freestateofpatrick.com blog

The Bassett Historical Center is pleased to announce a symposium on regional history to be held October 4, 2008, from 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Historic J. D. Bassett High School Auditorium, now owned by EMI Imaging, who is providing the facility free of charge in Bassett, Virginia. Proceeds from this event will go to the Bassett Historical Center Building Fund. All speakers are coming free of charge to support the project to expand the library. Advance tickets are $25 and $30 at the door. Students and Senior Citizens are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Please include e-mail address for ticket conformation only. E-mail addresses will not be sold or given to others.

Visit the webpage of the Bassett Historical Center http://www.bassetthistoricalcenter.com or call 276-629-9191 or email baslib@hotmail.com for more information. Advance payment can be sent to Bassett Historical Center at 3964 Fairystone Park Highway, Bassett, VA 24055.

Collections at the Bassett Historical Center http://172.22.0.52/Bassettcollections.htm

The Bassett Historical Center has been called ‘the best little library in Virginia’. The Center has grown considerably since we merged with Blue Ridge Regional Library in 1992. From that time through 2004, our patron count increased 1359% over a period of 13 years. Since 1998, we have had an increase of 125% per year. People from all 50 states and nine foreign countries have visited the Center. Our family files now number 9496, local history files number 2628, and our books number 12,000. It is time for expansion of our facility. We need to double our present size so that we will be able to accept new collections that otherwise may be sent to another facility outside of our immediate area. An estimate of $800,000 has been given to add 4195 square feet to our existing building. Tax-deductible donations for memorials or honorariums would certainly be considered for shelving, furniture, display units or sponsor 1 to 3 of the proposed large rooms. Our day begins with a discussion on the Virginia 24^th Calvary given by R. Darryl Holland, who has written the book “The 24th Virginia Cavalry Regiment”. The 24^th Virginia Cavalry regiments were considered the “Doorkeepers of the Invincible City” whose sole duty was to guard the countless approaches and roads which lead to Richmond-the capital of the South. The Virginia 24^th was a ten company mix of local troops and ranger battalions, with two companies from Georgia. Riding all the way from Henry County was Company H, the only western company in the 24th. Led by mustering officer, Captain John R. Robertson, they met at the Henry County Court House, in Martinsville, on March 8, 1862. Most of the Henry Rangers were from Henry County, but some were from nearby Patrick, Franklin, and Pittsylvania Counties.

Next will be a discussion on the price that Bedford County paid during World War II. Mr. James W. Morrison will discuss his book “Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World War II”. Bedford County is believed to have lost more men per capita on D-Day than any other community in America. Bedford had about fifty men participating in the Normandy Invasion and lost twenty men in action that D-Day, with nineteen from the 116^th Infantry, which had been a National Guard unit from Bedford. Bedford had men fighting and dying in all major theaters, on the ground, in the air and at sea. Bedford has honored and memorialized those men who fought and died and proudly hosts the National D-Day Memorial.

After a Lunch break, Julie Williams Dixon will present her documentary “Melungeon Voices”, on the Melungeons of far Southwest Virginia, Western Kentucky and Tennessee. The Melungeons are a dark skinned group of peoples from this area, with certain physical traits, and no one is quite sure where they originated. There have been many myths and with DNA testing we

might get some clues. “I’ve written and produced hundreds of programs in my career, but nothing has ever been as difficult to capture and explain as the story of the Melungeons.” Julie is quoted as saying.

Our last speaker of the day will be Tom Perry. Tom will speak on “William J. Palmer: The Man Who Didn’t Burn Martinsville”. William Jackson Palmer, Brevet Brigadier General, came through Henry County in April of 1865, as part of George Stoneman’s Raid at the end of the War Between the States. Stoneman never made it into the county as he was further west in Patrick, however Palmer did. Palmer went on to Colorado to build a railroad business but he received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War.

We look forward to seeing you for an informative and fun day of History. We also hope you will make plans to join us on March 7, 2009 for our Third Historical Symposium.

SPEAKERS

R. Darryl Holland is a life-long resident of Henry Co. He is a graduate of Patrick Henry Community College, holds a Degree in Animal Science from Virginia Tech and has a Masters in Agriculture from Texas A&M. The “24^th Virginia Cavalry Regiment” is his third book, and while Agriculture is his Profession, history is his love. Darryl and his wife, Lillian, live on the family farm near Horsepasture.

James W. Morrison is the author of “Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World War II”. He is retired from the Department of Defense, having served 3 years as an Army Officer and 27 years as a Civilian Executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A graduate of Indiana & Columbia Universities and the National War College, he also served as a visiting

fellow at the National Defense University, where he wrote two short books on International Affairs. He volunteers at the National D-Day Memorial giving tours.

