Tanned leather horse collars hung like Christmas lights along the back wall of the store that Lee Price and his wife, Stella, owned and operated around 1915 in Danville, Georgia.
[UPDATE (November 27, 2020): Thank you to the expertise and helpful eye of Sherlock Cohn: The Photo Genealogist. She more accurately dated this photograph to about 1926. Among other clues, she based this on the clothing being worn.]
Stella stood behind a display of hats, dozens of them in varying types and sizes. She wore a dark, wide brimmed one herself. There were also bolts of cloth, perhaps canvas or burlap or linen, all stacked neatly for customers to inspect. Beneath her were boxes of Kerr Wide Mouth Mason Jars (the βSelf Sealing Brandβ type) and a basket of straw fans for farmers, ladies, and laborers to cool themselves in the Georgian summer air.
Store of Lee and Stella Price in Danville, Georgia (about 1915)
Across from Stella, standing in the center aisle of the store, stood her husband, Lee, his left elbow resting on more textiles stacked eight bolts high. Bespectacled and suspendered, he tousled his mustache and looked across the store toward his black hatted wife.*
Possibly Stella Price (1878-1940)
Possibly Lee Price (1874-1946)
Kerr Wide Mouth Mason Jars and Straw Fans
Opposite the wall of horse collars were glass display cases framed with rich mahogany. Rows of boxes, and more cloth, adorned the shelves behind him. Other times for sale: bowties, handkerchiefs, and Red Bird cigars. What else can you see?
There were four others standing in the store, two men and two women. Was one βCharlie Priceβ as noted on the back of the photograph? Was he their son? Was that βPearlβ, a daughter of Stella and Leeβs, identified on the 1910 U.S. Federal Census? Who were the others?
Back
Here is what weβve been able to learn about the Price family.
The 1910 U.S. Federal Census shows a Lee Franklin Price, born about 1874, living with his wife, Stella, and three others: Pearl (daughter, age 6), and two βlaborersβ named James Roberts (33) and Charles W. Brandon (27). Lee was listed as a βgeneral farmerβ who was born in South Carolina.
Leeβs 1918 World War I Draft Registration card describes him as tall with a medium build, dark hair, and brown eyes. He is identified as a self employed Grocery Store owner.
The 1920 U.S. Federal Census shows Lee as a βMerchantβ in βRetail Groceriesβ. He lived with his wife, now listed as βEstellaβ, on Milledgeville Road in East Macon, Georgia. Pearl was not living with them.
The 1930 U.S. Federal Census shows Lee as a βPropietorβ of a βRetail Grocery Storeβ and Stella as a βSalesladyβ at βHusbandβs Storeβ. No one else was living with them.
In my quick newspaper research I was not able to find any mentions of Lee or Stella that I was confident in. This, however, appears to be their Find a Grave memorial. Lee Franklin Price (1874-1946) and Stella K. Price (1878-1940) are laid to rest at Macon Memorial Park in Macon, Georgia.
Who are Lee and Stella and what are their stories? Though the photo doesnβt seem like a grocery store, per se, was it the one referenced in the census records? Let us know if you find any clues or make any discoveries!
* Iβve used a mix of given information, discovered documents, educated guesswork, and artistic license to bring to life the story of the Prices and their store. Errors and omissions are expected and I welcome correction or alternate interpretations.
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related posts: 1910s
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Joseph Michael Ridilla (1877-1961) standing behind the Dawson House Bar in Dawson, Pennsylvania (1914).