James Parley Eaton (1859-1916); Proprietor and Pharmacist of Eaton’s Emporium Drugstore in Redding.

James Parley Eaton was born in Boone County, Illinois, in 1859 to James Samuel Eaton and Sarah (Tisdale) Eaton. The entire Eaton clan uprooted their family to Shasta County, California, and they settled here in 1861. James Parley Eaton became well-educated in life and started teaching school in Shasta County, but his passion for medicine grew stronger and he became an apothecary and druggist. His business ventures made him very successful in life. In 1903 he established Eaton's Emporium Drug Store in Redding which he controlled for thirteen years before his death in 1916 and he bequeathed this pharmacy to his children who operated it for another fifty-six years until it was closed in the late 1960s, Until the building was demolished to make way for a new shopping mall in Redding in 1972. Find out more in the video above. [Note: this family has no blood relation to the family of the Shasta County Superior Court Judge, Richard B. Eaton.]

Resources:

1860 U.S. Census

James Parley Eaton in the California, U.S. Voter Registers 1866-1898

1870 U.S. Census

1880 U.S. Census

The Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 3, 1883

Our Merchants - The Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 8, 1883

Death of William L. Eaton - The Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, August 1, 1885

The Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, August 15, 1885

1900 U.S. Census

James Parley Eaton in the California, U.S., Voter

Registrations, 1900-1868

1910 U.S. Census

A Shasta Pioneer Dies In Oakland - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 2, 1908

Died - The Oakland Tribune newspaper of Oakland, December 2, 1908

Pioneer Eaton Laid To Rest - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 3. 1908

James P. Eaton Is In Hospital- The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 23, 1916

Pioneer Druggist Dies At Early Morning Hour - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, April 14, 1916

Will of J.P. Eaton Is Filed For Probate - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, April 16, 1916

First Telephone Operator Sends Congratulations - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 13, 1927

Eaton’s Enlarge Their Drug Store - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, April 29, 1929

James Parley Eaton in the California Death Index, 1905-1936

Redding Cemetery Records, Section NW, block W, plot 1

James Parley Eaton in the U.S. Finda A Grave Index, 1600s-current. 

Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.

Shasta County, California Marriages, 1852-1904

Images of America: Redding by Shasta Historical Society with Al M. Rocca ©2004. Published by Arcadia Publishing. ISBN: 0-7385-2934-6

EP-002 Eaton, James Samuel, Pioneer Plaque File available at the Shasta Historical Society.

Shasta Historical Society Pioneer Record: James Samuel Eaton, dated April 23, 1943

Shasta Historical Society Pioneer Record: Mary Winifred Eaton, dated April 23, 1943