Eliot family (America)

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Bust of Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard University, at Eliot House on the campus Eliot House - IMG 1776.JPG
Bust of Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard University, at Eliot House on the campus

The Eliot family is a prominent American family hailing from Massachusetts. Long associated with Boston and Harvard University, the family are members of the Boston Brahmin class that historically formed the economic and political elite of New England. [1]

Contents

The family's membership includes several influential college presidents, writers, professors, bankers, and leaders of American professional associations. The writer T. S. Eliot, considered one of the 20th century's greatest poets, was a member of the family, as was Charles W. Eliot, the Harvard president credited with transforming the institution from a provincial college to a renowned research university.

Family history

Origins

The family's paternal ancestors emigrated from East Coker, Somerset, England. All family members descend from two men, both named Andrew Eliot, father and son, who emigrated from England to Beverly, Massachusetts between 1668 and 1670. The elder Andrew (1627 - March 1, 1704) served the town and colony in a number of positions and in 1692 was chosen as a juror in the Salem witch trials. His son Andrew (1651 - September 12, 1688) married Mercy Shattuck in 1680 in Beverly and died by drowning after falling off a ship.

The poet T. S. Eliot, who spent much of his life in England, titled the poem East Coker after the village of the family's origin. Upon his death, his ashes were interred in St Michael and All Angels' Church in East Coker, the birthplace of his Eliot ancestors.

Rise to prominence

Members of the Eliot family achieved success in a myriad of fields, including banking, politics, academia, and the arts. Samuel Eliot, born to modest circumstances, built one of the largest fortunes in Boston. [2] His granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Bray, married Johann Heinrich Gossler III, whose family owned Berenberg Bank; their descendants would be barons, senators, and consuls in Europe.

Charles W. Eliot's tenure as President of Harvard was monumental, leading Theodore Roosevelt to refer to him as "the only man in the world I envy." [3] Branches of the family migrated westward, and were instrumental in the founding of Washington University in St. Louis and Reed College.

Thomas Stearns Eliot, better known as T. S. Eliot, was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Throughout the 20th century, Martha May Eliot, Abigail Adams Eliot, and Clara Eliot achieved prominence in the fields of public health, early childhood education, and economics, respectively.

Other families with the surname Eliot

A number of Americans who share the last name Eliot descend from Reverend John Eliot of Roxbury, Massachusetts, a Puritan missionary known as the "Apostle to the Indians." These include the Reverend's son John Eliot, Jr., who served as the first pastor of the First Church of Christ in Newton, Massachusetts, Joseph Eliot, a pastor in Guilford, Connecticut, and Joseph's son Jared Eliot, a pastor and agricultural writer. As Henry James noted in his biography of Charles W. Eliot, no connection has been traced between the two families. [2]

Notable members

Arts, architecture, and literature

Business and banking

Education and academia

Politics and diplomacy

Religion

Science and medicine

Other notable figures

Family tree

Descendants of Andrew Eliot (1627 - 1704) and his son Andrew Eliot (1651 - 1688) include:

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References

Citations

  1. T.S. Eliot: the modernist in history, (New York, 1991) By Ronald Bush, page 72
  2. 1 2 James, Henry (1930). Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard University, 1869-1909, Volume 1. AMS Press. p. 5.
  3. "Harvard Square Library".
  4. "I14: Edward Cranch ELIOT (3 JUL 1858 - 2 APR 1928)". Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2007.