Albion Interactive History / People

Davis, Stella Miller, 1896
 
    Died 1959

Stella Miller was born southeast of Homer, Michigan, and came to Albion in 1913. She graduated from Albion High School and Western Normal School in Kalamazoo and taught rural school for a few years. She married Roger Davis, who was a cashier at the Albion State Bank.

In 1934, Stella purchased the Furey Millinery Shop and reopened it as a women’s clothing store, the Estelle Shop. By then, she had an invalid husband and a daughter to support. Despite starting the Estelle Shop in the depths of the Depression, Stella operated it successfully for 25 years. She had learned retailing from King Cornell of the Albion J.C. Penney store. In 1948, 1,125 pairs of nylon stockings were stolen from her store. The store remained open until her death in 1959.

Source: Albion Public Library, Local History Room

From: Albion AAUW. Some Notable Women of the Albion Area. Albion, Michigan: American Association of University Women. 1998.