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The "New" Etonian Sample * * * * * * * * * * * 2002 Eatons Reestablish Family Association By Richard S. Eaton Guilford, Connecticut, USA of the Dedham and Dover, Kent Lines Depending on the way you look at it, you could say it took two years to accomplish or about forty. But, either way, members of Eaton families across the world have successfully reestablished The Eaton Families Association to serve their genealogical interests. The Association became official with registration as a not-for-profit organization by the Minnesota (USA) Secretary of the State, which is the home of our (acting) Vice President/Secretary-Treasurer, Don Eaton. Eatons have done this before, with an active organization that served members from the late 1800s to the early 1960s, and with some sputtering between those two eras. However, some of the greatest breakthroughs in Eaton genealogical study were made by these serious students of Etonalia, many of whom used the services of professional researchers in England and left vital records that we will soon be able to archive at our new web site. We're Not Just Yanks The earlier association primarily focused on the family histories of the five New England (USA) families, but now our expanded knowledge and high-tech communications capability have enabled a far broader perspective in this, the Second Millennium. Today's association includes among its membership Eatons or Eaton descendants in Canada, England, Ireland and from coast to coast in the United States. Still others are known to live in Wales, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere and we hope they will discover and join us. While our progenitors labored over handwritten texts intended for typesetting and publication in paper publications, we 20th Century Eatons communicate by typing in messages on PC keyboards and transmitting them electronically and almost instantaneously, via the Internet. Where our predecessors gathered in Boston for annual meetings, we will meet in a virtual meeting room, our web site chat room, sharing ideas and voting from the comfort of our homes or offices. Yet, while technology brings us together and sometimes speeds us in our goals, our purpose has changed little in the approximately 120 years since the founding of the first Eaton Family Association c. 1880. Association Purposes As stated in our present-day By Laws, the Eaton Families Association exists: "To bring worldwide Eatons and Eaton descendants together in celebration of their families and in pursuit of common interests; * * * At the risk of appearing to exaggerate, although I think I am stating the case as it is, in short order, our web site - eatonfamilies.com - will be the most comprehensive and, hopefully, authoritative source of information on the Eatons and families related to them. This, of course, is more easily said than done. It will still take a great deal of work and require additional contributions of time, material and research by our Members, but this they gladly give. This, and much more, as you well know, is what family is all about. Members Make It Possible This, some may think, is a tall order, but judging from early response to our call for Members, the new Eaton Families Association is capable of fulfilling its stated mission and more. We have been most fortunate to have obtained the help and services of our founding officers and Executive Committee members, all serving in an acting capacity until elections are held at our Annual Meeting, and they are: Shelly Bremmer of East Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Executive Committee member; Joe Cochoit of Villa Park, California, USA, Vice President/Archivist; Donald G. (Don) Eaton of Arden Hills, Minnesota, USA, Vice President/ Secretary-Treasurer; Leroy Eaton of Terre Haute, Indiana, USA, Executive Committee Member; Albert Raymond (Ray) Eaton of Poway, California USA, First Vice President; Richard S. (Rick) Eaton of Guilford, Connecticut, USA, President; Barbara Fitzsenry of Seattle, Washington, USA, Vice President/Web Editor; and Vern Kask of Brainerd, Minnesota, Executive Committee member.If you have any ideas on ways to expand and/or improve the Association, please let us know. Contact information for the various officers can be found on the Officers and Executive Committee Member List. And, yes, we can always use more members, so pass the word. Note: The First Annual Meeting of the Eaton Families Association was held on September 21, 2002 at which time all acting officers and executive committee members were elected permanently for the 2002/03 term of office with two minor changes. Joe Cochoit was awarded a position as Family Genealogist and Terri Sue Eaton of Coshocton, Ohio stepped up to fill the position of Vice President/Archivist. A World-wide Search for Our Ancestors John Eaton of Dedham Joe Cochoit reports via Eaton Gen Forum that he has decided "to go forward with hiring Paul C. Reed [a professional researcher] to investigate the English origins of the Eatons in America..." "The initial research will be in proving the line of the Eaton's of Dover back to the Eyton's of Shropshire. This is actually the weakest link in the pedigree we have traced back to the 1100s. If this can be proven, there are many other related problems we can approach including the likely royal origin of the wives and the connection to Theophilus Eaton." If anyone else would like to be a part of this, please notify Joe Cochoit by email at cochoit@aol.com. The more people who contribute, the more can be done. If the connections can be proven, Joe would like "to see the data published in a major genealogy journal (NEHGR or TAG) as well as on The Eaton Families Association web site. All contributors would, of course, receive credit on the web site." Research Tips With all the advances in technology which now make