Rev. Nathaniel EATON

1609 - 1674  (65 years)

• Name	Nathaniel EATON
  Prefix	Rev.
  Birth	1609	Great Budworth, Cheshire, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	16 Oct 1610	London, Middlesex County, England   [2]
  Education	Cambridge, England   [2]
  	Trinity College, Cambridge University
  Graduation	London, Middlesex County, England   [2]
  	Westminster School
  	It is properly called the Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster.
  Graduation	1633	Franeker, Friesland   [2]
  	University of Franeker
  	Friesland is now The Netherlands
  Immigration	26 Jun 1637	Boston, Massachusetts
  	after crossing the Atlantic on the ship Hector.
  Graduation	1647	Padua, Italy   [2]
  	University of Padua
  	He received Ph.D. and M.D. degrees.
  Graduation	Abt 1652  [2]
  	Jesuit Missionary University
  Death	1674	London, Middlesex County, England   [2]
  Notes	He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge University, and under Dr. William Ames, at Franeker in the Netherlands. He came to New England in 1637 on the ship Hector with the Theophilus Eaton household. A grant of 2 and two-thirds acres of land was made to him by the town of Cambridge in1638, with the provision that it was for the common use of a public school, or college, and for the use of Nathaniel Eaton so long as he was employed in that work. The location of this land (on the north and south sides of what is now Kirkland Street) was never part of Harvard Yard. See also "Proprietors' Records, Cambridge," p. 54 for Nathaniel's land holdings in Cambridge. In 1637, Nathaniel Eaton was selected to become the first master of the school in Cambridge (then Newtowne) that later became Harvard College. He was responsible for having the first buildings constructed at what is now Harvard Yard, and he accepted John Harvard's bequest of money and books. Presumably, Nathaniel Eaton had discussed with John Harvard the plans for the new college, as they were both students at Cambridge University (John Harvard at Emmanuel College), and John Harvard lived long enough to see Nathaniel installed as master of the new college. Nathaniel and his family may have lived in the same house in Charlestown (present Main Street, near City Hall Square) with John Harvard, after their arrival from England on the same ship as his brother Theophilus Eaton. Nathaniel moved from Charlestown to Cambridge on or about 9 Jun 1638. It is believed that Nathaniel and his family moved into the Pantry-Starr house in Newtowne about 9 Jun 1638 and that the first instruction for the new college begain in that house in 1638. At that time the house was owned and occupied by Dr. Comfort Starr. There is no evidence to show in what way the college acquired possession of the house and Harvard Yard, but there is no doubt that the land granted to William Pantry in 1633 became in 1638 the original Harvard Yard. Cotton Mather says of him (Magnalia, vol. 2, p. 10) "He was a rare scholar himself, and made many more such." On 6 Jun 1639, "The Court granted to Mr. Nathaniel Eaton, 500 acres, if he continue his employment with us for his life, and be to him and his heirs." In September 1639, he was tried by the court on charges of cruelty to his usher, Nathaniel Briscoe. Winthrop described the cudgel used in beating Nathaniel Briscoe as "a walnut tree plant, big enough to have killed a horse." During the inquiry into the event, it came out that Eaton had also been abusing other students at the college in a similar manner. Eaton was consequently put on trial. Eaton acknowledged during testimony that it wasn't unusual for him to apply 20 to 30 stripes at a time to the students and that "he would not give over correcting till he had subdued his party to his will." Eaton might have been found innocent if he could have showed that his students were obstinate, unruly, and ill-behaved, but he made no attempt to prove that this was the case. Instead, he maintained his innocence by claiming that as master he had the absolute right to punish the students as he saw fit. The court found Eaton guilty and sentenced him to quit his job and pay a large fine. He fled to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but was returned before he could leave by ship. Although the court was said to have been willing to accept a compromise, the Cambridge Church refused to condone this breach of morals and he fled later in 1639 for the Eastern Shore of Virginia. His wife and children (except for Benoni, who was left in Cambridge) were to join him in Virginia, but the ship was never heard from again. Some time prior to 1642 he married Ann Cotton, as in that year they signed a deed together which assigned him land due to him by right of intermarriage with the 'widdowe of William Cotton, Clerke'. Anne Cotton was presumably the only surviving child of Thomas Graves of Virginia, formerly