Lucien Eaton Papers

Collection

Identifier: A0432

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists primarily of Eaton family correspondence; the diaries of Lucien Eaton, dated 1855-1862; the journals of George P. Eaton, dated 1878-1882; legal papers of Lucien Eaton; 37 disbound letter books of letters received by Lucien Eaton, dated 1858-1889; and eight volumes of letter books of letterpress copies of letters sent by Lucien Eaton, dated 1861-1889. These letter books primarily contain Eaton’s professional correspondence, but some personal correspondence is included as well. The aforementioned 37 letter books of letters received by Lucien Eaton were disbound for preservation purposes in 2002–2003. After being disbound the letters were retained in their original order, which was loosely chronological, and housed in folders in Boxes 10-50. With the exceptions of letter books number 6 and 9, the letters were paged, presumably by Eaton or his clerk, and the letter books contain an index at the back of the volume that refers to these page numbers. A cumulative inventory of these letter books was compiled in 2002–2003, and is available in a Microsoft Access database accessible in the “Finding Aids” directory at the Archives Reference Desk computer. This inventory includes the name of the correspondent and the date and location where the letter was written. The aforementioned eight volumes of letter books of letterpress copies of letters sent by Lucien Eaton each contain an index in the back of the volume. The Correspondence and Diaries Series consists primarily of letters of Lucien Eaton to his wife and children, dated 1877-1888; letters between Lucien Eaton and his son, George Partridge Eaton, dated 1878-1882; letters of Lucien Eaton and his wife to their son, Frank Eaton, dated 1885-1891; five diaries of Lucien Eaton, dated 1855-1862; and five journals of George P. Eaton, dated 1878-1882. The series also contains some other family correspondence. The Legal Papers Series contains papers relating to legal cases of Lucien Eaton; most notable are cases involving the Joseph Uhrig Brewing Company, the St. Louis Bridge and Iron Company, and E.A. Skeele. The Other Family Papers Series contains a miscellany of family papers. The Lucien Eaton Letter Books (Letters Received) Series contains 37 disbound letter books of letters received by Eaton (dated 1858-1889), most of which comprise professional correspondence, but the volumes also contain some family and personal correspondence. A cumulative inventory to these 37 letter books is available in a Microsoft Access database accessible in the “Finding Aids” directory at the Archives Reference Desk computer. This inventory includes the name of the correspondent and the date and location where the letter was written. The Lucien Eaton Letter Books (Letters Sent) Series contains eight volumes of letter books of letterpress copies of letters sent by Lucien Eaton, dated 1861-1889. Each volume contains an index.

Dates

1854-1892

Creator

Eaton, Lucien, 1831-1890 (Creator, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, quote from, or reproduce material in this collection, please contact the Archives Reference Desk at archives@mohistory.org. Copyright restrictions may apply. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright.

Biographical Sketches

Lucien Eaton was born September 24, 1831, in Denmark, New York. His parents, George and Mary, were originally from Massachusetts. In 1846 the Eatons moved to Denmark, Iowa, a town settled by an eastern colony. Lucien Eaton was educated at Iowa College in Davenport (later removed to Grinnell), from which he graduated in 1855. He then studied law at Cambridge (Mass.) Law School (1857) and spent a further year of study in Boston. In February 1858 he moved to St. Louis and established a general law practice. Eaton taught a Negro Sunday school class, and joined Dr. William G. Eliot’s Unitarian Church soon after he arrived in St. Louis. He became an ardent abolitionist and Union sympathizer when the Civil War broke out. Enlisting in the volunteer forces raised by General Lyon, Eaton took part in the capture of Camp Jackson. During the war he was assigned duty as a district judge advocate and served at the Army headquarters in St. Louis, with the rank of major, on the staffs of Rosecrans, Dodge, and Pope. He continued his own practice during the war. In early 1866 Eaton was appointed police commissioner, an office he resigned when he was appointed register of bankruptcy in June 1867. For four years he was editor of the Southern Law Review until 1883 when it was consolidated with the American Law Review, of which he was managing editor. On March 27, 1861, Lucien Eaton married Emily F. Partridge of St. Louis, daughter of George Partridge, a family he had known in Boston, and settled into a house at 1621 Olive Street which was to be his home for the rest of his life. During the Civil War, Mrs. Eaton served as president of the Ladies Freedmen Association, an organization that aided refugee slaves. Always in frail health, Emily Eaton died in September 1872. Lucien Eaton had two sons by his first wife, George Partridge and Francis (Frank) H. Eaton. In 1876, Eaton married Miss Hannah O. Noyes of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. They had three children—Clara; Lucien, Jr.; and Theodore. Lucien Eaton died March 7, 1890, at his summer home in Boerne, Texas. His wife, Hannah, died in April 1891 in Boston. They were both buried in the family plot in Bellefontaine Cemetery (St. Louis). George P. Eaton, Lucien Eaton’s eldest son, was sent to West Newton English and Classical School (West Newton, Mass.) in the fall of 1878. He drowned at West Newton in January 1882. Frances G. Eaton (born 1867) attended Washington University (St. Louis) and then Harvard. He became president of the Heritage Real Estate Company in St. Louis, and died at his summer cottage in Michigan in July 1941.

Extent

26.0 Cubic Feet ( (50 boxes; 8 volumes))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following five series: Correspondence and Diaries Series, Legal Papers Series, Other Family Papers Series, Lucien Eaton Letter Books (Letters Received) Series, and Lucien Eaton Letter Books (Letters Sent) Series.

Physical and Technical Requirements

There are no physical or technical restrictions.

Donor Information

The collection was acquired through four separate donations from the Eaton family. In May 1945, the family of Francis G. Eaton (died 1941), the son of Lucien Eaton, donated Lucien Eaton’s letter books, letterpress books, and some loose papers. In June 1954 and May 1955, Miss Emily Eaton, Francis Eaton’s daughter, donated more of the family papers, including a collection of private correspondence and Lucien Eaton’s diaries. In January 1984, George Eaton, great-grandson of Lucien Eaton, donated a collection of family correspondence, including letters of Lucien Eaton to his second wife, Hannah Noyes Eaton.

Digital Copies

Selected items from this collection were digitized by Missouri Historical Society staff. The images may be viewed online by clicking the links beside each item in the inventory.