Researching John Easton

Ultimately serving more than four decades in the public service of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Easton began as an Attorney General for the island towns of Portsmouth and Newport, soon fulfilling the same role for the entire colony. To this line of service he added positions as Commissioner, Deputy, and Assistant, for many years serving simultaneously in multiple roles. In 1674 he was elected to the office of deputy governor, serving for two years, with a part of his tenure being during King Philip's War, about which he published a written treatise. Following the overthrow of the Edmund Andros governorship under the Dominion of New England, Easton was elected as governor of the colony for five consecutive years. While in office his biggest concerns were funding the ongoing war that England was fighting with France, and dealing with the disruptive French privateers. Other issues during his tenure included a smallpox epidemic in Newport, charter issues having to do with Rhode Island's militia serving in other colonies, and the ongoing border line disputes with the neighboring colonies.

The son of the Quaker governor, Nicholas Easton, the younger Easton was also a lifelong Quaker, and following his death in 1705 was buried in the Coddington Cemetery in Newport where his father and several other Quaker governors are also interred.

Easton graduated from Trenton Central High School and was a member of Princeton's Class of 1955. He also played varsity basketball for the Tigers and captained their baseball team.

Easton made his MLB debut only days after signing his first pro contract, pinch running for veteran catcher Andy Seminick in the second inning of the first game of a doubleheader, against the Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley Field. Easton was not able to advance from second base when the Phils' rally was snuffed out by an inning-ending double play. However, Marv Blaylock, who had replaced Easton in the lineup, would score the only run of the game, thirteen innings later, as the Phillies won, 1–0.

Easton did not play in 1956 and much of 1957, serving in the United States Navy, but had an all-star year in for the Class A Williamsport Grays of the Eastern League, winning the batting title (.321), with 152 hits, including 35 doubles, ten triples, and 13 home runs. That earned him a second stint with the Phillies, to start the 1959 campaign, but in three pinch hitting appearances, Easton struck out all three times. He was sent back to the minor leagues, and retired after the 1959 season.

Easton graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Princeton and became a manager for Public Service Electric & Gas Company (P S E & G) (a public utility), retiring in 1995. A resident of Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, he died at age 68 after battling melanoma on July 28, 2001.