Thursday, May 6, 2010

Mr. Greene's Mercantile


Last weekend my wife and I had the privilege of attending another Middle Georgia reenactment. Our role was to prepare and operate Greene's Mercantile.

Mr. Greene built his mercantile in 1816 in Clinton, Georgia. He had a tremendous store full of the latest in fashions for the women and sundry items for the home. Ladies from the frontier town of Macon would travel by wagon or beast to get to the mercantile for the opportunity of sampling his wares. They would traverse the Macon to Milledgeville road, dusty and winding to purchase the finest in underpinnings that could be had at a price.

Our representation was of the years of the War Between the States. It was early war and the shelves were properly filled with goods both foreign and domestic. Later in the war years, foodstuffs and general items were not easy to secure so locals would bring their eggs and produce from their farms to trade for other items.

The store pictured was built about 1890.

On Sunday morning, Mrs. Greene and I walked the short distance to a beautiful stand of Pecan trees in the shadow of the McCarthy-Pope homeplace. Many sat on the rails of the split fence but we secured two very wonderful seats on a granite outcrop. A kindly woman shared her song sheet with us and we soon began to sing "Brethren We Have Met to Worship". The sounds of the singing wafted on the Spring breeze of Middle Georgia and, I feel, right into the ears of God.

Parson Young read from 2 Samuel and inspired us to come out of the Valley of Sin and remember our past but look toward our future, as I recall. I always seem to get a different message out of the sermon outline.

He asked me to pray the closing prayer and I do think that the Spirit of God was standing right there with me. It is wonderful to just begin speaking and let God connect with your words and thoughts. Amen! What a blessing to be with the one you love most on Earth, amidst the beauty of creation and talking with the Creator.

We walked the short distance back to the Mercantile and proceeded to clean and straighten the shelves. It was a long three days but a comfort to step back in time to a place most can only imagine.

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