Charles Aubrey Eaton

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Charles Aubrey Eaton (March 28, 1868 – January 23, 1953) was a Canadian-born clergyman and politician who rose to lead prominent congregations at Natick, Massachusetts, 1893–1895; Bloor Street, Toronto, 1895–1901; Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, 1901–1909; and at Madison Avenue, New York City, 1909–1919. Eaton represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1925–1953, representing the 4th congressional district from 1925–1933, and (as a result of redistricting based on the 1930 Census) the 5th district from 1933–1953.

Charles Aubrey Eaton was born in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1868. His early life was marred by poverty and ill health that interfered with his education, but as the result of a religious conversion experienced under the influence of a clergyman he met as a young man, he was inspired to recover lost ground, and he eventually graduated from Acadia University, a Baptist institution in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where he studied divinity. He became known in the cities where he preached for lively, exhortative, and often humorous oratory.

In 1904, Eaton's commitment to evangelism got him arrested on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio for persistently ignoring by-laws prohibiting street preaching. As a result of his religious work in Cleveland, he came to the attention of John D. Rockefeller, a summer resident of Cleveland who attended Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, where Eaton preached. Rockefeller became a lifelong friend, and this connection influenced Eaton's future path in many ways.

In 1924, Eaton was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-ninth United States Congress and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses, serving until 1952. He rose to become chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Eightieth Congress), and served on the Select Committee on Foreign Aid (Eightieth Congress). Eaton signed the original United Nations Charter in San Francisco as part of a delegation representing the United States Government. For several years, he served in Congress alongside his nephew William Robb Eaton, a Representative from Colorado.

Twenty days after his retirement from Congress, Eaton died in Washington, D.C. and was interred in Hillside Cemetery located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Find-A-Grave bio for Charles Aubrey Eaton
• Political Graveyard info for Charles Aubrey Eaton

Preceded by Charles Browne	U.S. House of Representatives 4th District of New Jersey 1925–1933	Succeeded by D. Lane Powers
Preceded by Percy Hamilton Stewart	U.S. House of Representatives 5th District of New Jersey 1933–1953	Succeeded by Peter Frelinghuysen, Jr.