The store

In the late 30s and early 40s, Neil McCosham and family conducted a small store in their modest house just west of the church. Although their stock was limited, the various grocery signs at their gate gave the place an official touch and helped make it a convenient stopping point for the few years of its existence. Then in the mid 40s John and Kaye Hughes began a small store in the kitchen section of their house at the Iona crossroads. Though space was cramped, their shelves were full and they did a good general business there for nearly a decade before taking up residence in Montague.

But when we speak of “the store” we refer in particular to the one operated until recently by Leo and Florence O’Shea at Iona Corner which had its beginning in or about 1875 with John O’Connell as its first merchant. When the O’Connells moved to Boston in 1893 the business was purchased by Joe McCabe, a local school teacher. McCabe was getting on in years at my first recollection of the place in the mid 30s. Yet until his death in 1942 he was very visible around the store most days by helping out, chatting with the people, teasing the children and providing that precious historical link with the past.

For a long time the business was carried on by McCabe’s daughter, Mary, until her sudden death at the end of the 50s. Assisting her for a number of years was her first cousin, Joe Cairns, who boarded there while teaching in both local schools. Often in summer her nephews and nieces, the Creamers from Souris, spent time there and helped. Mary was a shrewd busi-