The Priester's Pecans Story
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Priester's First Store
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Let us tell you a little story about a handshake partnership and the
beginning of Alabama's largest gourmet handmade candy company.
Fort
Deposit, Alabama, is located 35 miles south of Montgomery. The little town
of 1,200 sprouted during the Revolutionary War around a military
ammunition depository. And around the little town sprouted pecan trees.
Lots of them.
By 1935 there was a healthy trade passing through,
with automobiles buzzing back and forth on the main highway between Mobile
and Montgomery. Mr. Lee C. Priester owned and operated a Texaco station
that serviced these travelers. But his customers wanted more than
gasoline. Mr. Priester, or L.C. as he was always called, decided to offer
refreshments and a little taste of the South.
L.C. hired a local
man named Caesar to help him gather pecans. Caesar knocked the ripened
nuts down from the trees with a long stick and gathered them in sacks to
bring to the porch of L.C.'s home. There the pecans in shells were bagged
for sale next door at the service station.
No one is exactly sure
when "Special Order Number One" was placed, but a salesman who stopped to
buy gasoline asked L.C. for a special favor. He wanted the pecans cracked
and shelled to be picked up on his return from a business trip. L.C.,
being a good businessman, promised it would be done. L.C. arranged for
local ladies to work for him on a contract basis, cracking and shelling
pecans.
Priester Pecan Company started with that first customer's
request! The pecan business grew with help from Mrs. Priester and the
local ladies. Soon the back porch could no longer handle the volume and a
larger facility was purchased.
With increasing sales, L.C. realized
the need for a financial partner. He approached his long-time friend and
business associate, Hense Reynolds Ellis. Hense owned the oil
distributorship that supplied L.C.'s service station and a saw mill. He
had served as both Mayor of Fort Deposit and as a board member at the
local bank. And yes, he would be delighted to join his friend L.C. With a
simple handshake and an initial loan of $200, Hense became the silent
partner in Priester Pecan Company.
Hense and his wife, Ellen Hagood
Ellis, eventually brought their two sons, Ned and John, along with their
wives May and Rose, into the business. Hense continued his involvement in
the business until his death in 1965. L.C. also stayed active in making
Priester's a success until illness forced his retirement.
The Ellis
Clan brought a critical increase in manpower, especially during the
Christmas season rush. Later Ned Ellis took over the management of
Priester's. While his brother John left to become a banker and
businessman, Ned eventually bought the entire company.
Ned, like
his father Hense, has been successfully involved in quite a number of
businesses over the years. A graduate of Auburn University, Ned went on to
become a distinguished military veteran, a bank organizer, civic and
religious leader, cattle rancher, dairy farmer, and poultry producer on
his 3,000 acre Circle E Farms. He has also served as a board member and
office holder for various national beef and pecan organizations.
May,
Ned's wife, has contributed greatly to the growth
of the pecan company, while at the same time fulfilling the duties of
a school teacher, wife, and mother. She is currently co-owner with her
daughter, Ellen, of The Pineapple Gift Shop, with retail
stores in two cities.
Ned and May's four children, Thomas,
Marsha, Katie, and Ellen, have all played a part in the American Dream of
building a family-owned business. Today's Priester Pecan Company is
managed by Thomas Ellis and Ellen Ellis Burkett. They both had began
"helping" at the company by age 10. Now it seems that Tyler, Stinson, and
Taber Ellis, along with Sally and Cliff Burkett will continue the American
Dream family business tradition of producing the very finest quality pecan
products for your complete satisfaction.
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