Julie Williams Dixon is a native of Southwest Virginia, even though she has lived in North Carolina since the early 80’s. She earned a degree from VPI in 1981 and acquired a Graduate degree from UNC- Chapel Hill in 1985. Residing in Raleigh with her husband and two sons, she is the owner of “Words and Pictures” where she splits her time between Scriptwriting, video editing and still photography. Her film “Melungeon Voices” was begun in 2000 and she says that it is still a “work in progress” and may never really be done, though it has been shown several times too much acclaim. “I’ve written and produced hundreds of programs in my career, but nothing has ever been as difficult to capture and explain as the story of the Melungeons.”

“A group of volunteers is looking for people to help cook and plenty more to help eat during a two-day ‘Community Support for Linda Dillard Fund’ meal-a-thon next weekend.” Linda Dillard, the director of the Fayette Area Historical Initiative (FAHI), was seriously injured in a car accident June 29. A fundraising event will be held Friday, August 15 and Saturday, August 16, 2008, at the United House of Prayer at 602 Fayette St., Martinsville, Virginia. Dillard is “in intermediate care” at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. The fundraising event will begin each morning with a pancake jamboree. Lunch and supper will be served both days. Meals will feature fish, baked beans, barbecue ribs, hot dogs, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans, rice and gravy, cole slaw, potato wedges, snow cones, cotton candy, iced tea, lemonade, cakes, pies and funnel cakes. Cards can be sent to Linda Dillard, Room 607, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157. To participate in this fundraiser or others for Linda Dillard, contact 276-638-7503 or chiefm@hotmail.com or Shields at 540-365-2115 or rshi1409@earthlink.net.

History Day will be held Sunday, August 17, 2008, at 2:30 at the Collinsville Library.

Date: Sunday, August 17, 2008
Location: Collinsville Library
Address: 2540 Virginia Avenue
City/State: Collinsville,VA
Postal Code: 24078 Map It
Country: United States

Start: 2:30 PM
End: 5:00 PM
(Note: Blue Ridge Regional’s local date/time)

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: Sterling (June 1, 2007)

ISBN-10: 1402739427

ISBN-13: 978-1402739422

Two photos you will not see in my Images of America: Henry County Virginia are these two from Weird Virginia. The Wedding Cake House in Martinsville and the Bus Grave Yard in Bassett, Virginia, from Henry County are the only photos from Henry County. This book is a fun read. Patrick County’s “Weirdness” comes from the Fairystone.

Thirty years ago this summer on July 20, 1978, Dennis Stockton picked up Kenneth Wayne Arnder near Mount Airy in Surry County, North Carolina, and carried him to Kibler Valley in Patrick County, Virginia. Five days later law enforcement found a decomposed body of a man near Mount Airy with his hands cut off, a bullet wound between his eyes wearing a shirt that said, “How Do You Spell Relief…Colombian Gold.” The latter an obvious reference to smoking marijuana. This is one of the most bizarre and controversial murders of our region. While perusing the shelves of Page’s Bookstore in Mount Airy I came across Dead Run: The Shocking Story of Dennis Stockton and Life on Death Row in America by Joe Jackson and William F. Burke, Jr. I was seventeen that summer between my junior and senior year at Patrick County High School working at Oakdale Knitting Company on second shift in the dye house when not driving up and down Lebanon Street talking to girls and listening to Cheap Trick, Peter Frampton or Pink Floyd’s The Wall. I had no idea how rough the under current of the area was until I read this book. It paints a very bleak picture of our region. Here is a quote about Mount Airy. “It was the hometown of Andy Griffith, but the Surry County mill town was a far cry from TV’s gentle Mayberry. Dubbed ‘Little Chicago’ for its criminal element, Mount Airy had a mean streak, a culture of outlawry living on its margins.” Stuart, Virginia, gets off with the same sort of treatment. The book states, “Stuart, municipal seat of Patrick County, Virginia is a small town of colonial and Greek Revival architecture and dogwood lined streets that prides itself on tradition and Virginia gentility…’Stuart is a different world than Mount Airy,’ said Tom Joyce managing editor of The Mount Airy News. ‘ People there don’t question authority…If officials say something’s true, it must be.’” The book, written by two Norfolk reporters, in my opinion is so anti-death penalty that the crime and victim were irrelevant to the “innocence” of Dennis Stockton. They claim that Patrick County officials covered up evidence of Stockton’s innocence to advance their political careers. Stockton claimed he gave them letters from “prominent citizens” implicating them in criminal behavior. While I am all for believing anything bad about the “darn bunch in Stuart,” I doubt this knowing these two men and their service to Patrick County that this is not a serious allegation. Those involved and quoted in this book, some who interviewed Stockton over other crimes are quoted in the book saying, “Dennis would someday end up in the gas chamber.” Born in October 1940, Stockton moved to Surry County, where he claimed the New York Yankees scouted him as a pitcher, but his career as a criminal began passing bad checks. Prisoner 134466 spent half his life on Death Row. The book is about one-half about Stockton’s life in Virginia’s prisons awaiting execution and about half about the murder of Arnder. Stockton was the first to complain about the condition of Patrick County’s jail and filed a lawsuit about it thirty years before the present situation. Virginia executed Stockton via lethal injection on September 27, 1995. As for the book, Pages has other copies, but I would read it with a grain of salt. Researching the book was difficult due to the lack of an index. This is not a pretty part of our local history, but it is part of it.

