A Scene at Grant’s Store, the old Elliott’s Store building. Drawn by Kyle Griffith in 2018

A few miles west of the railroad crossing at the old Dry Fork Depot, the area surrounding Hopewell United Methodist Church is rife with rural history. Back in the 1870s, one of the county’s most renowned millers, Hezekiah F. Pigg, donated land on which the Methodist church was constructed. In the following years, a tight-knit community formed around this church. Piedmont school was established nearby, as well as a few country stores and other businesses. One store of particular historic value belonged to G.L. Hardy and R.E. Elliott. In the 1890s, they established a store called The Little Mercantile Company. Before getting into the details of their store, an outline of their genealogy paints a good picture of their context within the business.

One of the merchants named George Lee Hardy was born in 1867 and grew up near Pigg’s Mill that stood on Pudding Creek, a branch of the Banister River. His grandfather named Banister Hardy was the progenitor of an extensive family who settled throughout the Dry Fork area. George descends from Banister’s first wife, former Miss Alsey Yates, who was a daughter of tavern keeper Stephen Yates (of the historic Yates Tavern). After Alsey’s death in 1834, Banister remarried to former Miss Eva Pigg, a daughter of the local mill owner Clement Pigg and a sister to the aforementioned Hezekiah. In 1895, George married former Miss Flora J. Jones, whose brothers became some of the leading merchants in Dry Fork. Therefore, the land surrounding Hopewell was a bit of family legacy, and served as a prime spot to open a new country store. 

The other merchant, Robert Eldridge Elliott was born in 1868 to Thomas J. Elliott and former Miss Sarah E. Tate. Through his father’s family, he was a second cousin to Hezekiah Pigg whose mother was an Elliott. In addition, R.E.’s uncle Coleman Elliott served as postmaster of Pleasant Gap during the 1860s and ‘70s. It is also worth mentioning that after his father died, R.E.’s mother Sarah remarried to J. Ward Hardy, a blacksmith and first cousin of George L. Hardy. 

Advertisement for The Little Mercantile Company or Elliott’s Store in Dry Fork, circa 1910

The Little Mercantile Company operated under that name for around twenty-five years, but other remaining documents also called it “Elliott’s Store.” The merchants supplied local farmers with the necessities during the time of horse and buggy. Contemporary advertisements announced the sale of general merchandise and gents’ furnishings. A newer, larger building was constructed nearby around 1907 (which stood on the spot of the present Butcher’s Block until 1966). Old memories passed down by local families tell that Ward Hardy moved his blacksmith shop into the older building close to the new store. R.E. Elliott’s brother, Wesley Carrington “Carr” Elliott is said to have apprenticed under Ward Hardy to learn the blacksmithing trade and worked as part of the company for many years. Around 1909, the merchants hired a new clerk at the store whose name was Charlie W. Grant. Those who know Dry Fork history will recognize this name as the future proprietor of the store, which he renamed Grant’s Store. However, this article is intended to focus on the era beforehand. 

Around 1918 the business was sold to G.L. Hardy’s brother-in-law, Beverly White Jones, whose brother had also purchased the nearby Pigg’s Mill ten years prior. A receipt dated 20 September 1919 states “B. W. Jones, dealer in Dry Goods, Notions, Fine Goods, and General Merchandise.” However, Beverly’s name was crossed out with pencil and rewritten as “J. H. Jones Gro. Co.” by his brother James Henry “Jim” Jones. The store continued successfully over the next decade until Jim’s death in 1929 and then his son Irvin continued operating the Jones Mill. His widow Mrs. Annie K. Jones (born Stowe) kept the store in business for the remainder until her passing in 1944. The store at Hopewell was purchased soon after by Mr. Charlie Grant, who was by then a longtime employee. More resources have been written about its time as Grant’s Store, but the fifty years of history beforehand are not as well documented.