The Howard family had been in business since 1870, when S. J. Howard and his sons, Joe T. and George W. Howard Sr., started in the retail grocery business in Parkersville, Ky. They moved in 1883 to Mt. Vernon, Illinois where they operated grocery stores on the square.
J. T. Howard and Company was started in 1897 as an experiment, with financial assistance from Sam Casey. When the experiment proved a success, George W. Howard sold his retail grocery business and on Oct. 1, 1899, took an active interest in the wholesale grocery concern and became manager of the Mt. Vernon office.
The firm name was changed to Howard Casey & Co. in 1899, but when the business was incorporated May 1, 1902, it became Howard & Casey Co.
The warehouse here in Marion was opened in 1903 at 515-521 West Main Street. Howard & Casey once had stores in Mt. Vernon, Herrin and Benton, as well as in Marion. Operations In the three other warehouses were discontinued from time to time.
In 1905 Joe Howard sold his stock in the company to his brother and Sam Casey. In 1923 the corporation bought the stock owned by Casey, but the corporation name was not changed.
In 1953 the firm closed its main office in Mt. Vernon, and moved to its offices here.
The private trademarks of this firm “HO-CA-CO” and “HOWARD” were guarantees of the best when seen on the shelves of local grocery stores. They also distributed the “SERV-US” brand for Southern Illinois. “Scout” brand coffee, their private blend was without an equal for early period coffee.
On September 16, 1963, it was announced by Howard that as of the end of the previous week the firm has discontinued calling on its customers and making deliveries with trucks.
The company at the time of closing had five employees and, at times, employed as many as nine. At the peak of business, there were warehouses in four towns, and some 400-500 businesses were serviced, Howard said.
Other stockholders in the family owned corporation were Jo Robert Howard, Liberty, Mo., Mrs. Shelby Wiggins, San Diego, Calif., and Attorney George W. Howard Jr., Mt. Vernon.
After the building was vacated, the west portion became Nate’s West Side Drug’s and later in the 1970’s Byassee Keyboard, which it remains as of this writing in 2013.
Sam’s Notes: I do not know if the Sam Casey mentioned as a partner is Samuel Casey, the publisher of the Marion Evening Post. If anyone has information related to this, please advise.
(Data extracted from an article in the Marion Daily Republican dated Sept. 16, 1963; Williamson County in the World War; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 06/29/2013)