May 8
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
Mrs. Annie W. James, one of the principal heirs of the estate of the late Elizabeth P. Hairston of the Beaver Creek Plantation, brought a chancery suit in the county circuit court for the recovery of the lot of land on Church Street just west of Starling, which Mrs. Hairston had conveyed to trustees for the building of a hospital to be named “Hairston Memorial Hospital.” The suit also sought the recovery of $5,000 insurance money from destruction of the home of Miss Ann M. Hairston, which had been supposed to be a hospital, by fire. James asserted that it never had been a hospital, so the estate should revert to the Hairstons.
75 years ago – 1949
Ad for American Dry Cleaners at 706 Bridge Street, phone 2529: “Our Plant is a MOTH GRAVEYARD … Not only do we clean your clothes thoroughly – reshape them beautifully – bu tin addition our MONITE Process of Moth-Proof Cleaning insures you against moth-damage for a period of six months – or until your clothes are cleaned again!” with graphic of a tombstone that reads, “Mr. Moth Rest in Peace.”
1960
Joanne Fuller, Albert Harris High School junior, won the office of president of the State FBLA at their convention held at Virginia State College while Carver High School looked forward to their senior play, “Creeping Shadows” by Germaine Haney. Martinsville High School prepared for their Junior-Senior Prom as Drewry Mason High School and Bassett High School prepared for their annual beauty pageants. Fieldale High School announced their salutatorian, Jo Jane and valedictorian Carol Albright.
After an inspiring presentation at Stuart High School by Albertis S. Harrison, Virginia’s Attorney General, the citizens of Patrick County set about their plans to raise $300,000, their share of the new $600,000 community hospital being built on route 58 east of Stuart, touted to be one of the finest community institutions in the South. They were hopeful that the new institution would distinguish the area as industrialists considered moving into the area. They elected officers and established committees who began assignments in earnest with optimism and civic pride.
50 years ago – 1974
Chain letters were big in the 1970s, and they were going around Martinsville at this time in 1974. This chain letter promised good luck in nine days if the receiver would make 20 copies and send them to 20 other people. They are illegal to send through the mail, so some people had been putting them in newspaper boxes, which were supposed to be for newspapers only.
25 years ago - 1999
“Operation Lightning Strike”, the day before in Rocky Mount, was a series of raids in Franklin, Pittsylvania and Craig Counties of a multi-million-dollar moonshine operation. The property, bank accounts and other records seized would be evaluated by the U.S. District Attorney’s office. No arrests had been made --- yet.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.