Our Story

Etowah | Madisonville | Loudon | Vonore, TN

Our Story

Our legacy stems back generations. Sloan’s started after William Henderson Sloan (1839-1917) finished his time fighting with the Union Army during the Civil War. He came back home to Monroe County and built a general store on Tellico River in the Ball Play area. William married Elizabeth Mason in 1867 and they had eight children, including Key Anderson Sloan (1877-1955). Key opened a store around 1901 in Gudger, buying the old Sloan homeplace and raising his family there. Key married Bertha Mullins in 1903, and they had 11 children, including William Wallace Sloan, Sr (1911-1986).

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Bill Sloan Sr. grew up in Gudger, working with the family. Along with the store, Bill took merchandise into the communities of Monroe and McMinn counties in the “rolling stores”.

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Key & Bertha Sloan

Ruby (left), Bertha Mullins Sloan, Bill (bottom left, Elizabeth (center), Sally (right)

Mutt (left), Bill (back), Ruby (center), Elizabeth (right)

Ota Lou, Bill, Mutt, Sally

The Gudger store burned to the ground in 1938 and was rebuilt. It remained a working store, run by Lewis and Sally Sloan Bivens, until the 1970’s.

Bill married Ida Mae Williams (1911-1975), nicknamed Jack, in 1932.

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Bill and Jack established a general store in town (Madisonville) in the 1940’s. Bartering was a common practice, trading live chickens and chicken eggs and much more.

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