Joseph Oriel Eaton II (July 28, 1873 – 1949) was born in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...

. At birth, he was named Harrison Eaton but his mother changed his name as a tribute, after Harrison's father, the painter

Joseph Oriel Eaton Joseph Oriel Eaton, an American painter of portraits and figure subjects, both in oil and in water-colours, was born in 1829. His most famous work is his portrait of Herman Melville, the author of Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. He died at Yonke ...

I, died. Joseph was raised in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

and attended

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He was one of the founders of Torbensen Gear and Axle Company which is known today as

Eaton Corporation Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish multinational power management company with 2021 sales of $19.63 billion, founded in the United States with global headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and a secondary administrative center in Beachwoo ...

. He was inducted into the

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to a ...

in 1983.

References

* ''The History of Eaton Corporation 1911-1985'' 1873 births 1949 deaths Williams College alumni {{Automobile-bio-stub