Butte County
Biographies
HENRY ALAN EAMES
HENRY ALAN EAMES.—Descended
from an old New England family, Henry Alan Eames, chief engineer of the Chico
Ice and Cold Storage Company, is widely and favorably known. He has resided in Chico
since coming with his parents and brother and sister from Gilroy,
Cal., where he was born, February 5,
1875. His father, William, and mother,
Sarah Ann (Wilson) Eames, were natives of the state of New
Hampshire.
William Eames, for many years in business in Gilroy,
became a well known butcher in Chico, going from thence to
Oakland, where he died. The mother is also dead. His brother, A. G., is in the soda-water
works in Chico, and his sister, Zylpha,
is the widow of Mr. Fenton, and resides in Seattle.
The
earliest recollection of Henry Alan Eames is in connection with Chico,
where he grew up, attending the public schools, finishing the course in the
training school of the Chico Normal, and afterwards entering Chico
Business College. His entire business life has been connected
with the ice and cold storage and soda business. He and his brother, A. G., were in
partnership at Marysville under the firm name of Marysville Soda Works. Before the ice-manufacturing machines came
into general use, they bought their ice from Truckee. Later, the brothers bought out the Chico Ice
and Cold Storage plant, which they afterward sold to the Union Ice Company,
Henry A. remaining the chief managing engineer for the company. The nucleus of this cold storage plant was
built in September, 1907, and since that time the size, capacity and output
have quadrupled.
Mr. Eames has a
very practical knowledge of his line of work and is the inventor and originator
of a novel cold-storage arrangement for farmers and other small customers,
whereby a sort of “safety deposit” system is used; each patron can butcher his
own meat, have it frozen and keep it in his own private cold storage
compartment, under his own lock and key, and go there and get what he needs
from day to day. This system is
attracting nation-wide attention and Mr. Eames has received inquiries from all
parts of the United States. The idea is of such practical worth that it
is bound to meet with success and popular favor.
Mr. Eames
established domestic ties in 1900, by his marriage, at Ft.
Jones, Siskiyou County,
with Miss Emma Kuns, born in Fort
Jones. Three children were born of this union,
namely: Henry A., Felix G., and Emma E.
Henry Alan Eames
is a very public-spirited man, highly regarded in Chico
and Butte County. He owns his residence at the corner of Park
and Bidwell Avenue, Chapmantown. He is a
member of Chico Lodge, No. 113, I. O. O. F., of which he is a Past Noble Grand;
he is also a trustee of the Odd Fellows’ Building Association, and a member of
Chico Parlor, N. S. G. W. His estimable
wife is an Episcopalian in her religious views.
Transcribed 4-15-08
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 878-879, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
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