A century’s worth of Jan. 5, from 2025
1925
The January term of court opened on Monday, Jan. 5, with Judge Clements. Clerk Matthews presented to Clements the largest docket in at least 10 years, so large that most civil cases were either dismissed or continued. The criminal docket was the largest ever seen here, with 11 murder cases and a lot of cases on the violation of prohibition laws. The grand jury was described by the newspaper reporter as overwhelmed. The large number of men and women in the courtyard “reminded on o the old das when hundreds came to Martinsville to transact business, swap horses, and have a good time generally on old county court day,” said “The Circuit Court Opens Facing Large Docket” in the Jan. 6, 1925, edition of the Henry Bulletin.
1950
Martinsville’s newly appointed Public Housing authority met for the first time. Members were I.M. Groves, president of Piedmont Trust Bank; W.C. Barnes, president of WMVA; Fred V. Woodson, vice president of American Furniture Co.; O.B. Hensley, retired merchant and former Council member; and Levi Hairston, retired teacher.
The first local furniture company to send workers to the furniture market in Chicago was Bassett Furniture Industries Inc.’s officers and salesmen: W.M. Bassett, president; J.D. Bassett Jr. and J.E. Bassett, vice presidents; John. C. Bailey, J.P. McClellan, W.T. Berry and George T. Hennessey. They represented Bassett Furniture Co., the W.M. Bassett Co. and the J.D. Bassett Manufacturing Co. The local furnituremen who attended the market the American Furniture Market the year before were: From American, R. Morgan Simmons and Tom N. Barbour; Bassett Furniture Industries, W.M. Bassett, J.D. Bassett Jr., J.E. Bassett, Clyde Kinney and J.P. McClellan; Gravely Novelty Furniture Co., R.P. Gravely and Henry C. Gravely III; Ridgeway Furniture Co., R.P. Gravely Jr. and Reginald W. Gravely; Morris Novelty Furniture Co., J. Moss Prillaman and George Morris; Martinsville Novelty Corp., D. Hurd Goode; Hooker-Bassett Furniture Co., J. Clyde Hooker Sr., J. Clyde Hooker Jr., A. Frank Hooker, Ed McCormick, M.J. Fogarty and Jim Dorrier; Stanley Furniture Co., F.A. Stanley, T.B. Stanley Jr. and H.H. Chatham.
1961
The MHC Chamber of Commerce had a $1,300 budget for the year: $200 for printing a brochure for industrial development; $100 for a Business-Education Day project; $225 for a city-county general information and tourism folder; $200 for industrial development; $75 for tourism promotion; $300 for trade development and solicitation control programs; $100 for traffic and transportation activities; and $100 for a membership committee. That money was in addition to funds provided for general administration.
1975
Bassett Furniture, the world’s largest furniture maker, cut work hours to 7 hours a day for a 3-day workweek. Workers released an hour early were surprised and worried how they’d financially weather working only 21 hours a week, especially on the heels of a long, unpaid Christmas holiday. Charles Ester and George Calloway each had worked for more than 40 years for Bassett and told the Bulletin that they’d never seen short time and layoffs as bad as then. However, all the workers would qualify for unemployment insurance in an amount that would make up for their lost income. “Under the circumstances, Bassett treated its workers beautifully,” local Virginia Employment Commission manager Virgil Thompson told the Bulletin on Jan. 8. If Bassett had done any other arrangement of short time, the workers would not have been entitled to as much unemployment compensation. “They [Bassett officials] did the very best thing they could do for the benefit of the workers,” he said.
2000
A log cabin at the end of Blankenship Road, which is off Chatham Heights Road, was being studied to see if it might be the oldest log cabin in the area. Its construction suggested it dated back to around 1840 or 1850. The chimney was made of rock and mud, which was used before bricks became commonplace; the logs where chinked with a mixture of mud and wood. Carl DeHart was a co-chairman of the MHC Historical Preservation Society and was studying the matter.
Tultex’s new loan was approved by the bankruptcy court. It allowed Tultex to continue day-to-day operations but pay only post-bankruptcy obligations and a limited number of pre-petition debts (filed before Dec. 3 and approved by the court).
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.