From “The
History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York”
by James H. Smith (D. Mason & Co. - Syracuse, New York
1880)
EATON*, located near the center of Madison Co., is bounded
on the north by Smithfield and Stockbridge, on the east by Madison, on the
south by Lebanon, on the west by Nelson, and was organized Feb. 6, 1807, being
set off from Hamilton. At its organization its area was called 28,000 acres,
but in 1879 the assessed area is reported to be 25,547 acres. The surface,
comprised largely in the valley of the Chenango river, which flows through the
town diagonally from the north-east corner, gives a variety of slopes and
bottom lands, the former of which bear clayey and gravelly soils, the latter a
lighter loam. In the northern part the slope of the elevation is toward the
north, and the drainage is into the St Lawrence. The minerals of the town are
not abundant or important, the stone ledges lie deep and are difficult of
access. Brittle shale abounds in the south, large quantities of which have been
used in the construction of roads. In the vicinity of Eaton are a number of
surface mineral springs, whose principal ingredient is Sulphur, and underground
inlets give a sulphurous element to the waters of some of the small lakes. More
valuable than the tinctured waters are the innumerable fresh springs that
everywhere add value to the pasturage and for years have turned the wheel of
fortune for Eaton; the waterwheel. Next to the Chenango river, the town's chief
stream is Eaton brook, known in literature as Alder brook***. Finding its source in the town of Nelson, it
flows easterly through the southern part of Eaton, expanded here and there into
mill-ponds, and empties into the river at Eaton village. Leland's Ponds, and
Woodman's Pond, three picturesque bodies with a surface aggregating 325 acres
and an average depth of 48 feet, have been utilized in modern times ** to
supply the Chenango canal, which curves into the town for a short distance in
the south-eastern corner. To the same purpose is devoted the flow from Hatch's
Lake and Bradley Brook Pond in the south-western corner. These waters formerly
were fruitful in fish of various sorts and the lakes still yield good bass and
pickerel.
*
Named in honor of General William Eaton, [1764-1811], a Revolutionary soldier,
consul at Tunis and afterwards commander of the U. S. forces and fleet in the
Barbary States. Returning in 1806, the hero of the war against Tripoli for the
rescue of the captive Americans, he took up his residence at Brimfield, Mass.,
where he found many admirers, among them a large number of those who were about
to move westward into central New York.
**
Converted into reservoir about 1836.
***
See Alder brook Tales, by Fanny Forester.
Maple
is the prevailing timber, and it grows luxuriantly, yielding an abundance of
sugar and syrup. For a half century dairying has been a leading industry, and
at present it surpasses all other branches of agriculture in extent and profit.
Until about 1850, cattle raising was carried on extensively, and quite large
tracts were sown with grain. Both these departments have lately declined and at
present (1880) the wheat grown in the town is but a small fraction of the
amount consumed.
Eaton
has the distinction of having first introduced into the County the cheese
factory and creamery system, which in the course of twenty years has produced a
complete revolution in farm life, emancipating the women of the farmer's family
from their heaviest labor.
The
first cheese factory in the County seems to have been built in the autumn of
1861 at Eaton village, by George Morse, son of Ellis, and it has been in
operation ever since. There are at present in operation, making both cheese and
butter, eight factories under the management of J. B. Wadsworth, located as
follows: Morrisville, Williams' Corners, Hatch's Lake, West Eaton, Eaton,
Pecksport, Pine Woods, Pratt's Hollow, and one at Eaton operated by Albert W.
Morse.
Eaton
also was first in the field with hay rakes and mowing machines. The first hay
rake was used by Elijah Morse as early as 1835. It was in principle the same as
the wooden rake of the present day, and differed from the latter in form only
in having the frame-work narrower and the parts made of bent wood instead of
jointed. A large crowd assembled to see it started, and in the absence of
instructions the opinion prevailed that it was to be operated with the teeth
standing upright. The rake cost $15.
Elijah
Morse and James McConnell brought the first mowing-machine into the County.
They bought it of the inventor, Enoch Ambler, of Root, Montgomery Co., price,
$65. This was in June, 1840 or 1841. The machine was known as the
"Ambler." It possessed all the elements of the present successful
machine; the gearing, the open cap-guard, except the scalloped knife. The knife
being straight-edged, vibrating as in the present machine, performed its work
so long as the keen edge remained, but on the slightest blunting it refused to cut
at all. Parts of this original machine are still to be seen at the farm whereon
it was used. (Hussey subsequently introduced the scalloped knife into this same
combination of parts and succeeded with his invention.) It was not until 1852
that Eaton* had another mowing-machine. This was brought from Buffalo by Albert
W. Morse and used on the farm at present occupied by him. It was the
"Ketchum" machine, manufactured by General Howard. It cost $110 and
was in constant use ten seasons.