it possible to purchase family information on CD-Rom and to view census records and birth/marriage/death records directly from the internet, we tend to forget about an excellent genealogical source -- the living. This "source" may not always be the easiest to access, but our living family members, especially the senior branches, are our most direct connection to the past. Our living family members can provide us with a truly unique perspective. They may hold information that is vital to our research, information that may not be found in any library, courthouse, or archive. Technology even allows the use of sound files to be converted to wave files and added directly into your genealogy programs. So grab a tape recorder the next time you have Thanksgiving at grandma's, and you will have the family story preserved for posterity. Regardless of your age, there might be other family members who might know more about the family than you. Do you have cousins or other distant relatives? Talk to them and find out what they know. Their parents might have known more or talked more about the family than your parents did. One of the oldest sources for information about family has always been an oral tradition -- in stories, songs and poems, events and family history were passed down from one generation to the next. And if we don't ask now, what will happen to this valuable knowledge when our family members pass on? Sadly, sometimes there are no descendants to carry on the family's history, but even when there are, just imagine how much material is probably thrown out by well-meaning but uninformed family members who do not realize the true value of such clutter. So talk to your family today and let them know that you are trying to preserve your family's legacy. Interview the living and take notes and, who knows, you might just uncover the "missing link." Biography: Isaac Eaton Isaac Eaton was born in 1725 in Montgomery, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania, son of Joseph Eaton and Uriah/Uree Gill Humphrey. Joseph was but seven years old when he came with his parents, John and Joan Eaton from Llandewr Fach, Radnorshire, Wales to America in 1686 where they settled in Pennepack, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania. Joseph first married Gwenllian Morgan and after her death in 1723, Joseph married Mary Davis and finally Uriah Humphrey Gill on March 17, 1724. Isaac's known siblings were John, born 25 November 1700, and Sarah, born about 1701, in Delaware; Joseph, born 2 Jul 1703, George, born 15 Feb 1704/1705, Edward, born 9 Jul 1706, Judith, born 31 Jan 1709/1710, Joan, born 4 Dec 1712, David, born est 1714, and Mary born est. 1716 all in Pennepack, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Jacob, born est. 1728, and Hannah, born about 1730, in Montgomery, Pennsylvania. Young Isaac grew up in a household of staunch Welsh Baptists. For several years the Welsh Baptists worshipped at the Montgomery Church in Pennsylvania. As the distance was great, Isaac's father, the Reverend Joseph Eaton, helped to build a meetinghouse and organize the First Baptist Church in an area known as Hopewell, which was approximately 17 miles from Trenton, New Jersey. After its initial organization, church meetings were held in private homes with only the guidance of visiting ministers, and Rev. Joseph preached thusly for fifteen years. The first school in this area was built about 1740 on the farm of Joseph N. Golden, later known as Grand View Farm. For many years the Baptist ministers taught in this old log schoolhouse known as the Golden Schoolhouse just west of Hopewell. It is assumed this is where Isaac Eaton first taught. Sometime between 1742 and 1748, Isaac married Rebecca Stout. Rebecca was born between 1726 and 1730 to a family well established in New Jersey. Her father, David "Amwell" Stout, was born about 1667 in Middletown, Monmouth Co., New Jersey and her mother, Rebecca Ashton, was born in 1672 in Providence, Rhode Island. A brochure from the Hopewell Museum states: "Jonathon Stout [8th child of ancestor, Richard Stout] was the first settler in the immediate vicinity of Hopewell Borough. He moved here in 1706 after the purchase of a large tract of land described as one-sixteenth of one hundredth part of West Jersey. He had first visited the area to hunt with friendly Indians." Rebecca's ancestors came from Nottinghamshire, England and Holland. Rebecca and Isaac's children were Urla, born 1748/1749; Joseph, born 1750; Pamelia, born November 4, 1755; Amy, born 1758; Isaac, born 1760; and David, born October 21, 1762. On December 20, 1746, an entry was made in the records of Southampton Baptist Church stating that Oliver Hart and Isaac Eaton were "called to the church to be on trial for the ministry; to exercise at the meetings of preparation, or in private meetings that might for that purpose be appointed." Finally in 1747, Rev. Joseph and Isaac helped to build their church in Hopewell on land donated by John Hart (a leading citizen and ardent patriot -- one of New Jersey's five signer's of the Declaration of Independence), and Isaac was ordained at the new Hopewell First Baptist Church on October 30, 1748; a month later, Isaac Eaton was called to be it's first pastor. Isaac was then 24 years of age. Rev. Joseph Eaton passed away in 1749. One of Isaac's primary concerns as Hopewell's new minister was the proper education of the young men for the ministry, and in 1756 he established the First Baptist Academy in America in the lovely old Holcombe house on West Broad Street in Hopewell.  