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<title>Memoir of Theophilus Eaton, the first governor of the colony of New Haven.: a machine-readable transcription.</title>
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<head>Memoir of Theophilus Eaton, the first governor of the colony of New Haven.</head>
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XV. <lb>
MEMOIR <lb>
THEOPIIILUS   EATON, <lb>
THE  FIRST  GOVEENOE <lb>
COLONY OF NEW HAVEN. <lb>
BY   JACOB    BAILEY   MOORE; <lb>
SECOND SERIES, VOL. II.&apos;               45<lb>
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ME MOIR <lb>
THEOPHILUS   EATON, <lb>
&quot; No character in the annals of New England, (says Savage,) is of purer fame than that of Theophilus Eaton, governor of the colony of New Haven, from its settlement to his death, by twenty annual elections ; the only instance of such an honor ever conferred. That his talents were adequate to the station, might be confidently concluded, from the fact of his prior service, several years, as representative of Charles I., to the court of Denmark; and the long administration of an infant state without a rival, is irrefragable proof of his prudence and virtue. All the original writers of our history are abundant in his praise, and the later and more judicious inquirers are satisfied with their evidence.&quot;* <lb>
Of the family of Governor Eaton, the accounts which have been transmitted to us are meagre. His father was the Rev. Richard Eaton, who was born in 1563, received his education at Lincoln college, and became vicar of the parish of Great Budworth, in Cheshire. He afterwards removed to Stony Stratford, where he was for some time pastor of a church, and from thence he removed to Coventry, where he died in the pastoral office, in 1617, at the age of 54. Mather characterises him as &quot; a faithful and famous minister.&quot; <lb>
Theophilus Eaton was born in the year 1590, at Stony Stratford.f He was placed in school at Coventry, to which town his father had removed, and there the young pupil became noted for proficiency in his studies.   It is said of him, <lb>
» Savage&apos;s Winthrop, i. 298. <lb>
t Stony Stratford is a market town on the river Ouse, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, county of Buckingham, some 52 miles distant from London, on the old Roman toad, called Watling street.    Lyson&apos;s Britannia.<lb>
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470                                          MEMOIR   OP <lb>
also, that he possessed a memory so tenacious, that he could repeat whole sermons which he had heard at church.* The father of Mr. Eaton observing his capacity, desired that he should make preparation to enter upon the work of the ministry, his own cherished calling; but the son had adopted other views, and ultimately decided to qualify himself for commercial pursuits. He was accordingly apprenticed to the business of a merchant. After the accustomed service, he became a freeman of the city of London, and engaged successfully in &quot; the east-country trade,&quot; that is, the trade with countries on the shores of the Baltic.f Thus brief are the accounts which have come down to us, of the early life of this remarkable man ; but they are sufficient to convey a strong impression of his character. <lb>
It was not long before the abilities of Mr. Eaton, which had been rendered conspicuous by his successful enterprises, attracted the attention of the East Land Company,J and he was chosen deputy-governor of that corporation. In carrying out their plans, he visited the northern countries of Europe. He succeeded in making arrangements materially to increase the traffic of the company with the ports on the Baltic ; and became so well known for his energy and success, that he was shortly afterwards appointed the agent of Charles I., at the court of Denmark. In the fashion of the times, and under the reign of a Stuart, there was nothing incompatible in this double employment; and it is known that he conducte I the affairs of his two-fold agency in such a manner as to win the confidence of the king, and the respect of the sovereign to whose court he had been accredited. He was equally successful in promoting the interests of the great commercial company of which he was the representative. Resuming business in London, after his return from Copenhagen, as might naturally be inferred, under the most favorable circumstances, Mr. Eaton was eminently successful, and Mather says of him, that he &apos;&apos;spent many years, a merchant of great credit and fashion in the city of London.&quot; <lb>
? Mather&apos;s Magn. b. ii. 26. <lb>
? Kingsley&apos;s Hist. Disc. 11. <lb>
t A commercial company in London, established in 1579, under the title of ithe &quot; Company of Merchants of the East,&quot; similar to the great Hamburgh Company, incorporated by Edward I., in 1296, and the oldest trading establishment in the kingdom. The Eastland Company consisted alone of merchants who had trafficked through the Sound before 1568, into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, &amp;c. It was complained of as a monopoly, and its privileges were curtailed in 1679; &amp;nd since the revolution of 1688, it has existed only in name.<lb>
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THKOPHILUS  BATON.                                   471 <lb>
Mr. Eaton was a puritan in faith, and took a deep interest in the emigrations to America, which marked the beginning of the seventeenth century. He was one of the patentees of Massachusetts, and one of the magistrates or assistants, chosen in 1629. He took an active part in the proceedings of the company, before its transfer to New England, and contributed liberally towards providing the&apos; means for the settlement of the colony. It has been supposed that Mr. Eaton had no original purpose of going to New England ; but that when proceedings under the act of uniformity became so oppressive as to induce his beloved pastor and particular friend, Mr. Davenport,* to retire into Holland, and afterwards prepare for emigration to America, he determined to throw up his pursuits and prospects in England, and accompany his friend to the shores of the new world. Of their preliminary arrangements, unfortunately, no account has been preserved, such as marks the progress, step by step, of the pioneers of New Plymouth and Massa- <lb>
* Rev. John Davenport was bora in Coventry, in 1597. At the age of fourteen he entered Merton College, then in Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and before he was twenty, entered upon the duties of a preacher, first as domestic chaplain at Hilton Castle, near Durham, ard afterwards as vicar of St. Stephens, in Cole-man street, London. In 1625 he received his degree as bachelor of divinity. By great application to study he had become distinguished as a scholar, and as a preacher, he held the first rank. Becoming a conscientious non-conformist, he was bbliged to retire into Holland in 1633, to escape the persecution of Archbishop Laud. At Amsterdam he became colleague pastor of the English Church in that city, but resisting the promiscuous baptism of children, then practised in Holland, he was compelled to withdraw from the church, and in 1636 he returned to London. Here, joining the company of his friend, Theophilus Eaton, he prepared for emigration to America. He became the minister and spiritual guide of the people of New Haven, on the establishment of the colony, and remained with them until after his cherished colony had been merged in that of Connecticut. In April, 1668, just thirty years after the commencement of his ministry at New Haven, he accepted the invitation of the first church in Boston, to succeed the Rev. Mr. Wilson, who had deceased. But his labors there were of short duration. He died suddenly, of apoplexy, 15th March, 1670, at the age of 72, and was buried in the torrb of his friend Cotton. Ample accounts of this excellent divine are contained in Professor Kingsley&apos;s and Dr. Bacon&apos;s Historical Discourses. <lb>