*
The year before this Ezra Gage, of DeRuyter, had purchased one of these
machines, the first successful one in the County.
The
farms of the town are generally kept in good condition, and good land is
readily sold at $60 to $100 per acre. A farm of 242 acres was recently sold at
$100 per acre, one-half mile east of Morrisville. Few farms in the town exceed
250 acres of improved land. The farm-houses and barns are mostly neat,
commodious, and many elegant. The country is well wooded; groves of stately
maples have been preserved on nearly every farm. In many localities the main
highways are shaded by rows of trees. The road from Morrisville to Eaton
presents a most picturesque appearance along the line of Mr. James McConnell's
farm not inferior to the avenues of New Haven, famous for their arching elms.
These trees were planted in 1839 by Mr. McConnell, and not one is missing for
the space of a mile.
Agricultural
products of Eaton in 1874: Of hay, 9,742 tons from 7,001 acres; of wheat, 3,828
bushels, from 260 acres; of oats, 49,461 bushels, from 1,371 acres; of corn
25,984 bushels, from 719 acres; of buckwheat, 1,382 bushels from 73 acres; of
barley, 3,973 bushels, from 151 acres; of beans 685 bushels, from 47 acres; of
potatoes, 35,518 bushels from 256 acres, of apples, 30,278 bushels, from 23,144
trees; grapes, 329 pounds; cider, 462 barrels; maple syrup, 734 gallons; maple
sugar, 12,339 pounds; hops, 410,459 pounds, from 664 acres; wool 4,925 pounds,
from 947 sheep.
Amount
and value of farms and farm property, cost of fertilizers, value of products,
etc., in 1875: Improved land, 20,671 acres; unimproved land, 4,135 acres; other
land, 1,193 acres; value of farms, $1,815,780; value of buildings, $264,190;
value of stock, $235,768; value of tools, $62,035; value of products sold,
$312,954; cost of fertilizers, $1,104.
Eaton's
roads are well kept. The principal thoroughfares are the two turnpike roads,
the Skaneateles turnpike traversing the southern end of the town and the Cherry
Valley turnpike extending from Albany to Buffalo and passing across Eaton's
northern half and through Morrisville. The former of these great enterprises
was finished just before the close of the 18th century, and the latter was
commenced in 1803, and completed through Eaton in 1808. The building of these
roads gave to Madison County enterprise its greatest impulse, and the activity
of the decade following is distinctly remembered by all who witnessed it. The
oldest road in the County was the "old State road," referred to in
legal papers, but now almost forgotten by the people. It entered the town near
the Leland ponds, wended in a northwesterly direction over the hills, and
entered the village of Morrisville, near the old Thos. Holt place. Passing between
the mill pond and the Cherry Valley road, it went on over the west hillside,
where traces of it may still be seen. Through the towns of Nelson and Cazenovia
it is in places identical with the turnpike, and in other places it is entirely
lost sight of for miles. It was by this road that all the early settlers came
into Eaton. The "Peterboro road" running from Hamilton to Canastota
north and south, almost directly through the center of the County, was laid out
in 1812, and built by County aid. A charter was subsequently granted to a
plank-road company, and after the lapse of this a stone-road charter was
granted, which is still in force over a part of the line. The only toll gate
remaining in the town is upon this road, near Morrisville.
In
1868, Eaton was bonded for $150,000, in aid of the N. Y. & O. Midland
railroad, which passes through the town in a line two miles east from
Morrisville, and a half mile east from Eaton village. Eaton received $7,000 for
her shares on the sale of the road to the N. Y., Ontario & Western R. R.
Co. The town is traversed for a short distance in the south-eastern corner by
the Utica, Clinton & Binghamton Railroad.
SCHOOLS
The
first systematic instruction given in the town was commenced in December, 1797,
by Dr. James Pratt, who was also the first physician. In a double sense he was
an itinerant, for he not only "boarded around," but carried the
school also from place to place, month by month. The first month this school
was held near Eaton, at Joseph Morse's, the next at Joshua Leland's, the next
at Thomas Morris'. The first school-house in the town was built near the
residence of Dr. Pratt, at the "Center."
