Westall Brothers Grocery, Sumner. Frank Westall is 2nd from left. Interior of the Westall Brothers Grocery Store, Sumner Delivery wagon " Westall Free Delivery". Frank Westall standing in front window of store.

From the Memoirs of Marion Wright Often times an occasion arose when we needed something from the store and there was no money. If the need was urgent, an article of exchange had to be found. The first resource to check was the egg basket, if there were no eggs, we decided whether or not we could spare old hens. All country stores had a little chicken house to keep the chickens in until the produce man made his weekly pickup. Uncle Sam Moore ran a country store, and they alw

Lester Goff and his wife, Sophronia, are shown with the ice truck that Goff used for his career hauling ice around Lawrence County in the early 1900’s. Prior to taking the route as ice man, Goff hauled materials to construct the Lawrenceville Texaco Refinery. Goff owned a team of horses that was used to pull the ice wagon, but in later years, he obtained the truck. His work hours spanned from 6 a.m. to midnight on most days. The route extended west of Chauncey, south to Lu

Jacob May was a merchant in the newly formed village of Sumner, Lawrence County, Illinois, from 1853 to 1857. His surviving account book, published by the Richland County Genealogical and Historical Society in 1991, offers a revealing glimpse of everyday life in a mid-nineteenth-century rural community. A general store then served as grocer, clothier, hardware supplier, credit desk, and informal gathering place—all before anyone thought to call it “one-stop shopping.” On Octo

Today we can go into any supermarket and buy produce shipped there from around the world. This was considered progress for the last 75 years, but because of the energy needed to do this and because of the loss of valuable nutrients, there is a movement now to buy locally. The practice of buying locally began when Lawrence County merchants first opened their doors. (Of course retail prices are a bit higher now...) The Rural Republican advertised butter sold for 15 cents a poun

F W Cox shoe ad in 1914 Peters Diamond Shoes An announcement in the Lawrence County News August 5, 1943, stated that the F W Cox store that served the people of Bridgeport and community for almost fifty years was going out of business. Emmet l Cox had fixed the closing date for September 28, 1943, the 50th anniversary of the store. The business had previously been destroyed in the infamous Friday the 13th (June) 1913 fire that burned much of the business district; but for th

In rural America between about 1870 and 1900, dentists often served communities in a practical and irregular way rather than functioning like the modern family dentist. Regularly scheduled preventive visits were not generally considered necessary by many families; people usually sought dental care when pain, infection, broken teeth, or the need for an extraction made treatment unavoidable. Because small towns and farming communities could not always provide enough steady pati

Daniel Swinehart Jr. was born in Ohio in 1827 and later made his home in Lawrenceville, Illinois. By 1878, he was advertising in the local paper as a veterinary surgeon—an occupation that would have carried real value in a rural community where horses, cattle, hogs, and other livestock were essential to transportation, farm labor, food, and family income. In the late nineteenth century, a “veterinary surgeon” in the countryside was often called when an animal’s illness or inj

Allen Charles Gosnell was born in 1822 in Ohio. Three of his daughters married Ruddy brothers in Vincennes. When the 1870 census was taken Allen was a shoemaker in Lawrenceville, Lawrence County Illinois. In the 1878 Rural Republican, A C Gosnell advertised that he was a shoe and boot maker and repaired harness. In the late nineteenth century, a boot and shoemaker held a practical and highly visible place in a small town. Before ready-made shoes were widely available to ever

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