John Eliot, Apostle of the Indians

John Eliot’s story begins with Governor John Winthrop’s first night on board the Arabella anchored off

Plum Cove in the summer of 1630 when he encountered several natives who came to greet the new arrivals from England. Before leaving England, he had pledged the governor’s oath of office “to draw… the natives of this country… to the knowledge of the true God.” At this destination, there were already two missionaries working; Samuel Skelton and Francis Higginson who had promised to promote…”conversion of the savage.” Had already begun their work. John Endecott was also there “to bring the Indians to the knowledge of the Gospels.” This gives some evidence that they were trying to follow the request of the government of England in their settlement to promote conversion to Christianity and as many historians have argued, assimilation of the Native Americans into the English style of life. The question that involves discussion, was missionary idealism the primary purpose that led Winthrop and others to settle in New England in the 1620s and 1630s? Or were there other purposes under the guise of missionary work? Were the English there to take the land from the Native Americans or truly trying to convert the natives to Christianity? There is evidence that Winthrop places evangelism at the top of several of his lists that he prepared for emigration in 1629 which is compelling evidence in itself. Also evidence is presented in John Cotton’s farewell speech to the Winthrop fleet, God’s Promise to His Plantations, in that the colonists should “win…[the Indians] to the love of Christ” and remember that God may have “served up this whole plantation for such an end.” (1)

Perhaps these reflections were indeed “a public motivation with a long history that stretched back to the Elizabethan period and appeared in many royal and proprietary charters to gubernatorial commissions during the Colonial period. There may have also been a secondary effect and that was for the Puritans to escape the divine wrath on a wayward England and to establish biblical ordinances without Anglican interference and perhaps inflict some of their personal ideas into religion.

This indirectly may support the argument that some historians use that the redemption of the Indians would advance the glory of Protestant England at the expense of Catholic France and Spain. Winthrop would write in 1629 that a mission would remove the “scandal to our religion that we show not as much zeal in seeking the conversion of the heathens as the Papists do” and also to “raise a bulwark against the kingdom of the Antichrist which the Jesuits labor to rear up in all parts of the world.” Indirectly Winthrop felt this would help in England showing that the planters had not abandoned the Puritan cause at home in the New America. John Eliot steps into this realm of political and policy making with strong intentions of converting the natives and teaching literacy. There was also somewhat of a goal of assimilation in that he expected the natives would assume the English ways such as clothing, farming, and settling in English style houses. What John Eliot would do beyond mere conversion and missionary work would indirectly be his greatest work. He would end up writing many books, tracts, and the Bible into the native language which would place him as an emerging linguist when the study would be somewhat new and undeveloped at this time in history. John Eliot would spend fifty eight years in missionary work along with his church in Roxbury traveling back and forth with his dinner in his pocket and often the ground to sleep upon. He lived longer than most and his actual mission would be taken to heart, choosing his successor in his extreme old age. He would live to be eighty-six years of age which for the times was quite a success. He was born in 1604 and would sail at the age of twenty-seven on the ship Lyon to Boston, arriving in1631, John would live for fifty more years in New England and never return to England. However most of his brothers and sisters would join John in New England and settle in varied towns around the Roxbury area. Due to being so involved in his mission, he send letters to England for actual fund raising and raise the funds without going back which indicates an ability to write and get what he wants without making the long journey. It could also be looked at as he was so persistent that reluctantly the money and supplies would come for his praying town Indians.