Several of the descendants of Mr. Davenport became distinguished as clergymen in Connecticut and New York. Hon. Abraham Davenport, of Stamford, was distinguished for his vigorous Understanding, integrity, and firmness. Dr. Dwight relaies the following anecdote : &quot; On the 19th May, 1780, (the memo-raJble dark day,) the legislature was in session at Hartford. A very general opinion prevailed, that the day of judgment was at hand. The house of representatives being unable to transact business, adjourned. A proposal to adjourn ihe council was under consideration ; when the opinion of Col. Davenport was asked, he answered, &quot;I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause of adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought.&quot;<lb>
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472                                            MEMOIR   OP <lb>
chusetts Bay. We know, however, that the new adventurers were chiefly Londoners, men who had for the most part been engaged in commerce. We may suppose that the flattering accounts sent home by the earlier colonists had also excited in the minds of these adventurers the hopes of establishing themselves successfully in the pursuits of commerce in the n^ew world. The company embarked in two ships, taking with them a number of servants, and a large amount of property. They arrived at Boston, 26 June, 1637,* where they met a most hearty welcome from their brethren who had gone before them. <lb>
Mr. Eaton, and those who came with him, were men of consideration, of high endowments, moral and intellectual; and they were, moreover, the most opulent company which had come into New England. Hubbard speaks of them as &quot; men of great estates, notably well versed in trading and merchandising.&quot; Under these circumstances, the people of the plantations already established were naturally desirous to offer such terms as should be acceptable to the new emigrants. They were offered lands at New Plymouth. In Massachusetts, great pains were taken by individuals, by towns, and even by the general court, to induce them to remain in that colony. Winthrop says, that &quot; all possible means had been used to accommodate them ; Charlestown offered them largely; Newbury their whole town, and the court any place which was free.&quot; But they had other purposes, and were reserved for another destiny. They had already written to their friends at Hartford to purchase for their use ample territory from the natives, further south, towards the Hudson. The military expedition against the Pequots in 1G3G, had opened to the notice of the colonists the fine tracts along the shore, from Saybrook to Fairfield, apparently fruitful, and happily situated for navigation and commerce. Stoughton and Underhill, returning from the conquest, both bore testimony to the beauty of the country, and urged their friends to take possession of it. &quot;The Dutch will seize it,&quot; say a Stoughton,&quot; if the English do not; and it is too good for any but friends.&quot;f Underhill spoke in praise of &quot;the famous place called Queenapiok,&quot; as having &quot; a fair river, fit for harboring of ships,&quot; and bordered by &quot; rich and goodly meadows.&quot; The accuracy of the information thus obtained, Mr. Eaton determined to test by per- <lb>
* Kingsley says June 3d. t Hutchinson&apos;s Coll. 62.<lb>
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THEOPHILt&apos;S  EATON.                                     473 <lb>
sonal observation, and in the fall of 1637, in company with a few friends, he made a journey of exploration to the lands and harbors on the sound. The fine bay of Quinnipiack attracted their attention, and they decided to fix upon it, as the place of their settlement, &quot; being much taken with the fruitfulness of that place, and more safety, as they conceived, from the danger of a general governor.&quot;* They erected a poor hut upon the future site of New Haven, and here a few men subsisted through the winter.f <lb>
The new emigrants, although they had decided to decline the offers of Massachusetts, were not insensible to the liberal intention of the people of that colony; and in a letter giving their reasons for preferring to be the founders of a new plantation, they pledged to them their future friendship, and their resolution &quot; to be any way instrumental and serviceable for the common good of these plantations as well as of those, which the Divine Providence hath combined together in as strong a bond of brotherly affection, by the sameness of their condition, as Joab and Abishai were, whose several armies did mutually strengthen them both against several enemies, II Sam. x. 9, 10, Jl, or rather they are joined together, as Hippocrates his twins, to stand and fall, to grow and decay, to flourish and wither, to live and die together.&quot;;}: <lb>
Mr. Eaton arrived in New England at a fortunate period. The last victory over a warlike tribe of Indians, who had threatened the destruction of the settlements on the Connecticut, had been won, and the Pequot nation had ceased to exist. § The design of planting a new colony south of that of Connecticut, therefore, seemed to open under favorable circumstances.    It was fortunate, also, for the elder colony on <lb>
* Sav. Winthrop, i. 259. <lb>
t This hut stood upon what is now the corner of Church and Meadow streets, in New Haven. Seven men were left by Mr. Eaton j one of whom died during the winter. Joshua Atwater, a gentleman of distinction and opulence, was one of the seven. The names of four others were Francis Brown, John Beacher, Robert Pigg, and Thomas Hogg. In 1750, while digging the cellar for a house on the corner of Meadow and George streets, remains, supposed to be those of the Englishman who died, us above mentioned, in 1637, were discovered. Lambert&apos;s New Haven, 42.    Dana&apos;s Cent. Sermon,45. <lb>
t Sav. Winthrop, i. 405. The letter is dated 12 March, 1639, and signed by Eaton and Davenporte. <lb>
§ It has, in no very kind spirit, perhaps, been said of the colonists, in reference to this event, that the example of the Jews, dispossessing and slaying the Canaan-ites, may have settled all doubts respecting their right to destroy the Indians, or sell them into slavery, on the ground that &quot; the earth is the Lord&apos;s,&quot; and the promise, that&quot; the saints shall inherit the earth.&quot; Lambert, 20.<lb>
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474                                        MEMOIR  OF <lb>
the river, that the new emigrants had arrived, for they were generally men of substance, of a liberal and Christian spirit. They were ready to aid the planters of Windsor, Hartford and Weathersfield, who had been greatly impoverished by the war, and who during the winter of uncommon severity which followed, were actually menaced with starvation.* A successful negotiation with the Indians of Pocomtock,  Deerfield,  which secured a supply of corn^averted the danger.f <lb>
It will be perceived, that one of the principal reasons assigned by the colonists, for a removal to Connecticut, was the idea that they would be more out of the way. and exempt from the interference of a governor general, who was at this time expected, and was an object of general apprehension, in all the New England plantations. What foundation there was for the hope, by such removal, of securing exemption from the control of a governor general, had one been sent, does not appear. The spirit of persecution which could follow them across the ocean, might certainly reach them in a wilderness even more remote than Quinnipiack.J It is not impossible, that among the motives which influenced the principal men, a spark of ambition may have been concealed, animating their high resolves to become the founders of a state, and to control its government, after shaping it to a model agreeable to their own ideas of a perfect commonwealth. They would very naturally, also, seekto avoid any difficulty growing out of the bitter antinomian controversy, which then raged in Massachusetts, and which Mr. Davenpjrt, on his arrival, had earnestly, but ineffectually, exerted himself to reconcile. Failing to find a remedy for &quot;the spiritual disease,&quot; which had broken out in Massachusetts, they may have sought greater safety in being as far removed as possible from its influence. <lb>
