John A. Eastman

John Albert Eastman (March 4, 1821 – April 11, 1895) was an American lawyer from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin who spent two years (1850–1851) as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Senate.

Background

Eastman was born in Strong, Maine. Until the age of eighteen worked on his father's farm during the season, going to school during the winter. In December 1839, he entered the Charleston Academy in Charleston, Maine, and in September 1841, began the study of law in the office of Philip M. Stubbs, and continued until the fall of 1843, teaching during the winters in Strong and Kingfield. On September 14, 1843, he left Strong and went to Platteville, Wisconsin, arriving there October 5, and taught school during the following winter. In 1844, he went to Fond du Lac, selecting that place as his future home.[1]

He was the second lawyer in Fond du Lac County (he would eventually go into partnership with Erastus Drury).[2] Eastman taught a "select school" in Fond du Lac with as many as twenty students from 1844-45 until a public school was organized in 1846.[2][3]

A three-page letter from Eastman in "Fonddulac" [sic] to a Miss Frances A. Eastman in Strong, Maine (apparently his sister) dated October 20, 1846 survives, in which he complains that "constant labor" has reduced his weight from 170 pounds back in "Old Maine" to 148 pounds. He describes himself as busy there; he is the postmaster, and there are nine mails a week. He reports that he is engaged to "a fine amiable little girl, not handsome nor 'accomplished', but quiet, domestic, confiding" and that she thinks him "quite a fellow for a Yankee."[4] Eastman had been postmaster since 1845, and was to remain postmaster until April 1849, when the new Whig presidential administration replaced him with a Whig. It is unclear whether the "fine amiable little girl" referred to is the same person as the Helen C. Darling whom he married on January 6, 1848.[5]

Public office

In 1844, Eastman became the first "Register or Clerk" of the newly created Fond du Lac County Probate Court.[2] On March 1, 1847, he was elected as a trustee as part of the first government for the newly-chartered village of Fond du Lac.[6] In 1848, he was defeated for county judge by John Bannister, and for state senator by Warren Chase, a Free Soiler.[7]

In 1849, he was on the school board for Fond du Lac.[3]

Eastman was elected in 1849 from the Fourth District, at that time consisting of Fond du Lac and Winnebago Counties. He was the candidate of the Regular Democrats or "Hunker" faction of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and defeated Lucas M. Miller the candidate of the "Union Democratic Party" (soon to join the Free Soil Party) faction.[8]

He was succeeded by Bertine Pinckney, a Whig.

Business interests

Eastman built the first law office in Fond du Lac, on Main Street; he was the son-in-law of Mason C. Darling, and helped manage The Exchange Bank of Darling & Company along with his brother-in-law Keyes Darling.[9]

In January 1847 Eastman was one of the seven commissioners appointed by a private act of the legislature to sell stock in the newly-chartered Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad Company, along with other luminaries such as former governor Nathaniel Tallmadge, Moses S. Gibson and Benjamin F. Moore. The railroad itself failed to materialize, due to a lack of enthusiasm (particularly on the Fond du Lac end).[10]

From March 1849 to May 1851, he was part-owner of the Fond du Lac Journal.[11]

Departure from Wisconsin; Illinois, Michigan, and death

In the spring of 1864 he moved to Chicago, Illinois, at the same time as his father-in-law the former Congressman. In Chicago Eastman practiced law and "engaged... in some commercial pursuits" until May 1873, when he moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he practiced law until his death.[1] He was reported in the June 1895 American Lawyer as a "recent death", and was described as "a retired lawyer... aged 74 years. He formerly practiced in Chicago."[12]

References
  1. Rix, Guy Scoby. History and genealogy of the Eastman family of America Concord, New Hampshire: Press of I.C. Evans, 1901; pp. 864-865
  2. The History of Fond Du Lac County etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880; pp. 385-86, 500, 584, 598, 661, 798
  3. McKenna, Maurice. Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin, Past and Present Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1912; p. 349
  4. Eastman, John A. letter: Fonddulac [sic], Oct 20th 1846 in Wisconsin territorial letters--1846 Call Number, Wis Mss MY Box 1 Folder 10 ([unpublished; 3 pp.])
  5. "An Old Time Club". Green Bay Weekly Gazette. January 10, 1880. p. 3. Retrieved September 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Brigham, A. D. Brigham and Co's Fond du Lac city directory and business advertiser for 1857-58 Fond du Lac: Union Book & Job Printing Establishment, 1857-1858; p. 14
  7. Glaze, A. T. Incidents and anecdotes of early days and history of business in the city and county of Fond du Lac from early times to the present: personal reminiscences, remarkable events, election results, military history, etc. Fond du Lac: P.B. Haber Printing Co., 1905; pp. 94, 150, 202
  8. "'Birds of a Feather'" Fond du Lac Journal April 29, 1852; p. 2, col. 5
  9. McKenna, Maurice. Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin, Past and Present Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1912; pp. 144, 214, 238, 349
  10. Lorenzsonn, Axel. Steam & Cinders: The Advent of Railroads in Wisconsin Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society, 2010; pp. 157-58
  11. Brigham, A. D. Brigham and Co's Fond du Lac city directory and business advertiser for 1857-58 Fond du Lac: Union Book & Job Printing Establishment, 1857-1858; pp. 13-14
  12. "Recent Deaths"The American Lawyer Vol. 3, p. 263 (June 1895)
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