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Tidbits of Troy History by Rebecca Rector Lost & Found: Amos Eaton, Founder of RPI When the newly formed Friends of Oakwood Cemetery were clearing brush in November, 1998, they re-discovered and cleaned up the overgrown grave of Amos Eaton, founder of RPI. Although buried there since the 1840’s, he had become forgotten, and lost to history. Amos Eaton was born in 1776 in Columbia County. He developed an early interest in land surveying, geology, and law. He completed geological surveys for Albany and Rensselaer County, and also for the Erie Canal. In 1819 he moved to Troy and began lecturing at the Troy Lyceum, where he became acquainted with Stephen Van Rensselaer. They developed a partnership, which resulted in the founding of the Rensselaer School in 1825. Reverend Samuel Blatchford of the Presbyterian Church of Lansingburgh was appointed President, and Amos Eaton was professor of chemistry and lecturer in geology and surveying. He was also appointed head of the faculty. This institution later became the Rensselaer Institute, and then Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The type of education advocated by Eaton was radically different from the prevailing methods of his day. He felt strongly that students learn best by doing, and also by teaching the subject. So, instead of listening to descriptions of experiments, he had students performing the experiments, and also lecturing to the class about them. He took classes on field trips, and began an annual field trip along the Erie Canal in 1826. He also believed in higher education for women. Among his women students were Emma Willard, her sister Alma Hart Lincoln, and Mary Lyon, founder of Mount Holyoke College. The women attended lectures, then went to a separate room to perform experiments. Amos Eaton was married 4 times, and had 9 children. His second wife was Sally Cady, who was the aunt of Elizabeth Cady Stanton of the women’s suffrage movement. He died May 10, 1842 at the age of 65, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery. The Friends of Oakwood Cemetery are now working with RPI to further clean up Amos Eaton’s gravesite. (Information for this article was taken from: “Amos Eaton and The Magnificent Experiment”, Rensselaer Alumni Magazine, December 1998; and the Friends of Oakwood Cemetery. The Friends of Oakwood can be contacted at 237-2188) In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation 
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