After Abraham (1879-1941) and Rachel Lader Addlestone (1880-1970) moved to Sumter from Charleston in 1929, Abraham established Sumter Iron & Metal Co., which dealt in scrap metal and junk. With the scrap metal industry suffering greatly during the Great Depression, Abraham secured $500 worth of grocery goods on credit from wholesale grocery Croswell & Company and opened a grocery store in one of Sumter’s Black neighborhoods. Rachel managed the store until its closed in 1937, while Abraham continued to work in the scrap yard.1
1 Nathan Addleston, interview by Dale Rosengarten, Jewish Heritage Collection, College of Charleston Libraries. March 13, 1996.