Hezekiah Hulbert Eaton (born Catskill,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, July 23, 1809; died Lexington, Kentucky, August 16, 1832) was an American educator and naturalist.

Life

Eaton was the fifth son of the botanist and educator Amos Eaton (1776-1842), the fourth of Amos Eaton's second wife Sally Cady (d. 1816). In 1818 the family moved to Albany where he soon began to help collect rocks and plant specimens for his father's lectures. In 1823 he assisted his father in giving courses at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

and

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

and accompanied him on an extensive geological tour of New York and Massachusetts. That winter he once again assisted his father's lectures, this time at the Medical College of Vermont. In 1824 his father helped found the Rensselaer School and Eaton was one of the first students, graduating in 1826 with the first graduating class. Eaton lectured at various schools and venues until 1829, when he returned to the Rensselaer School as a Junior Professor. In autumn of 1829 he was invited to join Rev. Benjamin Peers in establishing a new school, later called the Eclectic Institute, in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1831 he was also selected to assist

Lunsford Yandell Lunsford Pitts Yandell Sr. (July 4, 1805 – February 4, 1878) was an American physician, educator, geologist, paleontologist and preacher. He was one of the founders and first professors at the University of Louisville. He also taught at Trans ...

in teaching chemistry at the Transylvania University medical school. He remained in those positions until his death from "pulmonary consumption" on August 16, 1832.

Contributions to botany

While at the Rensselaer School, Eaton helped his father prepare the fifth edition of his ''Manual of Botany''. He also studied the botany of the area and later published a paper on new or incorrectly described species around Troy. In Kentucky, he went on an expedition in September 1830 with botanist Charles Wilkins Short to Hamilton County, Ohio which resulted in a joint paper listing fifty plants and thirty-six bivalves with notes - one of the first such surveys done west of the Alleghanies. Eaton's herbarium of more than two thousand species came into the possession of Prof. Short after Eaton's death and formed part of Short's collection which went to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, except for a portion which Short gave to a student, Eaton's nephew

Daniel Cady Eaton Daniel Cady Eaton (September 12, 1834 – June 29, 1895) was an American botanist and author. After studies at the Rensselaer Institute in Troy and Russell's military school in New Haven,"Daniel Cady Eaton", ''American Journal of Science'', A ...

Family

Through his grandfather Captain Abel Eaton (1754-1812) Eaton was related to

William Eaton William Eaton or Bill Eaton may refer to: * William Eaton (soldier) (1764–1811), United States Army soldier during the Barbary Wars * William Eaton (athlete) (1909–1938), British long-distance runner * William Eaton (guitarist), American luth ...

(1764-1811), hero of the First Barbary War.Biographical Memoir of H. Hulbert Eaton, Charles W. Short, 1832 Eaton had several siblings who were also interested in natural science. His brother Major General

Amos Beebe Eaton Amos Beebe Eaton (May 12, 1806 – February 21, 1877) was a career officer in the United States Army, serving as a general for the Union during the American Civil War. Biography Amos B. Eaton was born in Catskill, New York. He graduated from West ...

(1806-1877) contributed specimens to Eaton's herbarium, and his younger sister Sarah Cady Eaton (1818-1881) later taught courses in natural science at a young women's seminary. Through his mother Eaton was first cousin to suffragist

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...

. Eaton married Mary R. Harper on November 30, 1831.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Hezekiah Hulbert 1809 births 1832 deaths People from Catskill, New York American botanists Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty Transylvania University faculty