Third Week of February, 1926, 1951, 1976, 2001
FEBRUARY 12 100 Years ago – 1926
Programs of the Two-Day Farmers Institute in Axton were: Stewardship; Health; a Demonstration in Preserving Eggs in Water-Glass; Runts in Poultry and Causes; Soil Building; How Club Work Can Aid in Building Permanent Agricultural Progress in the County; and Clean Apples; then it was lunch time. After lunch: an address by Mrs. Semones, the president of the Parent-Teachers Association; a demonstration in Handling, Grading and Packing Eggs; a Roundtable led by Agronomist Prof. T.B. Hutcheson; and Concrete.
The Parent Teachers Association hosted a benefit tea in the new cafeteria room of the Grammar School. The purpose of the tea was to collect equipment necessary for serving lunch to the students. The cost to attend the tea was to donate one or more of the following items: dinner plates, soup plates, cups and saucers, forks and tea spoons. Collected were: 89 soup plates, 48 dinner plates, 73 dessert plates, 143 saucers, 41 cups, 35 tea spoons, 21 forks, 12 knives, 17 glassed, 23 table spoons, 1 meat platter, 6 tea towels. Millners Store gave a roll of oilcloth, enough to cover all of the tables and counters. T.W. Carter gave 50 breakfast plats, four towels and $2 cash. Donations would still be collected by mail to Mr. J. Carter, High School, or Mrs. Thos N. Barbour. The cafeteria would open for lunch on Monday, Feb. 22.
Mrs. Lucy Brown Hundley, 37, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. She had been sick with the flu for several weeks. Her husband was Dr. M.E. Hundley of Lucy Lester Hospital, which Lucy Brown Hundley had funded in memory of her aunt. Her sister was Mrs. G.M. Andes and her brother was Mr. Rives S. Brown. She was one of several children born to Tarleton and Ann Eliza Brown. She was a graduate of the Martinsville schools and Hollins College. After their parents died, she and her brother Rives S. Brown lived with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Lester. She married Dr. Hundley in 1919. She was a member and supporter of Broad Street Christian Church. She was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
75 years ago – 1951
Local stores extended credit to customers, and the local Retail Merchants Association set the guidelines for credit and kept track of people’s credit habits, good or bad. On this evening the members of the Retail Merchants Association met at the Henry Hotel to talk about new rules and regulations about credit. The discussion was led by Virginia Retail Merchants Director Charles McFee, who spoke on “Confusion Unlimited.”
Brownie Girl Scout Troop 16, which met at Starling Avenue Baptist Church, had members Mary Lee Altice, Barbara Caney, Becky Cannaday, Bonnie Cheshire, Gloria Jean Clark, Marie Clark, Frances Lawrence, Shelia Martin, Judy Pegram, Betty Ann Roach, Elaine Koogler, Carolyn Chockey, Frances Going, Diane Hazelwood and Diane Lester. Their recent projects had been to make Valentine favors for the patients’ trays at Martinsville General Hospital, helped with a project for the veterans of Roanoke hospital, and prepare sunshine boxes.
50 years ago – 1976
The men of the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Department treated their wives and the members of the Women’s Auxiliary and their husbands to a steak dinner at the Ridgeway Ruritan Building. The building was decorated for the occasion, and the men did all the cooking and serving. The main cooks were Harold Durham, John K. Pulliam, Howard L. Shropshire, Billy Jarbour and Russel Gregory. One woman did cook – Mrs. John Pulliam surprised everyone by bringing enough cake to serve 80 people.
25 years ago - 2001
Gloria Dillard and Vanessa Hodge opened Breakin’ Bread Café in Jefferson Plaza on Church Strete.
FEBRUARY 13 100 Years ago – 1926
The Barrows Mill 4-H Club held a Tacky Wedding at the Barrows Mill schoolhouse, with refreshments being sold.
Two new pianos levied by the Henry County sheriff were sold at public auction in front of the courthouse. In the days before the sale they were available at the sheriff’s office for inspection.
