed,” the Henry Bulletin on April 6, 1926, said. “On Friday evening, it is said, while having his clothes dusted off Mr. Howell was fatally injured, his death taking place in one of the local hospitals a few hours later.” The article did not explain how he was injured. The company from then on prohibited the practice of men using the air hose for cleaning their clothes. Mr. Howell left a wife and four children. More than 1,000 people attended his funeral near Sandy Ridge, N.C.
75 years ago – 1951
Forty thousand CIO union workers in the cotton and rayon plants of five Southern states were on strike for higher pay. The South had about 425,000 cotton-rayon workers but only 90,000 of them were members of the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA). Plants in Henry County were open, but Fieldcrest Mills’ eight plants at Draper, Spray and Leaksville (all three towns form present-day Eden), N.C. In Greensboro, N.C., the Proximity and Print Workers plants of Cone Mills Corp. were operating on a limited basis due to the strike. The strike at Dan River Mills was the first major textile strike in Virginia in 30 years.
50 years ago – 1976
The Henry County Board of Supervisors voted to buy 100 “green boxes” for rural trash disposal. The cost was estimated at $29,500.
25 years ago - 2001
The All-County Theatre presented the plays “Wiley and the Hairy Man” and “The Case of the Crushed Petunias.” The troupe’s actors came from all four county high schools (Magna Vista, Laurel Park, Bassett and Fieldale-Collinsville). The guest director was Fred Motley.
APRIL 3 100 Years ago – 1926
Mr. and Mrs. B.M. Stultz Jr. hosted a dance in the Hall in Fieldale. Music was by the Blue Ridge Serenaders of Martinsville. The hostess and Mrs. Ben Minter served fruit punch. Many people from Martinsville as well as Fieldale attended.
75 years ago – 1951
Mrs. Robert L. Morris of Collinsville was the first woman to serve on a jury in Henry County.
A project of the A to Z Book Club was the hospital book cart. Members of the club included Mrs. Harry Levy and Mrs. Stanley Sater. The club president was Mrs. Harold Kolodny. A recent club discussion was on the French play “Knock” by Jules Romains, a satire on medicine.
50 years ago – 1976
Local 22 of the Teamsters Union had been striking four area trucking companies since March 21: R.P. Thomas Trucking Co., Virginia-Carolina Freight Lines, Roy Stone Transfer Co. and Blue Ridge Transfer Co. (whose strike had begun a week before the others).
25 years ago - 2001
Charles and Carmela Whitfield opened Gospel Connection at 730 Church St., Suite 10-A. The store sold gospel videos, CDs and cassettes. Judy M. Starkey was the store manager. William C. Randolph was the emcee at the grand opening.
APRIL 4 100 Years ago – 1926
Martinsville Town Council passed an ordinance requiring that all dogs within city limits either had to be vaccinated against rabies or had to be confined on its home property.
75 years ago – 1951
A fire broke out in the sawdust near the boiler room at American Furniture and was put out by Martinsville firemen.
50 years ago – 1976
The first phase of grading was almost finished at the 78-acre site of the soon-to-be Bassett High School.
25 years ago - 2001
Darrell Jackson of Axton was elected chairman of the Martinsville Coop of Southern States Cooperative Inc. Joseph Prillaman of Collinsville was elected vice chairman.
APRIL 5 100 Years ago – 1926
Free movies by the Extension Force of the U.S. Department of Agriculture were shown at these locations, one night after the other: Pleasant Grove Church, County Line Church, Blackberry Church, Oak Level School and Axton High School. The movies were “Sir Lacteus, The Good Milk Knight,” “Milk Made Products,” “Layers and Liars,” “The Control of the Stable Fly,” “American Home Canning” and “The Happier Way.”
75 years ago – 1951
Sheriff Morton Prillaman announced he would run for re-election, and Charles H. Gray of Collinsville and James Wall of Bassett filed to run against him. Gray, a taxi driver in Bassett, was a former Bassett police officer. Gray was married to Lucille Smith and he had two sons from a former marriage. Wall operated a wholesale candy store in Bassett and then worked as a Henry County deputy for several months. He was a member of Bassett Church of the Brethren and Bassett Post, American Legion. He and his wife, the former Thelma Woods, had three children.