Dr. Bacon has suggested another high purpose as possibly influencing the course of Mr. Eaton and his associates at this period the bold thought of asserting, if it should be necessary, an absolute independence of the English crown! He who reads their records, will find nothing to contradict such an hypothesis.§ <lb>
* Winthrop notices the uncommon severity of the winter of 1637, and says the snow laid deep from 4th of Nov. to 23d of March. <lb>
t Mason says, fifty canoes laden with corn were received at one time. <lb>
t&quot; My arm shall reach him even there&quot; was the threat of Archbishop Laud&apos; when he heard of Davenport&apos;s retreat to Amerieai. <lb>
§ Bacon&apos;s Hist. Disc. 86.<lb>
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THEOPHILUS   EATON.                                   475 <lb>
Mr. Eaton and his companions sailed from Boston on the 30th of March, 1638 ; and their two or three little vessels, freighted with an entire colony, were brought safely to their moorings in the bay of Quinnipiack, on the 14th of April ; their passage having been thus protracted through their indispensable caution in sailing along the coast. The day following, being the first Sabbath after their arrival, they devoted to worship. From their vessels and their tents, they gathered themselves together under the spreading branches of a large oak,* reverently listening to the exhortations, and joining in the prayers of their beloved pastor, Mr. Davenport. He preached on this occasion from Matthew iii. 1, &quot; In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea.&quot;f On that day, for the first time, the wild woods of Quinnipiock rang with the notes of Christian hymns and exhortations, where for ages had echoed only the war-songs of the savage. The foundations of the colony were laid in peace, and the blessings   f Heaven were invoked upon their undertaking. <lb>
Looking forward to the establishment of a great and prosperous community, the colonists immediately sat about making the purchases, and entering into the treaties, necessary to give it stability. They recognized the Indian title to the soil, and the necessity and justice of acquiring it by fair and open purchase of its original possessors. In November, they entered into an agreement with the chief of the native tribe dwelling at Quinnipiack for the plain west of the river.J In December, they made another purchase of a large tract, lying principally north of the other, extending eight mile&apos;s east of the river Quinnipiack, and five miles west of it towards the Hudson; and it has been asserted that all the lands of New Haven eolony were obtained by equitable purchase, of the natives.^    Adopting the policy of <lb>
  This tree stood near the present corner of Gfeorge and College streets. New Haven, and is said to have been standing as late as 1776. <lb>
t The historians disagree as to the text used on this occasion ; but the &quot; family records expressly say that the selected text of this puritan divine was Matt. iii. 1.&quot; MS. Letter Rev. Isaac Jones, Litchfield, Conn. <lb>
X A small tribe of Indians, called Quinnipiacks, at this time resided here; they had a fort at a place since known as Indian, or Beacon Hill, in East Haven, and a burial place near. After the coming of the whites, their numbers rapidly diminished, and the tribe has long since been extinct. The uadiiion is, that Charles, the last chief of the Quinnipiacks, was frozen to death near the ruing of his wigwam. <lb>
§ These purchases comprehended all the lands within the^ancient limits of New Haven, Branford, and Wallingford, »nd now form  the whole or principal <lb>
SECOND SERIES, VOL. II.              46<lb>
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47S                             memoir or <lb>
William Penn, these colonists permitted no lands&apos; to be purchased of the Indians, except on account of the government, or by permission of the magistrates, and all conveyances were recorded, ^ind open to public inspection.* <lb>
Near the bay of Quinnipiack, the settlers laid out their town in squares, on the plan of a spacious city, and in 1640, gave to it the name of New Haven. For more than a year after commencing their settlement, they continued without any other constitution than their Plantation Covenant. In this simple instrument, less formal even than the celebrated compact of the Plymouth pilgrims, they had solemnly engaged, that, in their civil as well as in their religious concerns, &quot; they would all of them be ordered by the rules which the Scriptures do hold forth.&quot; !Some of the first settlers of New Haven were Millenarians, or believers that the second coming of Christ will precede the millenium, and that there will be a literal resurrection of the saints, who will reign with Christ on earth a thousand years. This-was a prevalent belief for a long time afterwards in New England. It has been said that some of the more enthusiastic indulged the fond illusion that they were the precursors of Christ&apos;s millenial kingdom, which was to exterld from sea to sea, and that the city, whose foundations they had laid, would become the seat of empire ! <lb>
The time had now arrived when it was necessary to proceed to the establishment of a form of government for the new colony. Accordingly all the free planters of Quinni-piack assembled in convention for that purpose on the 4th of June, 1639. The place of their meeting was a large barn, which had been erected by Mr. Robert Newman, f He acted as scribe on the occasion. The ceremonies were imposing. The Rev. Mr. Davenport addressed the people from the words of the royal preacher, &quot; Wisdom hath build-ed her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillabs.&quot; His design was to show,J that the church, the house of God, should be formed of seven pillars, or principal brethren, to whom all the other members of the church should be gathered.   After a solemn invocation of the Divine Majesty, <lb>
parts of the towns of East Haven, North Haven, Harnden, Cheshire, Meridert, North Branford, Bethany, Woodbridge and Orange.    Lambert, 46. <lb>
» Kingaley, 22, 82. <lb>
t Bacon (Hist. Disc, 21,) says, Mr. Newman&apos;s barn was somewhere on the ground now occupied by the dwelling of Prof. Kingsley and  the iate  D»« Webster. <lb>
% We follow the account given by Trumboll.<lb>
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THEOPHILUS  EATON.                                     477 <lb>
he proceeded to represent to the planters, that they were met to consult respecting the settlement of the civil government according to the will of God, and for the nomination of persons, who, by universal consent, were, in all respects, best qualified for the foundation work of a church. He enlarged upon the great importance and solemnity of the transactions before them, and desired, that no man would give his voice, in any matter, until he fully understood it; and that all would act, without resppct to any man, but give their vote in the fear of God. After due deliberation, resolutions were passed adopting the following articles as the basis of their government: <lb>
1.  That the scriptures hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in  all duties which they are to perform to God and men, as well in families and commonwealth, tvs in matters of the church. <lb>
2.  That as in matters which concerned the gathering and ordering of a church, so likewise in all public offices which concern civil order, as the. choice of magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws, dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature, they would all be governed by those rules, which the scripture held forth to them. <lb>
3.  That all those who had desired to be received as free planters, had settled in the plantation, with a purpose, resolution and desire, that they might be  admitted into church fellowship according to Christ. <lb>
4.  That all the free planters held themselves bound to establish such civil order as might best conduce to the securing of the purity and peace of the ordinance to themselves and their posterity according to God. <lb>
5.  That church members only should be free burgesses; and   that   they   only should choose   magistrates   among themselves, to have power of transacting all the public civil affairs of the plantation: of making and repealing laws, dividing inheritances, deciding of differences that may arise, and doing all things and businesses of like nature. <lb>
