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Ruth Humphries Wilson

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Birth	:	1845 Shropshire, England
Death	:	Oct 1923 Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, USA
Burial	:	Evergreen Cemetery, Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate	:	29.6282997, -82.3153000
Description	:	OBITUARY OF RUTH WILSON TAKEN FROM THE GAINESVILLE DAILY, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1923 MRS. RUTH WILSON DIED AT HER HOME HERE AT 4:00 TUESDAY MORNING Entire City Mourns Death of Respected Resident. Who Had Lived Here Since the Late Seventies: Funeral Service at 4 o'clock This Afternoon. By Col. Robt. W. Davis. When at the stroke of 4 o'clock yesterday morning, Mrs. Ruth Wilson breathed her last, a noble woman passed from Time into Eternity. Her death was not unexpected but when it came the city, of Gainesville, so long her home, was hushed into solemn silence and depressed with... Read More	OBITUARY OF RUTH WILSON TAKEN FROM THE GAINESVILLE DAILY, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1923 MRS. RUTH WILSON DIED AT HER HOME HERE AT 4:00 TUESDAY MORNING Entire City Mourns Death of Respected Resident. Who Had Lived Here Since the Late Seventies: Funeral Service at 4 o'clock This Afternoon. By Col. Robt. W. Davis. When at the stroke of 4 o'clock yesterday morning, Mrs. Ruth Wilson breathed her last, a noble woman passed from Time into Eternity. Her death was not unexpected but when it came the city, of Gainesville, so long her home, was hushed into solemn silence and depressed with deepest sorrow. As her life had been one of usefulness, Christian, benevolence and charity the feeling of sadness at the news of here death was universal. Ruth Wilson was born in Shropshire, England, and came with her family to the United States in her early girlhood. They settled in Albany, New York, and there, she had grown up, she met and married Richard Woodward Scarrett. His health failing him they moved to Florida and became residents of Gainesville sometime in the later seventies. Mr. Scarrett entered into the mercantile business here and is remembered most kindly by the older citizens as a man of high character and of much business ability. He died in the year 1880. The children born of this union are Charles Scarrett, now of Charlotte, North Carolina, Miss Annie Scarrett, of this city and Miss Ruth Scarrett, who preceded her mother to the grave. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Scarrett married Mr. W. N. Wilson, who died within very recent years and who was a very popular man in this city and one of its leading merchants. He established the great dry goods business here long known and still maintained and known far and wide as "The Wilson Company." Of this marriage one child was born, Miss Rafaila Wilson who resides here. All Mrs. Wilson's children, so loved and cherished her, were at her bedside when soul took its flight. All yesterday the two great stores were closed and our people passed the crepe-hung doors their heads were bowed and their hearts were heavy. Mrs. Wilson was a devoted Baptist and Dr. T. W. McCaul will have charge of the funerel, which occurs at 3:30 O'clock this afternoon. The active pall bearers are: Mr. Joseph E. Waugh, Dr. J. C. Bishop, Mr. R. F. Brush, Dr. John Vidal, Mr. Louis C. Lynch, Mr. Finley Cannon, Mr. Walter Hawkins and Dr. M. H. DePass. Those selected for honorary pall bearers are: Mr. Robt. McClellan, Mr. Isaac N. Parrish, Sr., Mr. James H. Parrish, Dr. J. F. McKinstry, Mr. Frank Hampton, Mr. Phillip Miller, Mr. J. D. Stringfellow and Mr. A. R. Harper. Article taken from the Gainesville Sun Section E Sunday, August 29, 1976 Ruth Scarratt Overcame Five Handicaps to Found Wilson's Department Store By Jim Dickson Special to the Sun What started out as "R. Scarratt's Dry Goods Store" in now, 114 years later, Gainesville's oldest department store. The downtown Wilson's store was founded in 1862 by Ruth Scarratt, a native of Wales who operated a similar dry goods store in Albany, NY "When she arrived in Gainesville, there was a saloon on every corner and one blacksmith shop," said Olive Scarratt, Ruth's granddaughter. Scarratt, said that when Ruth, her consumptive husband and their two children came to Gainesville, they slept in a loft on used hay from the stables until they could afford a house. "When my grandmother arrived, she had five counts against her," Scarratt said. "She was not a native southerner. She was a woman. She could not own anything in her own name. She had no prejudices to color, race or creed and she had a sick husband and two children. "Because she had no prejudices and was stepping out of the standard female role, she was shunned. But after the Civil war, everyone came to love Miss Ruth because she was honest and had integrity," Scarratt said. Ruth's experience with that store in Albany was helpful when she opened up R. Scarratt's Dry goods Store near its present location at 22 E. University Ave. The first store was in one-half of what was then the post office. She later purchased the land next to the Post office. The new store carried everything from plows to petticoats. It employed hatters, hat trimmers, floor coverers and seamstresses. Early ads offered a variety of merchandise, including such household necessities as coffee grinders, boot jacks, kerosene lanterns and soap makers. Scarratt said Ruth tried to dress the women of Gainesville in the latest fashions. She traveled to Jacksonville in a wagon to meet the boats as they docked. There she picked up Irish linen, percale and rich brocades. She often helped the hat trimmers design the lavish hats of the day. People who bought clothes from Wilson's were among the most fashionable in Gainesville. Ruth never forgot her urban upbringing. "Women loved to be dressed in clothes from my grandmother's store," Scarratt said. "She employed the best dress and hat makers in town." Wilson's ads in 1919 offered crepe dresses for $18.95, women's hats for $4.95 and corsets with prices starting at $1.25. Included in every ad was the weather for the day. Women waited for the store to have its annual ribbon sale at Eastertime so they could trim their hair, dresses and hats. Ruth ran the business. This included all the buying and selling, customer relations and upkeep of the store. Her husband did the accounting and built fixtures for the store. Scarratt said it was through this combination that a thriving business was built. When the store was first opened, the nation was embroiled in a bitter civil war. "My grandmother played no sides in the war. She thought war was terrible, " Scarratt said. "She sent wagon loads of supplies to both the Confederate and Union soldiers while the fighting continued." Ruth's husband died and she operated the store alone for a time. She later married Will Wilson of Gainesville and the store's name was changed to R. Wilson's. With her new husband's help, the store continued to flourish. Scarratt said bricks were brought in from Campville and used in the construction of a new building. The rear of the building began to sink into a hole, so wagon wheels, tincans and wagon wheel spokes were used to fill the hole and strengthen the foundation. That building was sold in 1900 and the store then moved to its present location. The old building was used as a theater, grocery store, student dance hall and a bank before finally being torn down. The store was sold in 1925, the year before Ruth's death, to another Gainesville resident, W. B. Phifer. The Wilson's name was kept while the Phifer family owned the business. In 1951, the business was sold again, this time to Brooks Shumaker, Sr., a Gainesville merchant. Shumaker tripled the store's size and expanded it to 35,000 square feet. "We doubled the size of the store in 1951," Shumaker said, "and in 1961, we bought the old telephone building and expanded the store again. The final expansion came in 1971 when we bought the Geiger Dress Shop," Shumaker said he felt Wilson's future was dimming in light of the expansion of the large chains, so he sold the store last November to Webb's City, a division of Dunlap's Department Stores, a Texas retail chain. "It was my opinion that today the small businessman has a dim future, and the way to keep Wilson's Department Store in operation was to associate it with a larger group," Shumaker said. The store had annual business amounting to $1.5 million when it was sold. "Wilson's has been an institution in Gainesville," Scarratt said. "With sound thinking and good business sense, it has changed with the times. "My grandmother was a shrewd woman. She took what she got from the community and put it back into the town. The first paved streets in Gainesville were on account of my grandmother. She used ballast bricks from ships to pave the street in front of her house. "I think she and the other early residents of Gainesville have helped the town with little recognition of the part they played, Scarratt said. Wilson's will remain a Gainesville landmark as a symbol of what the pioneering spirit and good American business sense can do. Since its founding 114 years ago by the pioneering Ruth Scarratt, Wilson's has seen Gainesville grow.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Ruth Humphries Wilson's memorial?
Ruth Humphries Wilson's memorial is located at: Evergreen Cemetery, Gainesville, Alachua County, USA.
When did Ruth Humphries Wilson death?
Ruth Humphries Wilson death on Oct 1923 in Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Ruth Humphries Wilson's memorial?
Latitude: 29.6282997
Longitude: -82.3153000