of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Nathaniel became an assistant to John Rozier, the immediate successor to Rev. William Cotton. Later he became rector in his own right, at Northampton, Virginia, from 1642 to 1643. His is said to have fled debtors to return to England in 1645. Winthrop, in his journal, mentions that, after he went to Virginia, was a drunken preacher. He apparently lived privately until the restoration of King Charles II. Conforming to the ceremonies of the Church of England, he became affixed to the church at Biddeford, where he became a bitter persecutor of the Disenters. Cotton Mather (Magnalia, iv, 127) wrote that Nathaniel became a parish minister in Bedeford, Devon, and finally died a debtor in King's Bench Prison. From Wikopedia 7 Dec 2011: Schoolmaster of Harvard College Term 1637 – 1639 Successor Henry Dunster Born 1610 unknown Died 1674 (aged 63– 64) unknown Nathaniel Eaton (1610 – 1674) was the first schoolmaster of Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later became a clergyman. Contents 1 Biography 2 Religious Convictions 3 Another Nathaniel Eaton? 4 Notes 5 Sources Biography from Wikipedia: The sixth son of Rev. Richard Eaton (1565– 1616) and Elizabeth Shepheard (1569– 1636), Nathaniel was christened October 16, 1610, at the church of St Giles Cripplegate, London, England. He was educated at Westminster School and went on to Trinity College, Cambridge,[1] where he was a contemporary and good friend of John Harvard. He later attended the University of Franeker, where he studied under Rev. William Ames. He emigrated to New England between 1634 and 1637 and became the first "professor" of the nascent Harvard College. He erected Harvard's first building, planted its first apple orchard, established the colony's first printing press in March 1639, and created its first semi-public library. Around the time that Eaton started teaching at Harvard, an Antinomian controversy had erupted in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The governor at the time, John Winthrop, was well-noted for his extreme stance within the Puritan community and was greatly feared by many of the colonists. Even those who were Winthrop's close allies, such as Rev. Thomas Hooker, who cofounded the colony of Connecticut, were repulsed by his personality. As such, many left the colony and any Antinomians who didn't leave voluntarily were forced out, banished, or excommunicated (such as Rev. John Wheelwright who founded Exeter, New Hampshire, and his sister-in-law, Anne (Marbury) Hutchinson, who founded a new colony in what later became Rhode Island). Eaton's older brother, Gov. Theophilus Eaton, emigrated to the colonies at around the same time in 1637.[1] Deciding that he didn't want to be involved in the animosity, he – like Rev. Thomas Hooker before him – founded a new colony, the colony of New Haven, though Winthrop and others literally begged both of them to stay.[2] In 1639, the year after Theophilus left, Eaton was fired from his job following allegations that he had beat one of his students too harshly and that his wife had supposedly served students hasty pudding with goat dung in it.[3] Eaton's trial gave rise to the concept of court reporters. After the Church of Cambridge attempted an appeal on his behalf, Governor Winthrop refused them, saying that enough evidence had already been presented by several witnesses. The church, however, was able to secure a promise that all subsequent trials would be accompanied by a recording of facts so that defendants and plaintiffs could refer to evidence already presented without witnesses having to go through the entire process again.[4] The only record of Eaton's own supposed "confession" was destroyed in a suspicious fire in the office of the famous historian, James Savage (1784– 1873), and his guilt remains in doubt. Henry Dunster succeeded Eaton in 1640 as Harvard's first president, and the first students graduated in 1642.[5] Interestingly, Dunster also found himself confronting the students, albeit in a sterner fashion, actually having to whip two of them publicly for abusing one of the citizens of Cambridge. However, the students finally triumphed in the situation,[6] and Dunster himself resigned in 1654 over disagreements with the church about infant baptism. At around the same time that Eaton was dismissed from Harvard, he apparently was also excommunicated from the congregation in Cambridge. He moved to Virginia in 1640 and then sent for his wife and children, but according to Winthrop in his History of New England [7] (known to be full of inaccuracies), the ship in which they traveled disappeared without a trace. Following the loss of his family, Eaton married the widow Anne (Graves) Cotton [8] (1620– 1684), the daughter of Captain Thomas Graves (1584– 1635) of Virginia and Massachusetts, and served for several