Benjamin Harrison Eaton

Benjamin Harrison Eaton (December 15, 1833 – October 29, 1904) was an American politician, entrepreneur and agriculturalist in the late 19th and early 20th century. Eaton was a founding officer of the Greeley Colony and was instrumental in the establishment of modern irrigation farming to Northern Colorado. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the fourth Governor of Colorado, from January 1885 to January 1887, with the nickname of the "farmer governor". He was one of the largest land owners Weld and Larmimer counties, at one time owning over ninety 160 acre (0.6 km²) parcels, all watered from canals and reservoirs of his own construction. His projects were influential in helping turn the South Platte River valley into an important agricultural region in the state's economy. The town of Eaton, Colorado in western Weld County is named for him.

Benjamin Harrison Eaton's sister, Mary Jane Eaton, married William S. Dickerson, also from Coshocton County, Ohio. They settled in Weld County, Colorado. Their daughter Adda Dickerson married Thomas Grant Cullison in Windsor Colorado on September 20, 1900. Thomas & Adda's grandson Tom Cullison still lives in the Greeley/Eaton Colorado area.

Eaton is among those who are depicted in stained glass on the rotunda of the Colorado State Capitol Building.

Read more about Benjamin Harrison Eaton:  Early Life, Later Career

Famous quotes containing the words benjamin and/or harrison:

    These are days when no one should rely unduly on his “competence.” Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck left-handed.
    —Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)

    If the dignity as well as the prestige and influence of the United States are not to be wholly sacrificed, we must protect those who, in foreign ports, display the flag or wear the colors of this Government against insult, brutality, and death, inflicted in resentment of the acts of their Government, and not for any fault of their own.
    —Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)