Hopewell School In the earlier days, the village called Hopewell was quite rural with the exception of the Meeting House and Isaac Eaton's school, and the village was referred to as Hopewell Meeting. The First Baptist Academy continued successfully for eleven years, but it had resulted in a demand among Baptists of the Atlantic Seaboard for the establishment of a college as a center of higher learning. The New Jersey Legislature would not give Isaac a charter to expand his school into a college, so he moved to Rhode Island where he received more encouragement. The Hopewell Academy continued for three years after the establishment of the Rhode Island College in Providence (later known as Brown University), but in 1767 closed its doors. This was most unfortunate as the new college now had no Academy from which to draw its Baptist candidates for the ministry. In Alice Blackwell Lewis' book, Hopewell Valley Heritage, published by Parker Printing Company, Trenton, New Jersey (1973) we find the following: "During Rev. Eaton's pastorate [upwards of 26 years], the Hopewell Church was the leading and most influential Baptist church in America. He was considered the most distinguished scholar and divine then in the Baptist pulpit." He died on July 4, 1772 at the age of 47 years. Isaac was buried under the pulpit of his beloved church, and it was not until years later that his stone was moved where it can now be seen on the east side of the church in the foundation wall. Approximately 1822, the old church was torn down and finally replaced with the present day brick building.  Isaac Eaton's Grave Site Hopewell, NJ Isaac Eaton left a worthy heritage which is honored to this very day. Yale College conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M., and in 1756, Princeton did the same." After she was widowed, Rebecca Stout married John Mitchell and later lived with her daughter Pamelia Eaton Humphrey in Humphreyville, PA where she joined the Hepzibah Baptist Church. Upon her death on June 13/15, 1794, Rebecca was buried in the Hepzibah cemetery plot to the right of the church. Additional Sources: Edwards's History of Baptists in Penna., 17, 33, 50-52; in New Jersey, 47-50; Benedict's History of the Baptists, I., 572; and "New Jersey Biographical Sketches, 1665-1800 Women and Heraldry Women’s rights to coat armor are strictly limited, unless she is a sovereign. She is granted the right to use a coat of arms bearing the arms of her father or husband, but not on a shield. She uses a lozenge, a diamond shaped frame. This form was in common use as early as 1400 and was a definite requirement by 1561. The lozenge form is used by both unmarried women and by widows. Since a woman was not a warrior, she could not use the shield, helmet, crest, mantling or war-cry (i.e., the motto). Until her marriage, she used her father’s arms in a lozenge and oftentimes surmounted it with a true lover’s knot of light blue ribbon. After marriage, she used her husband’s arms on a lozenge and continued the practice if she became a widow. Sometimes the husband impaled his arms with those of the wife’s father. At first, impaling was the placing of the two shields side by side, but later it became the practice to place the husband’s arms on the dexter (left as you face the shield) side, and the arms of the wife’s father on the sinister (the right) side. This placing side by side of the arms is called "impaling" -- the recognized manner for a man to show that his wife came from an arms-bearing family. A husband, however, was not required to impale his wife's father's arms with his own. In the majority of cases it would appear that upon marrying, a man did not alter his own arms but continued to use the same coat of arms he had borne when unmarried even though he had the right to impale the arms of his wife's family. If a woman was a heraldic heiress (having no brothers to inherit the coat of arms) her husband placed a small shield with the arms of his wife’s father in the center of his own so it would show he was carrying the arms for the benefit of his children, the grandchildren of his wife’s father. This was called the escutcheon of pretense. The children carried both of the arms, which were quartered. This, by the way, is of great value to the genealogist, indicating as it does, the origin of the wife, her particular family, and even whether she had brothers. Sons of the Revolution DAR Patriot Index - Centennial Edition "EATON: DNA, the Blueprint of Creation by Barbara Lee Fitzsenry DNA is the genetic code exclusive to each individual which makes him unique and brings him to this time and place. DNA may hold the secret of life for which man has been searching since the beginning of time. Locked away in its chemistry are the secrets of history, the present, and our connection to the future. Before DNA, Coats of Arms held the secrets of a person's history. Where did he come from? Who were his parents? Who was his spouse? Our President, Rick Eaton, has often said, "Follow the arms" when perplexed with which of the many families of the same name were the correct ancestral line to follow. We look forward to learning more about this important aspect of our history as we uncover new clues and, indeed, follow the arms. Rick, as well as many other of our Eaton cousins have diligently reported their findings in our Gen Forum discussions, and we look forward to a comprehensive and definitive report on their discoveries here in The New Etonian. We are looking for similar family stories, biographies, historical escapades, dedications, achievements, milestones, family news, poetry and humorous anecdotes. Any and all material which YOU would like to submit for publication in the newsletter should also be sent c/o this Web Editor, b.fitzsenry@attbi.com. It may not be possible to publish all material due to lack of space, but the more we have, the more often we will publish our newsletter, and all material will be given consideration. Please submit your copy by the 15th of any month for inclusion in that month's newsletter. You may find your story and bi-line in our next publication, so please prime your pens and computers and send your material ASAP. |
