Eaton, Frederick A.

EATON, MOLTEN, HYATT, HODGES, ERICKSON, REYNOLDS

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/22/2009 at 13:07:21

Eaton, Frederick A.

Jasper County is characterized by her full share of the pioneer element who have done so much for the development of the county and the establishment of the institutions of civilization in this fertile and well-favored section. The biographical sketches in this volume are largely of this class of useful citizens and it is not in the least too early to record in print the principle items in the lives of these hard working and honest people, giving honor to whom honor is due. They will soon be gone and the past can have no better history or memento than these records. Of this worthy class the name of Frederick A. Eaton, long a prominent farmer of the county, but now living in retirement in Newton, should receive specific mention, for during his active years here he has been conspicuous because of his activity and the progressive and enterprising spirit displayed by him in all the phases of our citizenship.

Mr. Frederick A. Eaton was born of sterling old New England parents, in Rutland County, Vermont, November 12, 1829, being the son of Horace and Amanda (Molten) Eaton, both natives of Vermont, who emigrated to Ohio when their son, Frederick A., was eight years old and there they remained, becoming well established, until about 1868 when they moved to Jasper County, Iowa, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying about 1884; he was peddler and collector. There were three children in his family, two by his first wife and one by his second wife, Mrs. Emma Hyatt of Grand Junction, Colorado, a half-sister of the subject, being the other living child. Frederick A. Eaton received a good education in the public schools of his day, and he was twenty-one years of age when he came to Illinois; after remaining there two or three years he returned to Ohio, where he married and remained two years, then came to Jasper County, Iowa, in the spring of 1856, locating on a farm five miles east of Newton, which he developed into an excellent farm and where he established a most comfortable home, in which he remained until 1897, when he moved to Newton. He has lived to see and take part in the wonderful transformation of the County. The present thriving city of Newton was a brush patch when he first came here. He was for a long period regarded as one of our most progressive farmers and stockmen. In 1897 he was elected County Recorder, in which position he served most faithfully and well for four years. He had previously served as trustee of Kellogg Township. He is a stanch Democrat. In 1870 he was commissioned as census taker for eight Townships in Jasper County, which appointment was made without his solicitation or knowledge, the petition having been sent to Washington by a large number of citizens who recognized the peculiar ability of Mr. Eaton for this work, and useless to add that he filled the place acceptably. He was also assessor of Buena Vista and later of Kellogg Townships.

Mr. Eaton was married on October 13, 1853, in Ohio, to Caroline M. Hodges, who was born in New York, her parents removing from that state to Ohio when she was twelve years of age. Their family consisted of twelve children, namely: Frankie died when thirteen years of age; W. 0. lives four miles north of Newton on a farm; Alma is the wife of George Hart, of Newton; Carrie is the wife of Gus Erickson, of Red Oak, Iowa; Arthur T. lives in Newton; Truman lives in Kellogg Township; Harry E., who lives at Shenandoah, Iowa, is one of the three state pharmacist commissioners; Fred lives near San Diego, California; Horace died in Newton about 1906; Sherman is deceased; Addie is the wife of Alton Reynolds, of Denver; Belle is deceased.

Mr. Eaton is in his eighty-first year and Mrs. Eaton was in her seventy-ninth year when, with her husband on a visit to her daughter in Colorado, she died on December 4, 1911. They had traversed through the sunshine and shadow of life's uneven road, hand in hand, for a period of fifty-eight years, this union having been a fortunate and happy one. Mr. Eaton has never been sick and is still hale and hearty. They were a fine old couple whom everybody respected and admired, for their lives were exemplary and they sought to do all the good possible. Mr. Eaton belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and fraternally is a Mason, having attained the Knight Templar degree. Mrs. Eaton was a member of the Methodist Church.

Mr. Eaton handled livestock on an extensive scale for over twenty years while on the farm. Although a man of meager schooling, he was prevailed upon to teach a school in Jasper County in the pioneer days, after he had been here only a short time, teaching in a log house, handling the school with great success; he was later offered license by Superintendent Lufkin. He has always been a loyal supporter of movements having as their object the general good. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 941.