The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 892 W. S. EARLS. Since 1902 W. S. Earls has been connected with commercial interests in Yakima, for in that year he established a grocery store which he has since conducted, and with the passing of time his trade has steadily increased as the result of enterprising methods and thorough reliability. He was born in Andrew county, Missouri, in 1840 and still remains an active factor in business circles, although he has now reached the advanced age of seventy-eight years. His parents were Jonathan and Frances (Sleet) Earls, both of whom were natives of Boone county, Kentucky, whence they removed to Missouri in 1837. The father took up government land in that state and there engaged in farming to the time of his death, which occurred in 1849, while his wife, surviving him for many years, passed away in 1875. W. S. Earls was but nine years of age at the time of his father's death. He acquired a public school education and then gave his attention to farming in Missouri until 1859, when he crossed the plains to Denver, Colorado, which at that time contained but one frame house. He was attracted by the reports concerning mining conditions in that section and for a year devoted his attention to mining, after which he returned to Missouri, making the trip to and from Colorado with ox teams. During the period of the Civil war he served in the Missouri State Militia and was on one occasion taken prisoner while acting as messenger. Mr. Earls' connection with commercial interests dates from 1862, at which time he entered business as a general merchant at Savannah, Missouri, becoming a member of the firm of Walker & Earls. Later he was identified with the hardware trade in that place, being sole proprietor of the store. He afterward organized five other stores at various points in Missouri and Kansas and conducted a profitable business in that section of the country for some time but eventually sold out and entered the banking business at Union Star, Missouri, where he was thus prominently connected with financial interests for five years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he engaged in the furniture and carpet business until 1892. Soon afterward he sold out and went to New York city, where he was manager of the Atlantic coast branch of the Acme Cement Plaster Company for two years. On removing to Elko, Nevada, he carried on mercantile pursuits there for two years and two months and then went to Tintic, Utah, where he was manager of the Tintic Mercantile Company, spending two years at the place. On the 10th of June, 1902, he arrived in Yakima, where he opened a grocery store which he has since conducted and his trade, steadily growing, brought him sales amounting to two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars in 1917. He utilizes auto trucks for deliveries and has a very extensive patronage. He established his store in the Lesh building but in 1904 removed to 17 South First street and now has a building with a fifty foot frontage and a depth of one hundred and forty feet. His is one of the leading grocery establishments of the city and he has a warehouse, on a private track, that has a capacity of seventy-five car loads of groceries. In 1862 Mr. Earls was married to Miss Mary J. Langford, of Andrew county, Missouri, and they became the parents of four children: Walter Lee, a merchant of Shreveport, Louisiana, who is married and has a child who has also married and has one child, the latter being the great-grandchild of W. S. Earls of this review; Jessie T., the wife of Phil P. Clark, residing in Salt Lake City; Frederick A., a mining engineer, living at Yakima; and Edna, the wife of Jackson C. McChrystal, a mine owner of Utah. Through his long residence in Yakima, Mr. Earls has become very widely and favorably known through the valley. His grocery establishment is the oldest of the city and he has ever made it his policy to give to the public full value received. He has, moreover, followed progressive methods, seeking ever to meet the demands and wishes of his customers and recognizing at all times that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement. His life has never been self-centered and Yakima has found in him a citizen whose aid and support are cheerfully and readily given to every movement for the general good. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.