Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Eaton, William P., 1817-1857
- Abstract:
- A collection of letters written by William Pierce Eaton, a teacher in the American South, Texas, and Western New York in the 19th century.
- Extent:
- 1.33 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. William P. Eaton correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
A collection of William P. Eaton's letters to his parents which document his student life at Yale and Harvard and his teaching career in the American South and Western New York. The letters discuss his family, social, and professional life, religious beliefs, and local politics. The letters from Alabama and Texas depict discomforts, particularly "prejudices of a sectional nature" experienced by a New Englander in the South. The collection also includes letters from Eaton's father, Joseph Eaton, which discuss family and local news; and an 1864 letter from Eaton's son Joseph to his mother describing his cruise onboard the U.S. Frigate Santee, the school ship of the U.S. Naval Academy.
- Biographical / historical:
-
William Pierce Eaton (1817-1857) was the son of Joseph Eaton (1775-1857) who was a lawyer and judge in Windham County, Connecticut. William Eaton attended Yale in 1836; driven by an "overstock in teaching profession" in New England, he moved to Greensboro, Alabama, where he taught school. He then attended Harvard Law School in Spring of 1843, and in 1845, he resumed his teaching career in Greenville, Alabama. He married Sarah Farwell Brazer in November 1845, while living in Alabama; they had one son, Joseph Giles Eaton. In 1847, he moved to Harrison County, Texas. In July 1854, Eaton and his family moved to Lockport in Western New York where he taught school and gave public lectures. His only son Joseph attended the U.S. Naval Academy in 1864. William Eaton died in Lockport, New York, at the age of 39, on March 17, 1857.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Miriam C. Post, 1969.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Huntington Library staff in approximately 1975; in November 2024, Gayle M. Richardson created the finding aid.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged chronologically.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- College students -- New England
Educators -- United States
Families -- New England -- History
Military cadets -- Maryland -- Annapolis
Schools -- New York (State), Western -- History
Schools -- Southern States -- History
Family papers
Letters (correspondence)
Personal papers - Names:
- Santee (Frigate)
Yale College (1718-1887)
Eaton, Joseph, 1775-1857 - Places:
- Alabama -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
Connecticut -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
Lockport (N.Y.)
New York (State), Western -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
Texas -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
United States -- History -- 19th century
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- Terms of access:
-
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. William P. Eaton correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191