THE JOURNAL, Thursday, November 8, 2007 - 05
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Uriah Stumbo brought his "Groceries were lots Cheaper
family to Oklahoma from those days," W'dbur said. "They
Brown County, Kansas on had to be, for there wasn't much
May 13, 18.89, settling one mile cash. Flour, hauled all the way
south of the IXL school house from Arkansas City retailed for
in the Forest City community.
He put up a tent and started a
grocery store. Soon the tent
was replaced by a building, and
twice a week Uriah would go
to Guthrie for supplies,
often accompanied
by his eleven
year old son,
W'dbur. "We
would drive in,
unhitch and camp at
a camp yard behind the
store where we would stay
all night, loading up and coming
home the next day," Wilbur said.
"We also carried the mail, being
one of the first carriers in this
district, and not under contract
either. We had a big wooden
box with a pad lock on it. This
box was taken to Guthrie where
the outgoing mail was taken out
at the post office and return mail
locked in until brought back."
They also carried stamps. These
trips taking up four days a week,
W'dbur's mother, Sarah, and the
other Stumbo children - Eddy,
ForresL Henry, and Etha, would
look after the store while Uriah
was gone.
There was a problem with title
to the lots in Forest City, and
the Stumbo family moved to
Perkins in May 1890, opening
a small store just south of where
the post office is today. At that
time there were only nine or ten
businesses in town, many being
groceries, including Joseph
Weft, Rankin's, Jesse Stanton,
Arthur Miles, and Fred Tryon.
The stories vary somewhat as
to the-first grocery merchant
in Perkins and it may lay in a
close tie between Rankin's and
Joseph Wett Wilbur recalled,
'q'he first load of groceries
coming into Perkins came down
the river from Guthrie on a flat
boat. Joseph Welt and a man
who helped him, built a fiat
boat up on the Cottonwood in
Guthrie and floated supplies in
to Perkins via Cimarron to start
up the first grocery lines here.
The store being located on the
south line of the Wert property
about where Guy McClain's
house now stands, and called the
Italy GroCery."
from 75 cents to 90 cents a sack
Then syrup came in wooden
pails, and syrup and sorghum
was big sellers. Salt came in
barrels, there was Lyons and
Arbuckles coffee the
biggest sellers, and
of course lots of
bulk coffee and
tea sold. We had
a selection of dried
fruits, and most
stores handled a little
general merchandise."
~When the Iowa and Sac and Fox
lands were opened in September
1891, Uriah took a claim in the
northeast qualter of Sec. 21 -
Twp 17 N - Rge 2 E and moved
his family to the farm, closing
the store.
W'dbur Stumbo was born
in Brown County, Kansas on
November 15,1877. Heattended
school: in Perkins in the one
room log cabin. On September
6, 1906, Wdbur married Allie
B. Johns, a neighbor girl whose
family had moved to Stillwater.
They had two children - Wilbur
Jr. who died as an infant in 1908,
and Gwendolyn .born June 21,
1911. Sadly, Gwendolyn died
at the age of three on July 10,
1914, from'summer complaint.'
Other than three years spent in
Grandfield, Oklahoma and three
years in Colorado, the Stumbos
made Perkins their home living
at 315 E. Thomas. Wilbur
worked on a farm until 1924,
when they came to Perkins to
manage the Farmers:Exchange,
located at 102 N. Main Street. In
1932, W'dbur began managing
the Vassar Hardware when I.
D. Vassar went on the road
selling dairy supply items. On
March 23, 1937, Wilbur and
AUie opened Smmbo's Grocery
and Market at 126 S. Main
Street, buying out Wallace
Dickey's Grocery and Market.
They handled a complete line
of groceries and meats, and
also had a cream station in
connection with the grocery.
"Back then large quantifies of
common foods were sold, but
the stock of a merchant today
must include ten times the
variety of those days," Wilbur
explained in 1940. 'Wake for
instance breakfast foods. The
standard bulk oats in the old
days took the place of today's
shelves where nearly a whole
section of shelving is needed to
show and sell puffed rice, oats,
bran and a hundred and one
different varieties."
