Mom Wilsons Country
Sausage Mart, Inc. was established in 1959 by Horace and Fern Mom Wilson. This
farm couple started selling sausage from their back porch as a way to generate additional
income during their off season from farming. Horace had learned meat processing from his
father, H.D. Wilson. Father and son raised and processed meat to generate income and food
for their family during The Great Depression.
The price of hogs was at an all time low in
1959. Horace and Fern decided to make sausage for sale out their home. It didnt take
long for word to spread about the quality of their product. The Wilsons converted
their garage to make into a space that could be used for their rapidly expanding
business. Mom Wilsons Country Sausage would continue to grow. Unfortunately a
tornado destroyed most of the Wilson farm in 1965. Horace and Fern were devastated but
determined. The rebuilding process placed stress on the couple as they would use their
life savings to build what is Mom Wilsons today.
By the mid 1970s Horace and Fern, now in
their sixties, were looking toward retirement and felt it necessary to begin teaching and
sharing the Wilson family recipes and processing techniques. After many discussions it was
clear their daughter Sue and her husband Dennis would be a good fit. Sue and Dennis
changed careers and were eager to learn. Horace and Fern were pleased that the business
they built would continue to the next generation.
In 1983 Horace died suddenly of a heart attack.
Just as Fern and Horace had rebuilt in the after math of the tornado 18 years earlier, Sue
and Dennis were determined to continue the legacy Horace had left behind. They would carry
on with the same recipes and old fashioned approach. Mom Wilsons stayed true to the values
of family, tradition, and quality upon which the business was built. Fern continued to
remain active in business related decisions and offered guidance to her daughter and son
in law until her death in 1997.
As times changed Mom Wilsons stayed
basically the same. Sue and Dennis decided to expand their product selection to keep pace
with customer requests. They developed new recipes and combined them with some of the old
fashion techniques. With the new value added specialty products alongside the original
offerings Mom Wilsons has positioned itself for success now and in the future. What
keeps the tradition going? ...It just tastes better! |