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John Eliot (missionary)
Encyclopedia
John Eliot was a Puritan
missionary
to the American Indian
s. His efforts earned him the designation “the Indian apostle.”
, Hertfordshire
, England
and lived at Nazeing
as a boy.
He attended Jesus College, Cambridge
. After college, he became assistant to Thomas Hooker
at a private school at Little Baddow, Essex. After Hooker was forced to flee to Holland, Eliot emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, arriving on November 3, 1631, on the ship Lyon. There, he became minister and "teaching elder" at the First Church in Roxbury
. In that town he founded the Roxbury Latin School
in 1645. From 1649 to 1674, he was assisted in the Roxbury ministry by Samuel Danforth
.
of Dorchester
, are credited with being the editors of the Bay Psalm Book
, which was the first book published in the British North American colonies. He participated in the examination, excommunication and exile of Anne Hutchinson
, whose opinions he deplored. He was instrumental in the conversion of Massachusett
Indians. To help achieve this, Eliot translated the Bible
into the Native language and published it in 1663. In 1666, his grammar of Massachusett, called "The Indian Grammar Begun", was published as well. As a cross-cultural missionary Eliot was best known for putting Native Americans in planned towns in hopes of encouraging them to recreate a Christian society. At one point in time, there were 14 of these towns of so-called "Praying Indian
s", the best documented being at Natick, Massachusetts
. These towns suffered disruption during King Philip's War
(1675) and for the most part lost their special status as Indian self-governing communities in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. The praying Indian towns included: Littleton
(Nashoba), Lowell
(Wamesit, initially incorporated as part of Chelmsford
), Grafton
(Hassanamessit), Marlborough
(Okommakamesit), a portion of Hopkinton
that is now in the Town of Ashland (Makunkokoag), Canton
(Punkapoag), Mendon-Uxbridge
(Wacentug), and Natick
. Eliot was a witness to the signing of the deed for Mendon
with Nipmuck Indians for "Squinshepauk Plantation" in 1662.
Eliot was also the author of The Christian Commonwealth: or, The Civil Policy Of The Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ, considered the first book on politics written by an American and also the first book to be banned by an American government. Written in the late 1640s, and published in England in 1659, it proposed a new model of civil government based on the system Eliot instituted among the converted Indians, which was based in turn on Exodus 18, the government instituted among the Israelites by Moses
in the wilderness. Eliot asserted that "Christ is the only right Heir of the Crown of England," and called for the institution of an elected theocracy
in England and throughout the world. The accession to the throne of Charles II of England
made the book an embarrassment to the Massachusetts
colony, and in 1661 the General Court
banned the book and ordered all copies destroyed. Eliot was forced to issue a public retraction and apology.
, while his son, Joseph Eliot, was a pastor in Guilford, Connecticut
, and was himself father of Jared Eliot
, a noted agriculture writer and pastor.
Eliot is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA)
on May 21.
The Harmony of the Gospels in the holy History of the Humiliation and Sufferings of Jesus Christ, from his Incarnation to his Death and Burial.
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to the American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s. His efforts earned him the designation “the Indian apostle.”
English education and Massachusetts ministry
John Eliot was born in WidfordWidford, Hertfordshire
Widford is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire in England. After the Second World War it was the home of Arthur Ernest Percival.The "Apostle to the Indians," John Eliot was born in Widford....
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and lived at Nazeing
Nazeing
Nazeing is a parish of 3,952 lying about four miles north of Waltham Abbey, England and bounded on the west by the River Lea. Most of it is still rural, but during the past 40 years there has been a considerable development of market gardening, light industry, holiday fishing, and boating...
as a boy.
He attended Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
. After college, he became assistant to Thomas Hooker
Thomas Hooker
Thomas Hooker was a prominent Puritan colonial leader, who founded the Colony of Connecticut after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts...
at a private school at Little Baddow, Essex. After Hooker was forced to flee to Holland, Eliot emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, arriving on November 3, 1631, on the ship Lyon. There, he became minister and "teaching elder" at the First Church in Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
. In that town he founded the Roxbury Latin School
Roxbury Latin School
The Roxbury Latin School is the oldest school in continuous operation in North America. The school was founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. Since its founding in 1645, it has educated boys on a continuous basis.Located...
in 1645. From 1649 to 1674, he was assisted in the Roxbury ministry by Samuel Danforth
Samuel Danforth
Samuel Danforth was a Puritan minister, preacher, poet, and astronomer, and an associate of the Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury, Massachusetts, known as the “Apostle to the Indians.”...
.
Highlights of his career
John Eliot and fellow ministers Thomas Weld (also of Roxbury) and Richard MatherRichard Mather
Richard Mather , was a Puritan clergyman in colonial Boston, Massachusetts. He was father to Increase Mather and grandfather to Cotton Mather, both celebrated Boston divines.-Biography:...
of Dorchester
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
, are credited with being the editors of the Bay Psalm Book
Bay Psalm Book
The Bay Psalm Book was the first book, that is still in existence, printed in British North America.The book is a Psalter, first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English...
, which was the first book published in the British North American colonies. He participated in the examination, excommunication and exile of Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...
, whose opinions he deplored. He was instrumental in the conversion of Massachusett
Massachusett
The Massachusett are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in areas surrounding Massachusetts Bay in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in particular present-day Greater Boston; they spoke the Massachusett language...
