McGruder Brothers Handle Factory from The First 100 years in Exeter
In 1937 Mr. and Mrs. H. L. McGruder and their two sons, Leroy and Charles moved to the town of Wayne, Missouri, which is located 7 miles southwest of Exeter. There they started the McGruder Brothers Handle Factory. At that time there was a United States Post Office, general store, filling station, small grocery store, blacksmith and rural school. The Wayne depot served both the Frisco and Arkansas & Missouri (M&A) railroads .
Leroy and Charles operated the handle factory which was powered by a Delco generating system. Both brothers and their father then ran routes in the four-state area, selling hammer handles, ax handles, etc. During World War II, the factory was under contract to the U.S. Army to supply mop handles, mop bucket rollers and wooden parts for army cots.
During the late 40s the M&A railroad, which used the Frisco tracks to Wayne, then used their own track from Wayne to Neosho, Missouri where it connected with the Missouri Pacific, was terminated. A few years later Frisco terminated mail stops at Wayne and the passenger service was discontinued. The post office and small grocery store were closed, and due to poor health the owners of the filling station closed it. There still remained the general store, handle factory and school. The factory was now making mostly lawn mower rollers, cross bars and staffs for lawnmowers; also tomato crates were made as there had been a canning factory building along the right-of-way between the Frisco tracks and the M&A tracks.
In the 1950s an optometrist moved to Wayne and had an office for a few years. By this time the route selling had been discontinued by McGruder Brothers and shipment was being made by tractor-trailer and private or leased trucks. In 1953 the school was consolidated with Exeter, and there remained only the general store and the factory. In 1966 Leroy decided to retire and sold his interest in the partnership to Charles' oldest son-in-law. Two years later Charles purchased complete interest in the business and operated it until his death in 1976.
During these 30 years several families made their home in the Wayne community, among these were: McGruders, Erwins, Snooks, Youngs, Cassitys, Nickols, Shockleys, Moodys, Purcells, Boxs, Woodwards, Lauderdales, Westons, Hamptons, Robylers, Edens, Lees, Cloud, Neals, Charles, Coles, Michaels, Venables, Drummonds, Taylors, Vanderpools, Halls, Riley, Pattersons, Rainwaters and several more. In 1976 the factory was sold to a company in Arkansas and they are now manufacturing all kinds of handles again. |