The Colored Teachers Institute of Henry County was held at the Martinsville Graded School in the auditorium, which just had been built. The main speaker was Supervisor of Negro Education of Virginia, W.D. Greshant. He had taught for several sessions in the Martinsville Summer Normals and married a Henry County native. Delegates who attended the State Negro Teachers Association gave their reports.
75 years ago – 1951
Newsprint was in low supply and military demands for it had increased considerably, so newspapers had to make due with odd sizes of paper. The Martinsville Bulletin explained that to extend its supply of newsprint, the company had purchased mill ends, which were odd-sized rolls left over after the regular-sized rolls were cut from the original long rolls made by newspaper plants. The regular newspaper was 8 columns wide, but some of the odd-sized rolls were only five columns wide, and others were 3. In some instance, the Bulletin would paste together the three-column and five-column sheets to make a regular eight-column page. In other instances, the five-column pages were bring run separately.
50 years ago – 1976
The Ladies Auxiliary of the Horsepasture District Volunteer Fire Department donated $1,000 to the fire department to help with the building and its furnishings. Members included Beatrice Hagwood, Mamie Mathews, Mrs. Linward Simmons, Mrs. Spencer Foster, Mrs. Curtis Morris, Mrs. Aubrey Bradshaw, Mrs. Jay Vipperman and Mrs. Grogan.
25 years ago - 2001
Ruby Elizabeth Harrell was awarded the police department’s Citizen of the Year award for her work to improve relations between police and senior citizens. She helped organize S.A.L.T. (Senior and Lawmen Together) in 1996. It is a group of senior citizens who meet with police each month to discuss personal safety and crime preventions. Police Chief Mike Rogers presented the award to her.
FEBRUARY 14 100 Years ago – 1926
Millner’s Variety Stores on Walnut Street ran this special: “We will give a Sterling Silver Spoon with name engraved on same to every baby born in Henry County on St. Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Doctors certificate must be presented at our store when baby was born.”
75 years ago – 1951
Six men from Martinsville were among the 188 candidates who passed the annual State Bar Examinations, out of 306 people who had taken the Bar Exam in Richmond. Those from Martinsville who passed were: Lawrence R. Burton, son of State Senator Frank P. Burton of Stuart; John English Ford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom M. Ford of Thomas Heights, City; Marvin Lee Hill, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Hill, Askin Stret, City; Samuel McCabe Hairston, son of Mrs. Marshall Smith Hairston of Stuart; Morton H. Joyce, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Joyce, Brown Street, City, and a brother of attorney Hannibal N. Joyce; and Fred L. Rush, son of Mr. and Mrs. E.R. Rush of Jefferson Circle, City.
Two Long Island teenagers got caught with a stolen car after they made a dumb mistake. The car the two boys were riding had smoke coming from it. A passerby thought it was on fire so turned in an alarm, and a passing motorist hailed the car near the city park on Church Street to tell the boys about the smoke. They jumped out and ran off but were caught by Patrolman A.T. Finney and J.A. Johnson. They told the policemen that they were hitchhiking to Florida and stole the car (which belonged to Charles M. Hart Jr. of Martinsville) from near Christ Episcopal Church. The car was smoking because they had not released the parking brake.
50 years ago – 1976
Carlton A. Stockton, a 1958 graduate of Albert Harris High School, attended a session at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Only 27 people from across the nation were selected to take part in the managerial development program. Stockton, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alonza Stockton of Martinsville, was an official with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He lived in Reston and worked as a program management officer on the planning and policy coordination staff of the Office of Special Initiatives, Associate Administrator for the Management, Social and Rehabilitation Service. The office was responsible for improvements in various welfare programs.
25 years ago – 2001
Paula and Tommy Wyatt of Collinsville had been married for 18 years. On this day, he had her wake him up early for work. Actually, instead of going to his job, he went to her job, at Stanley Furniture Co., and erected a huge heart-shaped valentine with her name and a message on it on the company’s front lawn, to surprise her when she got to work.
