The Eliot family is a formerly 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 until the mid-20th century. The family's membership has included several influential college presidents, writers, professors, bankers, and leaders of American professional associations. The writer

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

, considered one of the 20th century's greatest poets, was a member of the family, as was

Charles W. Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfo ...

, the

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

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 Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly incl ...

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

, 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 myriad fields, including banking, politics, academia, and the arts.

Samuel Eliot Samuel Eliot (December 22, 1821 – September 14, 1898) was an American historian, educator, and statesman of Boston, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut. Biography Eliot was born in Boston, the son of William Havard Eliot (1796 - 1 ...

, born to modest circumstances, built one of the largest fortunes in Boston. His granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Bray, married Johann Heinrich Gossler III, whose family owned

Berenberg Bank Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, commonly known as Berenberg Bank and also branded as simply Berenberg, is a multinational full-service investment bank based in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded by the Flemish Berenberg family in 1590 () and ...

; their descendants would be barons, senators, and consuls in Europe.

's tenure as President of Harvard was monumental, leading Theodore Roosevelt to refer to him as "the only man in the world I envy." 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

, was awarded the

1948 Nobel Prize in Literature The 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded Thomas Stearns Eliot "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry." Laureate T.S. Eliot was a highly influential innovator of twentieth century poetry known for works such as ''Th ...

. Throughout the 20th century,

Martha May Eliot Martha May Eliot (April 7, 1891 – February 14, 1978), was a foremost pediatrician and specialist in public health, an assistant director for WHO, and an architect of New Deal and postwar programs for maternal and child health. Her first important ...

Abigail Adams Eliot Abigail Adams Eliot (October 9, 1892 – October 29, 1992) was an American educator and a leading authority on early childhood education. She was a founding member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, supervised the Fed ...

, and

Clara Eliot Clara Eliot (1896 – January 17, 1976) was an economist known for her work in consumer economics. She taught economics at Barnard College for many years. Biography Eliot was born in 1896, the granddaughter of Thomas Lamb Eliot and part of a prom ...

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 John Eliot's son John Eliot, Jr., who served as the first pastor of the First Church of Christ in Newton, Massachusetts,

Joseph Eliot Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, a pastor in Guilford, Connecticut, and Joseph's son

Jared Eliot Jared Eliot (November 7, 1685—April 22, 1763) was an American colonial minister, physician, Agronomy, agronomist and farmer. He was located in Guilford, Connecticut and wrote several articles on agriculture and animal husbandry as well as on the ...

, 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.

Notable members

Arts, architecture, and literature

* Charles Eliot, landscape architect * Charles Eliot Norton, scholar and man of letters *

Samuel Atkins Eliot, Jr. Samuel Atkins Eliot Jr. (March 14, 1893 – August 3, 1984) was an American author, born in Denver, Colo. and educated at Harvard. He was the son of Samuel Atkins Eliot, a prominent Unitarian clergyman, and the grandson of Charles W. Eliot, ...

, novelist, son of Samuel Atkins Eliot II *Theodore Lyman Eliot I, president of

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

and brother-in-law of Navy Commander

Albert Bigelow Albert Smith Bigelow (1 May 1906 – 6 October 1993) was a pacifist and former United States Navy Commander, who came to prominence in the 1950s as the skipper of the '' Golden Rule'', the first vessel to attempt disruption of a nuclear test ...

, the peace activist *Thomas Stearns Eliot (better known as

), Nobel laureate, poet, playwright, literary critic and publisher

Business and banking

Henry Ware Eliot Henry Ware Eliot (November 25, 1843 – January 7, 1919) was an American industrialist and philanthropist who lived in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the father of poet T. S. Eliot. Early life and education He was the son of Abigail Adams (Cr ...

, businessman and President of the

Academy of Science, St. Louis The Academy of Science, St. Louis (sometimes rendered as Academy of Science - St. Louis) is a non-profit organization in St. Louis, Missouri, dedicated to science literacy and education. Founded in 1856 by a group of scientists and businessmen, i ...

, Boston banker and merchant, President of

Massachusetts Bank BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. One of its predecessor banks started in 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 199 ...

, one of the richest men in Boston

Education and academia

* Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard University *

, economist at Barnard College * Ida M. Eliot, writer, educator, philosopher, and entomologist *John Eliot, co-founder of the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...

with Jeremy Belknap, the first such

historical society A historical society (sometimes also preservation society) is an organization dedicated to preserving, collecting, researching, and interpreting historical information or items. Originally, these societies were created as a way to help future gen ...

of its kind *

, historian, educator, trustee of

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the

* Samuel Eliot Morison, historian, Rear Admiral, United States Naval Reserve *Rev.

Thomas Lamb Eliot Thomas Lamb Eliot ( – ) was an Oregon pioneer, minister of one of the first churches on the west coast of the U.S., president of the Portland Children's Home, president of the Oregon Humane Society, a director of the Art Association, director o ...

