Addine LeMoin Beckman (1880-1936) was only 27 years old with three small children when her husband died in 1907. In an unusual move, she decided to assume her husband’s full partnership in the thriving mercantile business of Beckman, Welch, and Thompson, Inc. The business expanded rapidly, selling groceries and general merchandise, including dry goods, kitchenware, hardware, and farm implements. Easily the largest in Lodi, by 1918 Beckman, Welch and Thompson, Inc., had also become one of the largest general mercantile companies in the country. Addine served as an active partner in the business until late December 1921 when the business was sold. The 1929 edition of The Lodi Woman’s Club Cook Book lists an advertisement for the Addine Beckman Gift Shop at 10 South School Street. Addine also contributed a recipe for “Tripe Stew Spanish.”You can listen to a description of working in the thriving Beckman, Welch, and Thompson store here: Early Lodi MerchantsIn 1910 nurse Edith Barbee Buchanan and her doctor-husband established the Buchanan Sanitarium at 408 E Pine Street. After his death in 1943, Edith managed all aspects of the 34-bed hospital for the next 13 years. She served as president of the Lodi Nurses Association and was generous to Lodi families in need. In 1956 she sold the sanitarium to a group of doctors that included Dr. Mamie Pallesen.