(EDITOR’S NOTE: This exploration of Wyatt Wolffe’s role in building a vital business community in Mathews complements the story of R. Wesley Foster which appeared in the Gazette-Journal in May 2025.) The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the coming of age of a number of young men in Mathews who were interested in the future economic and commercial development of the county. They became successful entrepreneurs and businessmen. Their businesses included wholesale and retail grocery, meat, and seafood stores, automobile dealers and service stations, drug stores, general merchandise and department stores and clothing stores for men and women, including a full line of millinery. Their successes brought prosperity to the county and support for the agriculture and commercial fishing industries that were the backbone of the local economy. These successful entrepreneurs included such men as G.S. Marchant, E.A. and W.C. Foster, Jarvis & Pugh, Ellis C. Richardson, C. Bernard Hudgins, He...