Joseph Oriel Eaton

Joseph Oriel Eaton (February 8, 1829 – February 7, 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 seven children:

Son, Frank Daughter, Mary Nelson (c. 1869 – 1948), married Frank Howard Nelson on June 6, 1907, in Montclair, New Jersey. Daughter, Margaret (c. 1858-1931), married to Swedish Count Henning Gustave Taube, Son, Harrison, but later known as Joseph Oriel Eaton II, born 1873 and a co-founder of Eaton Corporation

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).

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.