The Meriwether family was among the first pioneer families to settle in Paragould, Arkansas. Captain W. W. Meriwether brought his family from Tennessee to Paragould in 1883, establishing the first hardware store in Greene County, Arkansas, under the name of W. W. Meriwether and Son. The store sold a variety of other merchandise including groceries, farm machinery, and appliances. When R. W. Meriwether succeeded to the management of the family business, it became one of the most progressive business firms in early Paragould. The store was destroyed by fire in 1893. It was rebuilt on the same site and continued in operation for over seventy years. R. W. was the original organizer of the National Bank of Commerce and helped in the creation of municipal utilities, especially the electric plant. After his death in 1950 at the age of eighty-eight, the firm continued under the management of his two sons, Ray and Bill (William Winston.) The fourth generation of the family (Robert W. Meriwether, son of Bill, and John Meriwether, son of Ray) sold the business and the store was closed in 1956.