Dorman Bridgman Eaton (June 27, 1823December 23, 1899) was an American lawyer instrumental in American federal Civil Service reform. Born at

Hardwick, Vermont Hardwick is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,920 at the 2020 census. It contains the unincorporated villages of Hardwick, East Hardwick, and Mackville. The town is a commercial center for the region's fa ...

, he graduated at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

in 1848 and at the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1850, and in the latter year was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in New York City. There he became associated in practice with

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...

, the son of the great chancellor

James Kent James Kent may refer to: *James Kent (jurist) (1763–1847), American jurist and legal scholar * James Kent (composer) (1700–1776), English composer *James Kent, better known as Perturbator, French electronic/synthwave musician *James Tyler Kent ...

, an edition of whose '' Commentaries'' he assisted in editing. This refers to the privately printed memorial volume, ''Dorman B. Eaton, 1823–1899'' (New York, 1900). Eaton early became interested in municipal and civil service reform. In 1866, he wrote the New York City Metropolitan Health Law, which created the modern day New York City

health department A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

. He was conspicuous in the fight against

Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany ...

and his followers, by one of whom he was assaulted; he required a long period of rest, and went to Europe, where he studied the workings of the civil service in various countries. From 1873 to 1875 he was a member of the first

United States Civil Service Commission The United States Civil Service Commission was a government agency of the federal government of the United States and was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships. In 1979, it was dissolved as part of t ...

. In 1877, at the request of President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...

, he made a careful study of the British civil service, and three years later published ''Civil Service in Great Britain''. He drafted the

Pendleton Civil Service Act The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is a United States federal law passed by the 47th United States Congress and signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883. The act mandates that most positions within the federal governm ...

of 1883, and later became chairman of the new

established by it. He resigned in 1885, but was almost immediately reappointed by President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, and served until 1886, editing the 3rd and 4th Reports of the commission. He was an organizer (1878) of the first society for the furtherance of civil service reform in New York City, of the

National Civil Service Reform League The National Civil Service Reform League was a non-profit organization in the United States founded in 1881 for the purpose of investigating the efficiency of the civil service. Among its founders were George William Curtis, chairman of the first Un ...

, and of the National Conference of the Unitarian Church (1865). He died in New York City on December 23, 1899, leaving $100,000 each to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and Columbia universities for the establishments of professorships in government. He was a legal writer and editor, and a frequent contributor to the leading reviews. In addition to the works mentioned he published ''Should Judges be Elected?'' (1873), ''The Independent Movement in New York'' (1880), ''Term and Tenure of Office'' (1882), ''The

Spoils System In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward ...

and Civil Service Reform'' (1882), ''Problems of Police Legislation'' (1895) and ''The Government of Municipalities'' (1899). He also authored, under the pseudonym of "Junius", a series of pamphlets opposing the annexation of Hawaii.

Family

Eaton's father Nathaniel Eaton (1791–1878) was a Vermont state senator in 1840 and later a judge. His step-brother John M. Gilman was a lawyer and politician in St. Paul, Minnesota; another step-brother, Marcus D. Gilman, a Chicago merchant and politician. Eaton married Annie S. Foster in 1856; they had no children.''Chicago Tribune'', December 24, 1899, "Dorman B. Eaton Dead", p. 7

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Dorman Bridgman 1823 births 1899 deaths University of Vermont alumni Harvard Law School alumni People from Caledonia County, Vermont Writers from New York City Lawyers from New York City 19th-century American lawyers Civil service reform in the United States