The company was formally incorporated in 1901 for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, agricultural and farm products. The original shareholders and directors were E. R. Nash Sr., J. W. Robinson, Walter Gregg, Jr., L. E. Allen and Lionel Aulis Robinson. The stores operated in Waco as Nash, Robinson & Co. and in Marlin as J. W. Robinson & Co. Over the years, the company expanded and contracted with the Texas economy with different locations in various communities.
E. R. Nash, Sr. was born in 1854 and raised in Florida. At the age of 5, his mother died, to be followed by the loss of his father when he was 8. At this writing, little is presently known about his early life, except that he was raised by John A. Robinson, who was his uncle. E. R. moved to Texas in 1874 when he is reported to have boarded a train in Alabama and disembarked at Bryan, Brazos County to seek a job. After working on a farm for a while, he began to work for Garth-Griffith Lumber Company. He married Fannie Mitchell in 1879. After moving to Waco in 1890, he and John Wesley Robinson, his first cousin, established Nash Robinson Lumber Company which evolved into Nash Robinson and Company, a business that remained in the family for the next 100 years.
John Wesley Robinson was the grandson of Dr. Peter Roger Robinson of Alabama. Dr. and Mrs. Robinson had 11 children, one of whom was the mother of E. R. Nash and another was the John A. Robinson who raised E. R. after the death of his parents. It is unknown when and how John Wesley Robinson arrived in Texas, but he and E. R. Nash remained business partners for the rest of their lives. Over the years, shareholders included many other family members and business associates.
John Wesley Robinson was joined by his son Lionel Aulis Robinson. At this time, the history of the Marlin store is not documented but the Waco store was originally located at 9th and Austin. In 1920, it was removed to 16th and Franklin to give better access to freight rail service.
E. R. was joined in the business by his son, E. R. Nash, Jr., who ran the Waco store from 1925 until after World War II. E. R. Nash, Jr. wrote Rufus near the end of his Navy service and encouraged him to come back to Waco to help him run that store. They continued working together until E. R.’s death in 1959. At that time, there were still some shareholders other than Rufus, and Roy Nash recalls that Rufus bought the rest of the stock in 1968. In 1976, Rufus asked Roy to join him in the business in 1976. Roy had been working as manager of the Chamber of Commerce in Mount Pleasant. They worked together for the next ten years. Rufus continued to run the Waco store until his death in 1999. Over time, the business declined due to changes in the marketplace and continuously increasing competition from large “big box” chain stores. The business was closed about 2010.
E R Nash Sr. and Family 