Mercantile

The procession of mercantile operations that have passed thru Weedsport since 1800 would be staggering to say the least. Included would be Department Stores, meat markets, millinery shops, shoe stores, pool rooms, saloons, drug stores, the livery stable, even a Chinese laundry in 1890, harness stores, bakeries, restaurants, furniture stores and many others. A few names cannot be omitted. Tanners I. G. A.; Coyle's Red & White and Folletts Grocery, were the privately operated groceries before the chains came in. Currently the Big M and Sandys Stop & Shop are the only food stores in operation.

A few years earlier Devitts', Travers', Kanaleys' and others sold food. Recent meat markets were run by Kenneth Heifernan and his father and by Jay Hooper and Dsm Cuddy. Henderson & Company operated a department store for many years. Marquisee Brothers and G. A. Benedict sold clothing; W. G. Adams manufactured phonographs and sold pianos; Ira Carl sold pianos and sewing machines; Livery stables were operated at various times by A. B. Hoyt, Hoyt and Moll and Levant Hackley.

The evolution of the hardware business in Weedsport is a typical example of the changes in business that take place over the years. Walter Weed was the first hardware merchant in the village and there are few records of interim hardwares until A. B. Harmon appears in the 1880's. O. W. Burritt and Bro. established a hardware in 1852. In 1924 Charles E. Whitman and son, Harold L., purchased the Burrift business which they operated until 1925. In the meantime Edward Blakeman and Lewis King had acquired the Harmon business, calling it the Brutus Hardware. In 1927 the Whitmans and Claude Merriman joined together and purchased Brutus Hardware, combining the two stores. Mr. Merriman remained in the organization for only a few years and the Whitmans bought out his share in the business. In 1936 Charles' other son, Sterling, bought into the operation. Buildings burned in the vicious fire of March 5, 1940 included Brutus Hardware. Immediately Whitmans constructed a fine modern one-story building on the site of the old structure. In 1945 the company purchased the F. M. Burrfit Machine Shop and, four years later, connected it directly to the Seneca Street store. This provided a convenient outlet on East Brutus. In 1949 the operation was incorporated as Whitmans' Hardware, Inc., the name it still bears. Following Charles' death in 1955, Harold and Sterling continued on until 1970 when they retired from business and sold out to Sterling's son, Philip C. Whitman. Philip was joined in the new venture by John Slauson and the business is still Whitman's Hardware, Inc.

The developmental story of a family transportation agency must be included in Weedsport's history. About 1901 Fred D. Lanphere established a sales business at his home at 3207 East Brutus Road. He took on several lines of merchandise including Rambler Bicycles, the Edison Phonograph and Cortland Road Carts. The business prospered and carriages and wagons were added. In 1903 he moved his operation to the village taking over the space recently vacated by Durbin & Bust to the north of the Burrift Theatre Building. In the Spring of 1913 Mr. Lanphere's health deteriorated and his son Guy H. Lanphere entered the business. In 1915 they took the agency for the Pullman automobile, "the Biggest Car in America for $740." In 1916 the Pullman was dropped and Dodge and Chevrolet taken on. Ford cars and trucks were added in 1917. In 1922 the Lamphere's and Florian W. Shoemaker of Oakscod acquired the WillisOverland distributorship for Cayuga County. Lanphere & Son took a Hudson-Essex franchise that same year. They handled Willis Overland until 1927. Some manufacturers now refused to permit dealers to carry two lines so the partnership was split up - Fred taking Hudson-Essex and Guy Willis-Overland. Oakland and Pontiac were in Guy's stable for two years. He added Studebaker which he retained until 1932 when he took on Dodge-Plymouth as a sub-dealer.

Fred obtained a Chevrolet franchise in 1933 and held it until 1942 when Guy took it over. He operated his service in the old Giles Warehouse on the Canal near the present Port 40 Motel. The old building was demolished in 1948 to make way for Erie Drive. That same year he built the new attractive modern facility across the street at the corner of Routes 31 and S4, Mr. Lanphere continued in business until 1961 when he sold to William Humphrey and Harold Spingler. Some years later, in 1971, Mr. Spingler bought out his partner and is operating the agency under the name of Spingler Chevrolet, Inc. The Company now holds the only auto manufacturers franchise in the Brutus-Weedsport community.