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Professor James R. Eaton (1834-1897)

 

James Eaton was born the second son of Reverend George Washington Eaton, D.D., L.L.D., who was the president of Madison University (now called Colgate University) in Hamilton, New York. James graduated from Madison University and the Hamilton Theological Seminary and, though he was ordained as a Baptist minister, chose teaching as his profession. He became a professor of mathematics, natural science, ancient languages, and theology, and in 1868 he accepted a position at William Jewel College in Liberty, Missouri. He served as the head of the Department of NaturalSciences for 28 years.

 

By 1897, his increasing frailty convinced James that he should take a sabbatical, and it had been his lifelong dream to visit the Holy Land. He set sail from New York, but tragically suffered a heart attack shortly after arriving in Cairo. He died a few days later on March 20, 1897.

 

Professor Eaton was an enthusiastic collector, and in addition to his extensive cabinets of minerals and geological specimens, he spent 30 years collecting coins. He created many different sub-collections, including a complete collection of Biblical coins, a collection of the earliest gold, silver,and bronze Greek and Roman coins, a portrait collection, a collection of early American copper coins, and many others.

 

The last coin was integrated into this impressive collection back in the 1890s, meaning that this collection has been off the market for more than a century!  The coins eventually came into the possession of James' son, Hubert Eaton, who was the one of the founders and presidents of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Hubert periodically displayed the coins at the museum there, along with other family sculptures and art.

 

-from Stack's Bowers auction brochure