San Joaquin County
Biographies
FORTY-NINE
DRUG COMPANY, INC.
(Charles Robert
Chase & Arthur C. Brown)
For over seventy-three years, dating
back to the “Days of ’49,” the corner of East Main and El Dorado streets,
Stockton, has been the site of a drug store, hence the historical
appropriateness of the name of the pharmacy now located there, linking the past
with the present. It was founded in the
year of the great gold rush by E. S. Holden, and was the first drug store in
northern California, if not the state. A
small two-story building occupied the site at that time, which in later years
was replaced by the present structure.
The business later came into the possession of I. D. Holden, a son of
the founder, and his old safe, with a picture of the store painted on the
front, still stands in the rear of the store, having been in use for fifty
years. The present proprietors of the
drug store, Charles R. Chase and Arthur C. Brown, both came into the store as
delivery boys and on November 1, 1919, they entered into partnership and
purchased the business, which has prospered greatly under their expert
management.
Charles Robert Chase was born at San
Francisco June 2, 1887, and when three years of age was brought to Stockton by
his parents. Here he attended the public
schools and when about fifteen years old he started to work for the Holden Drug
Company as a delivery boy, and was later a registered pharmacist with the
company. During the World War he
enlisted in the Medical Corps, U. S. A., serving for eleven months in the
United States and a year in France. His
marriage united him with Miss Clara Miner, a native daughter of Porterville,
California, and they are the parents of a son, Charles Robert Chase, Jr. Mr. Chase is a member of Stockton Parlor No.
7. N. S. G. W., and of Karl Ross Post, American Legion.
A native of Seattle, Washington,
Arthur C. Brown was born there on May 11, 1891, but since he was four years old
he has been a resident of Stockton.
About fifteen years ago he went to work for the Holden Drug Company as a
delivery boy, then became a registered pharmacist,
continuing in this position until he became one of the proprietors of the
business. He married Miss Maud Twitchings, who was born in New York City, and they have a
son, Arthur C. Brown, Jr. In fraternal
life Mr. Brown is a member of Delta Lodge, F. & A. M., the Sciots, and the Kiwanis Club.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1554-1555. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases