Extracted from the Olympia Daily Recorder (Olympia, WA)
Thursday, May 6, 1915

James Blaine Eshom

James Blaine Eshom, secretary and general manager of the Olympia Garage Company, is a Thurston county product. He was born May 1, 1886 on a farm in the southwestern part of the county and received his early education at the little school house which stood on a portion of his father's farm. At the age of 11 when ``hard times'' struck the country, he says, he went to work for himself in a logging camp as a signal boy. For six years he worked for this same company, the Gate City Lumber company, from signal boy up through the various departments until at the age of 17 he became cruiser and surveyed routes to the different timber sections. He saved his money too. One year he spent in the Montesano schools, finishing the 8th grade. At 19 he married in Olympia and began to learn the automobile trade, starting with his father-in-law, George S. Duby. The first six months he received ``nothing per'' the next six months, 50 cents a day, the next six months $1 a day and kept on climbing. For three years he was chauffeur for Governor M. E. Hay. Then he bought out the garage of Allen & Morris and since then conducted one of the largest auto businesses in Olympia. Mr. Eshom has ``roughed it'' since a boy and made good. He is a Chamber of Commerce member and is serving his first term as city councilman from the First Ward. He is the father of two fine little boys.