Ritchie Supply and Warehouse becomes Gordon Supply - in The House on Harrison Street

              George Ritchie Gordon, honor graduate from Vanderbilt University, worked with his uncle George Louis Ritchie in the Ritchie Supply and Warehouse located at the foot of East Washington at the Ouachita River.

Credit to OCHS posted photos

        George Louis Ritchie 's store, the 1858 Warehouse he built, lasted into the late 1950's until it burned. It was a substantial building; even the structure's bricks  were made on site by slaves. It was the largest and most prominent business in Camden at the time, boasting a basement, main floor, and upstairs attic area.

        George L. served in the Army of the Confederacy and upon his return, lived at the Ritchie House, his mother's boarding house. He operated his own business and assisted his mother, Jane E Ritchie.

      Later, George L. created an upstairs apartment for himself at his Warehouse and Supply store. Downstairs, around the free-standing stove, the men of the city gathered. George L became a noted cotton buyer, financier, and a man of considerable wealth. George R Gordon worked at his side.

(Documents about the Warehouse, his apartment, and other genealogical materials are included on the CD, available separately as an ancillary to The House on Harrison Street.)

                When George Louis Ritchie died in 1913, his estate was substantial. Men jokingly remark that because he never married, he had money. An entirely different story surfaced while researching US Census records and listening to cousins' reports of the beautiful woman he really loved.

             At his uncle's death, George Ritchie Gordon assumed management and ownership of the Ritchie Supply and Warehouse and the business became known as Gordon Supply.

              How this all played out is one for the books - most notably the family history saga I penned.

The House on Harrison Street contains these stories. The book will be launched during the Camden Daffodil Festival, March 11-13, 2016.