Hypnotist Alexander Goen was in Martinsville at the Best Western to hypnotize people into quitting smoking. One complete seminar cost $49.99.
The program for the meeting of S.A.L.T. (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together), held at the Henry County Administration Building, was the U.S. Secret Service and its varied duties and functions. Sam Alexander of Roanoke gave the program.
FEBRUARY 15 100 Years ago – 1926
Pulaski Furniture sold $300,000 ($5,460,000 in today’s dollars) worth of furniture at the furniture market in Chicago. The company was doubling its lumber storage space which would permit all lumber coming in to be placed directly on trucks ready for dry kills rather than having to be piled in the yard. A 50,000-square-foot warehouse would be built as soon as weather permitted. Officers of the board of directors were M.R. Schottland, president; R.S. Brown and J.F. Wysor, vice presidents; N.S. Schottland, secretary and treasurer; and H.V. Schottland, assistant secretary and treasurer.
75 years ago – 1951
Civilian Defense Corps Coordinator Clay A. Easterly put out a call for 40 volunteer auxiliary firemen and 40 auxiliary policemen. When that many have signed up, training courses would be started. Sgt. Claude Barker took registrations for auxiliary policemen and Assistant Chief George E. Harrison took registrations for auxiliary firemen. According to state guidelines, a total of 123 auxiliary firemen and 78 auxiliary policemen were required for Martinsville. Plant Protection Officer Horace G. Dyer received several instructions regarding the safeguarding of local industries. He would direct industries to set up protective systems including guard and security protections, general safety procedures, a system for alerting volunteer workers, shelters for safety in the event of alerts, establishment of fire-fighters and first-aid providers. Meanwhile, Dr. Harold Kennedy, director of the Health Service division, had received an organization manual to establish health services and special weapons defense. The Civilian Defense Corps was developed by the Federal Civil Defense Administration of 1950; its purpose was to manage the nation’s response to potential threats, most specifically, any military action from the Soviet Union including nuclear war.
Thirty-five colleges were at College Night at Martinsville High School, an event for juniors and seniors and their parents.
50 years ago – 1976
Gordon Leon Byrd, 30, of Route 695 in Spencer was shot to death in the home of Buster Nelson, near the airport.
Ad for Martinsville Bible Book Store: “Attention!! Sunday School Teachers – Special on Flannelgraph, 90 cent value, now 50 cents; Selected Music Books and Sheet Music, many other items $1.00 and less – now 25 cents – Free Parking just 2 doors down. Open Fri. Nite Til 9. If We Don’t Have IT, We’ll Order It! 5 E. Church St.”
25 years ago - 2001
The Henry County Public Safety Department had 2,500 smoke detectors to give free to any resident who wanted them. Batteries and installation also were provided, all thanks to a $19,150 grant from the state. Steve Eanes was the county’s public safety director.
FEBRUARY 16 100 Years ago – 1926
The report of the Red Cross Public Health Nurse showed the following: 13 schools visited in 27 visits; 34 classrooms visited; 92 pupils inspected by the nurse; number of pupils with defects, 128 (yes, more with defects than inspected); 10 pupils inspected by the doctor; 24 talks given in classrooms; 32 pupils weighed and measured; and 24 students 10% underweight. Corrections made during January were 158 for defective teeth, 2 for defective tonsils, 6 for defective vision; 2 for mouth breathing; and 7 orthopedic patients. Home visits were made for 12 babies, 32 preschool children, 26 school-aged children and 9 adults. The nurse attended 3 committee meetings, 2 special meetings, 17 office interviews; she sent 200 letters, had 19 business and other visits, had 7 news articles published, spent 51 hours working in the office and distributed 1,000 pamphlets.
