23, 1891. Mr. Dickinson is engaged in the
seed business in Springfield. The Dickinson-
Fisk nuptials was one of the .swellest affairs
in the "smart set" of aristocratic Springfield.
The local papers and the Boston and Xew
^'nrk journals were very profuse in their
descriptions.
"The most brilliant and beautiful wedding
which .Springfield has seen for many years
occurred at the Brightwood residence of Mr.
and Mrs. George C. Fi.sk, Wednesday evening,
when their only daughter. Miss Isabel. ( Belle
R. ) was united in marriage with Mr. Oliver
Hyde Dickinson. The occasion bore the poetic
name of a "rose wedding," the residence. Dr.
Hollancl's Brightwood. being transformed into
a bower of roseate beauty. The estate, beau-
tiful in itself, was made doubly so by all that
art and skill could do., the decorations being
a triumph of floral art. .At the back of the
spacious hall was a bank of tropical plants
reaching from the ground floor to the top of
the balusters. The balusters were trimmed
with ivy and the newel-post entirely covered
with a column of I, a France and Pearl roses.
Qy/.,
/"
<y
MASSACHrsirrJS.
365
siifmoinited by the bronze statue of Mercury
upholding a cluster of gas jets. The columns
supporting the Gothic arches were trimmed
with ivy so arranged as to hang in pendants
from the three arches. Over all this beauty
came the colored lights from the dome above,
which was lighted to give the brilliancy of the
midday sun, making the effect something
superb. In the library the fireplace was com-
pletely disguised with plants and roses reach-
ing to the ceiling. In the center of the room,
su])ported on a table, was a magnificent basket
of roses, four feet in diameter, and containing
some 500 buds. The piazza facing the east,
inclosed by bamboo-beaded portieres and filled
with tropical plants, gave the appearance of
a conservatory. The moonlight falling through
the portieres made the beads sparkle like
jewels, the effect being almost dazzling, im-
mense Japanese lanterns were hung in design
from the center of the ceiling. The piazza
facing the west was also inclosed by bamboo
beaded portieres lighted by 100 Japanese
candles, and it was here that Coenen's orches-
tra gave forth music that could be heard all
over the house and grounds. In the dining
room the center piece was a silver epergne,
three feet high, filled with choice fruits.
I'nderneath the epergne was a floral base com-
posed of roses and green with three small
in'ramids supporting china filled with bonbons.
Other china to match that used on the table
was scattered among the roses. At each end
of the table were two square vases composed
of roses and carnations; the vases were three
feet high and resting on green bases. Both
vases were filled with choice roses and .spirea
japonica. In the base of these vases were
canary birds, whose sweet voices were a mys-
tery to the guests, who could not imagine
where the songsters were. The west i)arlor,
in which the ceremony was performed, was
transformed into a plateau of roses. Glass
and manteli)iece were banked from the floor
to the ceiling with tropical plants and roses.
The frieze was festooned with smilax and
roses of all colors caught up with blue bows.
-Across the broad ojKning of the ex(|uisite bay
window were floral f)ortiercs with a frieze of
Marechal .\'iel. La France and .\'e])hetos roses,
and a dado of bride and Jac(|ueminot roses.
The backgrounds of the portieres was com-
posed of ferns and smila.x, and in the center
of each was the monogram "D. and F." in
J^earl and La France roses. The chandelier
was festooned with smilax. and with its beau-
tiful glass prisms gave a charming effect."
Among the distinguished guests at this wed-
ding was the Honorable Don M. Dickinson of
.Michigan, postmaster general in L'leveland's
cabinet.
(X\I) Lucius I., second son oi Thomas
Trowbridge and Fmily II. (Ilildreth) Fisk,
was born in Hinsdale in 1833. died in Spring-
field. August 18. 1880. He married I'lvaline
E. Raymond, of .Ashuelot. .\ew Hani])shire,
and they had no children.
