Joseph Eaton

(1750 – February 1, 1825)

A hatter by trade, Joseph Eaton operated out of his shop on Merchant’s Row opposite Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Eaton’s business was in close proximity to the businesses of many other tea party participants. It is possible that Eaton’s decision to join the spirited Sons of Liberty in the “destruction of the tea” on December 16, 1773, came from his relationship with neighboring merchant colleagues. 

Prior to the Boston Tea Party, he joined as a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the oldest military organization in America. Although Eaton reportedly enlisted in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, conclusive records confirming that fact have not yet been found. No Revolutionary War pension claim has been found among the existing records. 

Joseph Eaton died in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 1, 1825. He is buried in Boston’s Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, in Boston’s North End neighborhood.