Title: Jay J. Eaton
Dates: 1912-1932
Collection Number: 10099
Quantity: 2 feet
Abstract: Personal and business correspondence relating to ranching, farming, Eaton's abstract business, activities as Register of Deeds, local school districts, the National Prosperity League, and the Nonpartisan League (including a copy of a speech by A. C. Townley), bank statements, abstracts of title, and poetry. Farmer, rancher, postmaster, and Register of Deeds
Provenance: Father Louis Pfaller of the Assumption Abbey in Richardton, ND donated the Jay Eaton Papers to the State Historical Society of North Dakota in September 1970.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researcher should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94‑553, Title 17 U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection name, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Transfer:
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Jay J. Eaton was born August 23, 1883, in Allamakee County, Iowa, the son of Rupert and Nancy Eaton. He came to Dickinson, North Dakota in 1907 and worked in a drug store. He later worked in a drug store in Belfield. While in Belfield, Mr. Eaton homesteaded 14 miles north of Medora, North Dakota. In 1912 he was married to Leontine Savageau.
Leontine Savageau was born September 15, 1881 in Quebec, Canada, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Savageau. The family moved to Fargo in 1888. In 1907 she moved to Belfield.
The couple lived on the homestead until 1919 when they moved into Medora. Mr. Eaton continued his farming and ranching interests. He served as register of deeds in Medora and was Postmaster there for several years. He was owner of the abstract office in Medora.
The couple had two daughters, Lucille Eaton Murphy and Leone Eaton Lavin. Jay Eaton died in Dickinson, ND June 26, 1962 at the age of 78. Leontine Eaton died March 25, 1937
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The collection consists of correspondence, both business and personal, abstracts, bank statements and several subject files.
The correspondence is divided into two parts. The first is the business correspondence covering the years 1914 to 1932. The letters and other papers seem to mostly be concerned with the businesses when Eaton was register of deeds and owner of the abstract office in Medora. There are a few references to the Postmaster position and to the farm, or ranch, he owned. The most complete years are 1931 and 1932. .
The personal correspondence is quite incomplete covering the years 1915 to 1932. The letters seem to be mostly concerned with his farming and ranching interests and some letters from friends.
The abstracts comprise the largest section of the collection. They cover the years 1912 to 1932 with the most complete being 1923 through 1926 and are arranged chronologically. Where there is a direct mention of a particular abstract in a letter it has been filed with the abstract. Occasionally there is a letter that makes specific mention of an abstract, but no abstract was found.
The bank statements are the next series comprising ten folders. Four different banks are represented: Farmers State Bank of Belfield, 1st National Bank of Dickinson, First State Bank of Fryburg, and Stockmen's State Bank of Medora. They are filed alphabetically and then chronologically. The years covered are 1917 to 1932, and are by no means complete.
The Subject files cover a wide variety of subjects. Letters from James Beery, a friend of Eaton are in the first file. There are a couple of letters that are not from Mr. Beery, but the whole group is stuck together by some substance. The next file concerns the local school district, containing letters about hiring teachers and other items. The third file contains three bills from the North Dakota state Legislature. An application for Insurance is in the fourth file. The fifth file has to do with regulation of grave plots in cemeteries. There is a letter from the State Board of Health and a blueprint layout for a cemetery. The sixth file is an introduction to the committee of 21. Seventh is a correspondence course in Geography I taken by Mrs. Eaton or one ofher daughters and is not complete. The eighth file is letters from the Dickinson Elks Lodge of which Eaton was a member. Ninth is a file about the election of 1932 concerning how well J. H. Sinclair was doing. Equity Cooperative Packing Co. letters are in the tenth file. It. is mostly business concerns. A pamphlet onfarm loans in North Dakota is in the eleventh file. The next file is an application for the Federal Postal Employees Association which appears not to have been sent in. Most of the rest of the files explain themselves, except the ones on the National Prosperity League, the Nonpartisan League, and. Poetry. The International Prosperity League file contains an advertisement for the group. The Nonpartisan League file contains a letter to League speakers and the speech by A. C. Townley mentioned in the letter. The speech is concerned with distributing sample ballots, organizing women voters and getting the vote out. The poetry file contains onepoem, or song, in a very light vein.