(X\l ) Xoyes \\'.. youngest son of Thomas
Trowbridge and Emily H. (Ilildreth) Fisk,
was born in Hinsdale. May 15, 1839, died
January 21. igoi. When thirteen years old
he entered the country store of Frederick Hunt
in Hinsdale as clerk. He remained with Mr.
Hunt for about four years, and in 1856 went
to Xorthampton and kept books for Thayer
(Jt Sargeant for a couple of years. Later he
became bookkeei)cr for E. B. Haskell & Sons,
grocers, in Springfield. In l8C)2 he enli.sted
in Company A of the Forty-sixth Regiment.
When he had served out the term of his en-
listment, he returned to Springfield and started
for himself in the grocery and provision busi-
ness. In 1867 he went into the niamifacture
of lamp-black on the corner of Chestnut and
Ringgold streets, and had hardly got on the
way when all his buildings were consmned by
fire. In 1868 he went into partnership with his
brothers in the manufacture of soap. In 1880
the Fisk Manufacturing Company was formed
for manufacturing this product, of which
George C. Fisk was president. .Xoyes W. Fisk,
clerk and treasurer. The comi)any employs
nearly forty men and manufactures a larger
'|uantity of soap than any other Xew England
house and is among the very largest in the
whole country. The princijial markets for the
Fisk Manufacturing Com])any's goods are in
.Xew England. Xew York, Xew Jersey and
the Middle West. They make the popular
Japanese soap. Mr. hisk was for seven years
a member of the common council from ward
one and for ten years a member of the water
commissioners. He was a director in the
Chicopee Xational I'.ank. the Springfield
Wood-working Company and the Hampden
Paint Works. He was a director in the
Masonic Mutual Insurance Company, a trustee
of the School for Christian Workers. He was
a member of the Winthro|) Club. Xayassett
Club and Blue Lodge of Masons and the
Springfield Commandery of Knights Templar.
He had passed all the various degrees in the
Masonic order uj) to the thirty-second flegree,
and was one of the most ardent members of
366
MASSACHUSETTS.
that order. He was one of the organizers of
the Fisk Rubber Company; was member of
Wilco.x Post, (Irand Army of the RepubHc.
He was a member of the Memorial Congrega-
tional Church. He was a lover of animals, espe-
cially horses and dogs, and it was his pride to be
the possessor of some of the best horses to be
had. He was public-spirited in all things
tending to the good of the community, and
loval in his friendships. His positions of
public and financial trust show the estimation
in which Mr. Msk was held by the general and
business community. August 25, 1862, he
married Emeline G. Adams, of Hinsdale,
daughter of Oliver and Fanny (Stearns)
Adams, and they had two children : Harry
G., and Grace M., who died in infancy. Harry
G.. married .Mice B. Mayo: they have three
children: Julia M., Noyes M. and Charlotte
M. Harry G. is actively associated with the
Fisk Rubber Company as secretary.
There were persons of distinc-
EATON tion among the English families
of the surname Eaton, and among
the New England descendants of that ancient
house in every generation from the time of
the immigrant ancestor there have been men
of distinction and high character equal perhaps
to that of their European forbears, although
on this side of the Atlantic we find none of
the name who have placed their chief reliance
for character and worth on the coat of arms
"or a fret azure" so much as on personal en-
deavor and individual achievement. The family
of the Eaton surname whose pedigree is traced
here, begins its history in New England with
John and Anne Eaton, the former of whom is
mentioned in some chronicles as John Eaton
of Haverhill and in others as John Eaton of
Salisbury, both of the colony of Massachusetts
r.ay. He came of the old English family of
the same name, and while there is room for
the liclief that his ancestors were of the same
kin with those of Sir Peter, baronet, the fact
is not easily established. The immigration
registers and ship's lists of passengers give no
account of the departure of John Eaton and
his family from England, neither is it known
exactly when they arrived in this country, nor
the name of the ship in which they took pass-
age; but they came, John Eaton and his wife
and si.x children, and sat down in one of the
plantations in the Massachusetts Bay colony,
in or sometime previous to the year 163Q.
fl) John Eaton first appears on the pro-
prietors' books of Salisbury in 1639-40. and
several grants of land to him were made be-
tween 1640 and 1646. A tradition which has
run in the family for more than a century and
a half is to the eflfect that he had a brother and
a cousin in the colony about or soon after the
time of his arrival, but the researches of more
recent investigators seem to dispel the theory.
