The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-22

William W. Eaton was born in Tol- land, October II, 1916, and received a public school education there, prepar-
 ing him fer a business life. His father. the Hon. Luther Eaton, was a man of 1 notable honesty and integrity, possess ing the fullest confidence and respect of the community in which he resided He was also man of political influ- ence and control, at one time represent ing the old Twentieth district in the
 state senate. MT. Eaton inherited the strict probity and independence of con- viction of his father, and from the earliest period of his life his course has been one of fearless adherence to what he has believed to be right. On arriv- ing at his majority he engaged in mer- cantile pursuits at Columbia, s. C., and spent three or four years there in bus mess. The strong individual views | which characterized his subsequent 1 course in public affairs were establish | ed in part at least by his residence at | the south. At the conclusion of his
 commercial career, which lasted up-
 wards of four years, he returned north
 
 old home in Holland, and was admitted 1 to the bar in Holland county.
 | In 1847 he was elected a member of the Connecticut house of representa- 1 tives from Holland and was returned | the following year from that town. | From that time he was a prominent 1 figure in Connecticut politics. In 1850 he was elected to the state senate from | the Twentieth district. At the end of | the session of the general assembly l that year MT. Eaton removed to Hart ! ford He received the appointment of clerk of the Hartford county court,
 and proved himself a thoroughly com
 potent official. In 1853 he was elected a member of the house from Hartford and was chosen speaker, a position for
 which he was amply qualified both by
 reason of ability and experience. Mir | Eaton was also a member of the house | from Hartford during the sessions of
 1863, '6S, 70, '71, '73 and '74
 l In 1873 he was elected speaker for l the second time and discharged the du- | ties of the position with characteristic
 efficiency and success. MT. Eaton pos
 sessed special adaptation for the legis- | lative function, and his career in the general assembly was marked by the | highest personal integrity and upright
 ness. During tbe session of 1874 he was elected United States senator from Con-
 necticut, succeeding the Hon. William
 A. Buckingham, whose term expired
 March B. 1875. Upon the death of Sen
 ator Buckingham in February, 1875, MT.
 Eaton was appointed United States
 senator, filling the vacancy caused by
 Mr. Buckingham's death, and assumed
 the duties of the office February 13, 1875. Commencing his full term on
 the 4th of March following he remained
 in Washington during the succeeding
 six years, establishing for himself a
 record in which the state might exper- fence a just sense of pride. During the
 concluding years of his senatorial life he was senate chairman of the com
 mittee on foreign relations, one of the 1 most important in congress. He was
 opposed to the appointment of the cleo
 toral commission by which, in 1876, the election of President Hayes was rati- fled, and was the only democrat in the