Milton W. Austin is proprietor of the Austin Drug Store of Salinas, his experience, enterprise and desire to please, as well as the fact that he carries a complete stock, have made the place the preferred headquarters for many.
Mr. Austin is a native of Salinas, having been born here August 6, 1900, and has grown up in the spirit of the town and county. His parents were Horace W. and Carlotta (Smith) Austin and the paternal grandfather was Amos Austin, a railroad engineer who resided in Salinas and in later years located in Los Angeles, where he engaged in general contracting, building roads and highways. The father came from the province of Quebec, where he was born August 6, 1870, and he passed away March 4, 1922. Coming to Salinas a poor boy, he worked at odd jobs to make a living, and found employment in J. B. Scott‘s drug store at one dollar and fifty cents per week. For thirty-five years he was identified with the drug trade in Salinas, and in time purchased the Scott drug store, being the proprietor thereof during the last ten years of his life. Mrs. Austin is a native of Santa Barbara, and a descendant of one of the pioneer Spanish families that figured in the early history of the state.
Milton W. Austin, the only child of these worthy parents, attended the grammar and high schools of Salinas, and then matriculated at the University of California, where he entered both the College of Pharmacy and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. So successful was he with the admittedly stiff courses in these standard institutions that he was able, on February 9, 1922, to pass examinations of the state board of pharmacy; and since then, to his own advancement and the benefit of the community in which he has cast his lot, he has conducted a first-class drug business in Salinas.
On April 26, 1924, Mr. Austin was married to Miss Margaret A. Storm, and they are well known in Salinas, where their circle of friends is constantly expanding.
Source: History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California : cradle of California’s history and romance : dating from the planting of the cross of Christendom upon the shores of Monterey Bay by Fr. Junipero Serra, and those intrepid adventurers who accompanied him, down to the present day. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1925.