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1871–1885 · Chapman sketch; 1875 Atlas directory; Polk 1880–81, 1882–83, 1884–85
Chapman's census phrase "a drug and hardware store" acquires a proprietor and a date. His sketch of Alpheus O. Van Lieu (born 19 May 1849 in Tipton County, Tennessee; came to this county in January 1867) states it in the man's own record: "July 5, 1871, he engaged in the drug business in Lakeville… He is now doing a good business in drugs and hardware. Mr. V. has been Township Trustee from 1876 to 1880." The Atlas directory carries him attached — "Van Liew, A. O. — Druggist" — and Polk carries the combined store through the decade under its travelling spellings (VanLiew, Van Leiw): "hardware and drugs" in all three 1880s editions. The identification is printed at full strength: the Van Lieu store is Chapman's drug and hardware store, the town's oldest continuously datable shop line after the mills. The 1884–85 classified lists add, at snippet strength, a second hardware name — Christian H. Thorpe, hardware, Lakeville — printed at that strength and no higher. Van Lieu does not appear in 1916–17; the hardware line there is "Moore Alexander, hdwe and coal" — the line's successor at directory strength, a succession no carrier states. The store's closing date is given by no carrier, and none is invented.