aton Families AssociationReunion: September 10-13, 2009
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aton Families Association Reunion: September 10-13, 2009 |
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| The Eaton Families Association (EFA) held its second reunion Sept. 10-12 at the Clarion Carriage House Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, with up to 36 persons from as far away as Seattle attending one or more of the scheduled events. The events included a visit to historic homes where Eatons once lived, a tour of the grounds of Longfellow's Wayside Inn and plenty of opportunities for family history buffs to swap stories about their Eaton ancestors. The reunion also featured four fine meals and reports on the EFA's ongoing activities, including sanctioning of genealogies, a DNA study update and the western migration of the descendants of Eaton immigrant patriarchs. Held at the same site as the first reunion in 2006, this year's get-together was organized and hosted by EFA First Vice-president Doug MacMillan and wife Janet. The home visitations and inn tour were led by Debbie and Terry Keeney. Helping to make the reunion a success were Fred Wallace and Kevin Swope of the Framingham (MA) History Center and Lee Swanson, Peg Fredrickson and Tony Howes of the Sudbury Historical Society. Thursday evening, Sept. 10 The opening night event was a buffet dinner at the Clarion, at which Doug read a welcome from EFA President Don Eaton, who was unable to attend. Don reported on the activities of the EFA over the past year, including an upgrade of its data-packed website and an effort to authenticate and correct the sanctioned genealogies posted there. John Taylor, EFA public relations officer, read a report from Phil Converse, the association's DNA coordinator, who also could not attend the reunion. Phil reported that the Eaton DNA project had completed its fourth year and had analyzed 74 samples from Eaton descendants, an impressive total. The continuing study already has begun bearing fruit in helping EFA members in researching their family trees. Phil also contributed a written report on some unusual and humorous first names given to Eaton sons during the first half of the 19th century. Friday morning, Sept. 11 The morning was spent visiting several historic homes in Framingham and Sudbury that once were occupied by Eatons. They included a two-story home at 71 Harrington Road, Framingham, on land purchased by Jonas Eaton (1680-1727), formerly of Reading. The present house probably was built no later than 1810, perhaps years earlier. A distinctive feature of the federal-style, brick sided structure is its four towering chimneys atop a hipped roof. Another visited home at 36 Pelham Island Road, Sudbury, was built in 1790 and bought by Loring and John Eaton (sons of Reuben and Betsy Eaton) in 1837. It remained in the Eaton family until 1966. This house has a Georgian-style roof in combination with a hip and saltbox design. A third home in Framingham once belonged to Ezekiel Howe, a lieutenant colonel in the American Revolution who led the Sudbury Militia to the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775. Howe inherited the tavern from his father that eventually became known as (Henry Wadsworth) Longfellow's Wayside Inn because it inspired him to write Tales of a Wayside Inn, a series of narrative poems that included "Paul Revere's Ride." There was a marital connection between the Howe family and the Eaton family. Led by the Framingham History Center's Fred Wallace, the Eaton's hiked into the Knox Trail Boy Scout Reservation to inspect the foundations of a home built by Noah Eaton about 1730. The Boy Scouts have erected a sign with the history of the site. Friday afternoon, Sept. 11 A threatened rain shower held off long enough for the Eatons to get in a tour of the grounds of the Wayside Inn, which claims to be the oldest operating inn in America, dating back to 1716. That was the year a license was issued to tavern keeper David Howe. The inn remained in the Howe family until 1893. Wool Merchant, Antique Collector & Inn keeper Edward Lemon owned the inn until he died in 1919. In 1923, Lemon's widow Cora sold the property to automaker Henry Ford, who also acquired more than 3,000 surrounding acres and built a trade school for indigent boys that operated from 1928 to 1947. The tour included stops at a water-powered, operating grist mill, which Ford built in 1929 and which provides grain for breads & desserts served at the inn; a one-room schoolhouse that Ford moved to the site in 1926 that inspired the poem, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and the Martha-Mary Chapel, built in 1940 and named for Ford's mother-in-law and mother. Friday evening, Sept. 11 There was dinner at the Wayside Inn, followed by a Phil Converse report on the migration of Eatons, from their arrival in Massachusetts in the early 1600s to 1850. Many of the Eaton descendants eventually migrated south into Connecticut or north into Vermont. Others struck out west to New York State and beyond. A highlight of the evening was a presentation by Mary Richards of Reading, Massachusetts, who organized a fundraising campaign to restore the clock tower at the Joshua Eaton School in Reading, Massachusetts. Joshua Eaton was the only soldier from Reading to die in the Revolutionary War. Mary is not a member of the EFA, but undertook the leadership on the project. She gave a power point presentation showing the tower before & after restoration. Saturday, Sept. 12 It was a free day for attendees to strike out on their own and a do a bit of sightseeing, shopping, etc., but a heavy downpour forced many to stick around the hospitality room much of the day. That evening, there was a barbecue cookout at the Memorial Congregational Church in Sudbury. All in all, the reunion proved to be an enjoyable experience for those in attendance, and a poll of attendees indicated that they would like to see another one within the next few years, perhaps in another location, whether that be New England or elsewhere. |
© 2009 The Eaton Families Association |