My Genealogy Hound

Hon. James M. Eaton, one of the judges of the present county court, came originally from Macoupin County, Ill., where he was born in 1835, the second of four children of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Simpson) Eaton, natives, respectively, of Tennessee and Kentucky. James M. was reared to an agricultural experience, attending in his younger days the common schools, and to the instruction there received he has added, in more recent years, the result of a studious disposition and close application. Upon reaching his majority he commenced in life for himself, and in 1861 was married to Miss Margaret M., daughter of Dr. Jeremiah and Sarah (Phillips) Butler, of South Carolina and Georgia nativity, respectively. In 1862, leaving his young wife, Mr. Eaton enlisted in the Tenth Missouri Infantry, Company H (Southern army), as private, and served until the surrender in a most acceptable manner, the close of the war finding him first lieutenant. During this period his wife had remained with her parents, and he now returned to find that home a scene of desolation. The father, husband and protector of his wife and her mother, had died, and Dr. John D. Butler, the step-father, owing to his Southern sympathies, was brutally shot down before his own door without any just cause, and the women of the neighborhood were obliged to perform the last sad rites of burying him. Mr. Eaton now commenced in earnest to obtain a competence for himself and wife. He began work at the carpenter's trade, but has devoted himself principally to farming with good success, and now owns a farm of 113 acres. Some time ago he was solicited to become and was elected a judge of the county court, a position he has filled acceptably for two terms; politically, he is a Democrat. Judge and Mrs. Eaton have three children living: James E., Sarah E. and Josie A.; three are deceased. He belongs to the A. F. & A. M. and A. O. U. W., and himself and wife are members of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Eaton's mother, Mrs. Butler, has found a pleasant home in the family of her daughter since her husband's death; she is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.