Moses Eaton, Jr.

Moses Eaton, Jr. (August 3, 1796 – November 16, 1886) was an American itinerant folk stencil artist. His home, with many examples of his work, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Early life

Eaton was born in Hancock, New Hampshire, to Moses Eaton Sr. and Esther Ware Eaton in 1796. His father, Moses Eaton Senior, under whom he trained before setting out on his own, has been called "the most documented stenciler of New England" by the Center for Painted Wall Preservation. Eaton Jr. was called "the most prolific of early stencilers". His work was described as not being from a trained artist but "a farmer with a sense of color and design". Some of his motifs included pineapples, weeping willows, flower baskets and flower spray. Their traditional payment for one painted and stenciled room was $10.

Eaton married Rebecca Platt in 1835 and they settled in Hancock and had three children. While he still continued to stencil, his focus was on farming, raising corn, Devon cattle and Blue Hen chickens. In later years, they moved to Dublin, New Hampshire, to live with their daughter and did stenciling in the front parlor of her house, discovered in 1918 under wallpaper. The kit is held by Historic New England. A sample box containing ten panels of his stencil designs is held by the American Folk Art Museum. Designs by both him and his father are still sold today in stores focusing on early American decorative arts.