Timothy Dwight Eaton was the son of Amos Eaton, a famous botanist and professor who opened the Rensselaer Troy School in 1824 along with Stephen Van Rensselaer, which GWS attended. Timothy Eaton was named after the Yale luminary "Timothy Dwight;" Amos was in the habit of naming all his children after people he admired. At the Rensselaer School, Timothy, an adjunct, was preparing to teach Botany when he died of consumption in 1828. GWS mentions how Timothy is sick in his letter 18280801GWS_WHS1: Professor Eaton is senior, Lewis C Beck , Professor of Botany and T D Eaton (Son of the P) is the adjunct now very unwell with the consumption, are the officers."