May 4
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
The Henry Bulletin reported on May 4 that about 20,000 children in Virginia were riding to school in a total of 768 motor and horse-drawn convoyances. An unknown number of children also got to school by train and streetcar. The number of 768 convoyances is a rapid increase from 566 the year before and 348 wagons and trucks in 1922. Those wagons and trucks received a bonus from state funds of $100 each. A few years back, nearly all the convoyances were horse-drawn wagons, but by 1924 it was 588 motor busses as opposed to just 180 horse-drawn wagons.
75 years ago – 1949
Joe Henry Hampton, Frank Hairston Jr. and Booker T. Millner, all 20, and Howard Lee Hairston, 19, were sentenced to die by electrocution on Friday, July 15. They and Francis DeSales Grayson, 37, John Clabon Taylor, 20, and James Luther Hairston, 20, were taken into custody by five guards from the Virginia State penitentiary from Richmond. Several hundred people gathered around Public Square as they were taken off. The window-blocked vehicle which took them first had been parked in the space reserved for officers in Sheriff Morton Prillaman’s office on the east side of Jones street, but then it was backed into a driveway at the basement of the jail. The men, shackled and handcuffed, were taken away from there.
1960
A precocious Martinsville High School sophomore succeeded in producing 100 percent (200 proof) alcohol in a school lab experiment involving molasses and bananas. The result of the experiment surprised both Ed Colston, student, and Felix Sanders, teacher.
The Governor’s Highway Safety Committee revealed that Martinsville had the highest 1959 automobile death rate in the state, which was 31.9, more than double the rate of any other city in the Commonwealth. Six people died on Martinsville streets that year, while Henry County showed a slight improvement over 1958; only 6 cities had more automobile deaths. In 1958, Martinsville had tied with two other cities for the best rate in the state.
50 years ago – 1974
The Flower View Garden Club celebrated its 20th anniversary. Mrs. Fred Phillippe was the only remaining charter member of the club, and Mrs. Lewis P. Gregory and Mrs. P. Lester (Mildred) Dalton were the two remaining members in longest service. Projects the group had done included landscaping the school grounds at Clearview Elementary School and helping with the landscaping at the back of the Public Library, Martinsville-Henry Health Center, Memorial Hospital and Patrick Henry Community College, as well as other endeavors. Dogwood Garden Club of Fieldale also celebrated its 20th anniversary. Members included Mrs. E.L. Merriman, Mrs. Dallas Everett, Miss Louise Austin, Mrs. Fox, Mrs. D.W. Rakes, Mrs. Ewell Sherrill, Mrs. Leonard Tilley and Mrs. Glenn Bullard.
25 years ago - 1999
Bassett-Walker was planning to close its Kingston, N.C., textile plant in July, and would add up to 40 pre-sewing jobs at its Rives Road plant in Martinsville. It was part of moves to stay competitive in the weak knitwear market, aiming to reduce expenses and keep a core of U.S. sewing workers for quick turnaround on rush orders while sending most of its sewing work overseas.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.