John B. Timberlake

John B. Timberlake was a purser in The United States Navy, and during his initial service in the military, fell into massive debt. When he was 39 years old, he married Peggy O'Neill (Margaret O'Neill Eaton) in 1816, when she was 17. They moved into a house provided by the father of the new Mrs. Timberlake across the street from the patriarch's small hotel and tavern in Washington, D.C, the Franklin House.

In 1818, the couple met the widowed senator, John Eaton, while he was staying at Franklin House. Timberlake and Eaton became fast friends and Timberlake even would confess to him his morbid financial woes. Eaton then took Timberlake's debts and introduced a petition to the senate that would relieve Timberlake of his debts collected in service for the Navy. Sadly, the request was denied and Timberlake continued to slip further down into the pit of debt.

Without any other option, he returned to the Navy, leaving his wife and their daughter, Mary Virginia Timberlake, behind in Washington. He came back home for short periodic visits, and in 1825 fathered another daughter with Peggy, Margret Rosa Timberlake.

He left for a four year voyage on the USS "Constitution" next. In 1828, while at sea in the Mediterranean, he committed suicide allegedly because of his wife's affair with Senator Eaton.

References

[http://www.foundersofamerica.org/making.html The Story of Peggy Eaton]