“You see,” said Mr. Carmon, as he talked between customers in his store, “I always had a longing when a boy to keep a store. So in 1881, when I was but 16, I opened my first store on this same street. It is about where George Roy is now located, but this stand didn’t last very long. The next year, 1882, I opened a larger store and was doing very well when the owners of the place informed me that they had an opportunity to rent the store at a higher rental. I guess they thought I would pay it, but I moved out with a profit of just $40 in my pocket and a resolution to open another store.

“On May 7, 1884, my real opportunity came and I opened a larger store where the Paddock hardware store is now located, just above this present location and there I remained for ten years when the opportunity came to buy this block and so I moved this side of the postoffice and here I have been ever since.

“Of course, there have been changes here in Redwood in my day, big changes. Not a person who was in business when I started s in business today. Let me picture Redwood in the days when I started. The glass factory had been running right up to the year I started my first store in 1881 and Redwood was a village of over 700 people who had been enjoying prosperity. The farmers outside had a good local market for their wood which they sold to the glass factory and a market for produce.

“Redwood had a splendid band at that time, known throughout this northern section. I played the cornet in this band, sort of grew up with it, and for twelve years I was the leader. We were proud of that band and that was only one item that Redwood possessed to make it an outstanding community. We had five doctors in Redwood in my early days. There were Drs. Charles Catlin, Martin J. Hutchins, the two Catlins, and James E. Ryan, brother of Dr. M. M. Ryan of Philadelphia. We had a dentist, Dr. Gaudett, who visited some neighboring villages as well, and a lawyer, Anson Harder, and Thomas H. Donald, the insurance man.

“It was not long before Adam Bickelhaupt was making a name for himself as a leading manufacturer of limburger cheese and that brought much business to Redwood. Let me tell you how that worked. Mr. Bickelhaupt had a big general store here, and I mean it was a big one. He had factories in other towns and the farmers delivering milk to these factories came to Redwood to trade, for Mr. Bickelhaupt ran a big credit business. The farmers traded at his store and the pay could be taken from the checks. It made a big inducement to trade here. I remember that right across the street from the store I am in there was a long shed where farmers put their teams. Saturdays that shed would be crowded.

“The Holmes brothers had a big store here and others in business included G. C. Tanner, drugs; George A. Hartman, tailor; Kabel Brothers, farm implements and wagons; George Pilger & Son, boots and shoes; C. A. Catlin, drugs; Harry Hollingshead and George Bailey, harnesses; D. M. Smith, hardware; Christian Ahles, general store and boots and shoes; William Courtney, general store; C. S. Reade, hardware and groceries; G. C. Tanner, drugs; Peter Bert, undertaker and furniture; Libbie Ahles and Mattie Casey, milliners.

“Nelson Cook had the sawmill, always busy, and with a Mr. Smith, the sash and blind factory, A. A. Holes had the gristmill. The Whites were another important firm. Don A. Watson was the justice, and a good one, and there were George C. Hyle and William Kimball busy in their blacksmith shops. John Brown made boots while William Marsh and Jere Rixford repaired clock and watches. Of course there were the Dollinger and Farley hotels and Giffin & Marshall ran a busy livery.

“Now all has changed and I don’t think that Redwood today has hardly half the people it had when the glass factory was running and I started my store. But it is a good place with good people and we are like other rural communities where the auto and good roads have taken away the trade.

“My father, David Carmon, was a glass blower who came here from Sand Lake, near Troy, to work in the glass factory. Father married May A. Bevins, a native of Vermont. I was born Feb. 1, 1865, and married Miss Grace Schall, who died some years ago. I think that Mr. Ahles is the next longest in business here. But the one thing I miss the most in Redwood is the band and I wish we could have another like the one that was in such great demand years ago.”