Eliot, John
(1604–21 May 1690)
- Mary Rhinelander McCarl
Extract
Eliot, John (1604–21 May 1690), Puritan clergyman and missionary to the Indians, was the son of Bennett Eliot, a prosperous yeoman, and Lettice Aggar. He was baptized at Widford, Hertfordshire, England, on 5 August 1604, but the main residence of his father was at Nazeing, Essex. Eliot’s father owned considerable property, mostly in Essex. Eliot was scholarly—he particularly enjoyed the classics and Hebrew. He matriculated at Jesus College, Cambridge University, in 1619 and received the degree of B.A. in 1622. He was ordained in the Church of England but very soon began to be uncomfortable with its rules. Rather than look for a parish, after his graduation he taught at the grammar school at Little Baddow in Essex, where ...
