Joseph Oriel Eaton

Joseph Oriel Eaton (1829-1875) was an American painter of portraits and figure subjects, both in oil and in water-colours. His most famous work is his portrait of Herman Melville, author of the 1851 novel  Moby-Dick.



Personal life
He was married to Emmaline (Emma) Goodwin, great-granddaughter of John Adams, and granddaughter of John Quincy Adams. The Eatons had five children:


 * Son, Frank
 * Son, William
 * Daughter, Mary Nelson (c. 1869 – 1948), married Frank Howard Nelson on June 6, 1907, in Montclair, New Jersey.
 * Daughter, Margaret, married to Swedish Count Henning Gustave Taube, who was a co-founder of Eaton Corporation and brother of Swedish Prime Minister Arvid Taube.
 * Son, Harrison, but later known as Joseph Oriel Eaton II, born 1873 and a co-founder of Eaton Corporation

A granddaughter (or possibly step-granddaughter) named Margaret Comacho was married to John Stoye on November 6, 1911.

Works
Among his exhibited works were:
 * Landscape: View on the Hudson. 1868.
 * Multiple portraits of John Means of Kentucky. 1868
 * Greek Water-Carrier. 1872.
 * Lady Godiva. 1874.
 * Looking through the Kaleidoscope. 1875.
 * His own Portrait. 1875. (National Academy of Design)
 * A portrait of daughter Mary at age 4 (Cincinnati Art Museum). c. 1874

Death and legacy
Eaton was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate academician in 1866. He died in Yonkers, New York in 1875.