Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Eaton, William, -1811

Military officer; born, in Woodstock, Conn., Feb. 23, 1764; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1790; entered the Continental army at the ageof sixteen; and was discharged in 1783. In 1797 he was appointed American consul at Tunis, and arrived there in 1799. He acted with so much boldness and tact that he secured for his country the freedom of its commerce from attacks by [179] Tunisian cruisers. He returned to the United States in 1803; was appointed naval agent of the United States for the Barbary States, and accompanied the American fleet to the Mediterranean in 1804. He assisted Hamet Caramelli, the rightful ruler of Tripoli, in an attempt to recover his throne, usurped by his brother. Soon afterwards Eaton returned to the United States, and passed the remainder of his life at Brimfield. For his services to American commerce the State of Massachusetts gave him 10,000 acres of land. The King of Denmark gave him a gold box in acknowledgment of his services to commerce in general and for the release of Danish captives at Tunis. Burr tried to enlist General Eaton in his conspiracy, and the latter testified against him on his trial. He died in Brimfield, Mass., June 1, 1811.