6. .That twelve men should be chosen, that their fitness for the foundation work might be tried, and that it should be in the power of those twelve men to choose seven to begin the church. <lb>
These propositions were severally adopted finally without dissent,no objection being made during the discussion which arose in the assembly, except by Samuel Eaton, the brother of Theophilus Eaton.    He declared, that while he assented<lb>
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478                                             MEMOIR   OP <lb>
to the proposition that &quot; the magistrates should be men fearing God,&quot; and that &quot; the church is ordinarily the company whence such men may be expected,&quot; he objected to the test of church membership required of the voters, on the ground that &quot; the free planters ought not to surrender this power out o** their hands.&quot; He was evidently in advance of his age, and when replied to by the labored arguments ofhisbrolher and Mr. Davenport, he found so little support, that he withdrew his dissent, &quot; because he would not hinder what they had agreed upon.&quot; The fundamental principle &quot;was thus adopted, and subscribed to by sixty-three persons, (all who were then present,) &quot; that church members only should be free burgesses, and that they only should choose the rmigistrates, to have power of conducting the civil affairs of the plantation.&quot; <lb>
After the adoption of these essential provisions, which settled the character of the embryo commonwealth, their next step was to proceed to the organization of the civil government.   The method was as follows : <lb>
The little town of New Haven, which had then some two hundred inhabitants,* was divided into districts; each district selected one whom they judged best qualified to be one of the church; the individuals thus named in the districts, assembling together, and reducing their number to twelve, were to select from the twelve the seven persons to be (he &quot;pillars,&quot; or members of the original church. Meeting for this purpose, on the 22d August, 1639, Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport, Rohert Newman, Matthew Gilbert, Thomas Fugill, John Punderson, and Jeremy Dixon, were thus chosen lo constitute the church. They met on the 25th of October following; and having admitted into their body, and to the privileges of citizenship, all who were judged qualified to become members of the church, they proceeded to the election of civil officers. The possession of property was not necessary to constitute a voter; character, as developed in church-memhership being the only requisite qualification of an elector. <lb>
On proceeding to the election, Mr. Theophilus Eaton received the united suffrages of the freemen for the office of governor, and with him were joined four magistrates, or deputies, with a public notary and marshal these several officers constituting, for the time being, the entire civil go- <lb>
  The fundamental articles agreed upon at Newman&apos;s barn, were subscribed at the time by 63 persons, and soon after by 48 others. The list of planters and their families, in 1643, shows a total of 419 souls.<lb>
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THEOPHILUS   EATON.                                      479 <lb>
vernment of the colony. To provide for future elections, it was decreed, that there should be a general court held annually in October, at which all the officers of the colony should be chosen; and it was further decreed &quot; that the Word of God should be the only rule for ordering the affairs of government in the commonwealth.&quot;* &quot; Thus New Haven made the Bible its statute-book, and the elect its freemen.&quot;f <lb>
This was the first organization of civil government in the colony of New Haven. The proceedings are remarkable for their simplicity. The fifth article of this Constitution, which limits the right of voting, and of holding public office, to church members, was a test not required in the elder colony of Connecticut, and it met with some opposition, as has already been mentioned, from the Rev. Samuel Eaton, brother of the Governor, but the objections were finally withdrawn, and &quot;it was adopted with one consent.&quot; It was obviously a favorite measure with Gov. Eaton and Mr. Davenport. The same regulation had before been adopted in Massachusetts; and it was, in fact, simply adopting the principle of the English law, repealed within a few years only, by which, receiving the sacrament in the Established Church, was a necessary qualification to holding any office under Government.J It was, in fact, only carrying out a principle, at this very hour in force in some of the States, which declares those who are not of the protestant religion ineligible to public office.§ <lb>
It does not appear that any laws were enacted by the authorities of New Haven, until the colony had been enlarged by the admission of other towns. In the course of five years, settlements had been made at Milford, Guilford, Branford and Stamford, and at Southhold on Long Island. These towns, though at first exercising each a separate government, the two first strictly after the model of New Haven, were finally united with the latter under one jurisdiction. In 1643, the New Haven records show the government of the colony to have been fully organized. Courts were established, and the mode of electing the deputies, and magistrates, or assistants, and their powers, were defined. The general court of the colony consisted of two branches, both chosen by the people. One, the representatives or deputies of the towns, elected twice a year; the other, the magistrates, consisting of the governor, deputy governor, <lb>
  Trumbull, i. 104 107.                  t Bancroft, i. 404. <lb>
I Kingsley, 25.                                § See Art. 14, Part II. Const. N. H.<lb>
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480                                          MEMOIR  OP <lb>
and assistants, or magistrates from each town chosen annually. The concurrence of these two bodies made a public act or {aw. The supreme administration, both civil and military, was with the governor and deputy governor ; the judiciary, with the governor and magistrates. The governor presided in all courts, from the general court for the jurisdiction down to the town-meeting for New Haven.* &quot;The course of legal proceedings,&quot; says Kingsley, &quot;was peculiar; especially as the courts conducted all trials without a jury. We are told by Hubbard, that this exclusion of juries was a measure urged by Gov. Eaton. It is probable that this gentleman, during his residence in the north of Europe, where the institution of juries is unknown, formed a favorable opinion of the courts of those countries, and wished to conform the courts of the new settlement to his favorite model. Legal proceedings were almost entirely free from forms and technicalities ; the parties told their own- stories, with very little check from the court; intro-ducedsuch evidence for the most part, as they pleased ; argued with the judges; and decisions were given according to what appeared to be the equity of the case.&quot;f <lb>
In April, 1644, the following act was passed by the general court, for the government of the jurisdiction: <lb>
&quot; It is ordered that the Judicial Lawes of God as they were. delivered by Moses, ande as they are a fence to the morall lawes,- being neither typicall nor ceremoniall, nor had any reference to Canaan, shall be accounted of moral equity, ande generally binde all offenders, ande be a rule to all the courts in this jurisdiction in their proceedings against offenders till they be branched out into particulars hereafter.&quot; <lb>
Thus it appears that the Mosaic law was the only code recognized in the early periods of the colony. Eleven years afterwards, in 1655, the plantations finding it necessary that the laws of Moses should &quot; be branched out into particulars,&quot; to render them more applicable to their condition, the general court requested Governor Eaton to prepare a code of laws for the jurisdiction. For his assistance in its compilation, he was directed to consult the Massachusetts code, and the Rev. Mr. Cotton&apos;s Discourse on &quot; Civil Government in a New Plantation.&apos;&apos;^ <lb>