Experienced lung specialist held a clinic in Fieldale to give tuberculosis examinations. “We nearly all have some tuberculosis germs in our bodies, only good care of the body or a good constitution renders the germs harmless. Among the early symptoms are: 1. Tiredness that does not yield to rest; 2. Slight cough; 3. Loss of weight; 4. Nervousness without reason; 5. Frequent indigestion; 6. Temperature in the afternoon; 7. Any blood spitting,” the announcement read.
75 years ago – 1951
Boy Scouts were conducting a clothing drive to ship all types of men’s, women’s and children’s garments overseas through the United Nations. Children were asked to carry clean and usable clothes to school during the week. The Scouts would pick it up later for cleaning and packing.
Bassett High School held its annual Career Day. Speakers on “Local Opportunity” were” J.E. Bassett, on the furniture industry; M.K. Jacobs of DuPont, on the textile field; S.S. Flythe on banking; W.W. Sale, on retailing and wholesaling; and Dwight Livingston on textiles.
50 years ago – 1976
Stone Funeral Home, with proprietor Carl Stone, operated on Starling Avenue.
Granite Memorial Service of Oak Level made tombstones. It had been in the memorial business for 20 years. Frank Turner and Tommy Jones worked there. The company was a dealer of Stone Eternal, Royal Blue and Georga Marble and Light Granite. They also carved, lettered and erected, and they did cemetery lettering.
25 years ago – 2001
Four men with guns and rope held up the La Jalpita store on Virginia 57 in Bassett. They tied up all nine people there and robbed the place. The robbers sent everyone to the back of the store – Ruben Torres, his wife, their 13-month-old daughter, a female cashier and five customers – and ordered them to lie face down on the floor, and tied them up.
Volunteers got the 30-foot by 50-foot addition to the Horsepasture Rescue Squad built in less than a week. They came from as far away as Axton. Matt Tatum was the squad captain. The two-story addition would have a community room, kitchen and bathrooms on the first floor and a meeting room on the second. The volunteer labor made the project possible at half the estimated $125,000 cost if built by a contractor. Pine Products, Better Builders Supply, Millard Machinery, Triangle Equipment and West Window helped.
Pamela Ann Harrison, 34, of Ridgeway, died in a car wreck on U.S. 220 in Collinsville.
FEBRUARY 17 100 Years ago – 1926
Administrator of Prohibition in Virginia and West Virginia R.A. Fulwiler of Roanoke gave a talk at the Courthouse, in the interest of the enforcement of the 18th Amendment. His talk was called “The Government’s Plan of Law Enforcement.”
75 years ago – 1951
An audit of Martinsville General Hospital showed a 6-month loss of $10,989 ($136,430 in today’s dollars). Income was $208,315.86 and expenses ran to $219,305.65, including a $9,918.03 provision for bad accounts mainly for the care of patients unable to pay their bills. During that time, the hospital served 1,926 patients; 334 babies were born there; and 2,008 people were cared for in the emergency room with 208 of them requiring hospitalization.
The federal government’s National Production Authority ordered manufacturers to stop making tires with white sidewalls. Eliminating white sidewalls would save 10% on the amount of rubber used, the agency said.
50 years ago – 1976
The Ohev Zion Sisterhood held its 19th annual sale at the former Phelps Armstead Building, 29 E. Main St. The sale would go on until everything was sold. The women had sent more than 3,000 letters to vendors across the United States asking for donations of wares to sell. Items also had been donated by members of the synagogue. Funds raised were for the upkeep of the synagogue. Mrs. Dan Greene was the chair of the sale committee.
The Laurel Park High School Lancers beat the Piedmont District Champion Martinsville High School 58-55. LPHS point guard Ronnie Eggleston had 26 points. The LPHS win ended the Bulldog streak of 34 consecutive victories.