The
first recorded apportionment of public school money was in 1818, when Eaton's
share was $129.25. Eaton voted not to repeal the free school law in 1850 by 348
to 325. The school report for school year 1879 shows that school was held in
nineteen districts twenty-eight weeks or more; number of licensed teachers
employed, eight male and thirty-one female; whole number of children of school
age, 1,109; whole number enrolled as regular attendants, 888; number of volumes
in school libraries, 678; value of school property, $22,420; amount paid to
teachers, $5,537.02; amount paid for other expenses, $867.88; total, $6,404.90;
amount received for school purposes, $6,597.52. [See also "Schools"
under "Morrisville" and "Eaton."]
SETTLEMENTS
Joshua
Leland may be called the first settler in Eaton, though he was preceded a few
months by John and James Salisbury, brothers, from Vermont, who, in the autumn
of 1792, located within the borders of the town, on lot 94, and commenced a
clearing, but were driven away in early winter by the intense cold and did not
return.
Joshua
Leland, great-grandson of Henry Leland [Layland], who came from England in
1652, was born in Sherburne, Mass., in 1741, and in 1793, migrated to Eaton,
where he commenced clearing a farm. He was soon joined by John H. and Benjamin
Morris, who assisted him in his work. In the autumn of that year he returned to
Massachusetts, and in the spring of 1794 brought his family to the new
homestead, which the Morrises had improved during the winter. This was on lot
94, the place now known as the Dunbar farm. His family consisted of his wife,
Waitstill Greenwood; a lady of rare beauty, twenty years his junior, and five
small children. The journey was most difficult, and when within a few miles of
their destination the wheels of their conveyance stuck fast in the mud. Mr.
Leland was obliged to go on in advance and obtain the assistance of the
Morrises. The place in which the carts stuck, afterwards (1795) became the
family homestead, and the locality is known to this day as Leland's Pond.
Joshua was the first hotel keeper in Eaton and one of the first in the County.
His family residence, (now superseded by Mr. Dunbar's on the same site,)
furnished a home for homeless settlers and for travelers during his occupancy
of it, and immediately upon removing to the ponds he erected a large house,
(the foundation of which may still be seen,) and opened it for public
accommodation. Besides travelers this house attracted to itself hosts of
Indians, who at times became so troublesome that the family were often obliged
to feign absence from home to rid themselves of annoyance. After the death of the
landlord these sometimes unwelcome guests manifested the deepest sorrow. It is
related that one afternoon a company of eighty or more requested to be shown
their dead friend's grave, and there mourned and cried as children. Besides
keeping the first hotel in the town he built and operated the first mill, at
the foot of the upper lake. This was in 1795, and the same year he added a
saw-mill. To obtain sufficient water-power a dam was built which overflowed a
large tract of low ground causing it to breed malaria. After one or two seasons
the town authorities bought the mills and destroyed the dam. Mr. Leland
thereupon became the first manufacturer also, as for a period of five years he
continued to amass wealth in the production of potash from the abundant forests
on his possessions. He was killed June 22, 1810, while drawing a load of potash
to Albany by the barrels containing it, which rolled upon him in descending a
hill in Cherry Valley. His body was buried in the family plot on the homestead,
where his grave may still be seen.
Mr.
Leland was well educated at Sherburne and had a taste for astronomy. He was
fond of military science also, and was made colonel of militia in his native
State. He served as a volunteer in the Revolution. To his family he left a
large estate, about one-eighth of all the land in the town.
No
account of his character would be complete without a list of his first six
sons' names, the initials of which will strike the reader as forming a familiar
series of letters: Amasa, Ezra, Isaac, Orrison, Uriah, Yale. The seventh son
was called Joshua and three daughters, Phebe, Sylvia and Juliette. Yale alone
remains at this day; he is well known as an upright business man in Madison.
Amasa died in 1843, leaving one son; Ezra died in 1877, leaving Leonard and Ann
J. (widow of Davis T. King) residents of Morrisville; Isaac died in 1816,
unmarried; Orrison died at Northfield, Mich., leaving six children; Uriah left
six daughters; Phebe died in infancy; Sylvia (Mrs. James Howard,) died in 1864,
leaving nine children; and Joshua died in 1877, at Ann Arbor, Mich., leaving
five children. The old Colonel's fame has been emulated by his many
descendants, who have filled honorable places in society and his children down
to the fourth and fifth generation are to this day proud of their ancestor from
Sherburne, the first of Eaton's pioneers.