  Bacon, 357.                                     t Kingsley, 33, 34. <lb>
t Mather says &quot; There is likewise published A Discourse about Civil Government in a New Plantation, whose design is religion: in the title page<lb>
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THEOPHILUS   EATON.                                   481 <lb>
The instructions to Governor Eaton to consult the Massachusetts code, seem to have been literally followed. He copied a large portion of their code of 1049, particularly the fifteen capital laws, which he adopted word for word, with the same scriptural references. The first law establishing free schools in America was passed by Massachusetts, 27th of October, 1647, and commenced with a preamble, which has often been cited as characteristic of the early settlors of A&apos;evv England. This was copied verbatim in Mr. Eaton&apos;s code.f <lb>
The new code, drawn up by Governor Eaton, with the assistance of the Rev. Mr. Davenport, was in due time presented, and having first been submitted to the examination of the elders, and received their approval, was adopted by the general court. They ordered its publication, but there was at this time no printing press in the colony. The manuscript was therefore sent to England, to be printed under the superintendence of Governor Hopkins, of Connecticut, who was at that time in London. All this was. done so expeditiously, that at the court holden at New Haven, on the 5th of June, 1656, the Governor informed them that the printed copies had been received, and they were by order distributed among the towns J <lb>
Gov. Eaton&apos;s code of laws, and the decisions of the New Haven magistrates, have often been made the subject of reproach and ridicule. Grave churchmen and ribald wits have here joined hands; and many a one who perhaps believes ,in nothing else, most firmly believes in the &quot; Blue Laws.&quot; Why the epithet bine was given to the New Haven code, has been a matter of question.   By some, they are said to have been called blue, because they were sanguinary ; by others, the term is supposed to refer to the austerity of a particular sect as in Butler&apos;s description  <lb>
&quot; For his religion, it was fit <lb>
&quot; To match his learning and his wit f <lb>
&quot; &apos;Twas Presbyterian true blue.&quot; <lb>
wherenf the name of Mr. Cotton is, by mistake, put for that of !Mr. Davenport.&quot; Magnalia, b. iii. 46. In a copy of this Discourse, printed in 1663, by Green &amp; Johnson, at Cambridge, which I have seen, is. a JViS. note, in the handwriting of Davenport, which conclusively proves him to have been the author, <lb>
t See an interesting paper by Hon. F. C. Gray, on the Early Laws of Massa-&apos; chusetts, in III Mass. Hist. Col., viii. 191-237. <lb>
t A copy of the printed laws procured by Gov. Hopkins, is preserved in the Library ef the Amer. Antiq. Society.<lb>
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482                                          MEMOIR OF <lb>
Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, says the term &quot;blue&quot; was applied  in. England&quot;) especially to the Presbyterians, to denote their severe and mortified appearance. Thus, beneath an old portrait of the seventeenth century, in the Woodburn Gallery, is the following inscription: <lb>
&quot; A true blue Priest, a Linsey Woolsey Brother, &quot; One legg a pulpit holds, a tub the other; &quot;An orthodox, grave,moderate Presbyterian, &quot;Halfsurplice-cloake, half Priest, half Puritan.&quot; <lb>
The epithet &quot; blue,&quot; was probably applied in this country even more extensively than in England, in ridicule of the institutions of the puritans ; and was employed particularly to characterize the laws as over strict, and whimsical.* <lb>
But another and perhaps sufficient explanation is found in the simple traditionary fact, that the original pamphlet laws were stitched in blue paper covers and hence the name. <lb>
It is a singular fact, that while the laws of New Haven were less sanguinary than those of the other colonies, the popular belief has assigned to that colony the bad pre-eminence. They were rigid, it is true, and were enforced by unflinching and faithful magistrates; but the honest inquirer will look in vain for the fabled Blue Laws, except in the spiteful story of a refugee parson, who, in 1774, foreseeing from the signs of the times that he might possibly be visited by a revolutionary mob with a penalty not provided for, even in the Blue Laws, prudently retired tp England. He employed himself in London, whilst the war lasted, in reviling the colonists, more especially, in a spirit of retaliation, misrepresenting persons and events in his native state. In 1781, he published his history of Connecticut, filled with extravagances and falsehoods so gross, that no one thought of contradicting them ; Trurnbull did not deem them worth his notice ; and yet, uncontradicted, this book has created far and wide an impression as unfavorable to the Puritan settlers of Connecticut, as has Diedrich&apos;s fanciful history to the character of the honest Knickerbockers of New York.f <lb>
It is proper here to advert to the long and troublesome controversy between the English colony at New Haven and <lb>
  N. A. Review, xlviii. 504. <lb>
t See remarks on the fiction of the Blue Laws, in Smith&apos;s Hist. N. Y. ii. 112, 383 ; and in Kingsley&apos;s and Bacon&apos;i Discourses.<lb>
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THEOPHILUS   EATON.                                    483 <lb>
the Dutch at New Netherland, which embarrassed the administration of Governor Eaton. In less than three years after the establishment of the government of New Haven, some of the more enterprising among the planters entered into an agreement to form a new plantation further south, at some convenient post upon the Delaware, principally for purposes of trade. They entered into negotiations with and purchased lands from the Indians, on both sides of that river. Trading houses were erected during the year upon their land ; a post was fortified on the Schuylkill, and some fifty families in all joined in the emigration, still holding themselves to be under the jurisdiction of New Haven. <lb>
The Dutch of New Netherland, who had protested against the occupation of the Delaware by the Swedes, chose to consider this movement of the New Haven people as an act of aggression. Director General Kieft, while the vessel containing the emigrants was on its way south, issued his protest against their settlement anywhere upon lands adjoining the Delaware. He asserted *the claim of New Netherland to all the lands there occupied by the English, and in the following year, sending an armed force into the Delaware, he succeeded in breaking up and destroying the settlements. The goods of the settlers were seized, their trading houses burnt, their vessels taken, and a number of the planters sent prisoners to New Amsterdam. An attempt was made upon the life of George Lamberton, the principal man of the settlement, and he was put on trial for treason ; but the Dutch magistrates finding the evidence insufficient to convict him, dismissed the charge* They compelled him, however, to render an account of his traffic upon the Delaware, and amerced him in heavy damages.* Some of the planters returned to New Haven, and the few who remained submitted to the government of New Netherland. <lb>
The exasperation growing out of these summary proceedings was very great at New Haven; and it required all the address and influence of Governor Eaton to prevent open acts of retaliation. <lb>
The desire of the colonists to extend their possessions was in no way repressed by the results of their adventure upon the Delaware. They made purchases of other lands from the natives, beyond their original possessions, west, to- <lb>
* Trumbull, i. 122. See also the account of this controversy, given by O&apos;Cal-lighan, Hist. New Netherland, i., 231, 253. SECOND SERIES, VOL. II,          47<lb>
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484                              memoir of <lb>