BOX / FOLDER INVENTORY
Box 1:
1 Biographical Material and Inventory
2 Correspondence - Business, June 1914- August 1920
3 Correspondence - Business, 1923
4 Correspondence - Business, 1924-1925
5 Correspondence - Business, 1926
6 Correspondence - Business, 1928, 1930
7 Correspondence - Business, Jan-June, 1931
8 Correspondence - Business, Aug 1931
9 Correspondence - Business, Sept 1931
10 Correspondence - Business, Oct 1931
11 Correspondence - Business, Nov 1931
12 Correspondence - Business, Dec 1931
13 Correspondence - Business, Jan-Feb 1932
14 Correspondence - Business, March 1932
15 Correspondence - Business, Apr 1932
16 Correspondence - Business, May 1932
17 Correspondence - Business, Jun, 1932
18 Correspondence - Business, July 1932
19 Correspondence - Business, Aug 1932
20 Correspondence - Business, Sept 1932
21 Correspondence - Business, Oct 1932
22 Correspondence - Business, Nov-Dec 1932
23 Correspondence - Business, n.d.
24 Correspondence - Personal, 1915-1917
25 Correspondence - Personal, 1918-1920, 1926
26 Correspondence - Personal, 1931-1932, n.d.
Box 2:
1 Abstracts, 1912, 1916, 1917, 1918
2 Abstracts, 1919
3 Abstracts, 1920
4 Abstracts, 1921
5 Abstracts, 1922
6 Abstracts, Jan-Apr 1923
7 Abstracts, May 1923
8 Abstracts, June 1923
9 Abstracts, July 1923
10 Abstracts, Aug 1923
11 Abstracts, Sept 1923
12 Abstracts, Oct 1923
13 Abstracts, Nov-Dec 1923
14 Abstracts, Jan1924
15 Abstracts, Feb 1924
16 Abstracts, March 1924
17 Abstracts, July 1924
18 Abstracts, Aug 1924
19 Abstracts, Sept 1924
20 Abstracts, Oct 1-15, 1924
21 Abstracts, Oct 16-31, 1924
Box 3:
1 Abstracts, Nov 1-14, 1924
2 Abstracts, Nov 15-30, 1924
3 Abstracts, Dec 1924
4 Abstracts, Jan 1-7, 1925
5 Abstracts, Jan 8-31, 1925
6 Abstracts, Feb 1925
7 Abstracts, March-June 1925
8 Abstracts, July 1925
9 Abstracts, Aug 1925
10 Abstracts, Sept 1925
11 Abstracts, Oct 1925
12 Abstracts, Nov 1925
13 Abstracts, Dec 1925
14 Abstracts, Jan 1926
15 Abstracts, Feb 1926
16 Abstracts, March 1-4, 1926
17 Abstracts, March 5-31, 1926
18 Abstracts, June 1926
19 Abstracts, Dec 1926
20 Abstracts, Nov 1927
21 Abstracts, 1931
22 Abstracts, 1932
Box 4:
1 Bank statements, Farmers State Bank, Belfield, ND, Sept-Nov. 1917
2 1st National Bank, Dickinson, ND, Feb-July, 1918
3 1st National Bank, Dickinson, ND, Jan, March, 1919
4 1st National Bank, Dickinson, ND, Aug-Sept, 1929
5 1st National Bank, Dickinson, ND, Jan-Apr, 1930
6 1st National Bank, Dickinson, ND, May, 1932
7 First State Bank of Fryburg, ND, March-June, 1919
8 Stockmen’s State Bank, Medora, ND, 1918-1919
9 Stockmen’s State Bank, Medora, ND, 1920-1921
10 Stockmen’s State Bank, Medora, ND, 1925-1926
11 Beery, James A., Letters, 1914-1932
12 Billings County School District, 1913-1918
13 Bills, 23rd Legislative Assembly of North Dakota
14 Burbank Mutual Life and Benefit Assoc., Application for Insurance, 1932
15 Cemetery Regulation, State Department of Health, Oct 1932
16 Committee of 21
17 Correspondence Course, Geography I
18 Dickinson Elks Lodge, Dickinson, ND, Jan-Apr, 1932
19 Election, J. H. Sinclair, 1932
20 Equity Cooperative Packing Co., Fargo, ND, July 27, 1918-Feb 20, 1919
21 Farm Loans
22 Federal Postal Employees Association Application
23 Glenn-Smith Bill, Apr 1932
24 National Prosperity League Nonpartisan League
25 Petitions for Initiation of Acts, Independent Voters Association, 1920
26 Petition for Nomination of W. S. Place, Apr 27, 1932
27 Poetry
28 Postage Values of Old Stamps
29 School and Institution Lands, North Dakota
30 Speeches Delivered in US Congress, June, 1932
31 Teachers' Examinations, State Board of Education, 1917, 1922, 1923
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