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Note: From Matthews's 1882 History of Cass Co.:
W.W. Easton, eclectic, graduate of Bennett Medical College of Chicago, has been here since 1880. He is a son of Thomas Easton of Silver Creek.
Page 620
WILLIAM W. EASTON, M.D., a practicing physician and surgeon of Dowagiac, was
born four miles from this city, in Silver Creek Township, October 3, 1853.
His father was one of the early settlers of this section of Michigan, while
his paternal grandfather, Thomas Easton, was a native of Kentucky. His
great-grandfather, also named Thomas Easton, served with valor during the
entire period of the Revolutionary War, and shortly after the close of the
conflict came to Kentucky, having formerly been a resident of Virginia.
Grandfather Easton was a child of about ten years when he accompanied his
parents to Michigan, and with them settled in Berrien Township, Berrien
County, remaining there until his death, in 1867.
The father of our subject, Thomas Easton, was born near Bowling Green, Ky.,
on the 26th of November, 1826, and grew to manhood in Berrien County. In
1850 he chose as the site of his future home an unimproved tract of land in
Silver Creek Township, in the midst of the woods and far removed from other
pioneer settlers. In that township he married Miss Emily, daughter of John
K. Hinchman, a native of West Virginia, who came from Logan Court House to
Michigan about 1850. The young couple commenced housekeeping upon the eighty
acre farm which Mr. Easton had purchased, and by their industry and energy
they added to their property from time to time until their landed possessions
aggregated two hundred acres in Silver Creek township. Of this tract, Mr.
Easton improved one hundred and twenty acres through his own unaided efforts.
In 1888 he removed thence to Dowagiac, where he and his wife have since made
their home.
The parents of our subject have had a family of four children: Dr. W. W., of
this sketch; Mrs. Jennie M. Allen, who resides in Dowagiac; J. M., who is in
Chicago; and E. W., a resident of Dowagiac. Politically, the father was a
Democrat until the second term of President Lincoln, when his opinions
underwent a radical change, and he has since that time affiliated with the
Republicans. Our subject was reared in the parental home and enjoyed
exceptional educational advantages. After having attended a course of study
in the schools of Niles, he entered the University of Notre Dame, at South
Bend, Ind., and prosecuted his studies there with diligence and success.
His literary studies concluded, our subject entered the office of Clendenin
and Whitehall, at Niles, and commenced the study of medicine under their
preceptorship. Later he entered the Bennett Medical College at Chicago, and
was graduated from that institution on the 24th of June, 1877. He remained
in Chicago for two and one-half years after graduating, and then returned to
Dowagiac, where he has since conducted a general practice. In November,
1879, he married Miss Alma A. Johnson, who was born in Gottenburg, Sweden,
and came to this country in 1872 at the age of sixteen years. Her parents
had died in Sweden, and she accompanied an uncle and aunt to America,
settling with them in Chicago. The union of Dr. and Mrs. Easton was blessed
by the birth of two children, William T. and Mabel.
As every public-spirited citizen should do, the Doctor takes an active
interest in politics, and is an outspoken Republican, advocating the views of
that party with all the enthusiasm of his nature. In 1888 he was chosen
delegate to the State convention, and he has served in other positions of
honor and trust. Socially, he is identified with the Royal Arch Masons, the
Knights of the Maccabees, the Knights of Pythias and the Legion of Honor, and
is examining physician for the Order of Maccabees and Legion of Honor, also
for the Masonic Mutual of Grand Rapids. He is a successful general
practitioner of the eclectic system of medicine, and has an extensive
practice both in Dowagiac and throughout the surrounding country. His home
is one of the most beautiful in the city, being the residence formerly
occupied by the late P. D. Beckwith.
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