Lewis Eaton

Eaton became a farmer, also becoming active in politics, including serving as Duanesburg Town Supervisor from 1819 to 1820.United States Federal Census, 1820, Lewis Eaton family entry[https://books.google.com/books?id=j-HmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA196 Duanesburgh Fair], from the Plough Boy and Journal of the Board of Agriculture, published by New York State Board of Agriculture, Volume 2, Number 25, (November 18, 1820), page 196[https://books.google.com/books?id=eWThMMumH2QC&pg=PA173 History of the County of Schenectady, N.Y., from 1662 to 1886], by George Rogers Howell and John H. Munsell, 1886, pages 172 to 172 From 1821 to 1822 Eaton served as Schenectady County Sheriff.[https://www.schenectadycounty.com/2009_ANNUAL_REPORT_8ZpEF.pdf.file Annual Report], by Schenectady County Sheriff, 2009[https://books.google.com/books?id=6UdbEIAEit8C&pg=RA1-PA77 Bi-centennial history of Albany County, N.Y., 1609 to 1886], edited by George Rogers Howell and Jonathan Tenney, 1886, Volume 4, page 77[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], by Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris, Postal History Symposium, October 22, 2007, page 5[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)], page 1, The Cabinet (Schenectady, New York), Volume XII, Number 579, August 8, 1821

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[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] Delivered in the House of Representatives March 21, 1844, Appendix, Tariff of May 22, 1824, page 31 and took part in the House caucus that nominated William Crawford for president.[https://books.google.com/books?id=hXssAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA55 The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren], by William Lyon MacKenzie, 1846, page 55[https://books.google.com/books?id=jHwFAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22lewis+eaton%22+us+house+of+representatives&pg=PA389 Niles Weekly Register], edited by Hezekiah Niles, February 21, 1824, page 389[https://books.google.com/books?id=oJLVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1 Register of Debates in Congress], published by United States Congress, Volume 1, 1825, Appendix, page 1

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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=FskpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT82 Table of Post Offices in the United States], published by United States Post Office Department, 1831, page 69[https://books.google.com/books?id=WxYXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA68 New York Annual Register], by Edwin Williams, 1831, page 68 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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=edxKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA51 Journal of the Senate of the State of New York at their Fifty-Third Session], published by New York Senate, Volume 1, 1830, page 51In 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], published by New York Senate, 1832, page 138 In addition, he was an active militia officer and attained the rank of Brigadier General.[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~redrobyn/The_Thirties.html Recollections of Buffalo During the Decade from 1830 to 1840, or Fifty Years Since], by Samuel M. Welch, 1891[https://books.google.com/books?id=3xKqzUctxPsC&pg=PA181 The papers of John C. Calhoun], by John Caldwell Calhoun, edited by Robert Lee Meriwether, William Edwin Hemphill and Clyde Norman Wilson, 1993, page 181

In the mid-1830s Eaton moved to Lockport, New York, where he purchased the Nathan Comstock Jr. House.{{cite web|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=103756|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Nathan Comstock Jr. House|date=June 2011|access-date=2011-05-21|author=Virginia L. Bartos|publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707100234/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=103756|archive-date=2015-07-07}} 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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=GeZKAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA38 Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York], published by New York Legislature, 1833, Volume 56, Issues 1-2, page 38[https://books.google.com/books?id=xbBEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA94 Life and Times of Martin Van Buren], by William Lyon Mackenzie, 1848, page 94[https://books.google.com/books?id=UaTQAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA90 The New-Yorker], edited by Horace Greeley and Park Benjamin, Volume 10, page 90, April 28, 1838

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.United States Federal Census for 1840, Lewis Eaton family entryUnited 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], published by U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1849, pages 422 to 423[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], by Samuel M. Welch, 1891, Chapter 3, pages 44 to 60

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.{{cite news |title= Proceedings of the Auburn Convention |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dJgbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA141 |work= Niles Weekly Register|date= October 31, 1840 |access-date= September 5, 2014|last1 = Niles|first1 = Hezekiah|last2 = Niles|first2 = William Ogden|last3 = Hughes|first3 = Jeremiah|last4 = Beatty|first4 = George}} 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.{{cite news |title= Politics of the Day: The Tallmadge Festival in New York |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RFc5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA228 |work= Niles Weekly Register |date= June 12, 1841 |access-date= September 5, 2014}}

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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=oKh2jPN79i4C&pg=PA346 Correspondence of James K. Polk: September-December 1844], by James Knox Polk, edited by Wayne Cutler, Robert G. Hall and Jayne C. Defiore, 1993, pages 346 to 347Diane DeBlois and Robert Dalton Harris, [http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/symposium2007/DeBlois-Harris-1845_Cultural_Nexus.pdf 1845 Cultural Nexus in Transportation & Communication: Express, Railroad, Telegraph & the Post Office], October 22, 2007, page 5

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.[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], the Altamont (N.Y.) Enterprise, October 19, 1934[https://books.google.com/books?id=T-o_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44 The Commercial Advertiser Directory for the City of Buffalo], published by Jewett, Thomas and Co., Buffalo, 1849, page 44[https://books.google.com/books?id=jHMXAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA259 Genesee Farmer magazine], 1849, Volume 10, page 259[https://books.google.com/books?id=-IpMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA169 Report on Fruits, September Show, Buffalo Horticultural Society], The Western Literary Messenger, October 6, 1847, page 169[https://books.google.com/books?id=eaUEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA377 The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and all Useful Discoveries], edited by Charles Mason Hovey, 1852, Volume 18 page 377[https://books.google.com/books?id=SAIfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA450 The Horticultural Review and Botanical Magazine], 1851, Volume 1, page 450[https://books.google.com/books?id=tvYZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5 Proceedings of the Second Congress of Fruit Growers], published by the National Congress of Fruit Growers and the American Pomological Society, 1852, page 5[https://books.google.com/books?id=SPlIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA330 The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and all Useful Discoveries], by Charles Mason Hovey, 1852, Volume 18, page 330[https://books.google.com/books?id=jT_OAAAAMAAJ&pg=PT340 Fruit Growers Society of Western New York], The Cultivator magazine, published by the New York State Agricultural Society, November, 1855

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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=4ftIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA430 Obituary of Lewis Eaton], published in The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and all Useful Discoveries, edited by Charles Mason Hovey, Volume 23, 1857, page 430

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state=New York |

district=12 |

before=Nathaniel Pitcher
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years=March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825}}

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Category:1790 births

Category:1857 deaths

Category:Town supervisors in New York (state)

Category:New York (state) sheriffs

Category:New York (state) state senators

Category:People from Duanesburg, New York

Category:Politicians from Buffalo, New York

Category:American militia generals

Category:New York (state) postmasters

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo)

Category:Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)

Category:Military personnel from Buffalo, New York

Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature

Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives