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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Baldwin, Simeon E.
Theophilus Eaton. . •
New Haven, 1907.

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From the IJbraty of
SIMEON B. BALDWIN, Y '61
Gift of his children
HELEN BALDWIN GILMAN
ROGER SHERMAN BALDWIN, Y •9»
'927 nmnsREssaflU

gaLgAiu'-aMrniflK-aaig

Theophilus Eaton
First Governor of the Colony of
New Haven

By SIMEON E. BALDWIN, LL.D.
Sometime President of the New Haven
Colony Historical Society and of
the American Historical Association

[From Advance Sheets of Vol. VIL of the Papers
of the New Haven Colony Historical Society]

NEW HAVEN
1907

Cini,2i3

THEOPHILUS EATON
FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE COLONY OF NEW HAVEN
By Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D.
[Read Jan. 31, 1901.]

Theophilus Eaton is one of the picturesque figures of
early New England.
Of the unique Colony of New Haveu, self-founded on a
self-constituted church, Davenport stood for one side of the
task of working out their ideal into living form, and Eaton for
another. Davenport was more than anyone else answerable
for the theocratic theory. Eaton was relied on to bind it to
earth in some practical way, — to see to it that the law they
had set up was not without its sanction.
He was not like Davenport, a university man. But he was
what counted for much more in the founder of a colony, — a
man of affairs, well acquainted with the great world. His
native faculties were good, and they had been quickened and
broadened by participation, from his earliest manhood, iu
large commercial concerns, and to some extent with those of
courts. He had not only traveled abroad, but he had lived
abroad for years, and under circumstances which gave him
ample opportunity to observe a form of government founded on
principles not unlike those of his own country, and yet combin
ing them with much more of those drawn from the Roman law.
In this, Davenport and he stx)od on similar ground. Daven
port had lived three years in Holland : Eaton had lived at least
as many in Denmark. But Eaton's participation in foreign
1

2 THEOPHILUS EATON.
life lind been more iutiinato nnd from a more advantagoouH
stnn(l])oint. It is tlio purpose of this paper to gather together such of
tho scattered bits of information to be found in the records of
tho seventeenth century regarding this leader in the beginnings
of New England histouy, as may best serve to throw light on
the character of the man, his personal surroundings, and his
training as an English merchant for his work as an American.
lie was born in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, the eldest
son of what was to be a family of nine children, in 1590.* Ili.'^
father, Eev. Richard Eaton, M.A., B.D., a graduate of Oxford
l.aiiversity, was then the parish clergyman there, but on Janu
ary 12(,]i of the following year hocaine vicar of the church of
tlio Holy Trinity in Coventry.
Trinity church, tliough not so beautiful as its neighbor, St.
]\Iichaorfi, is a slaloiy medieval edifice, the spire rising to a
lioight of 237 iiv\, iind tlio stone pulpit being ono of tlio iinost
in J'lngliind.
On !Alay 8, 1004, Mr, Eaton left Coventry, having bccoino,
l)y succession to his father, vicar of Great Budworth in
Cliesliiro, a large i)ariali, some twenty miles northeii.'it of
Chester, To this position was added in 1C07 that of a pre
bendary canon in Lincoln cathedral. f
While at school in Coventry, Theophilus became acquainted
with John Davenport, the son of one of his father's leading
])iiri.sli!onui's, a lad several years younger than hiniHolf,!!: but
whoso )'i,iinarkabl(3 al)ilil,i()H proHHod liiiii forward in liis HtU(li(;H
• Tills is tho dalo glvon by Mooro in IiIh xkduh of lliooinillus Eaton,
Now York Historical Collections, N. 8., Vol. II, 400. I regard it as the
most probahlo oiio, although ProfoHHor KingHloy in his lliHtoric.il Din-
ooiM-HO (p. 77) spoakH of hlni iw dying in tho 07Ui year of his ago, and
wo kno^v that tho dalo of hU death was January 7, 1068 (N. 8.). It is
orroncously onl«r«l as on tho night following the 7fch day of tho llth
month of 1050 (Jan. 7, 1057, N. S.) in the anoieat record of Birth's,
Mivrriaiges and Deaths in. New Haven, Vol. I., p. 6, MSS.
t N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., XXXVllI, 29.
t John Davenport was baptized April 9, 1597. N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg.,
XLI, 01.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 3
beyond those of his years, so that he was admitted to one of the
colleges of Oxford before he was fourteen.* It was probably
when his father removed to Great Budworth', a country parish,
in which Theophilus could hardly have pursued his education
to advantage, that the question was decided whether he should
be sent to the University, with a view to his ultimately entering
the church, as his parents wished, or, as he preferred, be allowed
to choose a business life. We know that he was apprenticed at
London, not far from this period in his career, and it is safe
enough to assume that he went up to tho capital for this purpose
in 1G04, when he was fourteen years old.
The term of apprenticeship to all trades and professions was
then seven years. That period of preparation was required
equally before the degree of master of arts could be received
from the University, and before the station of master in any
of the trades could be acquired.
Eaton's apprenticeship was, no doubt, to some London
merchant, and probably to one engaged in the Baltic trade,
under the auspices of the East-Land Company.f The costume
which he wore we can now often see on boys of the same age
in the streets of London, for it is still the dress of the scholars
at Christ Hospital. His master must have been a member of
one of the great livery companies of London (probably that of
the MercersJ), in which his apprentices, at tho end of
* Mather, Magnalia, Book III, Chap. IV. He finally entered Merton in 1013.
N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., XLI, 61.
¦)¦ Tradition calls an ancient volume, dated London, January 6, 1608, in
which the first New Haven records were entered, Grov. Eaton's ledger.
It contains mercantile accounts; probably those of his master. See
1 N. H. Col. Rec, iii. The entries cover January and February, 1608,
and are such as would be expected in a day-book. One page is marked
as if posted. The business of the merchant was apparently that of an
exporter. The goods described include the following: Kentish Cloth,
Quarteme Flax, woolen Stockingei Sheepes Leather, Welch Oottones,
Welch Rowlea, Lyme, Norridge Stuffs, Schott, Lambo Skinnes, ajid Pad-
lockes. X I hazard this conjecture on- account of (1) Eaton's subsequent employ
ment by the King of Denmark to buy woolen cloth for him in England,
as staled on p. 9 : (2) the fact that a search which I have had made in the
records of the Drapers' Company shows no entry of his name among the
freemen, and (3) from the entries in th6 day-book aboy« described.

4 THEOPHILUS EATON.
their service, would also have the right to be enrolled, and so to
become freemen of the city.*
Eaton, in due course, attained this dignity. Cotton Mather,
from whose Magnalia-\ most of our information about his
youth is derived, represents him at this period as a handsome
young follow, full of spirits, energetic, enterprising and indus
trious. He now erabarked in the Baltic trade. His father
was a man of some little means, owning two small places known
as Pow House and Poos House, in Over Whitley, a township
in Great Budworth, otherwise known as Higher Whitley, and
near the estate of Whitley Hall. Probably some capital or
credit was derived by young Eaton from this source, for we are
told that he soon became engaged in profitable trade as a mem
ber of the East-Land Company.
This was among the more important of the English commer
cial companies of the seventeenth century.:!; There were but
three of these organized on the basis of a joint stock, divided
into shares : the East India, Royal African and Hudson's Bay
Companies. The East-Land Company, or more properly "tho
Fellowship of East-Land Merchants," had been chartered by
Queen Elizabeth in 1579, as a "regulated" company. It had
ri'.' capital stock, except a small accumulation from entrance
fees ; but only those who had been admitted to its membership
could trade in the Baltic Sea, where it had in this way an abso
lute monopoly of English commerce. Its charter privileges
were confirmed by Charles I, in 1629, and enjoyed unimpaired
until 1673. § Each member traded on his own account, and
with his own capital, but in a measure under its favor and
protection. The management of all companies of this description was in a
go\'ernor, one or more deputy governors, and a court of
assistants. * Stubbs, Constitutional History, III, 695.
fBook II, Chap. IX.
f See "The Acts and Ordinances of the Eastland Company," Oamden
Publications, Royal Hist. Soc, 1906.
§ Anderson's Hist, of Commerce, II, 148, 292, 339, 521. It continued
in existence until the nineteenth century.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 5
It was not long before Eaton was elected deputy governor of
the East-Land Company, "wherein," says Mather, "he so
acquitted himself as to become considerable."*
His father, apparently, had now removed his family to Lon
don, and was residing in the heart of the old city in the parish
of St. Mary Woolchurch Haw. The church stood next to the
"Stocks-market," where the Mansion House is now, and derived
its name of Woolchurch Haw (that is, woolchurchyard) from
a beam or set of scales placed in the churchyard for weighing
wool.f Its records contain entries of his burial on July 20,
1G16, and of that of his son John, a few weeks later. His will
was also proved in London.
Theophilus Eaton spent a number of years in the north of
Europe at this period of his life. Probably ho was abroad
when his father died, for thougli he was tho solo executor of
the will, he did not offer it for probate until January 14,
1617.:!: Tho estate was a slender one for so large a faraily, and
Theophilus from this time contributed largely to the support
of his mother and the education of his younger brother and
sisters. §
He had become interested- in a young lady living in the same
parish, ]\Iiss Grace Hiller, but their engagement was deferred
until he should be in a better position to set up a separate estab
lishment. . This was not to be for three years, which tirae ho
spent in Denmark in mercantile pursuits. They were then
betrothed, and their marriage followed on December 3d, 1022. ||
Two days later his sister Hannah was also married in London
fcto Joseph Denman of the same parish, who had been one of the
witnesses to their father's will.
?In Trumbull's History of Connecticut (I, 94) this company is appar
ently confused with the East India company, and it is stated, probably
because of this error, that Eaton was three years in the Eaat Indies.
f Bailey, Antiquities of London, 162.
I A copy of the will, which has not been printed before, is appended
to this paper.
§ Mather's Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX.
I This and several other important events in Eaton's life were brought
to light by the personal researches of Professor F. B. Dexter, in parish
registers, who has kindly communicated them to me for use in this paper.

6 THEOPHILUS EATON.
It is probable that Eaton took his wife, at first, to Copen
hagen. He was entrusted with important concerns there, and
mingled in court circles.*
Mather tells us that "the King of England employed him as
an arjerd with tho liing of Denmark," and that in this capacity
"he much obliged and engaged, the East-Land Company, who,
in token thereof, presented his wife with a basin and ewer
double gilt and curiously wrought with gold, and weighing
above sixty pounds,''
This King of England was James I, whose wife's brother,.
Christian IV, was on the throne of Denmark. Not only family
tics, but religious sympathies kept these men in close touch
v/ith each other. Eaton first went abroad soon after the
Evangelical Union and the Catholic League took shape, and
when the adherents of each in various quai-ters were either
already engaging in active hostilities or on the brink of it.
Tho Thirty Years War was opened in 1018, when he was a man
of twenty-eight. It is probable that he was a resident of Copen
hagen, not fur from this period, and when that capital was the
scut of im]K)rtant di])loraatic negotiations. Tho relations of
England with tho Continent had become close in several
quarters. James I was the father-in-law of the Elector Pala
tine, who was crowned King of Bohemia in November, 1G19.
Four thousand English troops were sent to his assistance; but
a year later he was defeated at the battle of Prague.f Eivo
years afterwards Christian IV took command of the allied
Protestant armies against Austria, but surrendered it to the
stronger hand of Gustavus Adolphus in 1026.
Sir Eobert Anstruthor, a baronet of an ancient Yorkshire
family, was sent as the British ambassador to the Court of
Denmark in 1020, and remained there until 1029, when he
was transferred to Germany, appearing as the British ambassa
dor at the Diet of Ratisbon in 1030, where he went with a
"noble equipage."J In the meantime Charles I had ascended
the throne. This was in 1625, and Dr. Palfrey asserts in his
* Mather's Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX.
t Knight, Pop. Hist, of England, III, 377.
i Baker's Chronicle, 448.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 7
History of New England that Eaton was subsequently, sent as
his Minister to Denmark.*
This is inherently improbable. Eaton was not the kind of
man to attract the favor of Charles I. Nor was he of such
family or connections as to make it likely that he would be
chosen to succeed Sir Robert Anstruther.
It is almost certain that had .Eaton held so considerable a
diplomatic post, Mather would not have failed to notice it.
The materials for the Magnalia came in part from those to
whom Eaton was personally known. Particularly ' must this
have been true of his sketch of Eaton, for Rev. John Higginson
of Salem, who wrote the preface to the whole work, and vouches
for the general accuracy of its statements, was probably a con
nection of Eaton,t and must have been thrown into close rela
tion with him, while residing in New Haven Colony in early
manhood. To ascertain, however, if there was any foundation for Dr.
Palfrey's assertion, a recent search has been made in the State
Paper offices at London. The Patent Rolls Indexes were
examined between 1615 (12 James I) and 1636 (11 Charles
I), and also a number of bundles of letters and dispatches on
file among the Foreign Office Records, concerning the relations
of England with Denmark, and dating from 1603 to 1629.
The British consuls and agents concerned in this correspondence
were Messrs. Averie and Clarke, and General Morgan ; but no-
reference was f ounU to Theophilus Eaton, nor anything bearing
his signature. $
. These papers have not yet been calendared, and it is possible
that when this is done further information may corae to light.
The strong probability, however, is that Eaton's agency was for
James I, not Charles I, and was confined to commercial trans
actions incident to the beginning of the Thirty Years War.
This commenced with the insurrection of the Bohemians in
1618, and closed with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. At
its opening Denmark was in a prosperous financial condition.
England was then a borrower at that court, and obtained from
• i^ 303. t See p. 19.
X This wx>rk was done at my request by an experienced archivist,
Arthur F, Heintz, of St. Agnes, Fengates Road, Redhill, Surrey, in 1899.

8 THEOPHILUS EATOliT.
Christian IV one loan of 200,000 thalers and another of 100,-
000 in 1620 and 1621. They were on short time and bore
interest payable at Copenhagen semi-annually, at the rate of six
per cent. Sir Robert Anstruther negotiated them,* and a close
alliance was also arranged between the two powers. The treaty
executed for that purpose in July, 1621, was signed by quite a
number of high commissioners on the part of England, but
Eaton's name does not appear upon it.f
To provide for the repayment of the loans, and for the semi
annual interest, it would have been natural for James I either
himself to send English goods rather than English money to
Copenhagen, or to get funds from selling privileges for export
ing goods of a class which, except by special concession, could
not be taken out of the realm. To choose goods suitable for the
Danish market and dispose of them to advantage, or to find pur
chasers for such concessions, he would have had to avail himself
of the services of someone familiar with the Baltic trade. Such
a man was Eaton, and it is highly probable that his employ
ment was in this line, and perhaps also in buying and forward
ing military supplies to the Elector palatine. In any agency
of this kind he would have had frequent opportunities in char
tering or freighting ships, dealing with merchants and engaging
supercargoes, to make use of the facilities and connections of
the East-Land Company and throw profitable contracts in the
way of its merabers. For that he might properly have felt
unwilling to accept any compensation from the company, and,
if so, what more natural than that it should have made a hand
some present to his wife, — not improbably a wedding present,
upon his second marriage?
The pieces of plate thus given were apparently a pitcher and
wash-bowl, such as might be handed around for use by guests
after a meal or before taking their seats at the table. We read
of them in Don Quixote, and Shakespeare says :
"Let me attend him with a silver basin
Full of rose-water, and bestrewed with flowers."
•Rymer, Foedera, XVII, 255, 276, 315. f Ibid,, 305, 329.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 9
They were brought by the second Mrs. Eaton to New Haven,
and doubtless graced the governor's hospitable board on great
occasions. She claimed them as hers upon his death, and while
they were appraised at £40 in the Probate records, they were
not included in the inventory of his estate.*
We are told by Mather that, whatever the agency of Eaton
fov the English Court may have been, after it was concluded,
the King of Denmark was so much pleased with the manner in
which it had been conducted that he himself employed him in
his own service.
Through the kindness of Dr. A. Hindenburg, Legal Adviser
to the King of Denmark, and under the advice of Dr. Johannes
Stensstruyr, Professor of History in the University of Copen
hagen, a search was recently instituted by Mr. C. F. Bricka, the
Keeper of the Royal Archives (Rigsarkivet) at Copenhagen, to
learn what this employment was. This has resulted in giving
us one of the few exact dates that are known of events in
Eaton's early career.
On August 5th, 1624, Christian IV wrote to James I the
following letter :t "Regi Magnae Britanniae.
Fridericiburgi 5. augusti anno 1624.
CHRISTIANOS iv"" etc. serenissime princeps etc., S'""" V""" hisce
certiorem reddere uolumus, nos praesentium latorem Theophilum Eaton
pro negotiorum nostrorum gestore in S^' V™« regno oonstituisse, ipsique
in mandatis dedisse, ut imposterum ex clementissimo nostro praescripto,
nostrum in usum pro re nai^, uarias res ac meroes ibidem emere, ac
exinde transportationem earundem in regna nostra praemouere debeat,
prout humilime nobis eo sese obstrinxit. Quo igitur huic officio tanto
melius maiorique cum 'effectu uacare possit, a S'o V« peramice con-
tendimus, uelit ipsi non soluramodo gratia regia adesse, sed etiam legiti-
mis ad id requisitis medijs prospiccre, ne huius offioij ratione a quoquam,
in ooemendis et transportandis praedictis mercibus ipsi molestia uel
impedimentum creetur, uerum potias nostri respectu efficere, ut omni
auxilij fauorisque genere fruatur. Cum etiam inter alia ipsi dementis-
sime iniunxerimus, ut certam quantitatem panni nondum tincti, ad usum
* 1 New Haven Probate Records, MSS. 69 ; 2 N. H. Col. Reo.. 258.
t Calendared in the Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records
of Denmark for 1884, Appendix U, p. 48.

10 THEOPHILUS EATON.
nostrum singulis annis nobis mittat, a S" V'» itidem fraterne petimns
liuic nostro mandatario in eo, non solummodo fldem adhibere, sed ctiara
consensu suo hoc negocium facilius reddere uelit. Erit hoc amicitiae ac
fratcrnitatis, quo tam aictc utrimque douincimur uinculo, maxiine con-
Bcaitaneuni, dabimusque operam, ut pari gratificandi studio S^* Vr»»
oflloia nostra reipsa decloremus. Cui foelicissdma quaeque a Deo ter o. m.
hisce animitus comprecamur, Dabantur etc." *
This missive was evidently to be presented to James I by
Eaton, in person, and constitutes him factor or business agent
to make purchases in behalf of Christian IV, in Great Britain,
for shipment to Denmark. It will be observed that it speaks
particularly of his procuring annually a certain quantity of
cloth, not dyed, which may be taken as an indication that the
* [Translation.]
TO THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN
FREDEniOKSBUBG, August 5, 1024.
Chiistian IV, etc.
Most serene prince, etc.
By these presents we would inform your Majesty that we have con
stituted the bearer, Theophilus Eaton, as agent to conduct our business
in your Majesty's kingdom, and have given him in charge that according
to our most courteous directions, he should buy there for our use, as
occasion may arise, various things and merchandise and secure the tran.s-
portation of the same to our kingdoms, according as he hath most humbly
botuid himself to us in that behalf. In order that he may therefore
tho hotter and with greater effect be able to discharge this office, we urge
in tlie most friendly manner upon your Majesty, not only to be willing
to protect him by your royal grace, but also to provide by moans that
may bo legitimate and to that end requisite that, in respect to this office,
there be by no one any molestation or impediment created as to his
buying and transporting said merchandise, but rathor to provide in our
bclialf that he enjoy every kind of aid and favor. Since also among
oUior tlungs wo have most courUxiusly enjoined him that he send us
nnn\ially a certain quantity of undyod cloth for our use, wo fraternally
demand of your Majesty likewise not only to give faith to what our agent
nmy say, as to this, but also to be willing by your consent to render
this business tiie easier of accomplishment. This will be in the highest
degree correspondent to the friendship and fraternity by the bonds- of
which we have each been so strictly united; and we will take care that,
with a like zeal to gratify your majesty, we shall show forth our duties
to you, by actual deed.
To whom all that is most felicitous from God, thrice best and greatest,
we by these presents heartily pray. Given, etc,

THEOPHILUS EATON. 11
special line of trade in which Eaton served his apprenticeship
had to do with woolen cloths, and that he was, as I have already
suggested, of the livery of the Mercers Company. Woolen
goods were at this time the main subject of English commerce.
To protect their manufactures, a royal proclamation had been
issued two years before (1622), which forbade all exportation
of wool, but it was not strictly enforced. At another time,
James I had proclaimed a prohibition against exporting any
cloth not dyed, but tliis lasted only for a year. Most of the
English cloths during his reign were exported raw oi* undyed,
and it was goods of this kind that the Court of Denmark wished,
preferring probably to have them dressed and dyed in Holland,
where that art was best understood.*
The search through the Danish archives, to which allusion
has been made, extended to all documents, both local and per
taining to relations with the British Court, from 1623 to 1635,
but nothing further was discovered.
No doubt Eaton returned with this commission to England
in the summer of 1624, bringing his wife with him ; for their
first child, Elizabeth, was baptized in the parish of St. Nicholas
Acorns, Lombard Street, on September 19th of that year.
They probably returned to Copenhagen for a time, later, as no
record in any London parish has been found of the baptism
of their second child, Mary, which indicates that she was born
abroad. In March, 1625, James I died, and with that the
special protection which Eaton had secured under his letter
from Christian IV would naturally come to an end. The suc
ceeding winter found Mr. and Mrs. Eaton reestablished at
London, where she died early in 1626, the burial taking place
in her father's parish on February 27th.
Theophilus Eaton was now a prosperous London merchant,
and one, no doubt, of the "livery" of his city company, that
is, of a certain part of its members chosen for the purpose, and
who, on payment of a fixed fee, were entitled to wear the livery
Of the company, and to represent it at Guildhall in the election
• Hume's Hist, of England, III, 382, 383.

12 THEOPHILUS EATON.
of city sheriffs and the return of the two aldermen, from whom
the Lord Mayor is to be selected. In the debate at New Haven
in 1639 over the fundamental agreement concerning the civil
government of the plantation, his younger brother. Rev. Samuel
Eaton, objected to placing the privilege of suffrage in the
hands of church members alone. "Mr. Theophilus Eaton,"
says the record, "answered that in all places they choose com
mittees: in like manner the companies of London choose the
liveries by whom the public magistrates are chosen. In this
the rest are not wronged, because they expect in time to be of
the livery 1;hemselves, and to have the same power."* It can
hardly be doubted that, in' giving this illustration, he spoke from
personal observation and experience.
The vicarage of Great Budworth, from which he had come
up to the city when a boy, was in the diocese of Chester, and
Chester is but a few miles from Denbighshire in North Wales.
There had been the residence of David Yale, a gentleman of
ancient family, whose grandson was to give its name to our Uni-
%'ersity.t He died in 1617,1 leaving a widow with three, young
children. She was a daughter of Bishop Lloyd of Chester,
who had died two years before. Eaton had, no doubt, met her
in the coiirse of some of his visits at Great Budworth, and she
became his wife in 1627. §
His residence continued for a time to be in the parish of St.
Nicholas Acorns, where are registered the baptisms of his two
oldest children by this marriage: Samuol, on April 15, 1628,
and Snrah, on October 10, 1029.
Soon after the latter date, he removed to tho neighboring
parJMh of St. .Stephens, Coleman Street, of which his former
school-rnato, John Davenport, had been tho vicar since 1024.||
In this Coleman Street ward ho probably found a house better
•N. II. Col. Rec., I, 14.
N. II. Col. Hist. Soc. Papers, III, 228, IV, 186.
t T!ie Yale Family, 18.
g The date is put as 1618 in "The Yale Family," p. 18, but that hero
given may fairly be assumed from the other facts mentioned in this
paper. i XLI N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., 61.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 13
suited to his increased means and increasing family, for Stow
tells us that it contained many "fair and largo houses for
merchants." Nearby was Basing Hall (or Bakewell), the
great market and warehouse for woolen cloths.*
He was now a man of forty, and had brought to his new horae
two daughters by his first marriage, and a son and daughter by
his second, besides his three step-children. Each of the latter
had an income of twenty pounds a year" under the will of their
grandfather, David Yale, LL.D., who had been vicar general
of the diocese of Chester, and died in 1626. f
Sorrow soon carae to darken Eaton's household. One child
by each marriage was taken away, his first-born dying of the
plague. Mary Eaton was attacked by it at the sarae tirae, but
recovered. J
His position in business was now established. He was recog
nized as a leader in trading circles in the first trading center of
the world. But he was nevertheless becoraing dissatisfied with
his surroundings.
The change of kings had brought a new atmosphere upon the
city. The stream of emigration towards New England had
begun to flow, and Eaton early showed his interest in this move
ment by entering into the plans of Rev. John White, a Puritan
clergyman of Dorchester (England), for promoting a new set
tlement north of Plymouth for the better propagation of reli
gion. § With this view, in 1627, he joined with Sir Richard
Saltonstall and others in buying up the grant of that year made
by the Council of Plymouth to Sir .Henry Rosewell and others
of Massachusetts Bay, and in the year following (March 4th)
• London under Elizabeth, 275, 274, 379. Bailey, Antiquities of London,
183, 184.
f Pictorial History of Raynham, 48.
X Mather's Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX. The parish registers of St.
Stephens show the burial of three children: Elizabeth, Sept. 8th, 1630,
Jonathan, July 2d, 1634, and Elizabeth, March 15th, 1637. Pict. Hist, of
Raynham, 48. It is probable that the second Elizabeth was th© daughter
baptized Sarah (perhaps Sarah Elizabeth), and that on th© death of
her elder sister, her name waa changed, so as to keep one Elizabeth in the
family, that being the name of Eaton's mother.
§ M^nalia, Book I, Chap. IV, § 8.

14 THEOPHILUS EATON.
became one of the patentees under the royal charter (of March
4, 1629) for the Massachusetts company,* contributing £100
towards the expense of procuring the grant, f He took an
active share in the organization of the company. On March 5th
he was named on an important comraittee, and on May 13th was
chosen one of the Court of Assistants, or as we should say, board
of directors.:]: Jolm Davenport was also ono of those who had
l)Ut money into tho coihpany, and was deeply interested in its
S1K'('(!H8. These men did not all join the enterprise from the sarae
cause. Sorae were actuated by religious zeal, and others by
motives of commercial speculation. The former, says Johnson,
in his early chronicle of Ncav England, styled the "Wonder
working Providence," joined "themselves with merchants and
others, who had an eye at a profitable plantation, who had not
herein been deceived, would they have st5.yed their time."§ It
seems probable that Eaton bought into the company from both
motives; but at this time he was not contemplating a removal
to Now England, nor yet in favor of the project of transferrin,^
the govcrniiioiit of tho corporation thoro.|| On August 28,
1029, tlio question of this transfer was brought directly before
the Coui't of Assistants. A committee of seven was appointed
to rejiort upon its expediency, the next morning. Four of the
members, Mr. Nathaniel Wright, Mr. Eaton, Mr. Thomas
Ada'ms and Mr. Spurstowe, were to prepare arguments against
it : the other three. Sir .Richard Saltonstall, Mr. Isaac Johnson
and Captain John Venn, were to prepare arguments for it. oach
side being at liberty to call to their assistance such others as
they pleased.
It is not improbable that we have in a document by some
attributed to Winthrop and by others to Rev. Francis Higgin
son,^ which has been preserved for us by Hutchinson, part of
* Records of Massachusetts, I, 6.
f Bacon's Iliut. Discourses, 82, n.
,' i Reo. of Mass., I, 30, 40, 44.
S XII MaHS. Hist. Soc. CoU., 64.
' 1 Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX, § 6.
^r Sec T. W. Iligginson's Life of Francis Higginson, Chap. IV, in
which this paper is given entire.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 15
the arguments produced upon this occasion. It is entitled
"Generall considerations for the plantation in New England,
with an answer to several objections," and certainly carae froiri
the hand of some one deeply interested in this project, and
gifted with great powers of reasoning and expression. Its stylo
and tone point strongly to Winthrop as its author,* and it
would have been natural for Sir Richard Saltonstall and Isaac
Johnson to call on him for aid in stating their side of the case.
Higginson had left England for Salem in the preceding spring,
and the paper was not one which he would have been likely to
prepare 'before his departure, which was a sudden affair, taking
place in April, within a month after his invitation from the
company to go out with the Endicott colony.
The report of the committee was presented to a General
Court of the company at London, on August 29th (1029), and
debated at length. The result was a vote to transfer the patent
and with it the seat of government to New England. To
accomplish this, however, was found to require a definite agree- ,
ment between- the two classes of the "adventurers here at homo
and the planters that are to go over," and it was not till Octobei"
20th that the terms were satisfactorily arranged.! On that
day a new set of officers was "elected, headed by John Winthrop
as govemor. Eaton's name appears on the list of the eighteen
assistants, as one of the eight last named, none of whom were,
or probably ever had any intention of being, of the party of
emigrants that set sail with the charter in the following spring.
They were chosen, nO doubt, simply to fill out the board tempo
rarily, with no view of their qualifying by taking the required
oath of office, their omission to . do which would create eight
vacancies to be filled by the election of suitable persons araong
those actually resident in Massachusetts.. Eaton was, however,
* It is written from the standpoint of an English gentleman of inde-'
pendent fortune, and speaks scornfully of the. Southern plantations,
already osUblished, as in the hands of "the very scum of the land." It
was in this light that Winthrop regarded the Virginians,, whom he
speaks of in his History of New England as "usually drunken."
t Sherman, Governmental History of the United States, 242, 243.

16 THEOPHILUS EATON.
the owner of a sixteenth part of the ship Eagle, which the
company bought for the voyage, and re-named the Arbella, m
honor of Lady Arbella Johnson, the wife of one of the assist
ants, who went on board of her.* He was also one of a com
mittee of ten of the "undertakers" in the enterprise, chosen
December 1, 1629, to manage the joint stock for seven years.f
For some years more Eaton was to remain in London, living,
as MatherJ assures us, as a "merchant of great credit and
fashion." The son of a canon of Lincoln, and the husband of
a bishop's daughter, his family connections, not less than the
relations he had himself maintained with the sovereign^ of two
kingdoms, must have made him one of the .leaders ^ in the society
of the city. About this time, his step-mother. Aim Yale,
became the wife of Edward Hopkins, a prosperous Turkey
merchant, § whose uncle. Sir Henry Lello of Ashdon, held the
lucrative sinecure offices of Warden of the Fleet prison, and
keeper of the Palace of Westminster. 1 1
For the times Eaton might be reckoned a rich man. It was
not a day of great fortunes in the city. That did not set in
until toAvards the close of the century. At the accession of
William and Mary there were on the London Exchange more
merchants worth £10,000, than at the beginning of the Com
monwealth there were those worth £1,000.^ Eaton rated his
estate in the tax-roll of the early New Haven planters at £3,000.
This could not have included any of his real estate in England,
and we know that he continued to be a landowner there through
out his life. It is not likely, either, that it embraced all his
other property. That he had, after his removal from London, '
some business interests there may safely be inferred from the
fact that his younger brother, Nathaniel Eaton, the first
* Mather, Magnalia, Book I, Chap. V; 1 Palfrey, Hist, of N. E., 811;
Atwater, Hist, of New Haven Colony, 51.
fRoc. of Ma.sa. Bay Co., I, 05.
X Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX.
§ Hutehinson's Hist, of Mass. Bay, I, 82.
N. E. Hist, and Gen. Register, XXXVIII, 313.
1[ Hume, Hist, of England, IV, 477.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 17
teacher* at what afterwards grew to be Harvard College, got
£100 in August, 1039, from a Boston merchant for his draft
for that sum on John Hobson, a merchant in Coleman Street,
London, accompanied by a letter of advice to the latter, to the
effect that he would receive an order from Theophilus Eaton for
its discharge. Theophilus, however, refused to give any such
order, and no doubt it was a fraudulent trick of Nathaniel (who
was the black sheep of the family) for borrowing on his
brother's credit, f
If Eaton was worth, as is probable, something 'like four
thousand pounds when he left England, it was a fortune corre
sponding to one of over $100,000 at the present time, considered
in relation to the purchasing power of money, the scale of liv
ing, and the general averages of mercantile capital actively
employed. The houses of London, when Eaton lived there, were gen
erally of wood and plaster. It was not till after the great fire
of 1066 that they were replaced with brick and stone. $
Tradesmen lived over their shops. A house suitable to Eaton's
position could probably have been hired for £50 a year. A
staircase up which two people could go abreast was deemed a
large one.§ The houses were closely crowded together, so that
in St. Stephen's parish there were fourteen hundred com
municants. ||
It is probable that Eaton lost rather than made money by his
investments in the Massachusetts Bay Company. We next hear
of him in connection with its affairs, when the Quo Warranto
proceedings were brought in 1635 to vacate the charter, by an
indictment against him and twenty-three others jointly as being
associated under it. The usurpations charged were the trans-
* Timothy Farrax (as Quidem, ig-notus) styled him the "First President
of Harvard College." A professor he certainly was. Am. Antiquarian
Soc'y Proc, VI, N. S., 323, 335; N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., IX, 269.
t Lechford's Note Book, 177, 147, 123.
X Macaulay, Hist, of England, I, 364, 366.
§ Ashton, Social life in the Reign of Queen Anne, 48.
1 Atwater, Hist, of New Haveij Colony, 82.
2

18 THEOPHILUS EATON.
fer of the government to New England, and the extent of the
civil authority there set up, extending - en to sentences of life
and death. At the Michaelmas Term in that year, he appeared
in the Court of King's Bench and entered a disclaimer, that is,
made no claim, so far as he was concerned, that the proceedings
complained of were warranted by the charter ; and a judgment
of ouster was rendered in favor of the crown.*
In taking this course, Eaton simply bowed to the storm.
There had been no parliament for six years. The monarchy
seemed fast becoming an absolute one. Ship laoney had
already been demanded from the city of London, f A patent
had been issued during the preceding year to Archbishop Laud
and others, giving them .a broad authority over all the Ameri
can colonies, which extended to directing the revocation of their
charters or the removal of their governors. :j: It was useless to
try to defend charters in court, when, if the defence were main
tained, they could be annulled out of court.
A younger brother of Eaton, whom he had helped through
Cambridge University, had taken orders, a few years before
this time, and soon identified himself with the Puritan move
ment. In 1032 he was committed to Newgate by Archbishop
Laud as a dangerous schismatic, and after procuring bail, no
doubt in the person of Theophilus, had forfeited it early in the
next year. England was now no safe place for him, and he
naturally looked towards New England, to which one of his com
panions in prison. Rev. John Lathrop, had already escaped. §
No doubt his influence had something to do with determining
Theophilus to join Davenport in the settlement of a new planta
tion here. It was certainly iiot long before the party was made
up that Theophilus made up his mind to be one of it.||
In 1637, both brothers, and probably Nathaniel Eaton also,
crossed the sea. Nathaniel, then twenty-eight years old,^ who
• N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., XXXVIII, 205.
t Entinok, Hist, and Survey of London, II, 140.
X See copy of this commission, dated April 28, 1684, in Proceedings of the
Am. Antiquarian Society, XIII, N. S., 218.
§ Atwater, Hist, of New Haven Colony,, 37, 38.
j Mather, Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX.
1[N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., XL, 294.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 19
had been educated under Rev. Dr. William Ames in Holland*
and had somewhere procured the degree of Master of Arts,t
was at once engaged to superintend the erection of the college
building at Cambridge, in which, as soon as built, he was
established as the instructor. Subsequently he settled in Vir
ginia, and in 1642 was a minister there of the Church of
England. t
Samuel brought with him quite a library, one of the volumes
being Sir Thomas More's Utopia ;§ for were they not, to set up
in very truth the ideal commonwealth founded on virtue and
religion, of which More had dreamed ?
It is probable that a relative had preceded them across the
Atlantic, in the person of Mrs. Ann Higginson, the widow of
Rev. Francis Higginson, though it is now certain that the tradi
tion that she was a sister of Theophilus Eaton was incorrect. |!
Her oldest son. Rev. John Higginson, now nearly twenty-one
years old, was chaplain of the fort at Saybrook, and a resident
of Connecticut, but undoubtedly met the Eatoiis soon after their
arrival in Boston, near which he spent some time that summer
as stenographer to the Synod of Cambridge, of which Davenport
was a member.
With Theophilus Eaton came his wife and children, includ
ing his two step-sons. The elder of these, David Yale, had
apparently been already established as a merchant in London,
for he is described as such in a power of attorney in his favor,
executed early in 1640,^ while in June, 1641, in a similar
» Hutchinson, Hist, of Mass. Bay, I, 91, note.
t Lechford's Note Book, 147. Probably from the University of Franoker,
where Dr. Ames was a professor. N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., V, 15.
X N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., XL, 294,
§N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Papers, VI, 312.
II Professor Dexter's discovery of the record of the marriage of Hannah
Eaton to Joseph Denman in 1622, and (in the register of St. Nicholas
Acorns) of his death on November 15th, 1625, ha;s been supplemented by
proof of her second marriage with Robert Parke, given by the will of
Rev. Samuel Eaton, made in 1664. Earwaker, "Ea*t Cheahire," II, 34;
N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Papers, III, 228.
TfLcchford, Note Book, 232.

20 THEOPHILUS EATON.
document, he was styled "David Yale merchant, and resident
in Boston."* Edward Hopkins also was one of the party, but'
like David Yale, soon left it, probably disapproving their plan
of setting up a theocratic government, in which citizenship was
founded upon membership in the church.
Governor Winthrop, in his History of New England,! in
mentioning the arrival of the shipsj in 1637 in which Eaton
and Hopkins came, speaks of them as "two merchants of Lon
don, men of fair estate, and of great esteem for religion, and
wisdom in outv/ard affairs." §
It was Eaton's hope to found a commercial city, and he soon
voyaged southward to seek a convenient harbor for such a pur
pose, and, says Hubbard, the explorers "pitched on a place
called Quillipiuk, which is a pleasant land lying on both sides
of the mouth of a small river, where it makes a bay of some
miles in length and proportionably broad."^ They had had
enough of narrow and crooked streets in London. Nothing
could have been more suitable for a trading port and market
town than the half-mile square which they laid out into nine
smaller squares, the streets (State and George), which bounded
it on two sides, running on the banks of navigable creeks, and
meeting at a point opposite the center line of the main harbor.
Coming, as raost of the leaders did, from London, they naturally
built their houses in city fashion, quite close to each other, so
that the lot of each was hardly larger than might serve for a
garden and a barnyard. The central square was reserved from
tho first for a market place and site for public buildings, and
Eaton probably thought it would not be long before warehouses
and shops would begin to surround it. Other plantations were
•Lech ford, Note Book, 224.
f I, 228 : Ilnbbard copies thia substantially In his History ; XV Mass,
Hist. Soc'y Coll., 262.
X One, the Hector, Hubbard describes a« a "stately ship."
§ In the tax levy voted by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay
colony on March 12, 1638, Theophilus Eaton is taxed for £20 out of an
entire levy of £1,500. He is not named as of any town and is the only
individual named in the Ust, the rest being towns. Records of the Colony
of Mass. Bay, I, 225. Bond, Gen. and Hist, of Watertown, 983, 984.
1[ Hist, of New England; XV Mass. Hist. Soo. Coll., 241, 818.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 21
contemplated and were soon made on either side, at Milford
and Guilford. Hartford and the adjacent river towns were
already established. The Connecticut river was not navigable
by large vessels, and the merchants who established themselves
here hoped that the commercial facilities of the port would
make Quinnipiac serve as a seat of trade for a considerable dis
trict of territory, including the opposite shores of Long Island.
Coming here with these ideas, Eaton and his company built
residences for themselves on the streets of the infant cjty of a
style quite beyond what was really justified by their means and
prospects. His own house was the best, and its size is shown by
the fact that it contained nineteen fireplaces.* Apparently
it was built in the manner common of late years, but almost
unknown in New England for the century and a half preced
ing, with a large hall at the entrance, which served as the
principal parlor, and might be used also on occasion as a dining-
room. This was furnished with elegance. There were high
chairs and low chairs, long forms with green cushions, an
embroidered easy chair, several tables and a Turkey carpet.
On one side, probably in a wing, was his counting house, and
library, or study. The chambers were known by the color of
their decoration and furnishings. There was the green cham
ber and the blue; each with appropriate hangings. In the
green chamber was a broad window seat, probably in an oriel
or bay, with its long green cushion, and several smaller ones.
What remained in the house at the Governor's death, after
twenty years of wear and tear, and when his fortune had become
considerably impaired, as we find it described in the inventory
of his estate in pur old court records,! shows how handsome an
• See a cut of it in Lambert's History of the Colony of 'Neiv Haven,
p. 52 (copied in "Connecticut at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition" in
1904, 203), and a suggested restoration of the interior in Isham and
Brown's Early Connecticut Houses, pp. 97, et seq,
t 1 N. H. Probate Bee. MSS., 69, Bacon's Hist. Discourses, 856. It
mentions a dozen tablecloths, besides two great damask ones, and over
ten dozen napkins, eighteen of them damask. Gov. John Winthrop, Jr., soon
after Eaton's death, desired to buy the lineui pewter, cushions, chairs, and
stools. Se© letter to him from Rev. John Davenport of Sept. 19, 1659, in
"Th© Davenport Family," Suppl. Ed., 836.

22 THEOPHILUS EATON.
establishment must have been that in which he first set up
housekeeping in the new world.
Hubbard, a contemporary, in his history of New England
tells us that the New Haven planters laid out too much "in
building of fair and stately houses, wherein they at the first
outdid the rest of the country."* Johnson, another historian
who must have known Eaton personally, says, in his "Wonder
working Providence," that New Haven was found by those who
planted it "a fit place to erect a Towne, which they built in
very little time with very faire houses, and compleat streets;
but in a little time they overstocked it with Chattell, although
many of them did follow merchandizing and Maritime affairs,
but their remoteness from the Massachusetts Bay, where tho
chiefe traffique lay, hindered thera much."t
In Boston, the metropolis of the Bay, and, as Mather called
it, of English America, a contemporary chronicler tells us that
there were not, in 1075, so many as twenty houses of more thaa
ten rooms, and he also states that at that time there was but
one in New England having over twenty. J Eaton's, with its
nineteen fireplaces, probably still remained the largest that was
to be found east of the Hudson river.
He built on the north side of Elm Street, about where the
warehouse of Parker & Co. now stands, § and alraost opposite
to him rose the spacious residence of John Davenport, which
President Stiles, who went over it, describes as having thirteen
fireplaces. Eastward from these two house-lots . the ground
sloped down to the East creek, part of the bed of which still
remains in the shape of the railroad cut. The road to Hart
ford, a bridlepath through the woods, began somewhere near
the junction of State and Grove Streets. Edward Hopkins,
who in 1640 became governor of Connecticut, often rode down
from there to see his New Haven relations, and long after his
?Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., XV, 334. Cf. ib., 327.
t Ibid:, VII, 2d series, 7.
X N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., XXXVIII, 379.
§ The late Dr. Chas. A. Lindsley told me that in digging the cellar of that
building, traces of an ancient cellar were discovered.

THEOPHILUS EATON, 23
return to England spoke with feeling of the hearty welcome he
was always sure of receiving from Governor Eaton, who would
walk down Elm Street to meet him as he saw him approaching.*
Eaton's household was, at first, a large one. It certainly
comprised his wife, his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Eaton, his only
surviving child by his first marriage, Mary Eaton, then (1638)
about thirteen years old, and three children by his second mar
riage, Samuel, now a boy of ten, Theophilus three years
younger, t and Hannah, a child of five.:}: Probably Thomas
Yale also lived with him until his marriage, and David Yale
during the brief period that he was in New Haven. There were
two or three maids and a man-servant, besides a tenant farmer.
To preside over the domestic concerns of such a family, which
the presence of visitors sometimes ran up to thirty in number,§
was no small "task for the mistress of the house. Mrs. Eaton is
described by Mather as having been a prudent and pious
woman; but the strain upon her was too great. Her temper
soured ; she became dissatisfied with the life she led ; fell into
the condition that is sometimes politely called nervousness ; and
was a disturbing element in house and church alike. Madam
Eaton, after a few years, thought it best to withdraw and set
up a separate establishment; and she had previously suffered
great discomfort and even indignity, at the hands of her daugh
ter-in-law. These things must have sadly jarred upon Governor Eaton.
Misunderstandings and estrangements followed at home, and in
the church Mrs. Eaton was brought to a trial, resulting in a
formal admonition from the pastor and finally in her excom
munication. ||
When his younger daughter was ten or twelve, she found a
friend of about her own age in a ward of Govemor Hopkins,
* Mather, Magnalia, Book II, Chap. VII, §7.
t Baptized March 11, 1631, in St. Stephen's, Coleman St.
t Baptized there, October 6, 1632.
§ Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX, §7.
[ Papers of the New Haven Col. Hist. Soc'y, V, 133} New Haven Col.
Rec, I, 268-270.

24 THEOPHILUS EATON.
who was for a time* a member of the Eaton family. This was
Mary Launce, a granddaughter of the Earl of Rivers, and the
daughter of a Puritan gentleman having an estate in Cornwall
with a rent roll of £1,400 a year. She afterwards married
Rev. John Sherman of Watertown, and brought him twenty
children, t While in New Haven, she apparently acted as a
sort of lady's maid, first to Mrs. Eaton and then to Madam
Eaton, after the ancient fashion of sending gentlemen's sons to
serve as pages in noble houses, and so the better to learn the
manners of polite society.^
How to give his son, Samuel Eaton, a proper education must
have been to the Governor a matter of anxious thought. The
first building of Harvard College was put up at about the time
of the planting of Quinnipiac, in 1638, but its management was
in the hands of Nathaniel Eaton, and the two brothers had
probably already begun to draw apart. Theophilus had, a. few
months previous, put a son of one of his friends, Nathaniel
Rowe, under the charge of Nathaniel, and it had proved of no
benefit to him. Young Rowe, in a letter to Governor Winthrop,
written a year or so later, alludes to the life that would be
open to him at "Quille-piacke" (i. e. New Haven) in which his
father had an interest, as one of clearing up ground or hoeing
crops, and it was probably between work of this sort and study
ing under his uncle Samuel and Mr. Davenport that young
Samuel Eaton was then dividing his time.§ It had been his
• Mather, Magnalia, Book III, Chap. 29, §11 ; Papers of the New
Haven Col. Hist. Soc'y, V, 140-142. Styling her plain Mary Launce in
the narrative of Mrsr. Eaton's trial, precisely as was done in tho case
of Anna Eaton, shows that they were both young girls. Mary Launce
was probably a' little the elder. She was married about 1647, and lived
till 1710. President Stiles speaks of her as born in Gov. Eaton's house.
History of Three of the Judges, etc., 63.
f Bond, Hist, of Watertown, 432. Mather, Magnalia, Book III, Cliap. 29,
§11. X Thus the mother-in-law of Gov. Wyllys, by the will of her father,
one of the landed gentry of Gloucestershire, was to be maintained by his
e.vocutrix, but if she were mlling to be in service, w'as then to receive
£6. 13s. 4rf. a year "for her better mayntenance." N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg.,
LIII, 222.
§ Atwater's Hist, of New Haven Colony, 535.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 25
father's purpose to educate him for the church, but his health
now seemed to forbid. He became subject to a severe cough,
and fear of his sinking into consumption no doubt made them
keep him as far as possible in the open air. It may be that
he was sent off on some of the trading voyages to the West
Indies, in which his father was interested during the first years
of the plantation, and that the career then marked out for him
was a commercial one. At a later period (1654)* we know
that he was appointed by the colony to go to Delawan'e and
report on the prospects of success, were a trading establishment
to be set up there. We must remember, to quote again from
Hubbard, that "the main founders of New Haven were men of
great estates, notably well versed in trading and merchandising,
strongly bent for trade, and to gain their subsistence that way,
choosing their seat on purpose thereunto."! The loss of the
Fellowship in 1646 probably extinguished the last hopes of
success ' in commercial ventures having their seat at New
Haven. In Governor Eaton's will, he styles himself "some
time of London, merchant, now planter in New Haven in New
England.''^ It was mainly as a planter that he had been living
since the first half-dozen years after the settlement at Quin
nipiac. Samuel Eaton's health had improved so far by 1645 that it
was thought practicable to send him to Cambridge to complete
his education. Harvard College was now on a respectable
foundation, and there he went, to graduate in a class of five
in 1649. A charter for the institution was granted the next
year by the General Court of Massachusetts. In this its imme
diate government and direction were confided to the President,
five Fellows and the Treasurer, and with them it remains to
this day. Samuel Eaton, though then but twenty-two years of
age, was named in this instrument as one of the first Fellows.
This could not have been intended as a mere compliment to a
neighboring colony, for shortly after this appointment he took
up the work of teaching at the college and continued it for two
• 2 N. H. Col. Rec, 129.
f Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., XV., 321.
X Bacon's Hist. Discourses, 354.

26 THEOPHILUS EATON.
years. Tlien he returned to New Haven, and his father had
tho pleasure of seeing him elected a magistrate in 1654. Not
long afterwards (November 17, 1054*) he was married at New
Haven to Mrs. Mabel (Harlakenden) Haynes of Hartford,
whose first husband. Gov. John Hajmes, had died on the first of
the preceding March. She was then forty years old and had a
son of sixteen, about to enter Harvard College,! and two daugh-
ters.$ Similarity in station and culture was evidently more
regarded than similarity of age.
Second marriages among Americans in those days were
almost a matter of course, and there was no long period of
widowhood. Society had no place for women living by them
selves. It was too rough a world for comfort, and perhaps for
security, in such a condition.
While visiting in Hartford in the following spring, § Mr. and
Mrs. Eaton were both attacked by an infectious disease develop
ing into a malignant fever, of which she died shortly after their
return home in July, 1055, he following her to the grave two or
three days later. ||
• 1 New Haven, Births, Marriages and Deaths, MSS. 4.
\ Rev. Joseph Haynes, A.B. Harv., 1658.
X Rev. John Higginson, in writing in October, 1654, of the engagement
which preceded this marriage says that Mr. Eaton "is to marry Mrs.
Ilaynes, one much elder than him.self." Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Ill, 320.
An original portrait of her which had been preserved at the family seat, iu
Earl's Colne, Essex, is now owned by Anson Phelps Stokes of New York, one
of her descendants. She was a lineal descendant of William the Conqueror,
the lino being as follows: William the Conqueror, HeniT' I, Matilda,
Countess of Anjou, wife of GeofTrey Plantagenet, Heiiiy II, John, Henry
III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward TII, Jolm of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster,
Jane de Beaufort, wife of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, Roderick
Neville, Earl of Salisbury, Alice Neville, wife of Henry, Lord Fitzhugh,
Alice Fitzhugh, wife of Sir John Fiennes, Knt., Thomas Fiennes, Lord
Dacre, Katherine Fiennes, wife of Richard Loudenoys, Maiy Loudeuoys,
wife of Thomas Harlakenden, Roger Harlakenden of Earl's Colne, Essex,
Richard Harlakenden of Staples Inn, Mabel Harlakenden. See the Lou
denoys Pedigree, Harl. MSS. British Museum, 6065 foi. 76, 8, and the
Oxenbridge Pedigree, 8 Sussex Arch. Coll. Through Lady Dacre^ who was
Anne Bouchier, Mabel Harlakenden was also descended from Louis VIII
of France.
§ Bacon's Hir.t. Discourses, 369 ; Mather, Magnalia, Book II, Chap. IX, §9.
I The Connecticut Magazine, XI, 32.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 27
In a letter Avritten the month before his marriage by tho
pastor of the church at Guilford, it is stated that "the eyes and
thoughts of many in New Haven are upon him to choose him
into office in the" church, should, as was then feared, Mr.
Davenport and Mr. Hooke both return to England.*
The death of this son was a sad blow to Governor Eaton, and
it was one of a long line of adversities, public and private, that
had come to darken his later years. His mother had passed
away not long before. His daughter, Mary, was married and
living at a distance from New Haven, f His son, Theophilus,
had probably by this- time fallen into financial difficulties and
gone to Ireland. J Governor Hopkins and David Yale had
returned to England. The colony was but a feeble one. The
confederation of New England, on which it had relied for sup
port against the attacks of the Dutch and Indians, was proving
of little service. New Haven and Connecticut both felt that
Massachusetts had deserted them, in the hour of danger, in
flagrant violation of the articles of confederation, so that they
were left to contend with the Dutch and Indians alone. § The
church at Hartford had fallen into a serious dissension. || That
at New Haven was threatened with the loss of both pastor and
teacher. But whoever else of the colonists might go back to
their native land, now a commonwealth, little less free than
New England herself, Eaton was determined to stand firm.
To Governor Hopkins he once said that he had never had
a repining thought about his coming to New England.^f
"Methinks," said his wife to him, on the night before his
death, as he stood by her sick-bed, "you look sad." "The dif
ferences," he answered, "risen in the church of Hartford make
me so." "Let us even go back to our native country again,"
was her reply. "You may," said he, "but I shall die here.

**

?Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Ill, 320.
fWife of Valentine Hill of Boston) afterwards of Ezekiel Knight of
Wells, N. H. LII N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., 276.
X Baeon's Hist. Discourses, 356,
§ Trumbull's Hist, of Conn., I, 219.
[ Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., II, 54,
H Magnalia, Book II, Chap. VII, §6.
•?/d., Chap. IX,. § IV.

28 THEOPHILUS EATON.
A few hours later the end came, and four days afterwards,
on January 11, 1658, at two o'clock in the afternoon,* he was
buried on New Haven Green ; the colony meeting the expense
of a public funeral, and afterwardsf putting up a handsome
monument over his grave.
The inscription, which, as it was not settled upon until three
years after he had passed away, certainly expressed the delib
erate judgment of those who knew him best, familiar as it is,
must be repeated once more :
"Eaton so fam'd, so Avise, so meek, so just.
The Phoenix of our world here hides his dust.
This name forget New England never must." |
If the highest use of life is to sacrifice it, Theophilus Eaton
made good use of his. He founded a free state, — a state which,
if absorbed into another, carried into the institutions of that
much that has been enduring and valuable, and left its name
to what is already a great city, and will be a greater one, — a
city two-thirds as populous now as was the London of his day.§
Nor, like too many of the leaders in new paths, did he die
before his services and sacrifices could be rated at their true
worth. In the colonial literature, meagre and rough, but true
and honest, of his day, he had found a place. Three years
before his death, Johnson had published in London his
"Wonder-working Providence," with this rude but heartfelt
apostrophe to the founder of New Haven:
"Thou noble, thus Theophilus, before great kings to stand;
More noble far, for Christ-his war thou leav'st thy native land.
With thy rich store, thou cam'st on shore Christ's churches to assist;
What if it waste? Thou purchast hast that pearl that most hav© niist."1i^
Early in the summer following her husband's death, Mrs.
Eaton returned to England, probably to take up her residence
"¦ 1 N. H. Rec. Births, Marriages and Deaths, MSS. 6.
t 2 N. H. Col. Rec, 408.
X Kingsley's Hist. Discourses, 77.
§ Entinck, Hiat. and Survey of London, II, 183.
•[ Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., VII, 2d Series, 8.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 29
on some of her dowe'- lands in Great Budworth ; for the records
of Chester cathedral show that she died not long afterwards,
while residing at Seven Oaks in that parish.*
She sailed from Boston, and by vote of the particular Court
at New Haven, held on June 10, 1058, "it was committed to
the townsmen to provide her at the toAvn charge a footman to
attend her to the Bay."t A proposition was made at the same
time to send also a mounted escort to protect her from the
Indians, but this was laid over for future consideration^ and
receives no further mention in the records. She took her
daughter, Hannah, with her, who soon returned to spend tho
rest of her life here as the wife of Governor Jones. $ The
ophilus Eaton remained in Ireland, where his descendants are
still to be found. §
It has not been the purpose of this paper to trace in detail
the public services of Governor Eaton. He brought the scat
tered plantations together as a single government. He framed
its code of laws. He helped to form that Oonfederation of the
United Colonies of New England which was the prototype of
the confederation of the United States of America of the suc
ceeding century. He inspired, to a large extent, the foreign
policy of this alliance, and conducted important negotiations
with the Dutch at New Amsterdam. More truly than Louis
XIV could say of France "L'Etat, c'est moi," Eaton could
have declared that he was New Haven. While Davenport
shared the woi'k of planning it, it fell to Eaton, almost unaided,
to conduct its affairs.
He had omitted any provision for juries in drafting the
Colony Laws, on account of his preference for the methods of
trial with which he had become familiar during his life in
Europe. II This threw a double duty on the magistrates, and of
that the lion's share rested on the shoulders of the presiding
* Pict. Hist, of Raynham, 48.
1 2 N. H. Rec, MSS. 1649-1662 (in town clerk's office), 250.
t She died May 4, 1707, a few months after her husband. I New Haven
MSS. Reo. of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 98.
§ Pict. Hist, of Raynham, 47.
I Hubbard, Gen. Hist. XV Mass. Hist. Soo. Coll., 820, 821.

30 THEOPHILUS EATON.
judge. That it was a burden, he was well fitted to sustain we
may be sure from this vivid portraiture of him, drawn by a
contemporary to whom he must have been personally known :
"He had an excellent princely face and port, commanding respect from
all others; he was a good scholar, a traveler, a great reader, of an exceed
ing steady and even spirit not easily moved to passion, and standing
unshaken in his principles, when once fixed upon; of a profound judg
ment, full of majesty and authority in his judicatures, so that it was a
vain thing to brave him out, and yet in his ordinary . conversation, and
among friends, of such pleasantness of behavior and such felicity and
fecundity of harmless wit as hardly can be paralleled."*
In the same vein, though without the same elegance of expres
sion, are these stanzas from a long elegy written by another of
his friends. Rev. Abraham Pierson, the pastor of the Branford
church : "Joshua-like, strong, and of good courage hee,
A terrour to the vile: they would him flee.
But to the saints he stretched out his hand.
Them he esteemed the precious of the land.
In's house of judgment mercy did hee sing;
In our courts of justice hee sate as king.
His comely person few could para Hell.
Tlie pleasant stories he was wont to tell!"f
No modern pen can add to these graphic strokes. They
bring back to us the imposing figure and the grave countenance
that yet could light up with a kindly smile, better even than the
painter's art.
A distinguished Connecticut divine of a former generation,
in a discourse prepared on the occasion of the funeral of the
pastor of one of our ancient churches, after speaking with
proper warmth of the many virtues which had adorned his life,
concluded thus : "In casting about for the faults, of this blame
less man, I have thought of this," and then proceeded to sketch
a background for his picture. He was prevailed on by a friend,
to whom he submitted the sermon for criticism, to omit this '
passage ; but as I have taken no such advice, I shall venture
to allude to one feature of Governor Eaton's history, which
might be thought to cast a certain shadow upon it.
• Hubbard, Gen. Hist. XV Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 330. Paul Bartlett has
been engaged by the State Commission of Sculpture of Connecticut to
design a statue of Eaton to be placed on the. north front of the capitol.
f Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th Series, VII, 477.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 31
He was a slaveholder; becoming such not long after ho
settled in New Haven. He belonged to his century and shared
its opinions. Slavery was then an institution regarded as law
ful throughout the world. He read also in his bible that it had
been always recognized as such among the Hebrews, and his
very reverence for the Old Testament led him, as it led so many
other good men throughout the South, in later days, to accept,
without question, whatever he found there, seeming to indicate
a rule of social right and duty. What he taught his children
upon this subject may be inferred from a paper drawn or signed
iu her later years by his daughter, Hannah. He had given
permission to two of his slaves, in their old age, to occupy a
small house adjoining his orchard, and they remained there for
a long time after his death. A law suit was the result, in 1691,
to determine the title to the house lot. Mrs. Jones was the
plaintiff, and in her petition says that her father "had two
negro servants, bought with his money, servants forever or dur
ing his pleasure, according to Leviticus, 25 ; 45 and 46. These
were a part of my Hon"* father's estate."*
The texts from the Mosaic law to which she refers are as
follows :
"Moreover of th© children of the strangers that do sojourn among you,
of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they
beget in your land: and they shall be your possession.
And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you,
to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen forever:
but over your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over
another with rigour."
The fact that these two negroes were not inventoried at tho
time of Govemor Eaton's death, as part of his estate, may indi
cate simply that they were regarded as so old and infirm as to be
worthless. It may also be explained on. the theory, probably
set up by the defendant. in the case, that he had emancipated
them and given them the land on which they resided. Let us
hope that this is the true explanation, and that Eaton, like
Washington, though a slaveholder, came to be an unwilling one,
and did what he could to set the captive free.
* State MSS. Archives, Miscellaneous, Vol. II, page 1.

APPENDIX.
Will of Rev. Richard Eaton.*
"In the name of God Amen.
Tlie oleavcnth of July 1616 and in the yeares of the raigne of 0' Lord
James by the grace of God Kinge of England Scotland ffraunce and Ire
land Defendor of the faith &c. that is to say of England ffraunce and
Ireland the ffourtcenth and of Scotland the nyne and ffortieth, I Richard
Eaton Clarke beinge weake in body and yett in perfect mynde and memorie
all prayso be given to God therefore calinge to mynde the certaintie of
Death and the uncertaintie of tyme and place when and where it shall
please God to visite me and myndinge to sett in order and to dispose of such
worldly goods as it hath pleased God to blesse me -witlialle Doe make and
declare this my last Will and Testament in manner and forme followinge,
flirst and principally I comend my soule to Allmightie God my Creator
ahd to Jesus Christ his deare sonne my Saviour and Redoemor by whose
most pretious Death and passion I hope assuredly t>o be saved and to have
full and free remyssion of all my synnes. And my body I committ to
the earth to be buried in such place convenient as my Executor here
after named shall thinke good, and that done I will that such Debts as
I owe to any person or persons shall bee truly payed with as convenient
speede as maye bee after my Decease.
Item whereas I have two houses commonly called and knowne by the
names of Pow house and the Poos house situate in Over Whettly in the
County of Chester as alsoe a peece of lande which I lately bought of John
Eaton of Sandynay My -will and mynde is that my lovinge wife Elizabeth
Eaton shall quietly and peaceably have hold and enjoy the same duringe
her naturall life togeathor with all suoh landes rents and revenues as
are thereto belonginge or any wse appeortaininge. Item wihereas I
have coitaino otlior land© and Tenementes now in the occupadon of
Thomas Whittly as allsoe Brothertons howse in Over Wheatly my Will
and mynde is that my Executor hereafter named shall doe his best
endcfvour to make sale of the aforesaid lande and Tenement.es to the
best advantage. And I doe freely give unto my Children hereafter named
as Cliildiens partes and portions due from me imto them all such somme
and sommes of money as those aforesaid landes and Tenementes beinge
souldo shall amounte unto to witt.e unto Elizabeth, Hanah, John, Samuell,
Thomas, firancis, Nathaniell, and Jonathan to be equally devided amongest
them,Item I give and bequeath unto my lovinge sonne Theophilus Eaton whome
I doe make the full and sole Executor of this my last Will and Testa
ment as liis Childes parte and portion those two afore named howses
called by the name of Pow howi9e and the Poos howse with the landes and
promts thereto belonginge, onely reservinge the rents and commodities
of the same unto ray dear© and lovinge ^^¦ife during© her life in manner
and forme as is before expressed
* Weldon 8. Copied by Miss Kate Joyce, June, 1900.

THEOPHILUS EATON. 33
Item I give and bequeath unto him after his mothers Decease, that parcell
of hinde which I bought of John Eaton of Sandy way with all other landes
and tenements whatsoever that are niyne either by fee simple or lease
which have not iu this present Testament beene mentione<l.
Tlie residue of all my goodes Chattells Cattell money plate and all manner
of moveables beinge first at the discretion of my Executor cqiuilly and
justly valued my funerall charges allsoe beinge discharged I doe thus
ordaine and appointe to be disposed of,
ffirst I give and bequeath unto my lovinge wife one thirde part thereof.
Item I give and bequeath the two remayninge thirdes unto my afore
named Children to witt Elizabeth, Hanah, John, Samuell. Thomas,
ffrancis, Nathaniell and Jonathan to l>e equally devided amongest
them. Item my will and mynde is that my sonne Theophilus
shall pay unto my three Daughters (in consideration of the lande
that I have given liim) videl' Elizabeth, Hanah, and ffrancis
at their severall marriages, such a somme or sommes of money as may
make up those portions which I have allready bequeathed them the just
somme of one hundred poundes a pcece of currant English money. Item
if my Sonne Theophilus shall with the consent of my lovinge Wife cov
enant to pay unto my afore named Children when they of age*
such portions as my said Wife and sonne shall in their Discretions tliincke
convenient and can agree upon, that then iny expresse will and minde is,
and I doe by these presents give and bequeath unto my said sonne Theophilus
all those landes and Tenementes in the occupaeion of Thomas Whittly
& Brotherton (which were above appointed to be sold) to be disposed
of to his owne use and behoofe as he hiinselfe shall thincke fittinge which
my said sonne I doe as before make and ordaine full and sole executor
of this my last Will and Testament .not doubting but he will see the same
in all thinges dulie performed according to the truste I have and doe
repose in him.
And I doe hereby revoke all former Willes Legaceys and Devises by me
heretofore made And I will that this shall stand fore niy last Will and
none other or otherwise. In witnesse whereof to this my present Testament
and last Will conteyning one sheete of paper and somewhat more I the
said Richard Eaton have set to iiiy hand and seale. Geouen the daye and
yere first above written. Richard Eaton.
Sealed and published by the wiied Richard Eaton as his last will and
testament in tho presence of us this twelveth of Julye one thousand six
hundred and sixteene. Mathewe Hilles
Joseph Denman
• Thomas ffeatherstone
Probatum fuit testamentum supra scriptum apud London, &c., Ac, &c.
. 14 January 1616-7.
Juramcnto Thoophili Eaton.

•

Sic.

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