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

John Eaton, Jr.
Personal Information
Born: December 5, 1829 (1829-12-05)
Place of Birth: {{{place of birth}}}
Died: Template:Death-date and age
Place of Death: {{{place of death}}}
Nickname: {{{nickname}}}
Birth Name: {{{birth name}}}
Other Information
Allegiance: United States of America
Union
Participation(s): {{{participations}}}
Branch: Union Army
Service Years: {{{service years}}}
Rank: Brevet Brigadier General
Service number : {{{servicenumber}}}
Unit:
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Battles: American Civil War
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Other work: {{{otherwork}}}


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,[1] 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.

See also[]

References[]

Template:NIE

Notes[]

  1. Eicher, p. 222.

Template:Start box |- ! colspan="3" style="background: #bebebe; color: #000000" | Government offices

|- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align:center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
Henry Barnard |width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="1"|United States Commissioner of Education
1870–1886 |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"| Succeeded by
Nathaniel H. R. Dawson |- Template:S-aca |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align:center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
|width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="1"|President of Marietta College
1886–1891 |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"| Succeeded by
|- |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align:center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
|width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="1"|President of Sheldon Jackson College
1895 – |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"| Succeeded by
|- |}

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