, seminal in the founding of Reed College where he served as Regent and Trustee * William Greenleaf Eliot, co-founder and third Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis

Politics and diplomacy

* Andrew Eliot Rice, key force behind the creation of the Peace Corps and founder of the Society for International Development * Samuel Atkins Eliot, Senator, Mayor of Boston, Treasurer of Harvard University, served in the United States House of Representatives, Massachusetts House of Representatives, and Massachusetts Senate *

Thomas Dawes Eliot Thomas Dawes Eliot (March 20, 1808 – June 14, 1870), was a Senator and Congressman of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and a member of the prominent Eliot family. Life and career Eliot was born on March 20, 180 ...

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from Massachusetts, brother of William Greenleaf Eliot *

Thomas H. Eliot Thomas Hopkinson Eliot (June 14, 1907 – October 14, 1991) was an American lawyer, politician, and academic who served as chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis and as a congressman in the United States House of Representatives from ...

, Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (1962 – 1971),

(1941 – 1943) * Theodore Lyman Eliot II, diplomat,

United States Ambassador to Afghanistan The United States ambassador to Afghanistan is the official diplomatic representative of the United States to Afghanistan. In the wake of the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar. S ...

(1973 – 1978), Executive Secretary of the United States Department of State (1969 – 1973)

Religion

Andrew Eliot Andrew Eliot (1718–1778) was a prominent Boston Congregational minister of the New North Church (now St. Stephen's in the North End). He graduated from Harvard University in 1737 and received his AM from the same institution in 1740. During the ...

, prominent Boston Congregational Minister during the

Siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular town ...

Christopher Rhodes Eliot Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...

, Unitarian minister and author *Frederick May Eliot, President of the American Unitarian Association (1937 – 1958) * Samuel Atkins Eliot II, President of the American Unitarian Association (1900 – 1927)

Science and medicine

* Edward Samuel Ritchie, inventor and physicist, great-grandson of Andrew Eliot, the Boston minister *

Joan R. Rosenblatt Joan Raup Rosenblatt (April 15, 1926 – December 5, 2018) was an American statistician who became Director of the Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She was president of the Caucus ...

(née Joan Eliot Raup), statistician at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, daughter of Clara Eliot *

, a

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

and expert in public health; she served as director of the Children’s Bureau’s Division of Child and Maternal Health in the 1920s and 1930s, and is credited with drafting language on women and children in the

Social Security Act The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was pa ...

. Martha May Eliot lived a quiet but public life as a lesbian with her lifelong domestic partner,

Ethel Collins Dunham Ethel Collins Dunham (1883–1969), and her life partner, Martha May Eliot, devoted their lives to the care of children. Dunham focused on premature babies and newborns, becoming chief of child development at the Children's Bureau in 1935. She es ...

Other notable figures

*Edward Cranch Eliot President of the American Bar Association

Family tree

Descendants of Andrew Eliot (1627 – 1704) and his son Andrew Eliot (1651 – 1688) include: *Andrew Eliot (c. 1683 – 1749) **Samuel Eliot (1713 – 1745) m. Elizabeth Marshall (1714 – 1767) ***

(1739 – 1820) ****Francis Eliot (1776 – 1820) m. Joseph Bray *****Mary Elizabeth Bray (1810 – 1886) m. Johann Heinrich Gossler III (1805 – 1879) ******Baron

Johann von Berenberg-Gossler Baron Johann von Berenberg-Gossler (born 13 February 1839 in Hamburg, died 8 December 1913 in Hamburg; né Johann Gossler), known as "John," was a German banker from the city-state of Hamburg and owner and head of Berenberg Bank from 1879 until his ...

(1839 – 1913) m. Juliane Amalie Donner (1843 – 1916) *******

John von Berenberg-Gossler John von Berenberg-Gossler (22 October 1866 in Hamburg – 14 July 1943) was a Hamburg banker, politician and grand burgher. Career He was elected Senator in Hamburg in 1908 and served as German Ambassador to Italy 1920–21. He was a member of ...

(1866 – 1943) *******Frances von Berenberg-Gossler (1868 – 1951) m. Baron Hans von Berlepsch *******Baron

Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler (2 March 1874 – 29 September 1953) was a German banker, a member of the illustrious Berenberg-Gossler banking dynasty, and owner and head of Berenberg Bank from 1913. He withdrew from active management of th ...

(1874 – 1953) m. Nadia Clara von Oesterreich ********Clara Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler (1899 – ) m. Emmo von Specht ********Cornelius Johann Constantin von Berenberg-Gossler (1901 – 1942) ********Cornelia Nadia Julie von Berenberg-Gossler (1905 – ) ********Baron

Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler Baron Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler (1907–1997) was a German banker, a member of the illustrious Berenberg-Gossler banking dynasty, and owner and head of Berenberg Bank. He was the son of Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler and Nadia, née O ...

