William M. Eaton (July 23, 1856 – September 29, 1923) was an American business executive who managed various utility companies and was the second president of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

Early life

Eaton was born in

Cambridge, Ohio Cambridge is a city in and the county seat of Guernsey County, Ohio, United States. It lies in southeastern Ohio, in the Appalachian Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains 74 miles east of Columbus. The population was 10,635 at the 2010 census. I ...

on July 23, 1856. In 1872 he moved to

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

, where his father started a pottery business.

Career

After a year and a half in school, Eaton went to work for his father. In 1880, he joined the Jackson Furniture Company as an accountant and timekeeper. From 1882 to 1885 he worked for Holden and Tinker and the D. A. Tinker Company. He then spent two years with the Bennett Clay Machinery Company. In 1887, Eaton was named superintendent of the Jackson Gas Light Company. In 1903, he joined the Grand Rapids Gas Light Company as vice president and general manager. The following year he moved to

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, where he was vice president and general manager of the newly-formed Rochester Railway and Light Company. From 1907 to 1914, Eaton worked for Hoodenpyle, Hardy & Co. of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he was a member of the operating committee for Commonwealth Power, Railway, and Light Company's electric and gas properties and worked on

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

projects on the Au Sable and

Muskegon River Muskegon River is a river in the western portion of the lower peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The river source is located at Houghton Lake in Roscommon County, flowing out of the North Bay into neighboring Missaukee County. The river pa ...

s. On October 10, 1908, Eaton was elected president of General Motors. He handled administrative work while company founder

William C. Durant William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each s ...

worked on acquiring more automotive companies. In 1910, GM was taken over by a group of financiers, who installed a new management team led by James J. Storrow.

Later life

In 1914, Jackson retired to Jackson, where he was active in community affairs. He served as president of the board that developed Ella Sharp Park and was a director of several local businesses. He died on September 29, 1923, at his home in Jackson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, William M. 1856 births 1923 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople General Motors executives People from Cambridge, Ohio People from Jackson, Michigan American energy industry executives