Library of Congress

EATON, William Wallace, a Senator and a Representative from Connecticut; born in Tolland, Conn., October 11, 1816; educated in the common schools and by private instruction; moved to Columbia, S.C., and engaged in mercantile pursuits; returned to Tolland, Conn.; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice; clerk of courts of Tolland County 1846-1847; member, State house of representatives 1847-1848, 1853, 1863, 1868, 1870-1871, 1873-1874; served as speaker in 1853 and 1873; member, State senate 1859; moved to Hartford, Conn., in 1851; clerk of courts of Hartford County 1851 and 1854; city attorney 1857-1858; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for United States Senator in 1860; chief judge of the city court of Hartford 1863-1864, 1867-1872; appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William A. Buckingham and served from February 5, 1875, to March 3, 1875; elected for the full term beginning March 4, 1875, and served until March 3, 1881; chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations (Forty-sixth Congress); elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1885); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1884; resumed the practice of law; died in Hartford, Conn., September 21, 1898; interment in Spring Grove Cemetery.