wards the Hudson. The Dutch authorities at New Amsterdam, who claimed jurisdiction to the Connecticut, looked upon this proceeding as an aggression, and charged the New Haven people with an insatiable desire to usurp their lands. Director General Keift wrote in strong terms to Governor Eaton, protesting against his planting his foot near the Mauritius river. Governor Eaton, in reply, told him that he knew of no such river as the Mauritius, and had entered upon no lands to which the Dutch had any known title. The English had, indeed, built a small house on the Paugassett river, but it was at leagues distance from any post on the Hudson, or the Manhattoes ; and they had not built even there, until they had first purchased a, title from the true proprietors. <lb>
The controversy came before the commissioners of the United Colonies, where the course of New Haven was justified. Kieft unfortunately grew passionate in proportion as he lost ground in argument, and ended his. action in the controversy by fulminating a protest against the authority of the commissioners. <lb>
Director Kieft not long afterwards (1647,) was super-ceded in the government of New Netherland, by Petrus Stuyvesant, and embarked for Holland, bearing with him the character of a bad man and magistrate. The vessel in which he sailed was lost at sea, and all on board perished. Stuyvesant, the new director general, commenced by the n.ost friendly salutations to the New England governments, which were cordially reciprocated. It was not long, however, before a Dutch ship from North Holland was discovered trading directly with New Haven, without a permit, or the payment of duties a specimen of free trade not altogether agreeable to the authorities at New Amsterdam. The ship was armed, and as it would be a difficult matter to capture her, a permit, which had been at length applied for, was sent to New Haven. But the owners of the ship, instead of paying the duties, or taking her round to New Amsterdam, announced that she was ready to sail direct for Virginia. The director general Stuyvesant was not the man to be trifled with in a matter of this importance. It happened that the authorities at New Amsterdam had just before st»ld a ship to Mr. Goodyear, deputy governor of New Haven, and had contract«d to deliver the vessel at the latter port. On board this&apos;vessel, Stuyvesant sent a body of arm6d men, With instructions to cut the other ship out of the harbor, by force of arms if necessary, and bring her to<lb>
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THEOPHILUS   EATON.                                     485 <lb>
the Manhattans. This was adroitly accomplished; the officers and crew of the Dutch free trader were taken to New Amsterdam in triumph, and the vessel and cargo were confiscated. Siuyvesant accompanied this act with a protest, in which he claimed all the lands from eape Henlopento cape Cod! <lb>
These proceedings, of course, caused great excitement at New Haven. Governor Eaton, in a calm but resolute tone, protested against the hostile proceedings of the Dutch ; reciting the conditions in which the respective colonies stood towards the sovereign power abroad, and to each other. But his remonstrances were unheeded, and the dispute was not healed- &gt;some of the Dutch company&apos;s servants at New Amsterdam, to escape punishment or hard service, had fled to New Haven. Stuyvesant demanded their surrender. Eaton declined to surrender the fugitives ; whereupon, after an angry correspondence between the two governors, Stuyvesant issued a proclamation offering protection to slaves, debtors, or other runaways from New Haven. When these extreme measures, however, began to be questioned by the honest burghers of New Amsterdam, as tending to convert their city into a receptacle for the worst classes of all the neighboring plantations, Stuyvesant is said to have outwitted Governor Eaton by privately offering pardon and good treatment to all the Dutch runaways who should voluntarily return ; and then to have cancelled the objectionable proclamation. <lb>
At a meeting of the commissioners of the New England colonies in 164&apos;J, Governor Eaton proposed that effectual measures betaken for the settlement of lands on the Delaware. But no encouragement was given by the commissioners, and the New Haven proprietors were advised to dispose of their land and avoid further controversy. At the close of the next year, however, they made another attempt to establish a colony on the Delaware. For this purpose they chartered a vessel, in which, some fifty persons sailed under a commission from Governor Eaton. Touching at New Amsterdam on their way, the commander of the vessel and several of the passengers were arrested by director general Stuyvesant, and were only released from duress on a promise at once to abandon their enterprise and return home. This proceeding on the part of Stuyvesant was a rash one, and provoked a strong remonstrance from the United Colonies ; but it answered the purpose of &quot; Peter the Head-<lb>
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48&amp;                                             MEMOIK  OF <lb>
strong,&quot; and was effectual, in preventing the settlement of the English of New Haven upon the Delaware. <lb>
In looking back from this point of time to that when the war of protests and proclamations raged between these Dutch and English magistrates, we cannot but admire the skill both of Governor Eaton and Director Stuyvesant, in avoiding the shedding of blood. Stuyvesant had great faith in the efficacy of sonorous protests, and these he thundered without stint at the offending puritans. Governor Eaton, on the other hand, was a man of peace, and of prudent counsels, and hoped to obtain redness of grievances without an appeal to force, or the doctrine of reprisals. His hopes, however, were no farther realized than in being able to prevent hostile collisions as long as he lived. The differences between the people of New Haven and their neighbors of New Netherland, ceased only with the surrender of the latter colony to the English in 1664. <lb>
The pecuniary losses to the colony, growing out of the attempt to establish a plantation on the Delaware, are said to have amounted to more than a thousand pounds sterling. Sacrifices so great began to alarm the colonists. Some who had brought large estates into the colony, now beheld their substance rapidly wasting away; and after much reflection they determined upon an effort to repair their former losses. Combining their money and labor, they built a ship at Rhode Island, of 150 tons, and freighted her for England, with the greater portion of their commercial estates. Thomas Gregson, George Lamberton, and others of their principal men, embarked in this vessel, which sailed from New Haven, in January, 1647. The ship, which probably foundered at sea, was never heard of after she sailed. <lb>
The traditions of New Haven connect a wonderful atmospheric phenomenon, or appaiition, with the loss of this ship, Winthrop (ii, 328,) gives the first account of the phenomenon ; and the Rev. Mr. Pierpont, in reply to inquiries of Cotton Mather, gives the following relation, well suited to swell the marvels of the Magnalia: &quot;In June, (1646,) a great thunder storm arose out of the northwest; after which (the hemisphere being serene) about an hour before sunset, a ship with like dimensions with the aforsaid, with her canvass and colors abroad, appeared in the air coming up from our harbor&apos;s mouth, which lies southward from the town, seemingly with her sails filled under a fresh gale, holding her course north, and continuing under observation,<lb>
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THEOPHILUS   EATON.                                    487 <lb>
sailing against the wind, for the space of half an hour, and then vanished into a smoky cloud.&quot;* <lb>
The colonists now began to despair of bettering their condition by trade ; they saw that their original design of creating a great commercial mart at New Haven, was hopeless ; and considering themselves but poorly calculated to engage in agricultural pursuits, of which few had any practical knowledge, they for a time seriously entertained the design of quitting the country. Some few of them, despairing of success here, actually returned to England. <lb>