25 years ago - 2001
Ten employees of the Virginia Museum of Natural History were laid off, mostly because of an expected substantial loss in state funding. Steve Pike was the museum’s executive director. Employees whose jobs were lost included a lab assistant, a graphic designer in the publications department, an exhibits supervisor, a development director, a a building and grounds assistant, a collections assistant, a part-time store employee, and a weekend store clerk. Before the layoffs, the museum had 38 full-time and about a dozen part-time employees,
FEBRUARY 18 100 Years ago – 1926
The group conference of high school principals in Franklin, Henry, Patrick and Pittsylvania counties was held in Martinsville.
A mass meeting to speed the construction of a hard-surface road from Rocky Mount to the North Carolina line was held in Roanoke. State Highway Commissioner Haynes of Winston-Salem said that the 35 miles of road from the North Carolina state line to Winston-Salem would be under construction and finished within the year. The meeting was called by Martinsville residents headed by Kiwanis Club President T.G. Burch, and J.P. Fishburn acted as a chairman of the local effort. Mr. Burch was chosen as chairman of a committee to have public hearings in the towns along the route.
75 years ago – 1951
The Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) sponsored Brotherhood Week, which was sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews and observed annually throughout the nation. Those putting on the local program were Claude E. Taylor Jr., assisted by Lynwood Weaver, Seymour Rosenberg and Tommy Patterson.
Winners of the Pannill Post American Legion Oratorical Contest were Martha Minter, an Axton student, and Ann Burchill, a Martinsville student. Their topic was “Americanism.” They would go on to compete in the regional competition on March 2.
50 years ago – 1976
More than 1,700 Henry County citizens had signed a petition asking for an investigation of newly appointed county administrator Lawrence M. Martin. Also, a letter drafted by a committee that had met in the home of E. Nelson Reed, 715 Colonial Drive, Collinsville, had been send to Circuit Court Judge John D. Hooker. Former Horsepasture District Supervisor Willie G. Plaster said the committee was made up of Reed, J. Pete Jamison and James H. Hodges.
25 years ago – 2001
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt died from injuries in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell said, “He meant a lot to Martinsville Speedway. The sport has lost the greatest it’s ever had.”
The Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month Festival was held at the National Guard Armory. The event included race cars, food, music, a karate demonstration and speakers.
Slightly more than 200 Pillowtex workers who had been laid off the week before returned to their night-shift jobs. The layoffs had been attributed to excessive inventory and poor retail conditions.
FEBRUARY 19 100 Years ago – 1926
The Red Cross Clinic for Crippled Children, and Also Adults Handicapped by Accident, Disease or Otherwise, was held from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Martinsville Grammar School. Mrs. J.D. Glenn, Mrs. J.E. Redd, Mrs. T.G. Burch and Mrs. G.A. Brown assisted the Red Cross nurse.
Martinsville’s newest industry, the Martinsville Chair Manufacturing Company, elected new officers: Rives S. Brown, president; Nick Prillaman, vice president; W.P. Hodnett, treasurer; and J. Moss Prillaman, secretary and manager. The capital stock was $50,000, most taken from the officers. The business would operate in one of the buildings of the Lester Livestock and Grain Company’s plant. A great stock of chairs, built elsewhere, would be stained and varnished or finished in this plant. Orders already had been placed.
75 years ago – 1951
Employees of the Fieldcrest Mills voted whether to join the American Federation of Hosiery Workers. It was tied, 105 to 105, the tie meaning that union would not come to the mill that year. The matter could go up for election again the next year. Those present for the counting of the votes were John A. Penello, regional director for the National Labor Relations Board, union organizer Warren Leader and from Fieldcrest Mills: B.C. Trotter, Macon P. Miller, James W. Norman and J.M. Rimmer.
Prisoners of war and their families and survivors were urged to fill out claims for benefits. Nationwide, about 30,000 eligible persons had not applied for the benefits that were their due. Many of the missing claimants were thought to be widows, children or parents of deceased prisoners of war. Parents did not have to show dependency to be eligible, and any widow who had remarried still would qualify. People would apply at the office of James L. Lindsey, Room 6, Henry County Courthouse.
