Scope and Content
The Eaton Papers consist of field notes, correspondence, and notes pertaining to Eaton’s botanical work. Sixteen notebooks dated from about 1895-1906 contain field notes and other botanical notes; five of these notebooks pertain to Eaton’s field trips to Florida. Correspondence consists of four letters dated 1899-1905. Notes are handwritten and undated.
Dates
- Creation: 1895-1906
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is available by appointment for research. Researchers must register and provide one form of valid photo identification. Please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu for additional information.
Extent
0.6 linear feet (1 document box, 1 half-width document box)Biography
Alvah Augustus Eaton was born on November 20, 1865, in Seabrook, New Hampshire, to Alvah and Lydia Eaton (née Watson). The family moved to a farm in Salisbury, Mass., when he was twelve. He went to high school at the Putnam School in Newburyport, Mass., completing the four-year course in only two years. Eaton then taught for one year in Seabrook and then for three years after moving to California where he also took up farming. Eaton returned to New England to teach and farm, and later turned to work as a florist and gardener due to poor health.
Eaton was a self-taught botanist and focused on fern-worts (Pteridophyta), grasses, and orchids. His work on Equisetum and Isoetes is of particular note. He described many species in these groups and revised content for Asa Gray's “New Manual of Botany (1908).”
Beginning in 1902 Eaton undertook monographic, bibliographic, and taxonomic work at the Oakes Ames Botanical Laboratory in North Easton, Massachusetts. He made one collecting trip to Europe and three to Florida for the Laboratory, during which he discovered more than a dozen new ferns. He married Constance E. Wilkins (née Chapman) on September 26, 1904.
Eaton was a member of the Linnaean Fern Chapter (later the American Fern Society) and was a frequent contributor to “The Fern Bulletin.” He served as secretary of the American Fern Society for two years, as president for one year, and was responsible for creating the Society’s pteridophyte herbarium. He held the post of Curator of the Herbarium from its inception until his death. He also left two completed but unpublished manuscripts, a monograph on North American Isoetes and a study on Orchidaceae.
After Eaton’s death on September 29, 1908, Oakes Ames published a description of an orchid collected by Eaton in Florida in the early 1900’s. He named it Spiranthes eatonii.
Sources
Clute WN. 1902. Alvah Augustus Eaton. Fern Bull. 10(2): 52-53.
Clute WN. 1909. Death of Alvah A. Eaton. Fern Bulletin. 16(4): 109-111.
Day MA. 1908. Botanical Writings of the Late Alvah Augustus Eaton. Rhodora. 10(120): 211-214.
Leavitt RG. 1908. In Memoriam: Alvah Augustus Eaton. Rhodora. 10(120): 209-211.
Series Description
The collection is divided into two series: Series I - Correspondence; Series II - Notebooks and Notes.
Provenance
The Eaton correspondence and manuscripts were found wrapped in paper addressed to Merritt L. Fernald from Eaton’s wife, Constance (the parcel was also labeled "Bundle 1365."). The notebooks may also have been given by Mrs. Eaton.
In 2020, four journals were donated by the Hingham Historical Society. They have been integrated into this collection.
Existence and Location of Copies
Numbers 1-17 have been microfilmed. Microfilm master number 11738.
Processed by
Lynn McWhood, 1982 January.
Creator
- Title
- Eaton, Alvah Augustus, 1865-1908. Alvah Augustus Eaton papers, 1895-1906: A Guide.
- Author
- Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University.
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- gra00019
Repository Details
Part of the Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University Repository
The Harvard University Herbaria houses five research libraries that are managed collectively as the Botany Libraries. The Gray Herbarium Library specializes in the identification and classification of New World plants with emphasis on North American plants. The Archives of the Gray Herbarium houses unique resources including personal papers, institutional records, field notes and plant lists, expedition records, photographs, original artwork, and objects from faculty, curators, staff, and affiliates of the Gray Herbarium.
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