from The History of Hendricks County (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914)--pages 764-766
If for no other reason, the life history of Grandison Eaton, well-known citizen of Brownsburg, Hendricks County, Indiana, should be contained in this work because he is one of the honored veterans of the great War of the Rebellion, who unhesitantly gave up the pleasure of home associations and the opportunities of business and offered his services and his life, if need be, in order that the nation might be perpetuated and the Star and Stripes saved from treason and dishonor; but there are other reasons, one of which is that he has led a life of honesty and sobriety and another is that he has done much for the general good of his community here.
Grandison Eaton, a distinguished veteran of the Civil War and public-spirited citizen of Brownsburg, was born in Hendricks County, September 13, 1837, and has spent his whole life within the county. His parents were Greenup and Mahala (Turpin) Eaton. Greenup Eaton was born in 1813 in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and came to this county in childhood with his parents, his father dying soon after their arrival in this county. Mahala Turpin was born in Scott County, Kentucky, in 1815, and reared to young womanhood near Clermont, in Marion County, this state. She was the daughter of Jacob and Martha Turpin, who came from Kentucky among the early pioneers. Jacob Turpin was born in 1785 in the eastern part of Maryland and was a son of William and Nancy (Hanley) Turpin. William Turpin's father was a soldier of the Revolution and lived to the advanced age of over one hundred years. In 1786 William and Nancy Turpin left Maryland and went to Kentucky, and for the first few years were compelled to live in a block house with the other settlers of the community for safety, as at that time the Indians were on the war path and practically all of the settlers of Kentucky were gathered in the block houses scattered throughout the state. Jacob Turpin married Martha Taylor in Bourbon County, Kentucky, in 1804. Martha Taylor was born in 1786, of Scotch ancestry. Jacob Turpin and his wife moved to Scott County, Kentucky, and in 1820 came to Indianapolis when it had not even yet reached the dignity of a village. In 1829 Jacob Turpin and his wife moved to the eastern part of Hendricks County, near Clermont. At that time there were no bridges nor roads and the farm on which they settled was a virgin wilderness in every respect. Jacob Turpin started in to clear the ground and make a home. He died in 1849 and she in 1855.
Greenup Eaton, the father of Grandison, whose history is here presented, came from Marion County, Indiana, to Hendricks Couty while still a boy and hired out to the farmers in this county to work by the day. He married Mahala Turpin, and to them were born four children, James Samuel, William Harrison, Grandison and Ruann. When Grandison was about three years of age his mother died, and his father afterwards married Melinda Smith, and to this second marriage five children were born, Reuben, Thomas, Willard F., Fannie and Mahala J. The mother of these children died after Mahala was born, the latter being then reared by Moses Gwinn. Some time after the death of his second wife, Greenup Eaton married Cynthia Watson, and to his third marriage were born seven children: Marcelite, the wife of Joseph Jones; Luna, the wife of Oliver Parsons; Estella, who married William Ellis; Henry, who was at one time sheriff of Hendricks County, and Charles and Allen, both of whom died in infancy.
Greenup Eaton made his home two miles north of Brownsburg, where he operated a brick yard and also followed the trade of a bricklayer. He was one of the first men to place brick on the ground for the erection of the present insane asylum at Indianapolis. He and two other brick men ran a race to see which one would be the first to get a load of brick on the ground and he was the winner. He was a man who was intensely devoted to his country and had a deep-seated hatred of slavery. When the Knights of the Golden Circle began their nefarious operations in Indiana, he waged incessant war against them, and did everything that he could to break up their organization in his county. Four of his sons, William Harrison, Grandison, Reuben and Thomas, went to the front and all of them made valiant soldiers for the Union. He died in 1866, a man universally honored and respected.
Grandison Eaton, the son of Greenup Eaton by his first marriage, grew up on the home farm and in September, 1861, enlisted in Company B, Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. A large number of Hendricks County boys were in this same regiment, among whom was Judge John V. Hadley, editor of the historical section of this volume. Mr. Eaton was at the front nearly four years and served in many of the most important battles of the Civil War, among which were the battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, Spotsylvania, Chancellorsville, second battle of Bull Run and many others of minor importance. After being mustered out, he returned to this county and resumed his trade of brick-making and brick-laying. This has been his life work until a few years ago when he retired from manual labor. He has built a majority of the brick structures in and around Brownsburg, his first experience being before the Civil War opened during the Lincoln campaign, when he laid the brick in the building which is now occupied by the Hunter Bank of Brownsburg. Mr. Eaton has prospered because of his industry and good business abilities and now owns the post office building, the two buildings across the street from the post office, the second building east of the post office, the property occupied by the telephone exchange and residence properties in the town. As a contractor he has always rendered good service and his buildings will remain for many years to come as monuments to his honest labor.
Mr. Eaton was married January 8, 1865, to Mary S. Lawler, who was born in 1841, near Clayton, this county. Her parents were Nicholas and Ann (Buchanan) Lawler, natives of Kentucky, who came to Jennings County, Indiana, and from thence to this county in an early day. Nicholas Lawler was a life-long farmer.
Politically, Mr. Eaton has been a life-long Republican, and has always kept abreast of the times in political matters, although he has never been a candidate for any public office. He is a great reader of all kinds of literature and has always been deeply interested in the local history of his county. He is a loyal member of the Grand Army of the Republic, which was established in 1866 at Decatur, Illinois, and takes a prominent part in all the Memorial Day services in his county. It is interesting to note in this connection that the Grand Army of the Republic reached its highest membership of four hundred thousand four hundred eighty-nine in 1890, and that today it has been reduced by death to less than one hundred and seventy-five thousand. The Grand Army of the Republic has held a national encampment every year since 1866 excepting 1867, and has gathered in nearly every important city in the United States. It was the originator of May 30th as Memorial Day, the first Memorial Day being celebrated in the year 1868. Mr. Eaton is a public-spirited man who has been a prominent factor in the business life of Brownsburg. He is a sociable man, highly esteemed and one of those whole-souled, genial men whom every one likes to meet.