(1907 – 1997) *********Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler *********

********Cornelius Johann Heinrich Hellmuth von Berenberg-Gossler (1909 – ) m. Irmgard Else Meyer *********Cornelius Johann Heinrich Gerhard von Berenberg-Gossler *********Clarita Irmela Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler m. Count Hartwig (Rabe) Joachim Cornelius Alexander von Bernstorff ********Cornelius Paul Hellmuth von Berenberg-Gossler (1911 – ) m. Maria Luise Francke *********Johann David Rudolf Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler *********Alexander John von Berenberg-Gossler ********Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler *******Andreas von Berenberg-Gossler (1880 – 1938) m. Agnes Victorina von Francois ********Maria Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler (1908 – ) *******Herbert von Berenberg-Gossler (1883 – 1918) m. Anna Jutta Sara Elisabeth von Mallinckrodt****Catherine Eliot (1793 – 1879) m. Andrews Norton (1786 – 1853) ***** Charles Eliot Norton (1827 – 1908) **** William Havard Eliot (1796 – 1831) *****Samuel Eliot (Historian) (1821 – 1898) ******Emily Marshall (Eliot) Morison (1857 – 1925) m. John Holmes Morison (1856 – 1911) *******Samuel Eliot Morison (1887 – 1976) m. Elizabeth S. Greene ********

Emily Morison Beck Emily Morison Beck (October 15, 1915March 28, 2004) was an editor known for editing ''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations''. Biography Emily Marshall Morison was born on October 15, 1915, in Boston, Massachusetts to the Harvard historian Samuel E ...

(1915 – 2004) m. Brooks Beck **** Samuel Atkins Eliot (1798 – 1862) ***** Charles William Eliot (1834 – 1926) m. Ellen Derby Peabody (1836 – 1869) ****** Charles Eliot (1859 – 1897) ******Samuel A. Eliot II (1862 – 1950) m. Frances Stone Hopkinson *******Samuel Atkins Eliot Jr. (1893 – 1984) *******Rosamond (Eliot) Rice (1895 – 1970) m. William Gorham Rice, Jr. (1891 – 1964) ******** Andrew Eliot Rice (1922 – 2010) *******Theodore Lyman Eliot I (1903 – 1996) m. Martha Bigelow ******** Theodore Lyman Eliot Jr. (1928 – 2019) *******Thomas Hopkinson Eliot (1907 – 1991) m. Lois Jameson **

(1718 – 1778) ***Samuel Eliot (1748 – 1784) m. Elizabeth Greenleaf (1750 – 1841) ****Elizabeth Eliot (1774 – 1847) m. John Ritchie (1768 – 1838) ***** Edward Samuel Ritchie (1814 – 1895) ****William Greenleaf Eliot (1781 – 1853) m. Margaret Greenleaf (Dawes) (1789 – c. 1875) *****Thomas Dawes Eliot (1808 – 1870) ****** Ida M. Eliot (1839 – 1923) ***** William Greenleaf Eliot (1811 – 1887) m. Abigail Adams (Cranch) Eliot (1817 – 1908) ******Mary Rhodes Eliot (1838 – 1855) namesake of Mary Institute ******

(1841 – 1936) *******William Greenleaf Eliot Jr (1866 – 1956) ********

(1896 – 1976) m. Robert Bruce Raup (1888 – 1976) ********* Joan Raup Rosenblatt (1926 – 2018) ******

(1843 – 1919) m. Charlotte Champe Stearns (1843 – 1929) *******

Thomas Stearns Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

(1888 – 1965) better known as T.S. Eliot ******Christopher Rhodes Eliot (1856 – 1945) m. Mary Jackson May *******Frederick May Eliot (1889 – 1958) *******Dr.

(1891 – 1978) domestic partner

(1883 – 1969) *******

******Edward Cranch Eliot (1858 – 1928)

References

*''The Family of William Greenleaf Eliot and Abby Adams Eliot of St. Louis, Missouri: 1811-1931'' by Henry Ware Eliot, Jr. (c. 1931) *''The Family of William Greenleaf Eliot and Abby Adams Eliot, as Chronicled by their Descendants, to 1988'' by Henry Eliot Scott (1988) * ''Asticou Foreside'', genealogy written by Charles W. Eliot II, 1981
The Genealogy of the Somerset branch of the American Eliot Family
*Cynthia Grant Tucker, ''No Silent Witness: The Eliot Parsonage Women and their Unitarian World'', Oxford University Press, 2010, 344 pp. *''A Sketch of the Eliot Family'' by Walter Graeme Eliot, Press of Livingston Middleditch, New York, 188
Online at the Library of Congress

Citations

{{T. S. Eliot, state=collapsed American families of English ancestry