“Of all the games created by the mind of man, it is a game that is truly universal,” John Claxton said recently. “There is strategy in chess. There are tactics.” Claxton runs Mayberry Chess, a group that meets regularly at Mobys Coffee Shop on Rockford Street. The group holds rated tournaments that draw players from Mount Airy, Pilot Mountain, West Jefferson, Kernersville, Elon College, Wytheville, Va., and more. “It discriminates against no one,” Claxton said of the game. “An average person can work hard and work to the level of master.”

John Claxton was my boss at Insteel Industries in Mount Airy, North Carolina, at a very important time in my life. I was working on computers during the day and saving J. E. B. Stuart’s Birthplace the rest of the time. He supported my efforts to do that and when still have a very friendly relationship. So I was glad to see this story about him in the Tuesday, July 29, Surry Messenger.

http://www.surrymessenger.com/Archives/07-29-08.pdf

If you are interested in playing chess contact John at

mayberrychess@yahoo.com

http://main.uschess.org

The Bassett Historical Center building fund is now at $400,000 towards $800,000 to expand our regional history library. Although as a rule, I do not believe in asking for government assistance believing that if people want to raise money they should do as I did to save the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace get out there, beat the bushes, and “beg for money.” Many months ago, Pat Ross asked me to contact Congressman Virgil Goode about funding for the library expansion. So with Ronnie Stone (Chairperson of the Building Fund) drove down to Danville for an enjoyable afternoon and met with Virgil. On July 29, 2008, Virgil and Congressman Rick Boucher presented the Bassett Historical Center Building Fund $98,000 from a HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Grant I would like to share the comments I made that day on my blog. After pointing out to Rick Boucher that for me to be in long pants and a golf shirt took an “act of congress.” I usually wear t-shirt, shorts and sandals while working at the library. We will have another symposium on October 4. Arcadia Publishing will release Images of America: Henry County Virginia in March 2009 with all proceeds going to the expansion of the library. As I do not only talk the talk I put my money where my mouth is and I think that will put my efforts for the Bassett Historical Center over $100,000. It is nice to be on a winning team.

http://www.bassetthistoricalcenter.com/

Above, photo of Rick Boucher, Virgil Goode, Judy Mattox and Tom Perry, who with Ronnie Stone contacted Goode originally about funding.

Arcadia Publishing will release Images of America: Henry County Virginia in March 2009 worldwide. The book of over 200 images will chronicle the history of the county with chapters focusing on Bassett, Fieldale and Martinsville along with an entire chapter on the county. Proceeds from the sale of the book go to the building fund of the Bassett Historical Center. Historian Tom Perry of Ararat, Virginia, scanned over 1,700 images from the collection at Bassett and from individuals who brought in their personal photos for the project. A draft copy of the book will be available for viewing beginning Monday, August 4 though Saturday, August 9 for anyone wishing to see, correct or discuss the book project. Perry will be on hand Monday and Saturday. Anyone with images about Henry County history is encouraged to bring them for scanning to the Bassett Historical Center. The cover of Images of America: Henry County Virginia chosen by Arcadia Publishing is of the 1971 Bassett Christmas parade featuring the cheerleaders of John D. Bassett High School. The front row are left to right Lynne Joyce ’71, Pam Akers ’71, Carol Anthony ’72, and sitting directly behind is Myra Terry ’71 (Captain). The back row is Clarke Stanley ’72, (Co-Captain) Vickie Price 72’, Betsy White ’72, Genette Hite ’72, and sitting directly behind is Cindy Fulcher ’71.

Cover in pdf format is available here http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/henrycocover.pdf

The original photo from the cover is available here

http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/henrycountyvacover.TIF

http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/henrycountyvacover.JPG

Bassett Historical Center

3964 Fairystone Park Highway

Bassett, Virginia 24055

(276)629-9191

historical@brrl.lib.va.us

HOURS of OPERATION
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 10 a. m. – 6 p.m.

Tuesday: 12 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

The Bassett Historical Center will present a second symposium on October 4, 2008. Proceeds from this event will go to the Building Fund. Tickets are $25 in advance; $20 in advance for senior citizens and students. At the door: $30; senior citizens and students are $25.

The schedule is as follows

9:30 a.m.

