Batson, E.

Elijah Batson owned and operated a general store at Trinity, Newfoundland, from 1934 to 1961. Before 1934, he was a clerk or junior bookkeeper at Ryan Brothers Ltd., Trinity. Initially, his business was located at the old Lockyer premises near the Green Forge, but he had relocated to the Commercial Stores property opposite the Royal Bank by 1938. By 1956, Batson had again moved the operation to the Erickson premises.

E. Batson sold groceries, hardware, and dry goods, which was typical of general stores in that era. The firm was atypical because it did not deal in codfish, only accepting cash or credit as a medium of exchange. In the twentieth century, many smaller outport firms like E. Batson began relying on the increasing pool of potential customers who carried cash and were not bound by credit and debt to the large fish merchants such as Ryan Brothers, Limited. The business closed when Elijah Batson died in 1961.

Created - April 25, 2013

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