Theophilus Eaton ( January 7, 1658) was a New England colonist, politician, merchant and financier, who took part in organizing and financing the Great Puritan Migration to America. He was a founder of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a founder and eventual governor of New Haven Colony. He was also among the founders of Boston, Greenwich, Connecticut, Eaton's Neck, Southold and East Hampton.Stories of old New Haven, Baldwin, Ernest Hickok, Abbey Press, New York, 1902, p. 16-19History of Southold, L.I. : its first century, Rev. Epher Whitaker, Southold, 1881, p. 36-49
His brother, Nathaniel Eaton, became the first headmaster of Harvard college, building Harvard Yard and Harvard Library, and his son, Samuel Eaton, became one of the seven founders of the Harvard Corporation.
Early life and first marriage
He was born at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England about 1590, to Rev. Richard Eaton and his wife, Elizabeth.'Parishes : Stony Stratford', Victoria History of the Counties of England, A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 4 (1927), pp. 476-482, citing D.N.B. His father was a graduate of the University of Oxford in 1599, at Lincoln College, and may have been the curate at that time. He later became in 1607 Prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral and Vicar of Great Budworth, Cheshire. Theophilus married Grace Hiller, and had two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth Eaton, who died young. Grace Hiller died in 1626.
Second marriage and children
In 1627 he remarried, this time to a widow, Anne Yale, who was the daughter of George Lloyd, the Bishop of Chester (some authorities say Anne Morton, the daughter of Bishop Thomas Morton of Chester). Eaton and Anne Yale were the parents of Samuel Eaton (baptized in 1628), Theophilus Jr., Hannah, Jonathan and Elizabeth II (b. 1637), as the previous Elizabeth Eaton died in 1630.Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven Colony Historical Society, Library of Congress, New Haven, 1908, p. 12-13The American Genealogist vol. 88 no. 3 (July 2016). A Waggon Load of Eatons: The Great Budworth, Cheshire, Ancestry of Theophilus1 Eaton, Nathaniel1 Eaton, and Frances1 Low (Eaton) of New England (continued, part 3), by Scott G. Swanson, p. 222-235Historical catalogue of the members of the First church of Christ in New Haven, Connecticut (Center Church) A.D. 1639-1914, Dexter, Franklin Bowditch, Princeton Theological Seminary Library, New Haven, 1914, p. 1-2-14Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, John Langdon Sibley, Volume I, 1642-1658, Charles William Sever, University Bookstore, Cambridge, 1873, p. 171-172 They raised eight children in their household. Besides their three, and Mary and Samuel, it included Anne, David, and Thomas Yale from Anne's first marriage to Thomas Yale of the Yale family.
Thomas Yale was a London merchant, son of Chancellor David Yale of Erddig Park, who was the nephew of Chancellor Thomas Yale of London. He was also a grandson of John Lloyd, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in London, and one of the eight founding Fellows of the first Protestant College of the University of Oxford, Jesus College.
The three Yale children had notable places in the history of Connecticut.
Thomas Yale Jr. settled in Connecticut as a planter and landowner, cofounded New Haven Colony, and signed its Fundamental Agreement on June 4, 1639. His descendants would fight the American War of Independence, become the early settlers of Wallingford and Yalesville, and the founders of a manufacturing dynasty in the region. They would establish number of hotels and banks and start the manufacture of cigars, beer, pelts, wagons, carriages, steamboats, ships, yacht flags, gunpowder engines, Britannia ware, as well as bayonets and muskets Springfield Model 1861, the latter for the Union Army of Abraham Lincoln through Lamson, Goodnow & Yale, family of Linus Yale Sr. Caviar and Salmons manufacturer was James Murray Yale and the largest banker was Moses Yale BeachRoe, Joseph Wickham (1916). English & American Tool Builders. Yale University Press. pp. 186–201. OCLC 1471705
Anne Yale (the daughter) married Gov. Edward Hopkins in 1631; he later became the 2nd Gov. of Connecticut and a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty for the Lord Protector of Britain, Oliver Cromwell. Her uncle-in-law was Ottoman ambassador Sir Henry Lello, who negotiated with the Venetians and Habsburgs under Elizabeth Tudor.
David Yale, a prosperous Boston merchant and attorney to Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, who married Ursula Knight in 1641, became the father of Gov. Elihu Yale, President of the British East India Company settlement in Fort St. George, at Madras and primary benefactor of Yale College.
The Eaton children fared as follows; Mary Eaton married Judge Valentine Hill of Boston, a business associate of William Aspinwall, member of the Artillery Company, signatory of the Oath of a Freeman and real estate developer in 1647.History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, Volume I, Oliver Ayer Roberts, Alfred Mudge & Sons, Boston, 1895, p. 64 (Gov. Eaton's brother, Nathaniel Eaton, the first Headmaster of Harvard and builder of Harvard's first College was present as a witness.)
Samuel Eaton, who became one of the seven founding members and signatories of the Harvard Corporation by charter in 1650,The Harvard Charter of 1650 The Charter of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, under the seal of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and bearing the date May 31st, A. D. 1650, Harvard College. Accessed October 9, 2017.Sibley, J.L. Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Volume 1, by John Langdon Sibley, Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1642, p. 171. then, in 1654, married Mabel (Harlakenden) Haynes, widow of John Haynes, 4th Gov. of Massachusetts Bay Colony and later 1st Gov. of Connecticut Colony.
