Thomas Eaton

Thomas Eaton (c. 1739 – June 1809) was a military officer in the North Carolina militia during the War of the Regulation in 1771 and American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1784. He was a member of the North Carolina Provincial Congress and North Carolina House of Commons for several terms simultaneously with his military service. Eaton was a member of the North Carolina Council of State under Governor Richard Caswell. Eaton commanded soldiers in the battles of Brier Creek and Guilford Courthouse. At the time of the 1790 census, Eaton was one of the largest slaveholders in North Carolina. Early life and War of the Regulation Eaton was born to William Eaton and Mary Rives, who had moved to North Carolina from Prince George County, Virginia. Eaton was married three times, marrying his first wife, Anna Bland, in 1761. That marriage bore one daughter, Anna, in 1763. After purchasing land in Bute County, North Carolina, Eaton represented that county in the colonial North Carolina Assembly from 1769 to 1771. In 1771, Governor William Tryon named Eaton a colonel in the Bute County militia during the War of the Regulation. The militia organization supported the governor against the agrarian uprising in the piedmont region of North Carolina. Eaton served as Bute County's representative in the Provincial Council, which became the Council of Safety, between 1775 and 1776. That body exercised executive powers in the state prior to the election of the state's first governor after the start of the American Revolution. Eaton served as President pro tempore of the Council of Safety. Also beginning in 1775, Eaton was a delegate to the Second, Third, and Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congresses. The Fourth Provincial Congress, of which Eaton was not a delegate, appointed him a colonel in the state's militia. American Revolutionary War Service record: Halifax District Brigade of militia: 1779 to 1781 Colonel over the Bute County Regiment of militia and the Warren County Regiment of militia Appointed 11/4/1779 as Brigadier Pro Tempore, to replace Allen Jones, away on business. Re-appointed as Brigadier Pro Tempore in early 1781. Returned to being Colonel over the Warren County Regiment of Militia. Engaged at the Battle of Guilford Court House