John Eaton (1761 - 1835)

Born 14 Feb 1761 in Thompson, Windham County, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Mehitable Richardson — married 6 Nov 1782 in East Hoosac, Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 11 Dec 1835 at age 74 in Little Falls, Herkimer County, New York, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Joe Cochoit [send private message]

Biography

Private John Eaton served with 2nd Regiment, Berkshire County, Massachusetts Militia during the American Revolution.

Birth

Born: 14 February 1761 in Killingly (Thompson Parish), Windham County, Connecticut.^[1][2]

Marriage and Children

Married: Mehitable Richardson on 6 November 1782 in East Hoosick (now Adams), Berkshire County, Massachusetts.^[2]

Children of John Eaton and Mehitable Richardson:^[3]

1. Arunah Eaton. Born 4 February 1784 in East Hoosick (now Adams), Massachusetts.^[4] He married Candace Esther Raymond on December 31, 1807 in Fairfield, New York.^[5] She died on May 25, 1826 in Peru, leaving behind four children including Delos who was only 1 year old. He m. 2nd Mary Ann Blodgett, the daughter of Solomon Blodgett and Thankful Blair, on January 30, 1827 in Gorham, New York. He died 7 November 1868 in Norwalk, Ohio.
2. Esther Eaton. Born 19 November 1787 in Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York. Said to have m. Asa Morse
3. RICHARDSON EATON b. April 11, 1790; m. Marjorie White; d. March 21, 1881 in Peru. (ch. Emeline, Eleanor, Ann M.)
4. JOHN EATON b. December 25, 1791; m. Anna Stanton in 1815; d. October 5, 1863 in Eatonville (ch. Elvira A., Lucinda, Esther Ann, Charles, John Irving)
5. JONATHAN EATON b. November 14, 1794; m. Hepsibah; d. February 27, 1826 in Peru, Ohio.
6. LEONARD EATON b. September 21, 1796; m. Susan Arnold; d. November 8, 1856 and bur. Eatonville (ch. Arnold)
7. ALMIRA EATON b. December 8, 1802; d. 1878
8. OWEN EATON b.

Death

Died: 11 December 1835 in Little Falls, Herkimer County, New York.^[2]

Burial: Eaton's Bush Cemetery in Eatonville, Herkimer County, New York.^[6]

Notes

Pension application: John Eaton applied for and was granted a pension for his Revolutionary War service. Following his death, his widow applied for the pension, and following her death his children applied for the pension. The record is not only interesting regrarding John Eaton's service but also includes a great deal of direct genealogical evidence, including a family bible which was entered as evidence for children's names and dates.

Narrative Biography

John Eaton was born 14 February 1761 in Killingly (Thompson Parish), Windham Co., Connecticut.^[1][7] He moved to East Hoosick (now Adams), Massachusetts by 1777 with his parents. He married Mehitable Richardson, daughter of Jonathan Richardson and Mary Woodward, on 6 November 1782 in East Hoosick. She was born 10 August 1764 in Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

John Eaton was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His pension applications state he served in regiments under Col. Benjamin Simonds, Col. White and Col. Sear. From this we can deduce he was part of the 2nd (or North) Berkshire County militia primarily under the command of Col. Simonds. John Eaton would have been but 16 years old when he joined the militia. The regiment, formed in 1776, was called up in the summer of 1777 during the Saratoga Campaign and marched to Bennington, Vermont where on the night of August 15, 1777 they joined forces under Gen. John Starks. The next day Col. Simonds’ Regiment attacked the Hessian and British from the south while the bulk of Gen. Stark’s militia attacked from the east and west. The British suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Bennington with 200 killed and 700 captured to the Colonial’s 40 killed and 30 wounded. The regiment then proceeded and was present at the Battle of Bemis Heights where the Americans under Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates repelled British Gen. John Burgoyne’s attempt to take their fortified position. Trapped, surrounded, low on supplies and with no hope of reinforcements, Gen. Burgoyne withdrew to negotiate his surrender. On Oct. 17, 1777 the Berkshire militia was present at the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne and his army.^[8]

After the close of the war, John Eaton with his uncle Capt. John Bucklin (husband of Jerusha), and brother-in-law David Bensley (husband of Mehitable) removed from Adams to near Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York in 1787. The next year his brothers Elisha, Comfort and Wyman settled in the area, and sometime after that a fifth brother, Rufus, moved to the area. The brothers settled on farms just to the south-west of Fairfield and founded a community that would become known as Eatonville (a.k.a. Eaton Bush). John Eaton can be found in every census from 1790 through 1830 in this area of New York. In 1825, John Eaton is recorded as owning 95 improved acres of land in Fairfield, and included 44 cattle, 9 horses, 26 sheep, and 20 hogs.

John Eaton d. on December 11, 1835 in Little Falls, Herkimer Co., New York. He is buried in Eaton Bush Cemetery, Herkimer Co., New York. A Revolutionary War marker apparently originally marked his grave, but it was not present in 1998. His wife, Mehitable Richardson Eaton, died February 22, 1847 in Huron Co., Ohio. At least 4 of her children had removed to Peru, Huron Co., Ohio.

Sources

Footnotes and Citations:

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Barbour collection. Killingly Births - Marriages - Deaths 1708-1850. (1920): page 66.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Rev War Pension application. #W21032, John Eaton.
3. ↑ Dates are all confirmed from a family bible now in the possession Sally Rolls Pavia
4. ↑ On the internet his birth year is given either as 1784 or 1785. Apparently a copy of a bible record says 1784 and this would agree with the 1850 census. The pension files of his father give the 1785 birth date. Originally, Adams was part of the East Hoosuck Plantation (variously spelled Hoosick, Hoosuck, Hoosic) until incorporated and renamed Adams (after Samuel Adams) in 1787. In 1878, Adams was split into 2 townships, Adams and North Adams.
5. ↑ Raymond. Genealogies of the Raymond families. (1886): page 145
6. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #49480359, John Eaton (1761-1835).
7. ↑ Thompson Parish was formerly known as the North Society of Killingly and was not incorporated into the township of Thompson until 1785. Though Thompson Parish was separate from Killingly and governed directly by the Colony of Connecticut and not by Killingly, records and people from Thompson Parish are often referred to as being from Killingly. John Eaton himself stated in his pension application that he was born 14 February 1761 in Thompson.
8. ↑ With the documents at hand it cannot be known if our John Eaton played a hand or was even present at the above events. The likely pay records of our John Eaton do not exactly match all the dates of the Saratoga Campaign; however, none of records of soldiers serving under Col. Simonds seem to. I think it likely that John Eaton turned out with the rest of the Berkshire militia and was present at the Battle of Bennington, Battle of Bemis Heights and the surrender of Gen Burgoyne.

Source list:

• Barbour, Lucious Barnes. Connecticut Vital Records (The Barbour Collection): Killingly Births - Marriages - Deaths 1708-1850. (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, NEHGS, 1920): page 66.

• Rev War Pension. U.S. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. (database online, Ancestry.com). Pension W21032, pension application of John Eaton and wife Mehitable. Available at ancestry.com.

• Find A Grave Memorial #49480359, John Eaton (1761-1835).

• Raymond, Samuel. Genealogies of the Raymond families of New England, 1630-1 to 1886. (New York, 1886): page 145.
  Archive.org Link
• Berkshire County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1761-1917. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized mages provided by FamilySearch.org)