One of the grants of land to John Eaton was
that made on the "26th of ye 6th mo. 1640, 2
acres, more or less, for his house lotte, lying
between the house lotts of Mr. Samuel Hall
and Rolfe P>lesdale ;" and another was his
"planting lotte," granted "the 7th of the 9th
mo. 1640. containing pr estimation six acres
more or less, lying uppon ye great neck," and
his house was built near the "great neck bridge,
on the beach road." It is interesting to note
in this connection that in 1890 the old home-
stead property was still owned and in posses-
sion of descendants of the immigrant. Later
in 1646 John Eaton conveyed the property to
his son John, and then moved with the other
members of his family about fifteen miles up
the Merrimack to Haverhill, and there spent
the remaining twenty-two years of his life. In
1646 he was chosen grand juror, and also one
of five prudential men of Salisbury. He was
a husbandman, and the records mention that
he also made staves. He died in Haverhill,
October 29, 1668. aged about seventy-tliree
years, hence he was born about 1595. He
married Anne , about 1617, and all of
their children were born in England. She
died February 5, 1660, and he married second,
November 20, 1661, Phebe, widow of Thomas
Dow, of Newbury, Massachusetts. She died
in 1672. John and Anne Eaton had children:
I. John, born 1619; married Martha Rowland-
son, of Ipswich, Alassachusetts. 2. Ann, born
about 1622, died in Haverhill, December 13,
1683; married June 25, 1645, Lieutenant
George Brown, who married second, March
17, 1684. widow Hannah Hazen of Row-ley.
3. FZlizabcth, born about 1625 ; married De-
cember I, 1648, James Davis, of Haverhill;
ten children. 4. Ruth, born about 1628; mar-
ried December 9, 1656, Samuel Ingalls ; lived
in Ipswich. 5. Thomas, born about 1631 ;
married (first) Martha Kent ; (second) Eunice
Singletery ; lived in Haverhill. 6. Hester,
born about 1634, died young.
(11) John Eaton, eldest child of John and
.\nne Eaton, was born in England in 1619,
and died on the old homestead in Salisbury,
Massachusetts, November i, 1682. He went
to Salisbury with his father in the winter of
1639-40, and when the latter removed to
MASSACHL'SETTS.
2fT7
Haverhill, in \(->\(^. he deeded his house and
property "on the neck" to his son John who
lived there until his death. He was a planter
and cooper, as he describes himself in his
will, and he appears to have become possessed
of a large estate in lands which he gave to his
son, making ample provision for each, the
homestead going to his eldest son John. About
1644 John Eaton married Martha, daughter of
Thomas Rowlandson Sr., of Ipswich, and
sister of Rev. Joseph Rowlandson, who gradu-
ated from Harvard College in 1652. the only
member of his class. The Rowlandsons came
trom England, and it is believed that they
were acquainted with the Eatons before coming
to this country. Martha, wife of John Eaton,
survived him about thirty years, and died in
July, 1712, "a woman of great age and of great
excellency of character." Children: i. Hester,
born .August. 1645, died 1649. 2. John, born
about 1646: married Mary ; lived in
Salisbury. 3. Thomas, born January 17, 1647;
married Hannah Hubbard: lived in Salisbury;
she was a descendant of \Mlliam Hubbard,
"an eminent inhabitant" of Ipswich. 4. Martha,
born August 12, 1648: married (first) Benja-
min Collins, of Salisbury; (second) Philip
Flanders, of Salisbury. 5. Elizabeth, born
December 12. 1650: married January 7, 1673,
Dr. John Grotli. who was admitterl to practice
medicine in 1679. 6. .Ann, born December 17,
1652. died June 12, 1658. 7. Sarah, born Feb-
ruary 28, 1655 ; married Alay 6, 1675, Robert
Downer, of Salisbury. 8. Mary, born Decem-
ber 9, 1656, died January i, 1657. 9. Samuel,
born February 14, 1659; a mariner. 10.
