Online Encyclopedia

MARGARET EATON

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 838 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MARGARET EATON  O'NEILL (1796-1879), better known as PEGGY O'NEILL, was the daughter of the keeper of a popular Washington
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tavern, and was noted for her beauty, wit and vivacity . About 1823, she married a
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purser in the
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United States
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navy, John B . Timberlake, who committed suicide while on service in the Mediterranean in 1828 . In the following
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year she married John Henry Eaton (1790-1856), a
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Tennessee politician, at the time a member of the United States Senate . Senator Eaton was a close
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personal friend of President Jackson, who in 1829 appointed him secretary of war . This sudden
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elevation of Mrs Eaton into the
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cabinet social circle was resented by the wives of several of Jackson's secretaries, and charges were made against her of improper conduct with Eaton previous to her
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marriage to him . The refusal of the wives of the cabinet members to recognize the wife of his friend angered President Jackson, and he tried in vain to coerce them . Eventually, and partly for this reason, he almost completely reorganized his cabinet . The effect of the incident on the
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political fortunes of the
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vice-president, John C . Calhoun, whose wife was one of the recalcitrants, was perhaps most important . Partly on this account, Jackson's favour was transferred from Calhoun to Martin
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Van Buren, the secretary of state, who had taken
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Jack-son's side in the
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quarrel and had shown marked attention to Mrs Eaton, and whose subsequent elevation to the vice-
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presidency and presidency through Jackson's favour is no doubt partly attributable to this incident . In 1836 Mrs Eaton accompanied [her
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husband to Spain, where he was United States minister .in 1836-1840 .

After the

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death of her husband she married a young
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Italian dancing-master, Antonio Buchignani; but soon obtained a
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divorce from him . She died in Washington on the 8th of November 1879 . See James Parton's
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Life of Andrew Jackson (New York, 1860) .

End of Article: MARGARET EATON
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