Oct. 3
100 Years ago – 1924
This Card of Thanks was in the Henry Bulletin on Oct. 3, 1924: “To the many benevolent friends of Martinsville Stuart and elsewhere who have kindly donated assistance on account of the burning of our home, so that we are able to keep house again: Unworthy I feel to be, but with kindest wished and grateful thanks I am – Yours Respectfully, W.B. Mise”
75 years ago – 1949
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, was observed throughout the day with fasting, religious services, meditation and a memorial service for the dead. They keynote of Yom Kippur is the divine assurance that guilt can be atoned for by penitence, prayer and righteous action. According to Jewish law, each person must pray for himself and resolve to leave behind the mistakes of the previous year and embrace more noble conduct in the future. Many of the major Martinsville stores were owned by Jewish families.
It had been thought that the seven appeals cases of the Martinsville Seven would be heard in the Virginia Supreme Court, but the Court was busy with a other and prior questions. Arguments in a motion for a writ of error on the seven cases were on the October docket of the court.
1960
The Martinsville tobacco sales market, which had been open for two weeks, hit its highest sales volume: 300,000 pounds, spread across all three tobacco warehouses. Many loads brought in more than $65 per hundred; one load sold by Jincey Adkins of Sago brought in more than $70 per hundred, with one of his baskets commanding $98 per hundred.
50 years ago – 1974
The second phase of improvements to Va. 57 east of Martinsville (Chatham Road) was opened to traffic. This section widened the road from Charlie Redd’s store to Leatherwood Creek. The part before it, from U.S. 58 to Charlie Redd’s store, had been opened earlier. The 4-mile stretch of road cost $1.3 million.
25 years ago - 1999
Every one of the 81,000 seats at the Martinsville Speedway was filled for the NAPA AutoCare 500 Winston Cup Race, and another 4,000 or so people were in the corporate seats, to make an attendance of more than 85,000. Jeff Gordon beat Dale Earnhardt for the win. Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell announced that another 7,000 seats would be added to the speedway.
Randy B. Hall of Spencer was injured at the Martinsville Speedway after he fell onto the track from the back of a cleanup truck. He was flown to North Carolina Baptist Hospital in serious condition, with a 4- to 6-inch cut at the back of his head.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.