The man who laid the foundation and sustained the corporate structure that we know as Bassett-Walker Knitting Company was Samuel Stanhope Walker, organizer and first president.  He was one of seven children born to Robert Lee and Mary Buchanan Walker of Laurens, South Carolina.  Robert Lee Walker was a cotton mill superintendent in the Greenville, South Carolina area and moved his family to Martinsville in 1908 when Sam was eleven years old.  There Robert Walker organized the Martinsville Cotton Mill of which he was president.  The mill occupied a former tobacco manufacturing building on Franklin Street and the factory became part of the Sale Knitting Company. 

Sam entered North Carolina State College with a love for textiles and, after graduating in 1919, he came home to work in the Cotton Mill where he rose to spinning room foreman.  A few years later, Sam’s father, Robert Walker, was killed in a tragic mill accident.  The Walker family soon after decided to sell its interest in the mill and eventually the mill was closed.  Not wanting to leave Henry County, Sam went to work in the cold storage plant located in Koehler which was operated by his brother, Robert.   Two years later, William L. Pannill came to town to organize the Pannill Knitting Company.  William Pannill and Sam Walker worked well together both proving to be true production men fascinated by the knitting machinery itself.  Pannill Knitting Company took shape on Cleveland Avenue and turned out garments – mainly men’s long underwear.

In 1928, Sam Walker borrowed capital, purchased several second hand knitting machines and allied with Mr. Pannill to create his own independent firm, the Virginia Underwear Corporation.  Mr. Pannill built a small factory on the Cleveland Avenue site to accommodate the new operation, and later a second building was constructed.  Mr. Walker purchased both buildings which were the only plants on the site not owned or leased by the Pannill Knitting Company.   In the beginning, the Virginia Underwear Corporation, which was named for Sam’s wife, Virginia Dudley, made underwear for women and children, children’s waist suits, and children’s footed sleeping garments.  Mr. Pannill and Mr. Walker managed to shift the capital of the knitting industry from Utica, New York and root it in Henry County!

The early Virginia Underwear Corporation was to be renamed years later Walker Knitting Company.  Walker Knitting Company in Martinsville eventually became a merger partner with the Bassett Knitting Company in Bassett and this resulted in a single corporation called Bassett-Walker Knitting Company.  Bassett-Walker operated three growing plants at separate locations – one immediately south of the City of Martinsville, one in Henry County in Bassett, and another in Patrick County in Stuart.  Sam Walker died suddenly in December 1960 of a heart attack at the age of 63 years old, and his son, L. Dudley Walker, became president.  From small humble beginnings of knit underwear and infant garments, Bassett-Walker forged ahead to recognition as one of the world’s largest producers of fleeced sportswear.  Bassett-Walker eventually closed its doors here in the states.

The Bassett Historical Center is very proud to have a collection of items from Bassett-Walker including Pacesetters, newspaper clippings, employee photos, achievement photos, one of the first sewing machines used, and a rib knitting machine built in 1893.  As always, a BIG thank you to the Friends, the volunteers, and to each of you who have continued to support the Center! 

Information for this article was found in the book entitled”Foresight, Founders, and Fortitude” and in the files at the Bassett Historical Center.  If you would like more information on the textile industry, please visit the Center.