Of the leading men of New Haven, there was one or more, connected with Cromwell by family alliances, who had corresponded with him: and it is said that the New Haven people received offers from him of territory in Ireland, or Jamaica, and that they entered into treaty for the city of Galloway, in Ireland, where they intended to settle, and form a small province by themselves. But the untoward reduction of their estates opposed a serious obstacle to any new enterprise, that would involve expense; influenced, moreover, by attachment to their new home, and dreading to encounter the persecution from which they had fled. they at length resigned themselves quietly to agricultural pursuits ; became substantial farmers, and their settlement henceforward flourished as rapidly as those of the adjoining colonies. <lb>
It has been already stated that Governor Eaton was annually re-elected to the chief magistracy of the colony, from its foundation to the period of his death twenty years in succession. <lb>
Governor Eaton died suddenly at his residence in New Haven, on the 7th day of Januarj7, 1657, in ihe 67th year of his age. <lb>
This good man had been wont to say, &quot; some count it a great matter to die well; but I am sure it is a greater matter to live well. All our care should be, while we have our life, to use it well; and so when death puts an end to that, it will put an end to all our cares.&quot; Having li\ ed according to the spirit of this maxim, making it all his care to live well, &quot; God would have him to die well,&quot; says the quaint historian, &quot; without any room or time then given to care at all; for he enjoyed a death sudden to every one but himself.&quot; Having worshipped God with his family after his usual manner, and upon some occasion having charged all the family to be attentive to their mistress, then confined <lb>
  Mather&apos;s Magnalia, b. i. 25.<lb>
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488                                         MEMOIR   OP <lb>
by sickness, * he supped; and then took a turn or two abroad for his meditations.&quot; After that he came in to bid his wife good night, before leaving her with those who were to watch with her. She said to him, &quot; Methinks you look sad.&quot; He replied, &quot; The differences arising in the church of Hartford, make me sad.&quot; She then, discontented as she long had been, «aid, &quot; Let us even go back to our native country.&quot; To which, he answered, &quot; You may, but I shall die here.&quot; This was the last word she ever heard him speak. He retired to his chamber; and about midnight he was heard to groan ; and to some on« who instantly came in to inquire how he did, he answered only, &quot; very ill,&quot; and immediately fell asleep in Jesus.* <lb>
In the discharge of his various duties, the conduct of Governor Eaton was marked by great energy, skill and prudence, and a fervent desire to promote the public welfare. During the perils of the two first winters at New Haven | in the embarrassing disputes with the Dutch authorities of New Netherland, and the difficulties with the native tribes of Connecticut, Governor Eaton exhibited a benevolent care, wisdom and foresight, that were of inestimable value to the colony. And so unanimous are the historians in his praise, that we can realize a degree of propriety in the extravagant eulogium of Mather, who says he was &quot;the guide of the blind, the staff of the lame, the helper of the widow and the orphan, and iill the distressed; none that had a good cause were afraid of coming before him; on the one side, in his days did the righteous flourish; on the other side, he was the terror of evil doers. As in the government of the commonwealth, so in the government of his family, he was prudent, serious, happy to a wonder. A word of his was enough to steer them !&quot; <lb>
Hubbard, himself, partly cotemporary with Governor-Eaton, says of him, &quot; After he saw the manner of the country, he soon gave over trading, and betook himself to husbandry, wherein, though he met with the inconveniences usual to others, which very much consumed his estate, yet he maintained a port in some measure answerable to his place; and although he was capable of, and had been much used in, affairs of a far nobler and broader nature, as having with good advantage more than once stood before kings, yet did he apply himself to the mean and low things of New England, with that dexterity and humility as was <lb>
  Magnalia, ii.,29.<lb>
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TUEOPHILUS   EATON.                                   489 <lb>
much to see, and with so much constancy that no temptations or solicitations could prevail with him to leave his work and look back towards Europe again.&quot; &quot;This man had in him great gifts, and as many excellencies as are usually found in any one man: he had an excellent princely face and port, and commanding respect from all others: he was a good scholar, a traveller, a great reader, of an exceeding steady and even spirit, not easily moved to passion, and standing unshaken in his principles when once fixed upon, of a profound judgment, full of majesty and authority in his judicatures, so that it was a vain thing to offer to head him out, and yet in his ordinary conversation, and among friends, of such pleasantness of behavior, and such felicity and fecundity of harmless wit as can hardly be paralleled ; but above all he was seasoned with religion, close in closet duties, solemn and substantial in family worship,, a diligent and constant attender upon all public ordinances,, taking notes of the sermons he heard exactly, and improving them accordingly; in short, approving himself in the whole course of his life, in faithfulness, wisdom and in-offensiveness before God and man.&quot;* <lb>
&quot; And albeit, he sometimes had a large family, consisting of no less than thirty persons, yet he managed them with such an even temper, that observers have affirmed, they never saw a house ordered with more wisdom. He kept an honorable and hospitable table; but one thing that still made the entertainment thereof better, was the continual presence of his aged mother, by feeding of whom with an exemplary piety till she died, he ensured his own prosperity as long as he lived.&quot;f <lb>
The author of &quot; Wonder-working Providence of Zion&apos;s Saviour,&quot; says, &quot; This government of New Haven, although the younger sister of the four, yet was she as beautiful as any ol this broods of travellers, and most minding the end of her coming hither, to keep close to the rule of Christ both in doctrine and discipline.&quot;   Of Eaton, he thus discourses: <lb>
&quot; Thou noble thus, Theophilus, before great kings to stand, <lb>
More noble, far, for Christ his war, thou leav&apos;st thy native land ; <lb>
With thy rich store thou com&apos;st on shore Christ&apos;s churches t» assist; What if it waste&apos;? thou purchast hast that Pearl that most have mist, <lb>
Nay, rather he hath purchased thee, and whatso&apos;er thou hast, With graces store to govern o&apos;er his people, he thee placed. <lb>
  Hubbard, 329, 330. <lb>
t Mather. Mrs. Mary Eaton, mother of Gov. Eaton, died at the residence of her son in New Haven, 1647. MS. Letter of Rev. Isaac Jottet.<lb>
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490                                          MEMOIR   OF <lb>
Our State affaires thy will repairs, assistant thon hast bin, Firm league to make, for Gospel&apos;s sake, four Colonys within; <lb>
With Swedes, French, Dutch, and Indians much, God&apos;s people&apos;s peace this bred: Then Eaton aye, remember may, the child that&apos;s yet unfed.&quot; <lb>
Eaton was evidently the ruling mind of the colony, in all that related to the administration of the laws; and from the length of time he presided over the colony he became identified with all its interests.* <lb>
Governor Eaton was twice married. Of his first wife we have no other account than that she died after becoming the mother of two of his children. His second wife was Ann, the widow of David Yale, Esq., and daughter of Dr. Thomas Morton, the bishop of Chester. At the time of this marriage, she had three children, David, Thomas and Ann Yale, to whom, says Mather, Mr. Eaton &quot; became a most exemplary, loving and faithful father.&quot; Edward Hopkins married Ann, and the three children came to New England with their mother. <lb>