Due to their health, the
Stumbos sold their store to Mr.
and Mrs. Howard Warren on
October 1, 1945. The Warrens
merged the store into their
grocery across the street and it
became known as the Nu-way
Cardinal Food Store.
The following article appeared
in The Grocer-Dizer, an industry
publication in October 1951:
"Loss of only 29 cents in credit
dealings with customers is the
record hung up by Howard H.
Warren, owner of the Nu-Way
Grocery, Perkins, Okla.
"Last year, doing an $84,000
volume, he nevertheless lost
only 29 cents in charges. He
remembers exactly how this
happened, too. A customer
lacked 6 cents of being able to
pay for a package of cigareues
and said he'd pay for it later, but
he forgot. Another customer,
hurrying in before closing time,
wanted cigarettes, but said his
money was in his other trousers.
Dealer Warren said he could
pay tomorrow. But tomorrow
never came.
' Ihe Nu-Way Grocery owner
says he is able to control credit
because he knows everybody in
Perkins (1,000 population) and
knows whether they'll be able
to pay. He doesn't just hope
they can pay up. He is sure they
can before he mists them. He
sells coupon books, with 5%
discount for cash.
"Another thing, Dealer Warren
forms a first impression of a
person, and doesn't change his
mind. If something tells him
some applicant for credit won't
pay his bil,then that person can-,
talk all day long and it won't do
him any g0od.
'"The first of a series of fall
demonstrations on Santa Fe
Coffee and other Santa Fe
goods was held Sept. 8 at the
Nu-Way Grocery.
"Lots of Santa Fe Coffee,
Santa Fe Salad Dressing,
Santa Fe Candy, and Santa Fe
vegetables and flttits were sold,
the store jam-packed all day
long. Drawings were held event
hour and numerous baskets of
groceries were given away to
lucky winners.
"Howard Warren went inr the
Uriah Stumbo's claim in the northeast quarter of Sec. 21 - Twp 17 N - Rge 2 E, Lincoln County. (I
to r) Uriah, Forest, Eddy, Henry, Etha, and Sarah Stumbo.
=/ /iiiiii ~ii !/i i :! i~: i
The Charlie Skinner homestead at Barrel Springs southwest of Perkins. Skinner was one of the
cowboys of Townsend & Pickett's IOA Ranch and took the claim in the 1891 land run. (I to.r) Chadie
Skinner, Mima Skinner, and Mertie (Stumbo) Skinner. This photo was taken about 1894 and the
Cimarron River can be seen in the background. Journal file photo
I
Last Saturday, Tom years Wayne and Geraldine located, fight across Bill
Drake and his wife, Jackie, owned that farm up until Scott's body shop. Charles
of Huntersville, North 2003. Drake was Tom Drake's great
Carolina, visited Perkins. In 1894, Charles Drake's great grandfather.
Their purpose was to ,visit grandchild died, and sinceCharlie Skinner was
foreman for the Townsend
. and Pickett IOA Ranch.
'!i!,! :;i; Uriah Stumbo's wife cooked
for the IOA ranch hands.
Charlie married Myrtie
!i Stumbo, Uriah's daughter
and Wilbur Stumbo's sister.
Olivet Cemetery southwest there was no cemetery Then Charles Drake's son
of Perkins and also see the nearby, the child was buried Alex married Charlie and
farms where their ancestors at Perkins Cemetery. So Myrtie's daughter Mima.
lived over 100 years ago. then Grandpa Drake, as he So Tom Drake, who visited
Tom and Jackie visited was called by friends and here Saturday, is a great great
with Wayne Allen, and then neighbors, insisted thatgrandson of both Charles
Wayne brought them out to the neighborhood have Drake and Charlie Skinner.
the Olivet neighborhood, a cemetery and church Tom is also a descendant of
Sherian Kennedy and I met building as soon as possible. Uriah Stumbo.
