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75 YEARS AGO
From Greensboro Daily News, Dec. 5-11, 1935
Five of seven young men charged with robbing the Draper post office July 21 were found guilty by a jury in U.S. Middle District Court in Greensboro.

Two of the accused — Wallace Bryant and Moir Robinson — were found not guilty as directed by Judge Johnson J. Hayes.

Eugene Troxler and Kenneth Wyatt were sentenced to five years each in the industrial reformatory at  Chillicothe, Ohio, and Will Whitt was given five years in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta, Ga. James R. Halley was sentenced to four years at the Chillicothe prison and Tommy Jefferson was given three years at  the same institution.

After the verdicts were returned, Whitt took the stand and denied having anything to do with the attempted burglary, and Halley, in a written statement, also contended he was not involved.
 
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The still-warm body of William Wishon of Courtney was found about 8 o’clock in the morning on the Roanoke-­Madison highway near Madison.

Wishon, who had been working at Stoneville for the past month, had three fractures of the skull, cuts on the face and head and a leg, arm and hand crushed.

Because there was little blood at the spot where his body was found, investigators theorized he had been killed elsewhere and his body later put on the highway.

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A jury awarded $500 to Dan C. Burton and $1,000 to Mrs. Burton for taking care of the late G.D. Williams. The Burtons of Reidsville rented a house from Williams and allowed him to use one room for himself, thus enabling them to take care of him during his illness.

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The Leaksville Junior Woman’s Club met at the home of Mrs. Moody Davis and heard a talk by Miss Emily Tuttle on the architecture of the American home between 1870 and 1900. Miss Sarah Catherine Hampton gave a sketch of Russian composer Rachmaninoff.

50 YEARS AGO
From Greensboro Daily News, Dec. 5-11, 1960
A fire set in a cornfield spread to a one-way iron and wood bridge on the eastern edge of Madison. It is the only bridge of its kind serving a paved road in Rockingham County, in this instance a road leading to the Dan Valley section.

The bridge over the Mayo River was seriously weakened by the fire, but the iron and stone understructure did not appear to be damaged.

The fire was discovered in the afternoon by Johnny Philpott of Dan Valley as he drove into Madison.

Dried cornstalks in the bottomland area, the cause of the blaze, had been set afire preparatory to plowing the land. It took the Madison Fire Department about 30 minutes to bring it under control.

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SBI and Rockingham and Caswell County deputy arrested 11 young men allegedly connected to 15 thefts from grocery stores and service stations in the two counties between April 20 and Nov. 30.

Their total loot was estimated at $2,500.

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Sam W. Smith of Leaksville has been elected president of the Cherokee Council of Boy Scouts. He and other officers of the council were installed at Meadow Green Country Club in Spray.

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The Reidsville Golden Lions won their third game in a row, beating Rankin 54-48. In trouncing three straight foes, Reidsville has given strong indications that it is ready to challenge Mount Airy for the Western 3-A Conference basketball title.

25 YEARS AGO
From Greensboro News & Record, Dec. 5-11, 1985
Fieldcrest Mills will pay $250 million for the lion’s share of Cannon Mills of Kannapolis, the largest towel manufacturer in the country.

Fieldcrest will put up $220 million in cash and sign a promissory note for $30 million if the deal goes through.

The purchase will include Cannon’s towel, sheet and bedding accessories, rug and kitchen products and  retail stores. The purchase represents 80 percent of Cannon’s total sales.

About 12,900 Cannon employees in 14 sales offices and 12 plants, including nine in North Carolina, will go on Fieldcrest’s payroll in mid-January if the sale is completed on schedule. Fieldcrest employs 10,800 people in 25 plants.

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After 20 years as mayor of Mayodan, James Collins presided at his last Town Council meeting. Collins was beaten in his re-election bid by Hassell Richardson. But don’t worry about Collins being out of government for long. He acknowledged he is considering running for county commissioner next year.

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The Rockingham County unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in October, with about 2,700 people unemployed out of a labor force of 41,600.

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R.H. Shuff and Donald L. Farris, county landfill employees, were given resolutions of appreciation and $50 savings bonds for saving Mayodan employee Tim Martin from a more serious injury after his hand got caught in the compactor gate of a town truck delivering trash to the landfill.

Farris, realizing that Martin could lose an arm if the truck was not stopped, got the attention of the truck driver, and Shuff gave Martin first aid and took him to the emergency room at Annie Penn Hospital.

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Jan B. Tindal, now an assistant district attorney, announced she will seek a newly created District Court judgeship. 

10 YEARS AGO
From Greensboro News & Record, Dec. 5-Dec. 11, 2000
Chinqua Penn Plantation will remain open for now, but the financially troubled tourist attraction will scale back its staff to do so.

At a meeting of the foundation that oversees the plantation, officials voted to keep the plantation open. But they agreed the staff should be cut back a few days earlier than planned.

The mansion will be open for walking tours through Dec. 23. In January and February, it will be open only by appointment.

Chinqua Penn is Rockingham County’s biggest tourist attraction, with about 40,000 visitors each year. The plantation-mansion near Reidsville once was the home of tobacco tycoon Jeff Penn and his wife, Betsy.

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Microsoft mogul Bill Gates’ Gates Library Foundation has awarded 33 new computers to the Rockingham County Public Library, including six formatted for Spanish. The computers, to be installed in the library’s five branches, will arrive between February and August next year.

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Gardner Calvin Taylor, pastor emeritus of a Brooklyn church and the person who delivered the sermon at President Clinton’s 1993 inauguration, spoke twice to the Zion Baptist Church in Reidsville.

Taylor, 82, widely regarded as “the dean of black preachers,” has spoken to many divinity schools and preached in Tokyo, London, Copenhagen, Australia, South Africa and China.

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A furnace overfilled with oil caused a fire that gutted the trailer home of Steve Johnson on Bobcat Road in the Bethany community. Damage was estimated at $12,000.

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The Mayodan Town Council has been presented another plan for the Elliottt Duncan School site. The latest plan for the property, just north of Mayodan on Main Street, calls for converting the 162,000-square-foot site into a small park, with a gazebo and playground equipment.