Joseph, born March i, 1661 ; married Mary
French; lived in Salisbury. 11. Ephraim.born
April 12, 1663: married Mary True; lived in
Salisbury.
(Ill) Captain Joseph Eaton, son and tenth
child of John and Martha (Rowlandson)
F.aton. was born in Salisbury, March i, 1661,
and died there January 13, 1743. His house
vvas in that part of the town known as Sandy
hill, where his houselot comprised three acres
of land given him by his father, but he had
much other land and is said to have bought
and sold land quite extensively for his time,
and to have gained an honest competency
through his dealings. He was a joiner by
trade, and built many houses and other build-
ings in the town, and he also was captain of
militia and a man of considerable influence in
public affairs. Captain Eaton was a famous
himter and trapper, and at certain seasons of
the year went with companions as far east as
P)runswick, Maine, and on his return home he
would entertain his family and friends with
anecdotes of his frequent excursions. These
ftories aroused an adventurous spirit in his
sons, and three of them afterward sought their
fortunes down in the wilds of Maine. They
were not adventurers, however, but sturdy
pioneers, men of courage and determination.
Indian fighters in defense of home and family,
and one of them fell a victim of Indian rapac-
ity, while the son of another received a wound,
and was made prisoner and carried away into
captivity. In the history of Brunswick. Maine,
it is written as a matter of tradition that one
Jacob I'laton went there from Salisbury, Mass-
achusetts, about 1680, or earlier, with one
Michael Malconi., and were trappers and
Traders with the Indians; that they bought
lands fmni the Indians which included the
territory new com[)rising the town of Bruns-
wick, and laid claim to title. The story is
not without foundation, though essentially in-
correct in many respects, and is the outgrowth
of the hunting excursions which furnished
recreation for Captain Eaton's hunting parties.
If a put chase was made from the Indians, as
might be inferred if what has been termed the
'T*-aton claim" had any foundation in fact,
the grant doubtless was secured by Captain
Eaton himself rather than his son Jacob, and
at a jjcnod much later than 1680, for the cap-
tain then was less than twenty years old and
his son Jacob was not born until 1703. What-
ever truth there may have been in the story
tliat the Eatons ever seriously laid claim to
title to the lands of Brunswick is not now
known, but there is no evidence that an Indian
deed was ever executed, or presented as a
foundation of the so called claim ; but if family
tradition be true the worthy captain pos.sessed
a suiliciently keen sense of humor to narrate
to his friends the story of having acquired title
to Indian lands by verbal cession, if such had
been the case.
Captain Eaton married (first) December 14,
1683, Mary French, of Salisbury, who died
July 12, 1726; ten children. The intentions
of his second marriage were recorded in No-
vember, 1726, and he married soon afterward
Mary Worster (or Worcester) of Bradford,
Massachusetts, who died Sejitembcr 2. 1759.
His children, all born of his first marriage: I.
John, born .August 23, 1684, died December
12, i'')84. 2. John, l)orn October 18, 1685;
married Esther Johnson, of Kingston, New
Hampshire; lived in Salisbury. 3. Samuel,
born December 7, 1687; married Mary Mai-
368
MASSACHUSETTS.
com ; removed to Brunswick, Alaine. 4.
Josepli, born August 14, i6go: married Mary
French : lived in Newbury, Massachusetts. 5.
