April 7

By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion

100 Years ago – 1924

In Henry County Circuit Court April 7, the applications of C.P. Kearfott and Son, Roberts Drug Co., and Central Drug Co., to sell ardent spirits for medicinal purposes, as provided by the Prohibition Act, were granted. Also in court, 29 cars, which had been caught transporting illicit liquor, were forfeited.

Local ministers attended a Ministers Conference to make plans for a county-wide evangelistic meeting which would be held April 27 at Farmers Warehouse. Those ministers included the Revs. W.B. Jett, Chas. M. Wales, Wilfried E. Roach, H.W. Wilson, E.T. Cox, G.L. Rock, J.E. Poteat and J.P. McCabe.

The people of Martinsville were in heated debate on whether or not to move to a city-manager form of government. [That campaign would not succeed; the first city manager was chosen in 1949.] It was the topic of discussion in the meetings of many civic organizations, including the American Legion Pannill Post 43 on Monday night.

75 years ago – 1949

Announcement: Dr. Judith Marie Szulecki of 908 Hunting Ridge Road, Martinsville, will practice dermatology in association with her husband, John T. Bunin, M.D., on 15 Cleveland Ave.

1960

The 4-cent stamp marking the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization conference declaring Unity, Peace and Progress, was set to be released May 31 in Washington, DC.

In addressing Vanderbilt University’s Politics Center in Nashville, Tenn., Governor J. Lindsay Almond, Jr. of Virginia said that he thought lunch counter operators who refuse service to black people are safe in their position because ‘they can draw the line anywhere’ but that libraries, art galleries and other public buildings fall into the same category as schools where segregation is concerned.

25 years ago - 1999

Susan S. Hylton was murdered and two other women were shot and left for dead at Taylor’s Little Grocery on U.S. 58. The man accused of their shootings was caught and charged with nine felonies.

— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.