them at the cemetery, and we Other neighbors were also Wayne Alien also showed
showed them the graves of interested. Grandpa Drake us the log house that Charles
some Drake family members gave two acres of his farm, Drake built in 1891, and the
and also of the Stumbo a cemetery was laid out,two-story house he built im
family. It was an opportunity and a church building was 1893. The log house was;
to learn the connections of constructed. He also gave an used by Wayne and his fathe
some of the families of the acre of land on the north side George for grain and feed
neighborhood, of his farm for a schoolhouse, storage for many years. The:7
Wayne took us to the Drake Saturday Wayne showed ustwo-story house is still used
farm, and we also showed where that schoolhouse was as a dwelling.
Tom and Jackie the Charlie
Skinner farm where Barrel ::
Springs is located. Then Tom
and Jackie were shown the
.-Urial ,Stumbo mnr
Sherian's parents, Charles
and Elsie Grant, owned the
Stumbo place, where Sherian Today I want to recommend a paperback book by Debo-
and her sisters and brother rah Bouziden, ,Off the Beaten Path: Oklahoma," now in its
grew up. sixth edition. It's a little guidebook to Oklahoma places, big
The Skinner farm was and little. Many of them are hardly off the beaten path, like
owned by Frank and Beulah Tulsa, the Oil Capital of the World, and Oklahoma City, the
Cox for many years, still-growing capital of the state. As she says, there is a lot of
Wayne and his parents history in this book. I like her quote from Will Rogers about
moved to the Drake farm his home: "Oklahoma is the heart; it's the vital organ of our
in 1946. and in more recent national existence."
grocery business in 1938 and
he has been in it continuously
except for 18 months, while
the war was on. Howard and
his father, the late J. L Warren,
opened up a store in 1938 and
then later, later later, Howard
sold out to his father. When he
returned from war service, he
bought the R. and L. Grocery,
but this proved too small, and he
bought out the Stumbo Grocery
and moved his fixtures into it.
He made this store over into the
first modem store in Perkins and
the first month after he moved,
he increased the business $3,500
worth.
' rhe Nu-Way store has an
east front and is located in the
center of the main business
block in Perkins. Interior of
the building is all in white.
There is fluorescent lighting, a
U-type checkout counter, and
modem equipment, including
new type scales, shopping
carts, refrigerated vegetable
and produce cases, walk-in
cooler, retail milk and butter
box, frozen food case, ice cream
cabinet, 12-foot meat display
case, electric saw, grinders, etc.
The store proper, or shopping
area is about 25 feet wide and
60 feet deep. Gondolas are
in the center of the store, with
wide aisles between gondolas
and shelving to allow plenty
of room for customers to shop.
A 27 by 27 foot warehouse is
in rear. A 16 by 25 foot sheet
metal garage serves as storage
for eggs, pop cases, and empty
cartons.
"Mrs. Warren and their son,
Lemy, 15 years old, both workin
the store. Leroy also finds time
to behalf back on the Perkim
football team. A daughter.
Ann, 18 years old, is in college.
Velma Riley is a store clerk."
In April 1958, they purchased
an IGA Foodliner Supennmkel
in Medford, Oklahoma and
announced they would close
their store in Perkins. "We=
have purchased a store at
Medford that offers a much:-,
better opportunity" Howardl
said. "We have found that the;
facilities for having the type of
store we wanted to operate fo~
Perkins folks were not hem,
We have enjoyed the pasl
18 years in Perkins and have
gained many wonderful friends
and customers, which we will
always appreciate."
Don Wooldridge, Agent
(405) 547-5126
We Do
All Minor
Repairs
Computer Controlled Access Floor to Ceiling Steel Partitions
Security Gate, Fence & Lighting Insulated Roof
24/7 Access Available VISA, MC & Discover
Convenient Rent by Phone * -Free Disk Lock wlUnit Rental
417 W. Freeman * Perkins
547-8600 or 1-800-397-8673
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