Lewis Eaton Explained
Lewis Eaton (February 17, 1790 – August 22, 1857) was a United States Congressman from New York.
Life
Eaton became a farmer, also becoming active in politics, including serving as Duanesburg Town Supervisor from 1819 to 1820.[1] [2] [3] From 1821 to 1822 Eaton served as Schenectady County Sheriff.[4] [5] [6] [7]
Eaton was elected as a Crawford Democratic-Republican to the 18th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1823 to March 3, 1825. Eaton voted in favor of the Tariff of 1824[8] and took part in the House caucus that nominated William Crawford for President.[9] [10] [11]
After leaving the House Eaton returned to his farm, also holding the position of postmaster in the hamlet of Eaton (sometimes spelled Eatons or Eaton's) Corners.[12] [13] He was a member of the New York State Senate (3rd D.) from 1829 to 1832, sitting in the 52nd, 53rd, 54th and 55th New York State Legislatures.[14] [15] [16] In addition, he was an active militia officer and attained the rank of Brigadier General.[17] [18]
In the mid-1830s Eaton moved to Lockport, New York, where he purchased the Nathan Comstock Jr. House.[19] Eaton was Lockport's postmaster and president of the Lockport Bank, and also served as a member of the New York Bank Commission from 1832 to 1838.[20] [21] [22]
In the late 1830s he relocated to the village of Black Rock (now part of Buffalo), where he resumed farming, was a clerk in the federal revenue collection office for the Niagara district, became a lumber dealer and was President of the City Bank of Buffalo.[23] [24] [25] [26]
During the 1840 election for President, Eaton was a delegate to a convention of former Democratic-Republicans who endorsed Whig nominees William Henry Harrison and John Tyler.[27] In 1841 he was a member of the reception committee for a large gathering in New York City which honored Nathaniel P. Tallmadge following his return to the United States Senate after having switched from the Democratic Party to the Whigs.[28]
In the early 1840s he served as a Special Agent of the United States Post Office Department, ensuring that postmasters and mail carriers did not use the service for illegal purposes.[29] [30]
Eaton was active in several agricultural societies and farming organizations, including being a founder and President of the Buffalo Horticultural Society. Agricultural journals and fair records from the 1820s to the 1850s are replete with entries on his prize winning cattle, pigs, poultry, asparagus, pears, apples, and other farm products, as well as notations on the prizes his wife won for her peonies and other floral arrangements.[31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]
Eaton died in Buffalo on August 22, 1857. He was originally interred at Black Rock Burial Ground, and most of the remains there, including Eaton's, were later moved to Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery.[40] [41]
Notes and References
- United States Federal Census, 1820, Lewis Eaton family entry
- https://books.google.com/books?id=j-HmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA196 Duanesburgh Fair
- https://books.google.com/books?id=eWThMMumH2QC&pg=PA173 History of the County of Schenectady, N.Y., from 1662 to 1886
- https://www.schenectadycounty.com/2009_ANNUAL_REPORT_8ZpEF.pdf.file Annual Report
- https://books.google.com/books?id=6UdbEIAEit8C&pg=RA1-PA77 Bi-centennial history of Albany County, N.Y., 1609 to 1886
- http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/symposium2007/DeBlois-Harris-1845_Cultural_Nexus.pdf 1845 Cultural nexus in Transportation and Communication: Express, Rail Road, Telegraph & the Post Office
- http://fultonhistory.com/newspapers%207/Schenectady%20NY%20Cabinet/Schenectady%20NY%20Cabinet%201820-1822%20Grayscale/Schenectady%20NY%20Cabinet%201820-1822%20Grayscale%20-%200316.pdf Newspaper legal notices (three)
- https://books.google.com/books?id=KzA9znVUSBMC&pg=PA31 Speech of Mr. J.J. Hardin of Illinois Reviewing the Public Life and Political principles of Mr. Van Buren
- https://books.google.com/books?id=hXssAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA55 The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren
- https://books.google.com/books?id=jHwFAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22lewis+eaton%22+us+house+of+representatives&pg=PA389 Niles Weekly Register
- https://books.google.com/books?id=oJLVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1 Register of Debates in Congress
- https://books.google.com/books?id=FskpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT82 Table of Post Offices in the United States
- https://books.google.com/books?id=WxYXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA68 New York Annual Register
- https://books.google.com/books?id=edxKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA51 Journal of the Senate of the State of New York at their Fifty-Yhird Session
- In Senate, March 4, 1830. (Brought in by Mr. Eaton.) An Act to Incorporate Manhattan College, printed by Edwin Croswell, 1830
- https://books.google.com/books?id=LLEFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA138 Journal of the Senate of the State of New York at their Thirty-Fifth Session
- http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~redrobyn/The_Thirties.html Recollections of Buffalo During the Decade from 1830 to 1840, or Fifty Years Since
- https://books.google.com/books?id=3xKqzUctxPsC&pg=PA181 The papers of John C. Calhoun
- Web site: National Register of Historic Places Registration: Nathan Comstock Jr. House. June 2011. 2011-05-21. Virginia L. Bartos. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150707100234/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=103756. 2015-07-07.
- https://books.google.com/books?id=GeZKAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA38 Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York
- https://books.google.com/books?id=xbBEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA94 Life and Times of Martin Van Buren
- https://books.google.com/books?id=UaTQAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA90 The New-Yorker
- United States Federal Census for 1840, Lewis Eaton family entry
- United States Federal Census for 1850, Lewis Eaton family entry
- https://books.google.com/books?id=IyQSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA423 Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances of the United States
- http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~redrobyn/The_Thirties.html Home History, Recollections of Buffalo During the Decade from 1830 to 1840, or Fifty Years Since
- News: Proceedings of the Auburn Convention . Niles Weekly Register. October 31, 1840 . September 5, 2014. Niles. Hezekiah. Niles. William Ogden. Hughes. Jeremiah. Beatty. George.
- News: Politics of the Day: The Tallmadge Festival in New York . Niles Weekly Register . June 12, 1841 . September 5, 2014.
- https://books.google.com/books?id=oKh2jPN79i4C&pg=PA346 Correspondence of James K. Polk: September-December 1844
- Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris, 1845 Cultural Nexus in Transportation & Communication: Express, Railroad, Telegraph & the Post Office, October 22, 2007, page 5
- http://historicnewspapers.guilpl.org/altamont-enterprise-1933-june-1935-april/altamont-enterprise-1933-june-1935-april%20-%200842.pdf Newspaper article, Duanesburgh Agricultural Society Reorganized in 1819
- https://books.google.com/books?id=T-o_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44 The Commercial Advertiser Directory for the City of Buffalo
- https://books.google.com/books?id=jHMXAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA259 Genesee Farmer magazine
- https://books.google.com/books?id=-IpMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA169 Report on Fruits, September Show, Buffalo Horticultural Society
- https://books.google.com/books?id=eaUEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA377 The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and all Useful Discoveries
- https://books.google.com/books?id=SAIfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA450 The Horticultural Review and Botanical Magazine
- https://books.google.com/books?id=tvYZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5 Proceedings of the Second Congress of Fruit Growers
- https://books.google.com/books?id=SPlIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA330 The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and all Useful Discoveries
- https://books.google.com/books?id=jT_OAAAAMAAJ&pg=PT340 Fruit Growers Society of Western New York
- https://books.google.com/books?id=4ftIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA430 Obituary of Lewis Eaton
- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=eaton&GSfn=lewis&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GSst=36&GScnty=1992&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=39720429& Grave marker photos
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