R. Darryl Holland

“24th Virginia Cavalry”

10:45 a. m.

James W. Morrison

“Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia

Community in World War II”

Noon – 1:30 p. m.

Lunch

1:30 p. m.

Julie Williams Dixon

“Melungeon Voices”

2:45 p. m.

Tom Perry

“William J. Palmer: The Man Who Didn’t Burn Martinsville”

Julie Williams Dixon is a native from Southwest Virginia, though she has been living in North Carolina since the early 80s. She earned a degree from Virginia Tech in 1981 and acquired a graduate degree from UNC Chapel Hill in 1985. Residing in Raleigh with her husband and two sons, she is the owner of “words and pictures” where she splits her time between scriptwriting, video editing and still photography. Her clients range from multi-national corporations to small non-profits, museums and schools. Her film “Melungeon Voices” began in 2000 and she says that it is still a “work in progress” and may never really be completed though it has been shown several times to much acclaim. “I’ve written and produced hundreds of programs in my career, but nothing has ever been as difficult to capture and explain as the story of the Melungeons.”

James W. Morrison is the author of “Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World War II.” He is retired from the Department of Defense, having served 3 years as any Army officer and 27 years as a civilian executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A graduate of Indiana and Columbia Universities and the National War College, he also served as a visiting fellow at the National Defense University, where he wrote two short books on international affairs. He volunteers at the National D-Day Memorial giving tours.

R. Darryl Holland is a life-long resident of Henry County. He is a graduate of Patrick Henry Community College, holds a degree in Animal Science from Virginia Tech and has a Masters in Agriculture from Texas A & M. The “24th Virginia Cavalry Regiment” is his third book, and while Agriculture is his profession, history is his love. Darryl and his wife, Lillian, live on the family farm in Horsepasture near Spencer.

Thomas D. “Tom” Perry will be speaking on “If Thee Must Fight, Fight Well” The Life of William Jackson Palmer: The Man Who Did Not Burn Martinsville. Palmer, a Brevet Brigadier General under George Stoneman on the April 1865 Raid at the end of the War Between The States occupied Martinsville on the night of April 8 and left the next day when Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Palmer, born a Quaker grew up in Philadelphia, fought in the Civil War receiving the Medal of Honor before making a fortune in railroads in Colorado.

http://www.bassetthistoricalcenter.com

The Bassett Historical Center’s building fund received $98,000 in federal funds thanks to a bipartisan effort by U.S. Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, and Virgil Goode Jr., R-Rocky Mount. Both Goode and Boucher were at the center Tuesday to present the federal appropriation that will help pay to double the space and add amenities such as a meeting room and an audio/visual station at the center. The expansion also will include new display cases and shelving to house materials, said Boucher, who represents the 9th District. “The shelves are running over. We have books that are not able to be put up” because the shelves are overflowing, said Ronnie Stone, chairperson of the building committee. The center is in the 4,100-square-foot space that formerly housed the Bassett Public Library. The library now is across the street, and the center are branches of the Blue Ridge Regional Library system. The historical center “is the repository of items such as histories of Bassett and Henry County” as well as Patrick County, Boucher said. Goode, who represents the 5th District, said not all of its users are from the Henry, Patrick and Franklin county areas. Visitors “come from all over. … I don’t know how much tourism has increased because of this center, but I know it’s been a lot,” Goode said. According to Stone, visitors to the center stay in local hotels, eat in local restaurants and buy fuel to travel to areas of interest. In 1992, the center logged 420 visitors, Stone said, and at the end of fiscal year 2007, that number had risen to 7,667 visitors, including 964 from Virginia. “A lot of those people were not from Henry County or Patrick County,” he said, adding that visitors from each of the 50 states and seven countries have visited the center. And with good reason, Goode said. The center preserves unique historical items, some of which “you can’t even find at the state library in Richmond,” Goode said. Manuscripts and family memorabilia also are housed at the center, which “has become an often-visited attraction … and a significant resource for those interested in genealogy,” Boucher said. Students, authors and amateur genealogists can find help with research at the center, he said, and “visitation to the center has increased by 125 percent for each of the past five years.” “Most of the people who live” in the region now may have ancestors who lived in this area before traveling west, Stone said. “They lived here for a while, and when things got a little crowded, they moved on west.” Information about their time here is cataloged at the center, included in the 11,900 reference and/or family books or listed in the more than 9,500 family files or more than 2,800 local history files, Stone said. The renovation is expected to cost a total of $800,000. Besides the federal funds, Henry County has contributed $25,000 and committed to contributing another $25,000 next year. Private donations total nearly $250,000, Boucher said, and “that is a remarkable accomplishment.”

http://www.bassetthistoricalcenter.com/

Photo of Rick Boucher, Virgil Goode, Judy Mattox and Tom Perry, who with Ronnie Stone contacted Goode originally about funding.