Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
| Name | Samuel Usry “Sam” TINDAL [2] | |
| Gender | Male | |
| HIST | of Sumter, South Carolina Longtime Farmers' Exchange will close the barn door Friday Customers are emptying the shelves at Farmers' Exchange before Tom, left, and Sam Tindal close the city landmark on Friday. RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM Posted Sunday, May 22, 2016 6:00 am Farmers' Exchange posted a sign notifying customers of its closing date. RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM BY RICK CARPENTER RICK@THEITEM.COM Farmers' Exchange, which originally organized as a cooperative for shareholders in 1931, will close its doors Friday after nearly 85 years. John B. Tindal started out as a manager of the store in 1936, bought out shareholders in the 1950s and took over the business as a sole proprietor. And although the store has moved twice since it opened - once in 1966 because of the widening of Harvin Street and the second because Hurricane Hugo blew the roof off its building on Guignard Drive in 1989 - Farmers' Exchange has remained a family business. That business served local farmers by providing feed, seed, fertilizer, baby chickens and, even at one point, a grit grinder. During the fall, customers would drive out of their way to get pecans from the store. Now, with John's two sons, Tom and Sam, ready to retire, rather than selling the business, they have decided to close the barn door and open opportunities for another vendor. The brothers call it a natural progression as the vines of their business planted years ago have withered. It began with small farmers selling out to larger companies and big box stores competing with the local co-ops and feed stores. Meanwhile, Farmers' Exchange continued to rely on local farmers who were loyal to the company. Farmers' Exchange grew that loyalty by trusting farmers who would often secure seeds in the spring and pay their bills when the crops went to market in the summer or fall. In fact, Sam still remembers hand-written ledgers his mom kept for each account. When customers had a bad crop year, Sam said they always found a way to pay them back, even if they did so in crops. "Over the years, we hardly ever received a bad check," Sam said. "Most of our customers were hard-working, very honest people." The brothers grew up in the business as their mom toted them to the store on a regular basis as youngsters. When they were old enough, they were doing some of the heavy lifting in the store which sacked seeds in 50-pound bags and carried fertilizer in similar sizes. And when the business started delivering goods to farmers, the brothers often made the deliveries after school and on weekends. After high school, Sam joined the Air Force, specializing in communications systems. After four years of service, he returned to Sumter and worked for FTC, installing and maintaining service lines for customers. In 1974, Sam began working for his father in the store. About the same time, Tom worked for Sumter Police Department in various roles including a patrol officer for five years before focusing on photographing and processing film and photos of crime scenes. After working for the city from 1967 to 1979, he joined his brother in the business as their father transitioned out of it. Tom jokingly refers to Sam as the "president" of the company because he began five years before Tom joined him. When Hugo destroyed their business in 1989, they relocated to a rental property on what was then McCrays Mill Road. When the city decided to widen that road, the city relocated the road one block south of their business and renamed their street Green Swamp Road. That diverted drop-in traffic from the store. They don't blame any of that on the demise of their business that has since focused on backyard farmers and horse feed. The two have employed John Pringle for more than 30 years. Pringle said Thursday that he hasn't begun a job search, and he doesn't know what he will do. The Tindals decided not to try to sell the business because they said it was no longer as profitable, and they are sending their feed customers to Palmetto Farm Supply. They have reduced prices on their remaining inventory that has dwindled from two large rooms to half of one room. What will they do in retirement? Sam says he has lots of "honey dos" before he schedules two knee replacements - one at a time. Tom plans to visit such exotic locations as Poinsett State Park, a local state park he hasn't visited in years. Even as retirement beckons, Sam said he's not sure how he'll feel after they close Friday. "It's a hard thing to do," he said. "I've been doing it all my life." [1, 2] | |
| Occupation | ownes Farmer’s Exchange in Sumter, South Carolina | |
| _UID | E08678975AB240BDB075B179AE744EA8E5A6 | |
| Person ID | I72956 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 23 May 2016 | |
| Father | John Bailey TINDAL, Sr., b. 26 Sep 1912, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina  d. 11 Sep 1992, Tuomey Regional Medical Center, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 79 years) | |
| Mother | Sarah Letitia USRY, b. 1916 d. 1996 (Age 80 years) | |
| _UID | BA576F63D1074451A335E408FFBAE1F8A65B | |
| _UID | BA576F63D1074451A335E408FFBAE1F8A65B | |
| Family ID | F20761 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Sources |
