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.[1]
The family's membership has included 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 myriad 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.
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 John Eliot'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]
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)