50 years ago – 1976
When teenagers got their driver’s license for the first time, they appeared before Judge J. English Ford of the 21st District Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. State law was that before a teenager got a license, he would get a lecture from a judge on driving safety. Judge Ford was known for saying, “I hope that I’ll never see any of you again. Because the next time I see you I can promise you that you won’t be as comfortable as you’ve been this time.”
25 years ago - 2001
The new drug OxyContin, a derivative of opium, had been found in communities surrounding Martinsville-Henry County, and local law enforcement said it was just a matter of time before it would be sold within MHC. Martinsville Police Lt. Eddie Cassady and Henry County Sgt. David King, who were in charge of drug investigations, made that prediction.
APRIL 6 100 Years ago – 1926
Piedmont Christian Institute received a gift of $200 worth of books (value $3,628 today). They consisted of the Funk and Wagnalls’ New Standard Dictionary bound in leather, the latest edition of the International Encyclopedia by Dood, Mead and Co., in 25 volumes, with a mahogany cabinet to store them. They were the gift of W.C. Martin, a Henry County native who had lived in Washington D.C. and was an attorney. (Piedmont Christian Institute was a school for black students, and Mr. Martin was black.)
75 years ago – 1951
Albert Lee (A.L.) Philpott of Bassett announced that he would run against incumbent Cary J. Randolph for Henry County commonwealth’s attorney.
The first women ever summoned for jury service in Martinsville Circuit Court were Mrs. Ralph C. Lester, who would be called for petit jury service, and Mrs. Mark Ivey, who would be called if needed.
50 years ago – 1976
Local amateur archaeologist R.P. Gravely Jr. and Waye Clark, assistant archaeologist with the Virginia State Library led an excavation of an Indian site on land in Koehler near the Smith River, which was in plans to be used for a new sewage treatment plant. The excavation was funded by $15,080 in federal money and conducted by the State Library and the local and state archaeological societies. They had just six weeks, until May 15, to unearth all the artifacts they could get. The site was one of two in the county which had evidence of early contact between Indians and white men.
25 years ago - 2001
Patrick Henry Community College hosted the Second Annual Spring Fling Fashion Show in the Hooker Exhibition Hall in the J. Burness Frith Economic Development Center. PHCC students modeled clothing and accessories from C Seay & Company, Cato’s, It’s Fashion, Carter’s, Crystal Clear Bridal Creations, Main Source and C.W. Holt. Pearl Fu of NCCJ’s Local Colors of Roanoke presented fashions from other countries.
Henry County Parks and Recreation hosted an Easter egg hunt and covered dish lunch for senior citizens at the Woodmen of the World building in Collinsville.
APRIL 7 100 Years ago – 1926
The greatest piano sale ever held in Martinsville was held at Grand Piano on Walnut Street. A piano could be secured with a $5 deposit ($91 today), with weekly payments. “You will never miss the small monthly payments,” the ad says. “Parents. Do not neglect your children’s musical education. The world is full of parents who meant well by their children, but failed to give them the advantages of life until it was too late …” A good student upright piano cost $138 ($2,510 today). A $675 player piano could be purchased at the sale price of $525 with payments of $2 a week. The purchase included 24 rolls (music) and a free $40 floor lamp or a fine set of silver, and a scarf and bench.
75 years ago – 1951
The Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) voted to undertake the final construction of the Martinsville General Hospital for Negros. Before that, the Jaycees had only been responsible for raising funds for the project. The group had a hospital fund of $31,000 in cash and $4,000 in pledges. Before they were involved, the construction was in the hands of the board of trustees of the hospital, but they reported they could not raise enough money. The hospital project started in 1948 when trustees of Martinsville General Hospital donated an initial $25,000.
50 years ago – 1976
Gary Bailey’s Cycle Barn opened just inside the entrance to Lake Sugartree Motocross Raceway off U.S. 58 in Axton. It specialized in Bultaco cycles, repairs and accessories. Mr. Bailey’s son Dave helped with the business.
25 years ago - 2001
Plans for the former site of R.P. Thomas Trucking Terminal on Fayette Street were revealed: If the City could get federal funding for most of the project’s estimated cost of $1.68 million, the site would be divided into 23 lots, with most of them reserved for sale to low- to moderate-income families. The City also would buy three vacant, dilapidated structures, to fix up one and to tear down and rebuild the other two.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.