In the late 1920s, Carrie “Fennie” Humphries Allison (1903-2000) and her husband Wayne (1903-1958) hauled fruit up to DeFuniak Springs from central Florida and sold it out of the back of their truck. They liked the town and moved to DeFuniak Springs in 1931 with their two daughters to open a small business. Allison’s Grocery grew to become a full grocery and dry goods store at the corner of Nelson Avenue and State Road 83 North. The building was demolished several years after Fennie’s death. Fennie (pronounced “Feenie”) Allison was beloved because she often saw families through hard times by extending liberal credit to mill workers and their families, and groceries could be delivered by bicycle and truck.
Wayne Allison Obituary: The Gaffney Ledger, May 15, 1958, Page 1.
Fennie Allison Obituary: Pensacola News-Journal, 19 December 2000, Page 20.
Wayne Allison Burial: Grassy Pond Baptist Church Cemetery, Gaffney, South Carolina