years as an assistant to the Anglican curate at Accomac, Virginia before returning to England, where he was appointed the Vicar of Bishop's Castle, Salop, in 1661 and Rector of Bideford, Devon, in 1669. In 1647 Eaton was finally "exonerated" of a £100 debt that Winthrop misstated as being for £1,000 in his History of New England, ibid, and with which Eaton had supposedly absconded to Virginia in 1640. The exoneration is documented in Henry Dunster's record book for Harvard College as a copy of a letter by two benefactors that Dunster recorded directly underneath his first design of the seal of Harvard College. The 1640 endowment letter was footnoted in 1647 by Theophilus, who wrote: "this money was put wholey into the hands of my brother Nath:Eaton. 9th August 1647. [signed] Theo:Eaton." Clearly, the intention of the footnote was to indicate that his brother had finally been repaid, and apparently Nathaniel had in part used the money to further his education as he did receive a doctorate (a Ph.D. and an M.D.) from the University of Padua in that same year. As for the £100, Thomas Symonds – a carpenter who had apparently assisted in the building of the college at Cambridge in 1639 and afterwards – was soon found to be in debt to one of the creditors of the college, John Cogan, for exactly the same amount. As stated elsewhere, the college building itself was poorly erected – Symonds being the responsible party after Nathaniel left – and eventually Symonds and at least one of his assistants were thrown into debtor's prison. Religious Convictions Nathaniel Eaton's troubles seemed to mount, however, after he graduated from the Jesuit Missionary University. Thus, he left for England around 1652, where he had already been accepted back by the Church of England and honored as both a vicar and rector (cf. supra), though obviously he had his scruples, and was said to waver back and forth between devotions to his newly found home and that of his former, which he could never return to. In all likelihood, that "back and forthedness" and covering up set up a scenario of confusion, which seems to have also confused every recordkeeper involved. Ironically, Eaton died in 1674 in King's Bench Prison, where he had been incarcerated for a similar debt: quite probably the same £100 debt from which he had already been given relief. Also, his imprisonment coincided with the restoration of the Stuart Throne, and was likely reposted on an old list that King Charles II's father had kept concerning those of lingering or questionable indebtedness. Another Nathaniel Eaton? There is also evidence of another Nathaniel Eaton who lived in the town of Boston at the same time, across the street from Governor John Winthrop, but who spelled his name "Heaton". His wife was also named Elizabeth, and there's some doubt whether the children that are listed in the colony's birth records at Boston are his children or Eaton's, since there are double listings for all of them spelling the name as "Eaton" and "Heaton". Further complicating the situation was a mysterious fire that destroyed the Cambridge town records in 1643. Further, as Eaton had graduated from Franeker in 1633, and the Revs. John Cotton and Thomas Hooker, and others, had all decided to leave for the colonies in the same year, it is quite probable that the Nathaniel Heaton who immigrated in 1634 with Revs. Hutchinson and Hooker is the very same Nathaniel Eaton that was the first professor of Harvard College. (Cf. endnote 1, infra) Lastly, since Eaton had no place else to go, and no records are found of him in England or Holland after 1634, the evidence is strong that they are the same person. Notes See also: Ivy League Presidents ^ Nathaniel Eaton in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922– 1958. 1. ^ And possibly on the same ship with Nathaniel, the Hector, though there is no record of Nathaniel being on it, just that a Nathaniel Heaton emigrated in 1634 on another ship, the Griffin with William Hutchinson and his wife Anne [see Anne (Marbury) Hutchinson, supra], and on the very same ship on which the Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first pastor of the church at Cambridge, had emigrated a few months earlier. 2. ^ Cf. John Warren Barber History and Antiquities of New Haven, (Conn.) (1831) pp 25– 29 3. ^ Cf. Samuel Eliot Morison Builders of the Bay Colony (1930) pp 190– 191 where can be found his wife's supposed confession that was obviously coerced. Allegations of embezzlement appear to be ex post facto, or after the fact, and when one compares the entries in: Thomas Lechford's Note Book Kept by Thomas Lechford Lawyer, 1638– 1641 (1885), it can be seen that Nathaniel paid all his debts, and was even owed money by Thomas Lechford himself. 4. ^ Cf. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, M.D. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England (1853, vol I) p. 275; and subsequent later trials such as the Salem Witch Trials where it can be seen that testimonies at trial, etc., were thereafter taken down. 5. ^ According to Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), the graduating class of 1642 included the following individuals: Benjamin Woodbridge Georgius [George] Downing Johannes Bulklæus [John Bulkeley] Gulielmus [William] Hubbard Samuel Bellingham Johannes Wilsonus [John Wilson] Henricus [Henry] Saltonstall Tobias Barnardus [Barnard] Nathanael Brusterus [Nathaniel Brewster] 6. ^ Since then Harvard has been marred by occasional shunnings, chastizements, and forced depositions of their Presidents by possibly the most powerful, if not notorious, student body in the history college education. 7. ^ James Savage, Winthrop's Journal "The History of New England" 1630– 1649 (1825– 26 edition). There are other versions, including the original 1649 version, but Savage's annotated edition, or its 1853 revision, is considered to be the most comprehensive. 8. ^ Many spelling variations exist, such as "Greaves" for "Graves". Also, some authorities state that Ann in fact was the daughter of Francis Graves, the son of Thomas Graves. She later married Francis Doughty as her third and final husband. Sources James Kendall Hosmer, editor, Winthrop's Journal 'The History of New England' 1630– 1649 (1908 edition) vol. I, p. 314 — Appeal by the Church of Cambridge and the seizing of Nathaniel Eaton's estate. See also: James Savage's footnotes in his edited version of the same above Winthrop's Journal 'The History of New England' 1630-1649 (1825– 26 edition) Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff, M.D., editor, Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England (1853, vol. I) [1628– 1641] by page... p. 210 – [Eaton] left out of tax rate for 1637 on November 20, 1637 p. 262 – 500 acres [2 km²] of land granted on June 6, 1639 vis-à-vis: "If hee continew his employment wth vs for his life". p. 275 – Removed from employment on September 9, 1639 p. 275 – Judgements henceforth, after the Eaton Trial, to "bee recorded in a booke, to bee kept to posterity". (Same day as above: September 9, 1639, and written in after the above "deposition" event. It's probable that the "deposition" was a "first order of business", and not just something anticipated long before "recordation of facts" had even been conceived.) p. 277 – His estate attached on November 5, 1639 p. 374 – Nathaniel Eaton Made a Freeman on June 9, 1638 p. 375 – Nathaniell Heaten made free on May 25, 1636 Thomas Lechford, Note Book Kept by Thomas Lechford Lawyer, 1638– 1641 (1885) p. 236 "I payd Nathaniel Heaton for full of writings & cutting wood. 11.31.1639. 5s". Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana (The Ecclesiastical History of New England) (1702) [7 books; 2 volumes in modern versions] John Warren Barber, Connecticut Historical Collections (1837 edition) pp 134– 185 Benjamin Trumbull, D.D., A Complete History of Connecticut (1818) [Also, 2 volumes] New England Historical and Genealogical Register (1855, vol. 9) pp 269– 271, article entitled "The First President of Harvard College" James D. & Georgiana W. Kornhoff, Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America (2002) vol 2, pp. 981– 986 [Harvard College] (all preceding dates are in their original Julian Calendar format) Wikisource has original text related to this article: Nathaniel Eaton Academic offices Preceded by New position Schoolmaster of Harvard College 1637– 1639 Succeeded by Henry Dunster, as President of Harvard College [show]v · d · ePresidents of Harvard University [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
  Person ID	I1106	Ellingboe
  Last Modified	18 Nov 2012

  
  

  Family ID

  F89

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• Sources

  [S457] Helen Schatvet Ullmann, Governor Theophilus Eaton, (Unpublished manuscript, Acton, Massachusetts, 2001. R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 101 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116), p. 4 (Reliability: 2). [S366] Wikipedia, (http://no.wikipedia.org), ) (Reliability: 3). [S30] NEHGR, Vol. 40, p. 294 (1886) (Reliability: 3). [S30] NEHGR, Vol. 80, p. 134 (1926) (Reliability: 3). [S30] NEHGR, Vol. 93, p. 358 (1939) (Reliability: 3). [S30] NEHGR, Vol. 94, p. 66 (1940) (Reliability: 3). [S184] Savage, James, Savage, (Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1965). [S13] Paige, Lucius R., History of Cambridge, (Boston, H.O. Houghton and Company, 1877), p. 539 (Reliability: 3). [S187] Molyneux, Nellie Zada Rice, Molyneux - Eaton, (Syracuse, New York, C.W. Barden, 1911), pp. 579-582 (Reliability: 3). [S8] Sibley, John Langdon, Sibley -- Harvard Graduates, (Cambridge, Charles William Sever, University Bookstore, 1873), pp. 1-6 (Reliability: 3).