50 years ago – 1976
The State Police had investigated nine allegations which had led to the firing of County Accountant Lawrence M. Martin, who just a few months later was hired as county administrator by the newly elected Board of Supervisors. The investigator told the (mostly new) supervisors that the results of their investigation showed that Martin had acted “with criminal intent” in April 1975 when he ordered his wife, another county employee, be paid sick leave for time she had not earned.
25 years ago - 2001
Feb. 19 was the anniversary of the landing of nearly 110,000 Marines on the tiny island of Iwo Jima in World War II, 1945. It was the bloodiest battle in the Marines’ 225-year history. Local Iwo Jima survivors who held a reunion to commemorate that experience were Aubrey Pegram, Ed Cheshire, Shelton Scales, Ralph Draper and Roy Richardson.
Race fans from all over came to the Martinsville Speedway to mourn Dale Earnhardt, who had just died of injuries from a wreck on the last lap of the Daytona 500. They included George Hobson, Susie and Leaner Emerson and their 2-year-old daughter Brandi, Michelle Southall, Roy Walker, Leanne Wood, Kristie Lester, Billy Thompson and Todd Copenhaver. Fans left flowers, trading cards, caps, candles and much more. Local stores sold out of Dale Earnhardt memorabilia. Local funeral homes put out books to take signatures in his memory: Eight pages were filled at Howell Funeral Home in Stuart, three pages at Collins Funeral Services in Bassett and two at McKee-Stone Funeral Services in Martinsville, in just the first day. Other funeral homes were collecting signatures also.
FEBRUARY 20 100 Years ago – 1926
Masha and Abe Globman of the Globman’s department store were on a trip to Baltimore and New York City to order merchandise for the spring and summer.
Ad for Fulcher’s Man Shop in downtown Martinsville: “Prestige is a little like money, hard to earn and easy to lose. Knox has the prestige and Knox proposes to keep it – to keep it by continuing to give you, in every hat that bears the KNOX name, the best of good hats – a hat of great service – a hat of impeccable style.
At the meeting of the Business and Professional Women’s Club, as described in the Feb. 26 Henry Bulletin, “Miss Lucy Cheshire, as chairman of the Program Committee, presented an enjoyable program for the evening. Miss Mary Lou Pannill gave a gypsy dance, Miss Mamie Hundley, accompanied by Miss Cheshire at the piano, sang and the Club adjourned after a spirited ‘truth meeting’ in which each member joined hilariously in making her neighbor follow the example of George Washington and tell the truth.”
75 years ago – 1951
The new George Washington Carver High School in Henry County had a state-of-the-art Home Economics Suite. The kitchen unit had three electric ranges, an electric refrigerator and an automatic washer. The triple kitchen was planned in three sections, each with a range, cabinets and double sink. That way, three groups could work at once. The suite also had a dining room with modern light oak furniture and built-in, traditional corner cupboards. The suite had a large utility room with work tables, chairs and electric machines, a large living room furniture in a mix of traditional and modern furniture, a bathroom and a bedroom.
Since it had been reported that Martinsville General Hospital had been operating at a loss, the Virginia Catholic Diocese was planning to make a formal offer to buy it, Father Robert E. O’Kane announced. He had been talking with Father Harold Nott in Richmond about the possibility of the Catholic Church buying and operating it.
50 years ago – 1976
Four local men made presentations in the American Legion’s roundtable discussion “Should the U.S. Defend Europe?”, held at the high school auditorium. Representing the affirmative position were First United Methodist Church Pastor Dr. A.P. Williams and high school social studies department chair Willis Milton, and taking the negative were Clyde Lanham, an attorney and former army colonel, and former Martinsville mayor Nick Prillaman. The moderator was Patrick Henry Boy Scouts Commissioner.
25 years ago - 2001
Ninety employees were laid off at Pulaski Furniture’s Ridgeway plant due to what the company called stagnat sales of grandfather clocks and curio cabinets. About 350 people worked for Pulaski in Henry County. John Wampler was the president and chief information officer.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.