Hannah Eaton, who married William Jones, 24th Lt. Gov. of Connecticut and Magistrate for the United Colonies, in 1659. He and Davenport hosted in secret two regicides from Britain in the Judges' Cave in New Haven.Wilson, Douglas (1987). "Web of Secrecy: Goffe, Whalley, and the Legend of Hadley". New England Quarterly
Theophilus Eaton, Jr., or Ellis, as he was known, who returned to England with his mother after his father's death, settled in Dublin, Ireland, and married Catherine (daughter of Captain Thomas Maunsell and Alphra Crayford) in 1649, and their daughter Anne married her first cousin Colonel Thomas Maunsell. He is ancestor to many members of prominent Anglo-Irish families to this day. Their daughter Elizabeth died in London in March 1637 before the family departed for the colonies.
Early career in England
In London, Theophilus resided between Coleman Street and Lothbury Street, and became a member of the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. He purchased with Anne Yale the past home of Sir Richard Saltonstall of the Saltonstall family.Bremer, Francis J. (2012). Building a New Jerusalem, Yale University Press, p. 75-76 For several years, he served as Ambassador and middleman between King James I of England and King Christian IV of Denmark, mostly for the business dealings between these two countries.Theophilus Eaton, first Governor of the colony of New Haven by Baldwin, Simeon E. (Simeon Eben), 1840-1927
Thereafter, he would become Deputy Gov. of the Eastland Company, which was one of the most important English commercial companies of the 17th century.Baldwin, Simeon E. (1907). Theophilus Eaton, first Governor of the colony of New Haven, New Haven Historical Society, p. 4 The enterprise traded in the Baltics and Scandinavia, dealing with countries such as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Prussia and Poland.Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Eaton, Theophilus As his wealth grew, he took great interest in the plans to colonize New England. He would get his chance in 1628. He and a group of shareholders, including Sir Richard Saltonstall and Sir Henry Rosewell, bought the right to colonize the Massachusetts Bay Colony, through a Royal charter made by King Charles I of England.Theophilus Eaton, first Governor of the colony of New Haven, Baldwin, Simeon E. (Simeon Eben), 1840-1927
As one of the cofounders of Massachusetts, he signed its incorporation called the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company and they would form a Self-governing colony by creating the Massachusetts General Court, called the Great and General Court at the time and the Massachusetts Governor's Council, called the Council of assistants at the time.Andrews, Charles M. (1936). The Rise and Fall of the New Haven Colony, Committee on Historical Publications, Yale University Press, XLVIII, p. 8Moore, Jacob Bailey. Memoir of Theophilus Eaton, the first governor of the colony of New Haven. New-York, 1849, p. 471 This governing body would put the management and defence of the colony in the hands of ten men. Five would have to stay in England, five would go to Massachusetts. Theophilus was one of the five men chosen to govern the Colony from England.Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts bay in New England, Nathaniel Bradstreet, W. White, Boston, Massachusetts, 1853, p. 65 To make the trip to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Governor John Winthrop would use one of the ships that he co-owned, the Arbella, and would make it his flagship to lead the Winthrop Fleet.
Arrived in Massachusetts, they would make Boston their capital, with Theophilus Eaton and Thomas Hooker among its founders. This would start the Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640) and Theophilus would be one of those wealthy city Puritans who financed it.College Singing in American College Life: 1636-1860, James Lloyd Winstead, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 2005 p. 23 The colony became the largest in New England, and evolved into the Thirteen American Colonies that would later become the United States of America.
Emigration to New England
He later made the trip and emigrated to New England with other Puritans in the ship Hector, arriving in Boston on June 26, 1637.
His group of colonists had his friend John Davenport as their religious leader, brother of Francis Davenport, the chaplain of Queen Catherine of Braganza and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon.Goodrich J., Suspicious Moderate: The Life and Writings of Francis à Sancta Clara (1598–1680). Anne Ashley Davenport. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017. xv + 668 pp. $75. Renaissance Quarterly. 2018;71(3):1150-1151. doi:10.1086/700501 They wanted to start their own settlement – probably due in part to the commanding persona of John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony at the time (1637 to 1640, and many other terms). Winthrop was termed "an object of great fear in all the colonies", and caused the Rev. Thomas Hooker and others to go off and form their own colonies as well.
Their beliefs seemed quite strong in retrospect as they would later refuse the request of Oliver Cromwell, the most powerful man in England, to join him in his conquest of Ireland and Spain.
Foundation of New Haven
In the spring his group moved from Boston and when they arrived on April 14, 1638, they named the site New Haven. That fall, Eaton led an exploration to the south, and located a site at Quinnipiack on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. On November 14, 1638, he and his company entered into an agreement with the chief sachem Momauquin agreeing that in exchange for protection from the Quinnipiack Indians' ancient enemies, the Mohawk and the Pequot, Momauquin would relinquish his right, title, and interest to the lands that both parties agreed would not later evolve into feelings of animosity, hate, or regret. [Cf. J. W. Barber, History and Antiquities of New Haven, (Conn.) (1831) pp. 25–29].