Fore's store on the Robinsonville Road
The small country store has its place in American society. Historically, people have gathered at such places to receive their mail, converse with neighbors, learn the news going on around them, and of course, trade in the public market.
Stories abound about mercantile stores in this region of the state. Burnt Corn's old store was legendary, it has been said that during the War Between The States, a man by the name of Cunningham read the weekly newspapers to those around him in order to keep them informed as to what was happening on the battlefields where their sons and brothers were fighting Union forces.
Closer to home, stories are still told in Canoe about Mose Myrick turning down a free Coca-Cola for a thimble of rice seed at Foote Watson's old store (ask a local for details on that story), and of course Baker's Grocery in Canoe is, and continues to be, a local institution of not just commerce but conversation as well.
North of Canoe, the tiny hamlet of Robinsonville had such a place as well. Fore's Store, on Robinsonville Road served the needs of the local population for several generations. The store's life span stretched from the 1920s into the early 1970s. The story of the proprietor is one of the great stories of the area.
Annie Bowman, a local writer for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression, interviewed Edwin Davison Fore, better known as Davison Fore, on March 31, 1939 during the busy spring planting season. The personal biographies of many local personalities have been preserved thanks to Annie Bowman's stories and such is the case with Mr. Fore.
On the date of her interview with Fore, Bowman described him as a tall, well-built man, weighing 165 pounds. He walked with a graceful gate and stood erect. His hair was light brown with a touch of gray.
Fore was born July 23, 1893 in Beatrice, Alabama, his father Steven having moved to Monroe County from Kentucky. Steven Fore bought a 40 acre farm in Monroe County and operated a gin in addition to his farming operation. Steven married Nancy Francis Davison and, according to Ms. Bowman, had 12 children.
Davison's father died in Monroe County and soon his older brother was killed in the Battle of the Marne in France during WWI. Bowman notes that this was such a heart-breaking development for Davison Fore's mother that she sold out her holdings in Monroe County, bought five acres in Robinsonville, and opened a store on the Robinsonville Road.
The location of the store, at the intersection of Fore's Store Road and the Robinsonville Road, must have been an area of some activity in those days. Across the street from the store, the Maxwell School was in operation and further east up the road was a grist mill on the left where Fred McKinley and many others in the area brought their corn for milling.
According to Bowman, Davison eventually bought his mother's store and opened it to the public on the first Saturday in November 1922 and so a local institution was born.
According to Bowman, Davison attended the Baptist Young People's Union shortly after moving to the Robinsonville area. While there, he met a young woman who came in a wagon with her father. Davison was walking ahead of the mule and wagon when the mule ran away with her father and Davison jumped on board to stop the wagon and stopped it so quickly that the young lady named Carrie Doskie Bozeman fell over on him. Bozeman and Davison Fore's chance meeting led to their marriage two years later on November 22, 1925.
Following the wedding, children were later born and the couple was making it through life fine until the Great Depression swept across the fields and woodlands of the area in 1929. The store struggled as did most businesses in those days. The Fore's often allowed customers to pay on time or whenever they could get the money to pay their bill.
It has been said that Davison carried many people through those hard times and most of them paid him back. His kindness was well known in the community. This writer's father, Henry McKinley, recounts overhearing a lady purchasing her groceries on time from Mr. Fore, and during the conversation, she recounted how her home had recently burned and it would be awhile before she could pay him. Rather than having her sign a credit application; Mr. Fore went to the store room and brought back additional groceries for the neighbor and told her those were free. A finer example of charity such as this is hard to find in our modern age. Davison's son Ed notes, "My dad was known for doing things like that."
Fore had a second store in Canoe for a time. According to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of 1922, Fore's store in Canoe was located in the building which eventually became Homer Lee's store. This was at the intersection of Railroad Street and Hall Street; or as we would know them today-Highway 31 and Hill Street.
After a long history in the Robinsonville area, Davison retired from the store and passed on in the early 1990s.
Davison's son, Ed, served his country during World War II in the United States Marine Corps and still lives in the Robinsonville community. He was stationed on the island of Guam when the war ended.
The old store, a stately brick building, stands today as a monument to a bygone age of hard work, neighbors who were more like family and as a testimonial to the kind, sweet people who called Robinsonville home.
This year's Canoe Community Homecoming Festival will be held November 17, 2018 from 8am-2pm in beautiful downtown Canoe. Re-enactors, vendors, food and drinks and historical tours will be conducted along Lowery Lane in the heart of the old downtown. Make your plans to attend.
Shadows and Dust Volume III: Legacies is available for purchase in the amount of $30.00+$5.00 shipping and handling to PO Box 579 Atmore, AL 36502 or visit Lulu Publishing.com; Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles.com OR at the Monroe County Heritage Museum in Monroeville, Alabama or by calling 251 294 0293.
