attachment to him, by writing and publishing an elaborate and voluminous "life of Jackson." On the accession of this chief to the presidency, Eaton was appointed secretary of war, which position he held from 1829 to 1831, until his marriage with Mrs. Timberlake, the "the fair and fast" widow of Purser Timberlake of the navy. There was scandal connected with this lady. The wives of Calhoun, Ingham, Branch and Berrien refused to call on her; Jackson took her part, and a dissolution of the cabinet was the result. Mr. Eaton was governor of Florida, 1834,-'36, and envoy to Spain from 1836 to 1840.
Governor Eaton was of commanding presence; his literary abilities respectable, his elocution graceful, and his voice remarkably fine. He was social and generous in his intercourse with his friends, and much esteemed.
He died in Washington City, November, 1856. His widow married again, and recently died in Washington.
J.J. Daniel, born 1783, died 1848, one of the justices of the supreme court. Born, reared and died in Halifax. His early education was defective; he studied law under General William R. Davie.
He was a member of the legislature in 1807 and again 1812.
In 1816, he was elected one of the judges of the superior courts, which he held until 1832, when he was elevated to the supreme court bench; which exalted position he occupied until his death, February, 1848.
Judge Daniel was remarkable for his deep and varied knowledge of his profession, and his accurate and extensive stores of historical information. These were never ostentatiously displayed, for he was as artless as innocence itself. The appropriate language of his associate, Judge Ruffin, on the occasion of his death, describes his character in true and vivid colors:
"Judge Daniel served his country through a period of nearly thirty years acceptably, ably, and faithfully. He had a love of learning, an inquiring mind, and a memory uncommonly tenacious; he acquired and retained an extensive and varied stock of knowledge, especially in the history and principles of the law; he was without arrogance or ostentation--even of his learning. He had the most unaffected and charming simplicity and mildness of manners, and had no other purpose than "to execute justice, and maintain truth," therefore he was patient in hearing argument, laborious and earnest in investigation, candid and instructive in consultation, and impartial and firm in decision."
So appropriate an eulogium from so competent a source was well deserved.
He married Maria Stith, whom he survived, and by whom he had several children.
John R. J. Daniel was a native of Halifax. He was educated at the university, where he graduated in 1821, in the same class with Honorable Anderson Mitchell and others, taking the first honors. He read law and practiced with much success. Ineulogium 1831, he entered political life as a member of the House of Commons, and served till 1834, at which session he was elected attorney general of the state, which position he held till 1841, when he was elected a member of Twenty-seventh Congress, and re-elected continuously till the Thirty-second Congress (1851.) For many years he was the chairman of the committee on claims, for which his unquestioned integrity, clear and discriminating mind and patient industry, rendered him a model chairman. After leaving congress, he removed to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he died in 1868.
Junius Daniel, born June 27,
1828, killed in battle May 12, 1864, son of the
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