John Eaton (General)

For other people named John Eaton, see John Eaton (disambiguation).

John Eaton, Jr.
Born	December 5, 1829 (1829-12-05) Sutton, New Hampshire
Died	February 9, 1906 (1906-02-10) (aged 76) Washington, D.C.
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	Union Army
Rank	Brevet Brigadier General
Battles/wars	American Civil War

John Eaton, Jr. (December 5, 1829 – February 9, 1906) was a U.S. Commissioner of Education and a brevet brigadier general during the American Civil War.

Early life

Eaton was born in Sutton, New Hampshire, and attended Thetford Academy in Vermont. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1854, studied at Andover Theological Seminary, and was ordained in 1862 to the Presbyterian ministry.

Civil War

Eaton served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In November 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant appointed him as the Superintendent of Negro Affairs for the Department of the Tennessee; there Eaton supervised the establishment of 74 schools. In 1863, Eaton was made colonel of the 63rd Regiment of Colored Infantry, and, in 1865, he was advanced to brevet brigadier general.

Postbellum career

General Eaton edited the Memphis Post in 1866–1867. He was appointed United States Commissioner of Education in 1870 and served with great efficiency in the Bureau of Education. Commissioner Eaton also reorganized the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.

In 1886–1891, Eaton was president of Marietta College, and, in 1895, he was appointed president of Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska. In 1898, he became inspector of education in Puerto Rico and played a role in the centralization of its educational system. His educational writings dealt largely with the education of freedmen. Eaton also wrote a history of Thetford Academy. He died in Washington, D.C., where John Eaton Elementary School is named for him.

See also

• List of American Civil War generals

References

• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.

Notes

Government offices
Preceded by Henry Barnard	United States Commissioner of Education 1870–1886	Succeeded by Nathaniel H. R. Dawson
Academic offices
Preceded by	President of Marietta College 1886–1891	Succeeded by
Preceded by	President of Sheldon Jackson College 1895 –	Succeeded by