Benjamin, born February 14, 1693; married
Sarah Merrill ; lived in Salisbury. 6. Moses,
born May 18, 1695 ; was killed by Indians near
Brunswick. Maine, 1722. 7. Mary, born April
i). 1697; married January 14, 171 5, Benjamin
True, of Salisbury. 8. Nicholas, born Septem-
ber 12, 1699; married Mercy Walton; lived in
Salisbury. 9. Sarah, born May 20, 1701 ; mar-
ried June 30, 1726, David Buswell, of Brad-
ford, Massachusetts. 10. Jacob, born April
16, 1703; married (first) Sarah Plummer ;
( second ) Sarah Alalcom ; lived in Topsham,
Maine.
(l\l Samuel Eaton, third son and child
of Cai)tain Joseph Eaton and Mary French
his first wife, w^as bom in Salisbury. Decem-
ber 7, 1687, and is mentioned in the history
of Brunswick as having come from Salisbury
"early in the last century and built a house on
tl-.c corner of Bank and Maine streets." But
the author of the history just mentioned is
mistaken in saying of this Samuel Eaton that
'one of his children Samuel, was a soldier in
Fort George in 1722," for the Samuel Eaton
of F'ort (Jeorge and the colonial wars was
Samuel the elder son of Captain Joseph, and
the pioneer of the family in Maine. He in-
herited a love of exploration and "to gratify
it he plunged into the forests of Maine and
finally settled in what is now Brunswick." He
is the Samuel Eaton who figured so conspic-
uously in what has been called Lovewell's war,
which began in 1722, and it was he whom
Captain Gyles (or Giles) sent from Fort
George to Colonel John Harmon at George-
town, Massachusetts, with a letter tied up in
an eclskin and concealed in his hair. When it
w-as imsafe for him to travel by land he look
to the water and swam, and thus reached his
destination in safety. During the same war
Moses Eaton, brother of Samuel, was taken
prisoner (June, 1722), tortured and mutilated,
anfl finally was carried to Point Pleasant and
killed by his savage captors.
Samuel Eaton married, about 171 5. Mary,
daughter of John Malcom. first of Salisbury
and afterward of Pirunswick. John Malcom
w'as one of the companions of Captain Joseph
Eaton on his hunting expeditions from Salis-
bury into Maine, and it was he who with Flaton
is said to have taken part in purchasing the
Indian title to what now is Brunswick, although
the history of Brunswick ascribes that action
to one Michael Malcom. It is not known that
John Malcom took part in the colonial wars,
although one or more of his sons entered the
service. The names of all of Samuel Eaton's
children are not known, but it is stated (on
the authority of the late Martin Eaton) that
he had two sons — Enoch and Daniel ; and a
daughter Mary. Enoch Eaton was drowned
when a boy.
(\') Daniel Eaton, son of Samuel and Mary
r Malcom) Eaton, was born in Brunswick,
Maine, in 1722, and through him are descend-
ed many of the Brunswick Eaton families.
Little is known of his family life and there is
no present record by which we may learn of
his marriage, the name of his wife and their
children, except John. But there is a clear
account of a part of the service of Daniel
Eaton as a soldier of the French and Indian
war. Early in May. -1757. while John Malcom
and Daniel Eaton were going to Maquoit for
salt hay, they were attacked by Indians. Mal-
com escaped, but Eaton received a bullet
wound in the wrist, was captured and taken
to Canada and held there about a year. His
captor was the Indian chief Sabattis, who sold
his prisoner for four dollars. Many years
after this event, about 1800. the old chief again
visited Brunswick, met his former ])risoner
and was shown the mark of the bullet wound
on his arm ; and seeing the scar Sabattis said,
"That long time ago ; war time too."
( \T ) John Eaton was a son of Daniel
Eaton, but other than this fact little is known
of him. excejit that he married Jane Grant, and
had children, among them sons Martin. John
and David, and a daughter Jane.
