May 2
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
Sheriff Turner captured two mules and a wagon which was carrying illicit liquor, near the Blackberry bridge. The occupant ran away, and the mules and wagon were held for forfeiture proceedings.
75 years ago – 1949
John Clabon Taylor, 20, and James Luther Hairston, 19, were tried together on the rape and attack case of Ruby Stroud Floyd, 32. They were the last of the seven black men who had been indicted. Confessions of the Jan. 8, 1949, incident, signed by them, were read out in Martinsville City Court. When the death penalty was mentioned in court, Janet Taylor, mother of one of the accused, fainted, fell from her seat in the rear of the courtroom and was carried to a chamber by court attendance, then taken home by ambulance. The jury was John Redd Smith, Fred P. Cousins, Fred E. Barnes, C.B. Marshall, Edgar Dodson, O.L. Hayes, S. Booker Carter, Byron A. Davis, W. Gayle Smith, Carroll Thomasson, James F. Hodnett and B.C. Lipford, with Hugh B. Dickey as alternate. They deliberated from 7:34 to 9:06 p.m. before finding the defendants guilty.
1960
The 88 members of Martinsville High School Band departed for their trip to Winchester to march in the Apple Blossom Festival Parade. They stopped at Natural Bridge on the way to Winchester, then enjoyed Endless Caverns on the way back from the invitation-only event that drew more than 125,000. Director Ralph Shank shepherded the talented young musicians.
Camping and concessions were open for the season on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Hiking trails were cleared and repaired and picnic areas were freshened up. Tourists in excess of a million or more were expected for the season even though the first few days would require a heavy sweater.
50 years ago – 1974
Harry C. Gravely II, president of Gravely Furniture Co., filed a $5 million damage suite against Virginia Hot Springs Inc., owner of The Homestead Hotel in Bath County. The suit claimed that on Sept. 28, 1973, when he was attending the annual meeting of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, he fell in a duplex suite there and injured his back, which left him paralyzed. The suit claimed the spiral staircase had inadequate guards to prevent a fall and that the hotel was negligent in regards to other features, such as light fixtures, doors and floor areas. He was represented by law firm of Young, Kiser and Haskins of Martinsville.
25 years ago - 1999
School resource officers were new, but with the Columbine shooting just two weeks before, they were getting attention. Back then, Martinsville High School had had a school resource (police) officer only for about four years, and Henry County Public Schools had a pilot program at Magna Vista High School for two years.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.