It is doubtful any town in the state of Kentucky the size of Slaughters could point with pride to a store that was bigger or more largely filled with a finer selection or greater variety of goods than the Slaughtersville Merchantile Store.The store, which was known locally as the "Company Store" was organized in 1903 when the stores of James W. Jones and W. E. Beymer merged. The Capital Stock was $20,000, divided into 400 shares of $50 each. The first stockholders were:
James W. Jones Charles L. Sherill Willis C. Brooks J. F. Coffman W. E. Beymer J. C. Coffman Edward F. Ogden, Jr. J. T. Cobb Dr. Will Whitson E. D. Williams C. S. P____ J. T. Conley Coleman H. Eastwood J. M. Whitsell W. N. Blue James H. Jones John W. Ogden W. O. Jones Osborne L. Coffman J. Arden Jones W. L. Carnal E. S. Brown G. A. Conley Milton H. Brown W. T. Clements G. E. Henry for HENRY BROS A. W. Majors Robert A. Dunville The first Board of Directors were James W. Jones, J. F. Coffman, Willis C. Brooks,
E. S. Brown, J. T. Cobb, W. E. Beymer, and Osborne L. Coffman.During seventy-plus years of operation, the Slaughtersville Merchantile Company had only three general managers - James W. Jones, Frank Coffman, and Paul VanHoy.
The store originally occupied three brick buildings which were built by John W. Ogden in the early 1890's. A fourth building was added at a later date. The buildings were purchased from James Cue Smith and Joe T. Smith, who had bought them from John W. Ogden and
W. H. Ogden. See photos of site as it appears today.The Slaughtersville Merchantile Store consisted of four departments; each department was complete in itself. The dry goods department was headed by Mr. Ernest Jones; two long-time employees in this department were Mr. Frank Coffman and Mrs. Mary (Stiman) Coffman. Other employees through the years, most of them part-time, have been Natalie Ashby, Henrietta Carver, Geraldine Brown and Bernice Jones.
Mr. Ed Jones headed the grocery department. Long-time clerks in this department were Lawrence Slaton, G. A. Conley, and Oscar Oakley. Others have included Wade Crabtree,
John R. Jones, Ruby Brown, and Iola (Jones) Brown.The drug store was located upstairs over the grocery department and the home furnishings were located over the dry goods department.
The hardware department was managed by Mr. Hickman Jones, who was assisted by his
son-in-law, Paul VanHoy and Mickey Ashby. Noble Crowley worked in this department for a time.Behind the store was the warehouse; it was in the warehouse that Mr. Hickman Jones assembled the farm implements to be delivered to the farmers. "Uncle Hickman", as he was affectionately called by everyone, was also in charge of the undertaking department which was upstairs as well. He was assisted in this department by Paul VanHoy. In 1948 the undertaking business of the Slaughtersville Merchantile Copany merged with the Harris Funeral Home at Madisonville, Ky.
In the late 1960's, the store went from a clerk for every customer to self-service. This was about the same time John K. Jones, son of James W. "Mr. Jimmie" Jones purchased the interest of his two uncles, Mr. Ernest Jones and Mr. Ed Jones, who were retiring. Hickman Jones had retired through death.
Business declined at the "Company Store" as the population of Slaughtersville declined. After an auction of the merchandise in the dry good and grocery departments and a sale of the hardware department stock to Mickey Ashby, the Slaughtersville Merchantile Company ceased to be. Paul Van Hoy was the last general manager; he resigned in December, 1975.
Read 1908-1909 Account Book
from "The Story of Slaughtersville" copyright 1988 by Louise Fleming.
Used with the author's generous permission.
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