Governor Eaton, in his will, names three children only  doubtless all who were at that time living. Mather says that two of his children died of the plague in London. Of those who died before him, his son Samuel was the most distinguished. He was born in 1629, came with his father to New England, graduated at Harvard college in 1649, and was chosen a magistrate of New Haven colony in May, 1654. He and his wife died within two days of each other, in June, 1655.&quot;t <lb>
The three children named in the Will, were Theophilus, Mary, and Hannah. Theophilus, a son by the first marriage, came to this country, but returned and settled in Dublin. Mary was married to Valentine Hill, who, in 1658, removed to Pascataqua in New Hampshire. He had been a deacon fh the First Church of Boston. Hannah, after the death of her father, accompanied her mother to England, where, in 1659, she was married to William Jones, an English barrister, son of Col. John Jones, brother-in-law of Cromwell, and one of the regicides executed on the Restora-cnin 1660. <lb>
Hon. William Jones, Deputy Governor of New Haven, and afterwards Lieut. Governor of Connecticut Colony, was born in London, A. D. 1624. He was the eldest son of Col. John Jones, one of the Judges of Charles I., who after the restoration of Charles II., was beheaded at Charing <lb>
  Bacon, 357.                                   t Bfagsley, 76.<lb>
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fHEOPHlLUS   EATON. <lb>
Cross, Oct. 17, 1660, aged 81 years. He was the son of the Rt, Rev. William Jones, who was consecrated Bishop of Durham in 1597, and died in 1617, aged 91. Col. Jones was born in the parish of Tregacon, Isle of Anglesey, North Wales, A. D. 1579. He was married in 1623, to Henrietta, third daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Cromwell, (erroneously named Catharine by Carlyle, and Jane by Noble, in* his Memoirs of the Protectorate of Cromwell.) Elizabeth, who was married to Robert Cromwell, was the daughter of Sir Thomas and Elizabeth Stuart of the Isle of Ely, Knight, descended from the Royal Family of Stuart in Scotland. Sir Robert died at Huntingdon, June, 1617 ; his wife Elizabeth, survived the elevation of her son to the Protectorate, and died Nov. 17, 1654, at a very advanced age; Foster, in his &quot; Statesmen of the Commonwealth of England,&quot; has paid a beautiful tribute to her memory and worth. This distinguished lady of the British Isle, was the mother of Henrietta Cromwell, who was first married to Roger Whetstone, Esq. an officer in the parliamentary army, and afterwards to Col. John Jones, in 1623; the maternal grandparent of Hon. William Jones, who married Hannah, youngest daughter of Governor Eaton of New Haven ; and was also the great grandparent of Sir William Jones of India, and Rev. William Jones of Nayland, so eminent in the annals of literature and science. The year of the death of Henrietta Jones, who was born Feb. 7, 1597, has not been ascertained. The children of this marriage were William. John, and Morgan. John, was the grandparent of Sir William Jones, and Morgan of Rev. William Jones. Hon. William Jones, ancestor of the Rev. Isaac Jones of Litchfield, Conn, was born in London. 1624, was a lawyer at Westminster, and married to Hannah Eaton, daughter of Governor_Eaton, July 4, 1659, in St. Andrew&apos;s Church, Holborn, by Rev. Joseph Rowe. They arrived at Boston, July 27, 1660, in company with the Judges Whal-ley and Goffe. They removed to New Haven in August of the same year, took possession of the mansion of Gov; Eaton, and continued in it till their deaths. The mansion was demolished in 1710. <lb>
Mr. Jones was made a freeman in 1661; was chosen magistrate in 1662, and Deputy Governor of New Haven Colony in 1664. On the union of this Colony with Connecticut, May 11, 1665, he was chosen one of the magistrates. In July 1691, in consequence of the death of Lieut. Governor Bishop, he was elected Lieut. Governor by the General <lb>
SECOND   SERIES,  VOL.   II.            48<lb>
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4i)2 <lb>
MEMOIR OP <lb>
Assembly. He was elected to the same office by the freemen in 1692, and retired May 12, 1698. He had acquired great respectability and influence, both in town and Colony, in his day. He died October 17, 1706, aged 82. His consort, Hannah Jones, born in London, 1633, died May 4» (not 10th as has been stated,) 1707, aged 74.* <lb>
At the first General Court after the death of Governor Eaton, it was resolved to erect a monument to his memory  in the words of the record, &quot; a comely tomb, such as we are capable of.&quot; A plain sandstone tablet, in the cemetery at New Haven, marks the place of his burial, with the following inscription: <lb>
Theophilus Eaton, Esq , Gov. dec. 7 Jan. 1657, tstat 67. &quot; Eaton, so fam&apos;d, so wise, so meek, so just, &quot; The Phoenix of our world, here hides his dust, &quot; This name forget New England never must.&quot; <lb>
Lieut. Gov. Jones and his wife Hannah, were buried, one on the right, and the other on the left of Governor Eaton, and to the former inscription, the following was added: <lb>
&quot; T&apos; attend you, sir, under these framed stones, &quot; Are come your honor&quot; d Son and daughter Jones, &quot; On each side to repose their wearied bones.&quot;t <lb>
On the death of Gov. Eaton, his widow returned to England with her two sons, David and Thomas Yale. Elihu Yale, governor of the East India Company, and one of the principal founders of Yale College, was a son of Thomas Yale. Mrs. Eaton, the widow of Gov. Eaton, died in London, in 1659. <lb>
Samuel Eaton, the brother of Governor Eaton, who has before been mentioned in this sketch, was the first teacher in the church at New Haven. In 1640, he obtained a grant from the colony of the township of Brandford, (Tetoket, of the Indians,) on condition that he would procure emigrants from England to settle upon it. He soon after went to England, for the purpose of procuring settlers for the new plantation ; but being invited to take the pastoral charge of the church at Duckinfield,f in Cheshire, he never return- <lb>
  For these particulars relating to the family of Deputy Governor Jones, the writer is indebted to the Rev. Isaac Jones of Litchfield, Connecticut. <lb>
t The stone has been removed to the new burial ground, and the old inscription erased.   That on Gov. Eaton has been re-engraved. Kingsley, 77. <lb>
X Duckinfield, township and barony, were portions of the property of a family of that name, who date back to the days of the conquest. The township has some valuable mines and quarries.    It is on the river Tame, which here constituted<lb>
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THEOPHILUS  EATON. <lb>
493 <lb>
ed. He was one of the two thousand ministers who in 1062, were silenced in one day by the act of uniformity. He is described as &quot; a very holy man, of great learning and judgment, and an incomparable preacher.&quot; A list of his publications is given by Wood. He died at Denton, in Lancashire, England. 9th of June, 1665, and was buried in the chapel. The sermon preached at his funeral is found in the works of Oliver Hey wood, v. 509.* <lb>
Dr. Mather, speaking of the services rendered to the commercial interest of London, by Gov. Eaton, while in Denmark, ia 1613, says the Eastland Company, on his return, presented his wife with a basin and ewer, curiously wrought with gold, and weighing above sixty pounds.f At Gov-1 ernor Eaton&apos;s death, this relie was valued at £41. Miss Hannah Eaton, afterwards Mrs. Jones, in an exchange of property transferred it to Theophilus Eaton, her only brother, who lived and died in Dublin. Gov. Eaton left no male descendants in this country. Among other treasures, a silver urn, valued at $30, made at Copenhagen, was presented to Mrs. Eaton in 1615, and is now in possession of the venerable antiquary, the Rev. Isaac Jones, resident Episcopal Minister at Litchfield, Conn. <lb>
the boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire. Beauties of England and Wales, ii. 272. <lb>
  Wood&apos;s Athens Oxoti.    Bacon&apos;s Hist, Disc. 60. <lb>
t Magnalia, b. ii. 27.<lb>
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