Thomas D. Perry - Henry County

Built by Bassett Furniture Company of mahogany from the Congo for Curtis Brothers Furniture, the Worlds Largest Chair sat at 2041 Nichols Avenue in Washington, D.C. Weighing 4,600 pounds, the chair was 19 feet high, 9 feet wide, and 12 feet deep and represented the furniture industry that was a vital part of the economy of Henry County. (Courtesy of Rachel Koontz.)

Fishing in the Florida Keys during the 1920s are, from left to right, John D. Bassett Sr.; his wife, Pocahontas; Charles C. Bassett; and his wife, Roxie. The Hundley sisters married the Bassett brothers. The brothers started Bassett Furniture Company with Reed L. Stone; the company has over 130 stores in North America today. (Courtesy of the Bassett Historical Center.)

Workers repair the Reed Stone Blocks brick facing and clean windows while a police officer and people watch after World War II. Stone and the Bassett brothers started the furniture company across the main street of the town. Today they are the only original stores still standing in this block. (Courtesy of the Bassett Historical Center.)

In this photograph, contrasting the changes in transportation with the coming of the automobile versus the farm wagon, is Mary Druscilla Grandma Sissie Bassett Ramsey (18621950). The wife of John W. Ramsey and the daughter of John Henry and Nancy Jane Spencer Bassett is doing her daily chores, including feeding chickens. (Courtesy of the Martha Jane Clark Collection of the Bassett Historical Center.)

From left to right, Mary Druscilla Bassett Ramsey is pictured with her three daughters, Mary Wootsie R. Giles, Lucy Belle R. Joyce, and Nannie Laura R. Helms, around 1915. With the United States just a few years away from entering World War I and the coming of the industrial revolution in the form of furniture and textiles, this image reflects a more bucolic time in Henry County. (Courtesy of the Martha Jane Clark Collection of the Bassett Historical Center.)

Dr. John P. Bing, shown outside his Bassett office in 1969, worked tirelessly collecting photographs. He called, cajoled, and brought photographs to the Bassett Historical Center to give the author over 1,700 images from which to choose the 200 photographs representing Henry County in this book. (Courtesy of John Bing.)

Registered nurse Marie Haynes Ashworth gives a shot to a patient in the office of Dr. John P. Bing in 1959. The office, in front of the Bassett Furniture Headquarters, was the site of Bings practice for 20 years beginning in 1955. Marie worked there for one year. (Courtesy of Marie Ashworth.)