Indians. To help achieve this, Eliot translated the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
into the Native language and published it in 1663. In 1666, his grammar of Massachusett, called "The Indian Grammar Begun", was published as well. As a cross-cultural missionary Eliot was best known for putting Native Americans in planned towns in hopes of encouraging them to recreate a Christian society. At one point in time, there were 14 of these towns of so-called "Praying Indian
Praying Indian
Praying Indian is a 17th century term referring to Native Americans of New England who converted to Christianity. While many groups are referred to by this term, it is more commonly used for tribes that were organized into villages, known as praying towns by Puritan leader John Eliot.In 1646, the...
s", the best documented being at Natick, Massachusetts
Natick, Massachusetts
Natick is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 33,006 at the 2010 census. Only west from Boston, Natick is considered part of the Greater Boston area...
. These towns suffered disruption during King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
(1675) and for the most part lost their special status as Indian self-governing communities in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. The praying Indian towns included: Littleton
Littleton, Massachusetts
Littleton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,924 at the 2010 census....
(Nashoba), Lowell
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
(Wamesit, initially incorporated as part of Chelmsford
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Chelmsford is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 33,802. The Census Bureau's 2008 population estimate for the town was 34,409, ranking it 14th in population among the 54 municipalities in...
), Grafton
Grafton, Massachusetts
Grafton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,765 at the 2010 census. Grafton is the home of a Nipmuc village known as Hassanamisco Reservation, the Willard House and Clock Museum, and the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine...
(Hassanamessit), Marlborough
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...
(Okommakamesit), a portion of Hopkinton
Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just under 30 miles west and south of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day in April, and as the home of computer storage firm EMC Corporation.For geographic and demographic...
that is now in the Town of Ashland (Makunkokoag), Canton
Canton, Massachusetts
Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,561 at the 2010 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Boston.- History :...
(Punkapoag), Mendon-Uxbridge
Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It was first settled in 1662, incorporated in 1727 at Suffolk County, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. Uxbridge is south-southeast of Worcester, north-northwest of Providence, and southwest of Boston. It is part of...
(Wacentug), and Natick
Natick, Massachusetts
Natick is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 33,006 at the 2010 census. Only west from Boston, Natick is considered part of the Greater Boston area...
. Eliot was a witness to the signing of the deed for Mendon
Mendon, Massachusetts
Mendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,839 at the 2010 census.Mendon is very historic and is now part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, the oldest industrialized region in the United States.- Early history :The Nipmuc people...
with Nipmuck Indians for "Squinshepauk Plantation" in 1662.
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
in the wilderness. Eliot asserted that "Christ is the only right Heir of the Crown of England," and called for the institution of an elected theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
in England and throughout the world. The accession to the throne of Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
made the book an embarrassment to the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
colony, and in 1661 the General Court
General Court
The General Court is the shorthand name for the:* General Court * New Hampshire General Court* Massachusetts General CourtThis term also formally applied to the:* Vermont General Assembly, formerly the Vermont General Court...
banned the book and ordered all copies destroyed. Eliot was forced to issue a public retraction and apology.
Family
John Eliot's wife was the former Hanna Mumford. They had six children, five girls and one boy, but only one of the children lived, the boy. Their son, John Eliot, Jr., was the first pastor of First Church in NewtonNewton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, while his son, Joseph Eliot, was a pastor in Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
, and was himself father of Jared Eliot
Jared Eliot
Jared Eliot was a farmer, minister and physician in Guilford, Connecticut who wrote several articles on agriculture and animal husbandry. Eliot was the eldest son of Joseph Eliot and his second wife, Mary Wyllys. The Eliots raised their family in Guilford , which was settled by Europeans in 1639...
, a noted agriculture writer and pastor.
Eliot School
In 1689 John Eliot donated 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) of land in Jamaica Plain to support the Eliot School, founded in 1676. Under the donation, the school was required to accept both Negros and Indians without prejudice, a great exception for the time. The school survives near its original location to this day as The Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts.Death
He died in 1690, aged 85, his last words being "welcome joy!" A monument to John Eliot is on the grounds of the Bacon Free Library in Natick.Eliot is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA)
Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church in the United States of America)
The veneration of saints in the Episcopal Church is a continuation of an ancient tradition from the early Church which honors important people of the Christian faith. The usage of the term "saint" is similar to Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Those in the Anglo-Catholic tradition may...
on May 21.
Works
- The Christian Commonwealth: or, The Civil Policy Of The Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ
- Brief Narrative of the Progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England, in the Year 1670.
The Harmony of the Gospels in the holy History of the Humiliation and Sufferings of Jesus Christ, from his Incarnation to his Death and Burial.
See also
- John Eliot Square DistrictJohn Eliot Square DistrictJohn Eliot Square District is a historic district located in the northern Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is formed by the intersection of Dudley, Bartlett, Centre, Roxbury and Highland Streets. Named after local missionary to the Indians, John Eliot, the square was the site of...
- Roxbury, Boston
- Roxbury Latin SchoolRoxbury Latin SchoolThe Roxbury Latin School is the oldest school in continuous operation in North America. The school was founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. Since its founding in 1645, it has educated boys on a continuous basis.Located...
- Praying IndianPraying IndianPraying Indian is a 17th century term referring to Native Americans of New England who converted to Christianity. While many groups are referred to by this term, it is more commonly used for tribes that were organized into villages, known as praying towns by Puritan leader John Eliot.In 1646, the...