On
the invitation of their townsman Leland, other Sherburne men, viz: Benj. Morse,
Simeon Gillette, Levi Bonney, Elijah Haydon, Dan'l and Alby, came and took up
land in the vicinity of Eaton's site. The same year (1795,) the settlement was
reinforced by a birth; Sawen, son of Benjamin and Deborah Morse*.
*
It is erroneously recorded that Uriah Leland was the first white child born in
Eaton; he was born before his mother left Massachusetts, Nov. 1, 1793.
The
first death in the little community was that of Simeon Gillett, which occurred
in 1796 and the same year witnessed the first marriage, that of his daughter,
Dorcas, with one Lewis Wilson, a new-comer from the east. In 1796 came Samuel
Sinclair, Joseph Moss, Wm. Mills, Humphrey Palmer, Deacon McCrellis and others
whose names are lost. Sinclair at once became prominent as a hotel keeper,
succeeding Col. Leland at the old place. The Morse family has left a deep impress
upon society. The descendants who have acquired most fame in Eaton are Ellis
and Calvin, sons of Joseph, the former of whom, [1789-1869,] a scholar and a
man of large business capacity, was one of the earliest public officers of the
town and continued to hold an important position in society until his death.
His fine old stone residence built in 1819, venerable but in no degree
dilapidated and resembling closely some of the mansions of the old world, bears
witness to the taste and activity which characterized him and all the family;
the latter, (Calvin,) born June 3, 1799, at present the oldest native resident
of the town, has been hardly less conspicuous in public affairs. Besides many
local offices of less importance, he was in 1842 Member of Assembly from
Madison County. Among his intimate associates were Horatio Seymour and Sanford
E. Church, both serving their first terms. Calvin Morse at this day is totally
free from the decrepitude of age and retains the faculty of memory in a
remarkable degree. A younger brother, Joseph, went to Pennsylvania in 1826,
resided first in Bradford County, and subsequently in McKean County, where he
did a large business in iron manufacture and oil production. He was elected
sheriff and County judge, and died about 1870. A sister, Eunice, was the wife
of Dr. James Pratt, and after his death she commenced pioneer life again in
Missouri, with her children. Bigelow moved to Onondaga County, (Fabius,)
Alpheus resided in Eaton and accumulated a fortune in manufacturing, which was
subsequently lost about 1873 by the failure of his large woolen mill at
Alderbrook, during the general panic. He is now a resident of Syracuse. These
were the children of Joseph Morse, who died at his old home, Sherburne, Mass.,
while on a business visit there. Among his grandchildren are General Henry B.
Morse, who enlisted as a volunteer in 1861, after the war went to Hot Springs,
was elected Circuit Judge and died there in 1874; Alfred A., who while a
student in Hamilton College, class of '64, enlisted and fell in the battle of
Winchester; Rev. Andrew P., pastor of the Presbyterian church at Wyoming, N.
Y.; Walter, member of the firm of Wood, Tabor & Morse; Gardner, of Eaton
village, manufacturer, miller, town clerk, who sat in the Assembly from Madison
County in 1866; Darwin and Frank B., merchants in Eaton; Belinda and Eliza, the
latter assistant principal of Vassar College; Albert W., scientific farmer and
inventor of important mowing machine improvements. Benjamin of the two original
Morse settlers, remained in Eaton during his life time and is buried here.
Nearly all of his descendants have removed to the west, including Sawen,
Eaton's first child.
Hezekiah
came later, but in time to take an active part in the growth of the new
settlement. He was elected supervisor in 1809, and held the position about 12
years. He was deeply interested in all movements for education, and it would
have been gratifying to him to have foreknown that a grand-daughter of his was
to become the helpful wife of the President of Vassar College, the late Dr.
John Raymond. Hezekiah removed to Oxford, N. Y., and spent his last days with
his son Alpha.
The
oldest resident of Eaton village is Thaxter Dunbar, who came with his father
from the east in June, 1799, and is 96 years of age. He likewise remembers the
old times with great distinctness, and feels a youthful interest in the world
of to-day. He has voted 75 years without omission.
