Aunt Willie was Daddy’s sister, and Uncle Raymond Butler was her husband.  They had no children.  In my earliest recollection, Uncle Raymond had been drafted into the army in World War II.  He was a medic, and on his return, it was not unusual for family, and maybe others to ask him medical questions. I am not sure, at this point where all he may have served. 

When he completed his military service and returned home, he and Aunt Willie acquired a place in the community, and their home was about a quarter mile east of where the lane from Uncle Earl’s house entered the big road.  They lived on the big road, and owned land owned land on both sides of the road. I think, about 100 acres.  I also believe that the acquired it Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard.

There was a little store building very close to the house, and they expanded the building and opened a country store.  There were lots of country stores in those days.  All of them were somewhat similar in operation and content.  In this particular store, the groceries were behind a counter.  Purchasers stated what they wanted, and Uncle Raymond or Aunt Willie got it for them and placed it on the counter, and eventually bagged it up in brown paper bags, or put it in a box.  The groceries had been delivered from a big truck that came from a wholesaler, and the boxes were what the cans of groceries came in.

There was bologna and cheese to be sliced.  There was a glass case on top of the counter, that held all kinds of candy: Brock, Peter Paul mounds and Almond joys, Hershey bars, Mars and others.  And there was chewing gum—Spearmint and Juicy Fruit.   If you happened to have a nickel, you could have a feast.  The drink machine was just as you came in the front door.  It was cooled with water.  All the soft drinks—Coca Colas, R.C. Colas, Pepsi Colas, Dr. Peppers, and all kinds of Sunkist “knee high” fruit flavored drinks were in there.  And the customers could just reach in and get them.  I think that eventually health department people got wise to the idea that it was not a very sanitary operation:

Uncle Raymond added a room on the east side of the building for a corn mill that ground up corn into meal.  I think it was powered by amotor outside the building with the use of a band that came through an opening in the wall.

There were Pure Oil gas pumps out in front of the store, and my earliest recollect of the price of gas is twenty-five cents (25c) per gallon.  The gas tanks were underground. There was also a kerosene tank, that was square and sat above ground, and that’s where we got kerosene for the stove for the Little House.

When the B&SE railroad was taken up in 1936, the section from the Milstead station on the Western Railroad of Alabama to Tallassee, Alabama, with its cotton mills was left in operation.  An engine that was called the “Dinky” went back and forth on that section.  Uncle Raymond was “engineer” on the Dinky for a while. Eventually, Uncle Raymond went to work as overseer for Mr. Ben Walker, who owned a very large amount of land nearby.  The walkers owned thousands of acres, and, of course, Mr. Ben Walker had his own country store.  Aunt Willie continued to run the store.  It was a pure delight to get to “go to the store.”