Mr. Wilson's Store

Mr. Wilson’s Store

  Mr. Martin Wilson was a man that went to our church in the little town I grew up in. The town was so small that there were few buildings in the

Main street

area. One building that grew near to my heart was a small, outdated gas station and grocery store. The town was not big enough to support a chain grocery store, so Mr. Wilson sold most everything you would need right there  in his little store, much like the old general stores I remember reading about in western novels. Mr. Wilson sold leaded and unleaded gas, most any grocery item you might need such as bread or milk. He even sold some hardware. Mr. Wilson sold many things at his old store, but the most important things he gave away.  

 One of my best memories of childhood was standing in front of a candy counter lined with big glass containers of candy and my Dad helping me to pick out a bag full of candy to take home. Mr. Wilson’s store offered what we called nickel and dime candy much like the old stores one might read about. After picking out what I wanted we would sit down and have a Coke, out of one of those old small 6 oz Coke bottles. It was sitting in the corner that I learned what really happened in that old store and it had more to do with life than buying or selling gasoline.

    Most accounts state that Mr. Wilson opened his store in the 1950’s. From that time on the families in the small town could buy anything they needed there like any other store but Mr. Wilson offered credit to those who could not pay. It was told, after his death, that many children would have gone to bed hungry if it had not been for Mr. Wilson. Those who could pay him paid when they could.

   There was more to that store than being supplied with material things that one could buy. Mr. Wilson was a man with strong convictions and a natural love for his fellow man. He along with others from the town started the town’s first Rescue Squad to care for the sick and injured of the area. Martin Wilson and his wife Ruby were strong influences in the church and community not so much by what they said but how they lived their lives.

  I like many kids waited on the school bus under the little shed in front of the store. Mr. Wilson would tell me stories of when my mom and dad were young. He would also tell stories that were entertaining but taught a lesson. I didn’t know it then but he was teaching us about living a good life. I never asked for anything while waiting for the ride to school but it seamed that most of the time I left for school with a piece of bubble gum or a jaw breaker that he had given me.

   I have talked with people over the years about him and have never heard anyone say anything but good things. The reoccurring theme has been the way he not only talked to people about Jesus and living a good life but he was a living example of a “good man”. The Preacher that conducted the funeral service for Mr. Wilson said that he was told, “The only way you can mess up this service is to say anything bad about this man.”

  In the little store in Tar Heel North Carolina this man made an honest living for his family. He fed, clothed and educated 6 children. He sold things that families needed everyday. He provided a service that the little town needed. The important things that came out of that store were given away. He gave people a way to feed a family when they had no money. He gave us a place to wait for the bus to school out of the cold. The most important thing he gave us was a good example.