March 18

100 Years ago – 1925

 Corsets, which used to be advertised frequently, had not been mentioned in the newspaper for a couple of years, nor any other kind of body shaper.

75 years ago – 1950

Martin A. Martin, a black attorney, said in Richmond that he had written to Judge Kennon C. Whittle of Martinsville asking that he delay as much as possible the new execution date for the Martinsville Seven, to give defense attorneys time to determine a course of action to save the men. He said he had called a conference for the following Thursday in Richmond for all the attorneys in the defense. The “Martinsville Seven” refers to Frank Hairston Jr., Joe Henry Hampton, James Luther Hairston, John Clabon Taylor, Francis DeSales Grayson, Howard Lee Hairston and Booker T. Millner, all black men who were convicted of rape of a white woman and sentenced to death in 1949.

50 years ago – 1975

Deputy W.H. “Herman” Ferguson was killed in action when he was trying to help Wesley R. Manns of Bassett, whose vehicle had a flat tire and was in the way of traffic. He was killed instantly by a pickup truck which went up a wet (from rain) hill near Reed Creek Bridge on U.S. 220 north of Collinsville. The 18-year-old Rocky Mount teenager driving the pickup fled the scene but returned voluntarily 2 hours later. He was charged with hit-and-run, manslaughter and drunken driving. Ferguson, 46, lived at Route 1, Fieldale. He was the husband of Mary Vaughn Ferguson and father of Darlene, Regina and Willis Herman Ferguson Jr.

25 years ago - 2000

After Sundown with Joshua Shilling performed Top 40 hits from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in a fundraising concert for the Harrison Scales Young Musician Scholarship fund. Others performing were Jim Philpott and Harmonicas, Lonnie Woodall and Jacob Woodall with blues music, Bassett High School students and the BHS gospel choir. The concert was held at BHS. Tickets cost $5. Scales was a local musician who died in 1997 from colon cancer.