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About Us
How We Got Started
It all started when Samuel and Elizabeth Daniel came to America from England in 1884 and settled in what is Moore County Tennessee today. Originally Moore County was a part of Coffee, Bedford, and Lincoln counties. The community they settled is now known as Raus. As a young couple, Samuel and Elizabeth struggled to raise their five children. They were share croppers and faithful church goers. Their granddaughter, Maude Daniel, was my great grandmother. Maude married my great grandfather Luther Banks and together they opened a General Store only 11 miles from where my store is located today.
Luther was a very social and kind man. His mercantile was very successful, even during the depression. Luther was a bootlegger. He sold moonshine from underneath his General Mercantile until the day he died and was never arrested, but I’m sure he was often caught. I think when you supply the Sheriff and his deputies with “the recipe” you are likely to go unnoticed.
Luther died a young man at the age of 37 after he accidently cut himself with a razorblade while shaving which led to a fatal infection. Their son, my grandfather, Rob Banks was only 16 years old when he took over as the man of the house. He had to quit school and go to work in the local Genesco Shoe Factory to make a living for his mother Maude and his four siblings. However, the story does have a happy ending.
Maude, Rob, and his siblings lived happy lives and lived to be in their 80’s and 90’s; his last sibling died in 2015!
How We Honor the Legacy
Hello, my name is Paige! and today, I operate the old General Store.
We opened the General Store in November 2006 and it is our vision is to give our visitors the experience and charm of an old time general store and provide the best customer service possible.
It is very rewarding and gives us great pleasure to be able to see our visitors reminisce on their childhood memories or to come and experience what their parents, grandparents and beyond did when coming to the old time general store.
The Original Tipsy Cake recipe used to make our tipsy cakes is a family recipe that has been handed down for generations now. Grandma Daniel loved tipsy cakes. While we don’t bootleg or sell any spirits directly we do utilize a lot of Jack Daniels, Tennessee Moonshines, and other local spirits to make most of our candies, cakes, and other food products with spirits!
