John Easton
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John Easton (c1624 - December 12, 1705) was a political leader in colonial Rhode Island.
Easton was born in England in about 1624, to Nicholas Easton and an unknown woman. He was the second of two children, having an older brother named Peter. When he was ten years old, Easton and his family emigrated to Massachusetts, and, when his father was banished in 1639, he joined him as one of the first colonists in Rhode Island, settling at Newport.
When he became an adult, Easton joined his father as a community leader, being named Attorney General of Newport and Portsmouth in 1653. In 1656 he became the first Attorney General for the entire colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and remained in that office until 1674. Besides being Attorney General, Easton, beginning in 1665, was a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, and in 1666, was named Assistant to the Governor, remaining in this office until 1690. During King Philip's War, Easton held the office of Deputy Governor and was one of the organizers of the colony's military forces.
During this period, Easton was also raising a family. On January 4, 1661, Easton married Mehiteble Gaunt, the daughter of farmers from the nearby Plymouth Colony. They would have five children: James, Peter, Mary, John and Paul. Mehiteble Gaunt died on November 11, 1673.
In 1690, Easton was elected Governor of the colony of Rhode Island. He was not the first member of his family to hold that position, his father had also been Governor of Rhode Island. Easton would remain Governor of Rhode Island for five years without interruption, a rare feat in colonial Rhode Island. During his tenure as governor, Rhode Island's population and economy grew dramatically, in particular the town (soon to be city) of Newport.
After leaving office, Easton entered retirement, dying in Newport on December 12, 1705, and is buried at the Coddington Bural Ground in Newport.
