John Eliot was a Puritan missionary in the Massachusetts Bay area, and for his work with Algonquian tribes he was dubbed “Apostle to the Indians.” In 1631 Eliot sailed to the New World on board the Lyon, following other first-generation ministers to New England. During his long career in the colony, from 1631 until his death in 1690, Eliot distinguished himself as a preacher, writer and translator.

Eliot was born in Hertfordshire, England, and was baptised at St. John the Baptist Church in Widford, around twenty miles from London. His father Bennett Eliot was a landowner, and was wealthy enough to send his son John to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied under the charge of Reverend Thomas Hooker. When El

This article in full comprises 753 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 16 January 2004

Citation: Napier Gray, Kathryn. "John Eliot". The Literary Encyclopedia. 16 January 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1409, accessed 9 February 2010.]