W. 0. EATON. |
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In a history of the commercial development of Torrington
mention should be made of W. 0. Eaton, who is engaged in the hardware
and furniture trade and who has one of the well appointed mercantile
establishments of the city. He is actuated by a spirit of enterprise
and progress in all that he does and has built up his business along
safe and substantial lines, gaining not only the patronage of the
public but also the respect of those who give him their support. He
was born in Fremont county, Iowa, on the 15th of February, 1864, and
is a son of Melvin and Isabel Eaton. He pursued his education in the
rural schools and afterward turned his attention to the occupation of
farming, which he followed in Iowa for a time, and later concentrated
his efforts and attention upon farm work in Kansas for twenty-six
years. While in that state, he also became interested in banking. The
years of drought, however, brought to him financial reverses and his
immense holdings in that state were partially lost in order to meet
his obligations. He subsequently determined to try his 'fortune in
Wyoming and settled
in Torrington in 1912. Here he turned his attention to the hardware
business and through the intervening period his trade has
steadily and substantially increased until it has reached the
present gratifying proportions. For the conduct of the business he
erected a brick block seventy-five by one hundred and forty feet, two
stories in height, with full basement. The building contains
thirty-one thousand, five hundred and fifty square feet of floor
space and is devoted to the conduct of his hardware, furniture and
implement business. He carries an extensive stock and his
affairs are so managed and arranged that success in substantial
measure is crowning his labors. On the 1st of January, 1889, Mr. Eaton was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Treat and to them have been born five sons, namely: Merle Arthur, March 6, 1897; Albert Leland, March, 28, 1899; Paul Vernon, June 5, 1903; Kenneth Marion, August 1, 1906; and Wendell Treat, October 19, 1909. The Citizens National Bank of Torrington was organized and its charter issued in January, 1918. They opened their doors for business April 1, 1918, with W. 0. Eaton, our subject, as president, E. B. Dearing as vice president and R. F. Tebbet as cashier. The other directors besides these officers are M. L. Eaton and 0. M. Dearing. The capital stock is twenty-five thousand dollars, while the deposits now reach the sum of fifty-five thousand dollars, and they carry loans amounting to thirty-six thousand dollars. Mr. Eaton is a Baptist in religious faith and in politics maintains an independent course, voting for men and measures rather than party. Fraternally he is a Mason and he is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. He concentrates his attention and efforts, however, largely upon his business affairs and aside from conducting his present mercantile interests is the owner of the elevator at Torrington and in that direction is carrying on a trade that is very gratifying. As a public-spirited citizen he cooperates in all well defined plans and measures for the general upbuilding of the town and county in which he lives and Torrington numbers him among its most valued and representative citizens. |