Family Members:

Spouse

William Nathaniel Wilson

(1864 - 1920)

Children

(unknow - 1919)

(unknow - 1963)

(1870 - 1951)

(1888 - 1969)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Evergreen Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6282997, -82.3153000

2. Pine Grove Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6318000, -82.3127250

3. B’Nai Israel Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6514120, -82.3107510

4. Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Memorial Garden
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6532110, -82.3244000

5. First United Methodist Church Memorial Garden
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6554600, -82.3239120

6. Serenola Community Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6138500, -82.3495100

7. Forest Meadows Memorial Park East
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6382275, -82.2782440

8. Means and Bailey Family Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6645456, -82.3294027

9. Florida Farm Colony Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6717220, -82.2932620

10. Hopewell Baptist Cemetery
Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6788387, -82.3355926

11. Grass Lawn Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6788690, -82.3360130

12. Sand Hill Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6794000, -82.3348500

13. Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6795006, -82.3380966

14. Westminster Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6663334, -82.3718179

15. East Newport Cemetery
Daysville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6401200, -82.3877530

16. Patrick Memorial Gardens
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6740160, -82.2560590

17. Patterson Community Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6020360, -82.3951740

18. Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.5904800, -82.2371020

19. Rutledge Community Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6736310, -82.3900010

20. Kanapaha Cemetery
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6149998, -82.4113998

21. Oak Ridge Cemetery
Micanopy, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.5592003, -82.2585983

22. Forest Meadows Memorial Park and Mausoleum Central
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.6903000, -82.3874969

23. Saint John's AME Church Cemetery
Fairbanks, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.7108470, -82.2556720

24. Trinity United Methodist Church Memorial Garden
Gainesville, Alachua County, USA
Coordinate: 29.7058520, -82.3844670