Of
the two Morrises, who came in 1793 with Joshua Leland, little is known. They probably
removed farther south the first season. Their brother Thomas, who came in 1797,
built his first log house where Dr. Mead's store now stands, and his first
frame house on the site of Otis P. Granger's. Mr. Morris did not seek political
influence or office. He died April 27, 1824. His wife survived him many years.
No lineal descendants remain in the place who bear the family name, and the
name seldom occurs in the County.
Another
family of conspicuous pioneers were the Comans; Benjamin, Windsor, Stephen and
Ziba, who came in 1797, and settled in the vicinity of the "Center,"
where they put forth every effort to centralize the growth of the town's
prosperity, but finally yielded to the inevitable when it became evident that
the business of the town must center at points on the turnpikes. They were
cosmopolitan in their sympathies, and felt an interest in all the concerns of
Eaton, in whatever locality. Their names appear frequently in the records in
connection with politics, business and education. Benjamin died in 1852, aged
71; Stephen died Jan. 7, 1870, and was at the time of his death perhaps the
oldest native born resident. Their graves and the graves of several members of
the family are in the Morrisville cemetery. Windsor and Ziba were buried at the
Center, and no trace of their graves is now discoverable.
The
name is still perpetuated in a number of active citizens. Ellis Coman, son of
Benjamin, died and was buried in Eaton in 1879.
A
large number of names would have to be added if a complete catalogue of early
settlers were intended, or even a complete list of those who entered the town
before the beginning of the present century. The foregoing families are types
of the various classes of people that came to subdue the forest and plant civilization.
With the second decade of the 19th century, commenced the constructive period,
and the men who came into the town from 1810 to 1830 were types of a somewhat
different class.
Bennett
Bicknell was the representative pioneer merchant and financier. He was born in
Mansfield, Conn., in 1781. He received a good education, and at the age of
about 25 started westward to make a home in the forests of New York. On his way
from Albany he stayed a short time in Utica, which was a mere handful of
houses, and engaged in the manufacture of combs. Arriving in Morrisville in
1808, he at once entered into manufacturing, (the first comb factory was built
by him,) merchandizing and hotel keeping. The wealth, which he brought with
him, he used freely, not only in his own business and in public improvements,
but in loans to his neighbors who were in need of capital. Though Morrisville
was the special locality which claimed his citizenship and to whose growth he
contributed most freely, the entire town felt the beneficial influence of his
wisdom and activity. Four years after his arrival (1812) he was elected to the
Assembly by a large majority in the County, and two years later he represented
the district, comprising the present 22d, 23d, 24th and 25th Senatorial districts,
in the State Senate. In 1836 he was elected to Congress from the 23d district,
(Madison and Onondaga,) on the Democratic ticket. Among other offices that he
filled was that of County Clerk for five years, first by appointment and
afterwards by election. In the State militia he held the rank of Captain, and
was brevetted Major, which title became a fixed part of his name. He died June
16, 1841, and was buried in the Morrisville cemetery. His son Moses succeeded
to the vacant place in business and society, and was an influential citizen. He
died June 2, 1869, aged 64. Other
children died in early life.
The
same year, 1808, came the progenitor of the Darrow family, the members of
which, while they have not risen to high positions in office, have, as successful
farmers in West Eaton, and as men of unflinching integrity, impressed the
community by their righteous example as well as benefiting it by active
participation in all movements for the improvement of society. David Darrow
descended from an old Scotch family, came to West Eaton from New Lebanon, N.
Y., where he had received a good education and married. He was poor and had
been unfortunate in the accumulation of a heavy debt to the physicians through
a serious illness of two years. Being an admirer and a disciple of Benjamin
Franklin, he heeded the old philosopher's "advice to those in debt,"
funded all bills by notes bearing interest, and set out to earn the money with
which to redeem his notes. Twelve years were required to save the amount above
the expenses of maintaining his family; but when the sum was secured he went
immediately to the old home and paid every penny. This circumstance his
descendants are proud to relate, and they value the trait of integrity in their
ancestor more highly than they would value a record of political achievement.
His integrity and industry resulted in thrift, and at the time of his death,
Nov. 5, 1870, he was the possessor of a large tract of good farm land, which he
bequeathed to his sons and daughters, a good farm for each.
Another
family of farmers known for thrift and integrity was that of Thomas Lumbard,
who came from Hampden County, Mass., in 1803, and settled near Eaton village.
