LibraryGeorge J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

0.5 linear feet.

Catalog Number: M53

Series List:

• Samuel Eaton Sermons, 1770-1790, n.d., 11 folders
• Joseph McKeen Sermons, 1783-1801, n.d., 65 folders

Agency History / Biographical Note:
Samuel Eaton was born April 3, 1737, in Randolph [Braintree, now Quincy], Massachusetts, a son of the Rev. Elisha Eaton (Harvard Class of 1729), who was minister of the Second Parish Church of North Yarmouth [Harpswell] Maine (1753-64). Eaton was fitted for college at York, Maine, by "Master Moody", a celebrated educator who later taught at Dummer Academy in Byfield. After graduating from Harvard in 1763, Eaton kept school for a few months in Scarborough, Maine. Among his pupils was

Eaton was described by a contemporary as somewhat eccentric and old-fashioned, "a rather stout and plump man of dignified bearing, who dressed in a spacious broad-skirted coat with deep cuffs, wide pocket flaps, and a large square collar; a waistcoat flaring in front and falling almost to the knees; breeches; high shoes secured by large silver buckles, a wig, and a cocked hat." Harriet Beecher Stowe used Eaton as a model for her Yankee character, Parson Sewall, in Pearl of Orr's Island (1862).

Joseph McKeen, the first president of Bowdoin College (1802-07), was born October 15, 1757, in Londonderry, New Hampshire. His father and grandfather, John and James, were among the first settlers of the town, having come from the north of Ireland in 1718 to escape religious and political oppression. McKeen graduated from Dartmouth College (1774) at age seventeen. He taught school for eight years in Londonderry, except for a short period during which he served under General Sullivan in the American Revolution. In 1785, the year he married Alice Anderson, McKeen moved to Beverly, Massachusetts, where he served as the Congregational minister until 1802. The couple had three sons and two daughters. Joseph McKeen died July 15, 1807, in Brunswick, Maine. For further information on the McKeen family see the Joseph McKeen Collection.

Scope and Content:
The collection includes sermons, preached in Massachusetts and Maine, written both by Samuel Eaton and Joseph McKeen. Eaton's eleven sermons begin in 1770 and end in 1790 and McKeen's sixty-five sermons begin in 1783 and end in 1801. Eaton, a contemporary of McKeen, is known to have preached some of McKeen's sermons.

Cite as: Samuel Eaton and Joseph McKeen Sermons, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library.
Access Restrictions: None.