Pictured in 1920 inside the men’s department of Tighe and Breyfogle’s, Bill James Sr. can be seen in the center at the back of the store. Many of Madera’s early citizens learned the clerking business under Bill’s tutelage. Bill Griffin was his first employee when Tighe set out on his own in 1893. Young Griffin earned $25 per month working six 10-hour days. Other early employees of Tighe’s were Bill James, Wade Hampton, George Clapp, Annie Barnett Brown, Francis Merino Lareq, and Vic Merino.
