John H. Eaton

The Eaton affair began with a wedding and ended with Andrew Jackson's cabinet in pieces. John Eaton, a Franklin lawyer and Jackson's biographer, was a senator from 1818 and Jackson's secretary of war in 1829. He had married Margaret O'Neale Timberlake, known as Peggy, on New Year's Day 1829, and Washington society and the cabinet wives refused to receive her. Eaton and the president fought for two years to force her acceptance. The quarrel broke up the cabinet and permanently split Jackson from Vice President John C. Calhoun.

What the plaque says

John H. Eaton On this site stood the home of John H. Eaton, U.S. Senator (1818-1829) and Secretary of War under Andrew Jackson (1829-1831). He resigned from the Cabinet after a scandal which reflected on the reputation of his controversial wife, Peggy. He served as Governor of the Territory of Florida (1834-1836) and as Minister to Spain (1836-1840). Eaton retired from public life in 1840. He sold this property in 1843 and lived in Washington, D.C. until his death.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Carnton — 1.6 mi
  The McGavock farm in Franklin, worked by 44 enslaved people in 1860, that became the largest field hospital of the Battle of Franklin.
• Fort Negley — 16 mi
  The largest inland stone fort of the Civil War, built in 1862 on St. Cloud Hill by more than 2,700 conscripted Black laborers, hundreds of whom died.
• National Museum of African American Music — 17 mi
  A downtown Nashville museum, opened in 2021, tracing gospel, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and hip-hop through Black history from 1619 to 2016.
• Ryman Auditorium — 17 mi
  The 1892 brick tabernacle in downtown Nashville that was the Grand Ole Opry's home from 1943 to 1974, now a National Historic Landmark and working concert hall.

More markers nearby

• Union Headquarters — steps away
• Historic Franklin Masonic Hall — steps away
• The Franklin Riot of 1867 — steps away
• Liberty and Justice for All, Denied — 0.3 mi