He was a Revolutionary soldier, having served seven years. After five years'
residence in Eaton he removed to Smithfield and died there April 30, 1813. His
family of nine children has accumulated wealth by rigid industry. His oldest
daughter, widow of the late Dr. W. P. Cleveland, is probably the oldest person
in the town, being almost 98, lives a mile from Morrisville. She is now, (June,
1880,) active and cheerful, with a vivid recollection of early experiences.
Jacob, aged 92, resides in Cortland County; Daniel, aged 85, and Margaret, aged
84, reside in Chautauqua County. The present post-master in Morrisville is a
great-grandson of Thos. Lumbard.
The
first town officers were Robert Avery, Supervisor; David Gaston, Clerk; Martin
Roberts, Collector; Josiah Wilcox, Pound-keeper; Ziba Coman, Benjamin Morse and
John Hall, Assessors; Hezekiah Morse and Abram Ellis, Poor Masters; Seth
Hitchcock, John Pratt and Robert Avery, Highway Commissioners; Martin Roberts
and Nathan Mixer, Constables.
This
election was held March 3, 1807, in the Center school-house, and Simeon Gillett
was made moderator. A resolution was passed (unconstitutional) prohibiting hogs
from running at large on the commons, from May 15 until November 1, and rams
from September 1 until November 15, under a penalty of $5.
Windsor
Coman, Supervisor, and David Gaston, Town Clerk, were elected the second year,
(March 1, 1808). At a meeting held March 5, 1811, a resolution was passed
(unconstitutional) compelling every farmer to cut all Canada thistles growing
on his land in the "old of the moon" in the months of June and
August, under penalty of $10, after three days' notice, and all Canada burdocks
growing on his land under penalty of $10 fine, after having three days' notice
of there being such burdocks growing on his land.
Officers
of the town of Eaton for the year 1880-'81
Supervisor Alex. M. Holmes
Town
Clerk Willie W. Palmer
Justices
of the Peace Arthur Foote, F. L.
Briggs, E C. Philpot, John H. Northrup
Assessors Lewis R. Slocum, Thomas Duffy, Alvin
Wadsworth
Highway
Commissioner Leonard Leland
Overseers
of the Poor Jesse Parker, Edwin O.
White
Constables Herbert G. Curtis, Edwin P. Storrs, Thomas
Ferguson, Henry Westcott, Lewis Aldrich
Collector Henry H. Goslee
Inspectors
of Election
District
No. 1 Joseph Tooke, George L. Choate,
Henry S. Phelps
District
No. 2 S. Allen Curtis, E. L. Miller,
George White
District
No. 3 H. W. Mann, W. L. Fleming, Wm.
Dunbar
Game
Constable Morah M. Jones.
Excise
Commissioner Dwight Colson.
The
town paid a tax of $193.46 (of which $55.83 was for County expenses, $137.63
for town expenses,) the first year of its existence--1807. The total assessed
valuation was $111,663. In 1808 the town expenses were the lightest ever known;
$84.66. The collector's fees amounted to $7.66, and the treasurer's fees, to
$1.45. In 1868, before the bonding of the town for railroad stock, the town
expenses were $2,152.65. In 1879 the town expenses were $15,547. The total debt
by report of 1879 was $148,900; in 1878 it was $149,700. The first assessment
of personal property was $21,804, in 1815. The present assessment is: Real
estate, $1,308,750; personal estate, $313,550.
Until
1875 there were two election districts, separated by a line drawn east and west
across the town. To accommodate the many factory employ‚s of West Eaton, the
southern district was divided by a north and south line. In 1850 the number of
votes cast at the general election was 730, of which the Democratic candidates
received 331 and the Whigs 351; since that time the Republican ticket has been
elected, and in 1879 the total vote was 902.
The
population since 1845 has been as follows:
1845: 3,444
1850: 3,944
1855: 4,066
1860: 3,871
1865: 3,861
1870: 3,690
1875: 3,644
The
continual decrease in population since 1855 is attributed to the large emigration
westward that set in after the manufacturing interests began to decline; and
that is encouraged still by the almost uniform prosperity of Eaton people who
have gone into the western states.