(\TI) Martin Eaton, son of John Eaton,
was born in Brunswick, Maine, in 1796. and
died in South Durham, Maine, in 1888, having
attained the remarkable age of ninety-two
years. He w-as a substantial farmer, living
first in Brunswick and afterward for many
years in Webster. Maine, but later returned to
Brunsw^ick in order that his children might
have the benefits of the better schools of the
latter town. Mr. Eaton married. April 27,
1834, Phebe Winslow, of Durham, born Janu-
arv 31. 1805. daughter of William Winslow,
founder of the town of Winslow, Maine, and
one of the foremost men of his time in the
province. Children of Martin and Phebe
fWinslowO liaton: i. Sarah Jane, born May
.V^. 1835. died June 8, 1906: married. October
17. 1879, George F*. Day, of South Durham,
Maine. 2. William Winslow, born May 20,
1836; married, July 12. 1863. Agnes H. Ma-
goun. 3. Rebecca .Xnnie. born July 18. 1837;
MASSACHUSETTS.
369
married. April. 1878, deorge Richardson. 4.
Abigail Stewart, born October 10. 1838, died
July 13. 1839. 5. .Martha Kllen. born October
8. 1839, died February 4, 1872; married, De-
cember 8, 1864. James Clark. 6. Alonzo Jones,
born January 10, 1841 ; a soldier of the civil
war, and died .August. 1905, of disabilities
contracted in service: married. .Marcii, i86r,
Elizabeth M. Lyon, who died in 1906. 7.
Lucinda Maria, born January 10. 1841, died
November 2, 1842. 8. Edward R., born May
29, 1843; died October 30, 1861, while in ser-
vice in the first year of the civil war.
(Mil) Dr. \\'illiam Winslow Eaton, eldest
son and second child of Martin and Phebe
(Winslow) Eaton, was born in ^Vebster,
Maine. May 20, 1836, and for more than forty
years has been prominently identified with the
professional and civil life of Danvers. and of
Essex county. Massachusetts. When Dr.
Eaton was a boy living down in Maine his
father removed from Webster to Brunswick
that his children might have every opportunitv
to gain a better education than was afforded in
the common schools in Webster, and William
attended the public schools in Brunswick, and
later finished the course of the high school
and was graduated. But this was not enough
for him for he had determined to obtain a
higher education and to that end fitted him-
self for college, entered Bowdoin for the classi-
cal course and graduated with the degree of
A. B. in 1861 : and best of all. he accomplished
this course wholly through his own persever-
ing effort, maintaining himself and paying his
own tuition rates from the day of matricula-
tion to commencement day when the dean of
the faculty handed him his coveted and hon-
estly deserved diploma. In 1865 he received
the degree of M. A. from the same institution.
While making his course in college Dr. Eaton
had begun the study of medicine under the
competent preceptorship of Dr. Isaac Lincoln
of Brunswick, but after graduating he taught
in the Bridg^on high school one year and at
the same time continued his j^reliminary medi-
cal studies more definitely than before, taking
his first and second courses of lectures in 1861
and 1862 in the Maine Medical .School, although
for very good reason he did not receive his
diploma in medicine until something like two
years later. The interval of years, however,
was not without value from the standpoint of
jiractical medical and surgical experience,
althf)ugh for. the time the young aspirant was
compelled to lay aside his text books and
didactic studies for the more practical surgi-
cal duties of the hospital tent and the battle-
field.
On June 6, 1862, Dr. l^aton enlisted from
Brunswick, Maine, in the Sixteenth Maine
\'olunteer Infantry Regiment, and on June
27, 1862, was appointed hospital steward. He
was promoted to assistant surgeon January 25,
1863. and to surgeon, with rank of major, No-
vember 25, 1864, having served as acting sur-
geon front May i, 1864. His regiment was
organized at .Augusta. Maine, and was there
mustered into the service of the L'nited States
for a period of three years or during the war,
on .August 14, i8(>2, Colonel .Asa W. Wildes
commanding. The regiment left Augusta on
August 19 for Wasiiington City, arriving there
August 21, and the next day crossed the Long
Bridge into \'irginia. being assigned to Forts
Cass, Woodbury and Tillinghast. On Sep-