Joseph R. Eson, the leading druggist of Neodesha, Kan., and one of the substantial and inffuential[sic] business men of that city, began his business career at the lowest rung of the ladder and with a fixedness of purpose has steadily advanced upward to a point of definite financial success. He comes of Pennsylvania German ancestry and has largely inherited the energy, thrift, and industry so characteristic of that people. Immediately after graduating in the Neodesha High School, in 1882, he became a clerk in Pierce Brothers' drug store at Neodesha. He is still there now, however, in the role of proprietor. He carefully saved his earnings and in 1900 bought an interest in the store. Upon the death of Mr. Pierce, in March, 1910, Mr. Eson bought the estate's remaining interest in the business and is now its owner. The store has always commanded a large and profitable trade and is managed along the most progressive lines. Besides this business Mr. Eson owns a drug store at Altoona, is a director in the V. V. Brick & Tile Company, and is vice-president of the Neodesha Building & Loan Company.

Born at Pana, Ill., Aug. 20, 1866, he is a son of Joseph Eson and his wife, nee Sarah Dennett. The father was a native of Spencer, Ind., and the mother was born in Lynchburg, Va. Coming to Illinois, in 1866, Joseph Eson there bought a farm on which he resided until his removal to Neodesha, Kan., in 1873. He was thus among the early settlers of Wilson county and for twenty-five years, or until his death, in 1898, he was a worthy and respected citizen of Neodesha. He was a Democrat in politics and was a son of Alexander Eson, who was a farmer and also a native of Indiana. It is from the paternal side that our subject is decended from Pennsylvania German ancestors. The mother died in 1909. She was a daughter of John Dennett, a Virginian by birth and a cabinet maker by trade, who died in Indiana.

In 1910 Mr. Eson was united in marriage to Miss Pearl, daughter of Alexander Hunt of Fredonia, Kan. Mr. Hunt was a lieutenant in a New York regiment during the Civil war and was for years afterward superintendent of the Fort Division railway mail service. He now resides in Fredonia, retired. Mr. and Mrs. Eson are members of the Presbyterian church. He affiliates fraternally with the Masonic order, being a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar, a Scottish Rite Mason, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and has held all the offices of the Blue Lodge. In politics Mr. Eson is an independent voter and supports those men and measures which in his opinion will best promote his country's welfare.