September 1, 2011

Founding Family: Jonas Eaton of Reading

Perhaps this Founding Family is the ancestral line for you:

FAMILY OF JONAS EATON, OF READING MASS.
BY WILLIAM L. EATON, Concord, Mass.


It is not known in what year Jonas Eaton came to New England from the mother country. No record of his birth or of his marriage has yet been found. It is believed that he was the brother of William of Reading, for the following reasons; both of them bought and that he occupied land in Watertown, Mass.; then at about the same time they removed to Reading, Mass., and were among the earliest settlers of the town (see notice re "DNA Evidence...." There has been a persistent tradition to the same effect. Lastly, in the land records at Cambridge we find Jonas2, a son of Jonas1, referring to a son of William1, as "my cousin, John Eaton, late deceased." Upon this evidence, the late Prof. Daniel C. Eaton, whose extensive and critical investigations and study of the early Reading families supplementing the earlier studies of Hon. Lilley Eaton, of Reading, cleared the way of nearly all the serious obstacles to progress in our genealogical work upon these families, was convinced, and he accepted as proven—that William and Jonas were brothers. Less convincing evidence also connects these two Reading Eatons with John of Haverhill, and John of Dedham, by ties of kinship.

The record of the descendants of Jonas are perhaps as complete as they can be made without the expenditure of more time and money than are available. The most serious gap in the record occurs in the second generation, and, indeed, we ought to feel reluctant to print the genealogies before we learn what became of Jonas Eaton2 and family, --all of whom seem to have left Reading about 1702.

1 comment:

Douglas MacMillan said...

Ebenezer Eaton/Polly Perham
We are working on Ebenezer Eaton born 16 Sep 1750; died 1831 in Brighton, New York He married Polly Perham c 1770. She was born 01 Nov 1748 in Grafton, MA and died in Michigan in 1831.
They had at least 9 children: Willard, Ann (Sherwood) Sarah (Colewell) , Rice, Betsey (Bragg), Ebenezer, Polly (Hawkes), Lydia (Crittenden) and Phebe (Ross). There has never been a marriage date for this couple. There are hundreds of internet entries for the children’s birth dates and locations from Worcester, MA to Wilton, Ct and in between, yet not one of them has ever been proven. Does anyone have verifiable evidence as to where this family went after marriage and where the children were born?