Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-10-04
THROUGH THE STATE.
nENRY COUNTY MATrEas.
Post and iu Prescnt-tm.
provemeno Henry County Tshscco-

pfcvtmeny - Henry County Tehaeco-
Churches, &C.
tCarepondencc OF the Richmond Dispatch.I
MARTINsvlLLE. October 9. 1884.
The daily Dispatch reaches here at iI:i5
A. NJ. the day Of puhlication-twc
hours in advance Of the Baltimore and New
York papers. II comes ria Danville upon
the Dsnville end New River railroad.
Martins,ille is a thrifty, growing town.
II is the couniy.scat Of Henry, aud Is forty
two miles from Danville. IL is incorpo-
rated. and presents a business aspect. The
Maitlnsvilc Of to-day is very different from
the Marlinsville Of three years ago.
This village year ago consisted only OF
few frame dwellings. one country hotel
snd four or Eve small stores, aud mad ap-
parcntly no future before II. Now there
are 60 lie seen workmen buSily engaged IN
constructing handsome stores, private
dwellings. tobacco factories, and wars
houses. II Is estimated that there are not
less tina. ono bJudred workmen employed.
In the course ~ completion are Tour toOac-
co factories. two tobacco warehouses, ono
large nachinc.shop. block OF business
houses. one hotel. ten dwellings. and one
church. All are being built OF brick. The
timber used in building is cut In the coun-
Mace. There are four brick-yards here.
Among other improvements is new
and well-app0inted mschnc-Shop and
foundry. owned by Gravely x Co. The
PRINCIPAL business OF MartinSvillc is the
mapuiacturc and sale OF tobacco.
The county Of Henry, it Is wcll-knowD,
raises a superior class of dark nutmeg
or mahogany-colorcd tobacco. especially
sdalted 10 6nc chewing-toblcco. which
meets with ready sale and demands good
price and has a big reputation. Atprcsent
Tor the sale Of the leaf there are three large
Warehouses Browns warehouse, Brown
4 spencer, proprietors; OrinO Company
warehouse. smith. Davis 81 Co.; Henry
county warehouses, Hairston y llanlev.
rroprictors. All three were built during
Inc mast eighteen months. The number OF
mounds Of tobacco handled the first year
that tobacco was marketed here was. It Is
said, y little over three milli0pS. This year
i; viii be more than double that quantity,
for lam told hut little Of il will be shipped In
the lcaf ont Of the county. q it is the in
tcpiion Of the manufacturers 10 huy al that
is 10 he had. Il j. said by 4 leading iobac'
coulst that the crop ct tobacco raised in the
county this wear will exceed that OF any
former year fully twenty per cent.
There are In Henry county several TO-
hacco fac;orie,- in MartiESyiIc Nix. The
Henry county weed i well known 70 The
trade, aud can Doe easily recognized. ii Is
mcdiUm-s.zc leaf. narrow and long very
sweet. and is grown exclusively IN ihiS
county. There Is always great demand
Tor il Is the manufacturers OF thlN county
and town. rs well Is by Others, and u mas
given the county IL reputation rs To-
bacco county. Tho farmer and The manu-
fscfurer SIRE Jealous Of the product. and
watch with greatest care TO preserve lis lis
tirciive merit. for in many sections, 10 j.
charged. tobacco is manufactured, brand
"a. and sold aS Henry county tobacco
which l. not The best evidence Of the
worth 81 the Hcnry-county tobacco i the
isct. which iSnot questioned, that The high
c,i rrce paid for manufactured tobacco
90 TIE American market i paid for
flat which /, grown and mlnu;ac-
tuned in this county. The object of the
former and manufacturers Of this county is
20 maintain This reputation both for the
raw mgtcral and for the manufactured AZ
ucle.
The cultivation OF tobacco Is the BUSH
ness O. the people. Fortunes have been
made and are being made by the farmer in
growing il. and still larger fortunes by
those who manufacture il. The leading
manufacturers in the county and in Mar
iinsyillc are h. ?. Graycly n sons, II. {.
Lester, George -. Jones. W. NJ StultZ.
SiullZ & Blair. spencer \ Tray Tor. j. Il. X
I. r. Brown. Xen,mcyer 4 saunders. J.
W. Burch. G.. ". Lester. Il. J. GraVcly <
Co. and Penn. Watson a Penn. The ca
pscity a their factories range from 10000
10 10000 pounds per season. They work
from the middle OF April to the middle OF
October. The labor employed j. chiefly
colored. and is as q rule skilled and easily
controlled.
About the town Of Martinsyile there has
been the most radical changes within the
last two years. In lSS2 there were but
three small bushes, -houSes. and very little
capital was invested in merchandising.
Now. 1884. there are sixteen mercantile
firms doing business IN large, wel-appOint-
ed houses-ten Of them handsome brick
houses. The leading firms are J. Il. Law
inder, J. T.. Read, Penn Brothers. J. II.
Spencer SCo.. T. u. Hunt Il Co.. McKeaer
& Woodrow. II. Bcaur. all general mer-
chandise; Smith Il Parnih, Kcarioot q
Hale. druggists: Riyes Il Munford.
hardware; scott 4 Co., clothing.
Thee are six churcbesAtwO Of which are
tbttltu 1 u' lillNi~ uhf' H. HNliAAAtt-F
II j. expected one will De built soon. They
hold their services in the Town Hall. Rev.
X. u. Haymore j. the pastor. The Epi,eo.
pal church i, located in beautiful OAK
grove near the centre OF the tOWn-Rey.
John Clark pastor. The Disciples church
is q handsome brick building, just com
pleted. Elder Z. :. Rhodes. the state evan
eCli,t Of the Disciples. and recently editor
oi The State organ of The denomination. the
dnGatq Missionary. Ia, been called, and
the church awaits hi, acceptance. The
Methods. church has the largest member
ship OF any church in The tOwn-the pastor
(Rcy. {. p. Conner j. one OF The most prom.
ising ministers IN the state. The Presby-
teTisu church. near the centre OF the vii
iage. j. just completed. The STYLE is Gothic.
II j. built 81 brick, and Is very handsome
Rev. X. {. Anderson pastor.
There j. not a saloon IN Mar,insvile or
the county. Business men say the absence
OF saloons has added thousand, Of dollars
TO The county. -Four iiiths Of the people
oppose saloons. and farm and other kinds
OF labor are vastly improved since the clos
ing II the saloons.
TIE H,raid printed by L. \. Thomas,
is The local paper, and it> chief end and aim
seems to be to build up the material inter-
e>t, Of Martin.Nillc and Henry county. 1t
is We'll pairOnized, and the good work done
by it seems TO be fully appreciated.