SUPERVISORS OF THE TOWN
OF EATON
Robert
Avery, 1807; Joseph Morse, 1808-'09; Hezekiah Morse, 1810-'15; Bennett
Bicknell, 1816-'17; Windsor Coman, 1818; Bennett Bicknell, 1819; Rufus Eldred,
1820-'21; Samuel W. Osgood, 1822; Stephen Fitch, 1823; Artemas Ellis, 1824-'25;
David Gaston, 1826-'27; Robert Henry, 1828-'31; Uriah Leland, 1832-'35; Perley
Munger, 1836; George Ellis, 1837; Windsor Coman, 1838; Ichabod Amidon,
1839-'41; Moses Bicknell, 1842-'43; Windsor Coman, 1844; Yale Leland, 1845-'46;
Ellis Morse, 1847-'50; Hiram D. Cloyes, 1851-'52; Ambrose Y. Smith, 1853-'54;
Calvin Morse, 1855-'56; Francis H. Stevens, 1857; Albert W. Morse, 1858-'59;
Benj. F. Coman, 1860-'61; Edward C. Philpot, 1862-'63; Horace M. Kent, 1864;
George E. Morse, 1865-'66; Alexander M. Holmes, 1867-'80.
WAR RECORD
Eaton
furnished for the service of the Union in the war of the Rebellion 150
volunteer soldiers, whose names we give below arranged in the order of their
enlistment by years.
Enlisted
in 1861: Ebenezer White, Israel O.
Foote, Lyman W. Kingman, Otis Tillinghast, A. F. Benjamin, John H. McQuien, L.
H. Wald, Martin M. Abby, Mortimer Spring, W. W. Lockesbury, Thomas McEligot,
Wm. Ryan, Ed. Ryan, A. Camero, Eli Laird, Lafayette Brigham, M. I. Moses, Wm.
P. Grannis, Warren Stevens, John Owens, Oscar Cook, David Ross, Horatio E.
Leach, Irving Erskin, D. Graham, Jonathan Wilcox, I. W. French, Peter Lent, H.
E. Andrus, S. J. White, Henry Webber.
Enlisted
in 1862: John M. McLean, Jas. N. Hockridge, Nelson W. Hockridge, Thomas
Roberts, Wm. L. Johnson, John W. Roberts, John Bowen, Chancey Clark, Morris
Spring, John Fletcher, Lewis Moses, Mordant Beebe, Wm. V. Jones, Francis
Pellet, John Lowe, Barney Ryan, John H. Barrett, John Merritt, A. F. Childs,
Amos Avery, E. P. Manter, Henry F. Bates, David E. Bristol, Henry D. Brigham,
John D. Fry, Albert S. Norton, Charles H. Isbell, W. Erskin, B. Erskin, Charles
A. Hatch, F. A. Leach, Joseph Hughes, Alfred A. Morse, Henry P. Loomis, Wm.
Marden, P. A. Davenport, Henry D. Ayer, Wm. H. Reed, Watson Beebe, Jas. A.
Tift, Albert Westcott, Charles C. Campbell, A. J. French, E. J. Thomas, John
Carroll, E. H. Lewis, Wm. A. Titley, L. C. Wellington, Geo. M. Hockridge.
Enlisted
in 1863: Denison Palmer, John Lines, Chancey E. Childs, Edward Fields, John
McKerghan, Henry Jewell, Henry N. Mann, Lewis Carpenter, S. H. Payson, A.
James, Bennett Bicknell, Harrison Bicknell, Wm. White, Byron Nash, Oliver
Winslow, Francis B. Johnson.
Enlisted
in 1864: Oscar W. Stone, Wm. Turner, Charles DeMott, Henry H. Graves, Jason
Stevens, E. G. Bonney, A. J. Evert, G. C. Wilber. Henry Wooten, Stanley
Westfall, John Fox, Cyrus P. Howard.
Year
of enlistment not learned: John O. Rourke, Geo. L. Choate, Joseph Knowlton,
Chas. H. Fry, Richard L. Tooke, Edward L. Jones, Wm. E. Enos, A. M. Gear, O. S.
Hudson, Fred. Boland, Henry Dizard, I. M. Throop, Wm. Neff, Geo. M. Bosworth,
Geo. W. Reynolds, Andrew J. Carpenter, T. S. Smith, Wm. Durffee, D. D.
Bartlett, W. W. Cokely, C. A. Hamilton, Geo. H. Bradley, D. D. Chase, Daniel
Cary, P. D. Owens, A. W. Chase, J. Stockart, J. Stamfield, Gilbert L. Eastman,
Daniel O'Connell, Robert A. Scott, Charles Dopp, Henry I. Isaacs, Joseph
Lorringer, Joseph Farrington.