He was the son of Bennett Eliot holder of extensive lands who called himself a yeoman even though his holdings were above that rank and evidently had money to support his family after his death in John’s teens. The home was located in Widdeford, England on the river Lea and twenty-five miles from London. John would attend school with an education that consisted of the Bible, prayer, and orthodox education. His first book was the ABC, which contained the alphabet, numbers to three hundred, the Lord’s Prayer, and elementary religious education. His father would have been the absolute authority in the house and had strict religious convictions which were taught and followed by all members of the family. Strict work importance was also taught and followed by all of the children. By 1618 he was enrolled in Jesus College, Cambridge University at the age of fourteen. By attending Cambridge instead of Oxford, he placed himself directly in touch with the religious influences that would bring him to New England and influence his ministry. It was during this time that both parents would die in two years or less leaving John at the mercy of his brother-in-law who continued to pay for John to finish school. He would be ordained as a preacher and a man of religion and would gain some experience in the immediate area of England where he had attended school. As a result of political and religious upheaval in England, John would head to Boston where he would accept a post. However he did not last long, was dismissed and moved to Roxbury where he would marry. His wife had extensive knowledge of medicine and herbs and would later manage their extensive farm holdings when John was off on his missionary travels. It was during the beginning of this time that John Eliot was called to sit at Anne Hutchinson’s trial. Anne Hutchinson had grown up with an extensive knowledge of the Bible and had followed John Cotton to the Boston area to continue under his ministry. She was very knowledgeable about the Bible, was able to argue and quite sure in her beliefs. After her arrival in Boston she had worked as a nurse and was ready to go and visit anyone. As a result, she would talk with many women and that was fine until she began to divert from the accepted ways and begin to add her interpretation. The trial would go from fall to spring with a rest in the winter. John Eliot basically supported doctrine and as a result Hutchinson was sent away, a virtual death sentence. As a result of his stand in this trial, he had great standing as a young man among the pulpit men with truth triumphing over error. It is during this time that John Eliot realizes the barrier to converting the Indians is the Algonquion Language and that the sermons should be preached in their native language in order to attract their interest and attention. In part, John had learned some of the language in his simple dealings with natives who were in the area. However he realized that he would need more extensive training and found a young Indian by the name of Cockenoe who had been captured during the Pequot War and was employed as a servant. He had learned to speak English fluently but could not write. John Eliot employed him as an interpreter. Cockenoe had no vocabulary for presentation and spiritual truth in religion so analogies in Indian Experience were used to clarify meanings that could be used in preaching his sermons and writing his tracts.

As a result, Eliot and three other ministers begin to preach in Algonquion and attract some attention from the Indians. As Eliot studies the nature of the Indian people he decides that cohabitation with the English would not work even if they became Christian but separate towns governed by the natives would work. Waban his first convert asks John Eliot for more land as the idea of a community begins to take shape. Six thousand acres in a corner of Natick which belongs to an Indian family by the name of Speene who agrees to relinquish his rights except for the weir in the river which is used for trapping fish is accepted for the first praying town. Eliot envisions English homes, regular fences, and pens. By 1650 the town is laid out by Eliot acting as the architect and also the foreman of the actual building. It does take time to complete the town because of accidents and illness but slowly fences, straight roads, and homes appear. John Eliot chafes at these inconveniences but continues even though not all homes are built in the English style; some wigwams are erected due to the efficiency and the warmth of the native wigwam. A dwelling house, meeting house, and a footbridge connecting the two parts of the town divided by a river is also built. However, How to govern was a question that was most difficult to answer and the Ten Commandments were utilized in the making of laws although interpretation was difficult between Eliot’s meaning and the meaning that the natives had. For example a fine was imposed on an Indian who split a piece of wood to mend his fire in the winter. If a woman had to prepare part of a meal on Sunday was she breaking the law? These types of questions caused problems as it was difficult to change their lives. If it’s winter one needs to add wood to the fire. Another example would be cracking body lice with one’s teeth. As a result of English dress but not following English hygiene many people had acquired lice. What to do—these were not easy questions and often caused the most difficulty in administering the town and its law. A school was established and children were taught to read and write their own language and to speak and understand English. They were also taught the catechism and given answers to their questions which appeared to be taught in a rote manner but worked. On preaching days, the people were expected to wear English clothes. Men were expected to cut their hair and women to keep theirs long and maintained. One of the problems with the clothing was that it simply did not stand up to wear such as leather and when it wore out, often status was lost as many could not always replace their clothing. As a result it appears that many of the problems were social problems that indirectly had little to do with actual law but John Eliot and his ministers expected these laws to be followed.

Of course John at this time was busily obtaining money from England to buy tools, clothing, books, and other goods to replace these items. It took several letters to get the money and/or the goods delivered thus often leaving Eliot frustrated and unable to follow through with his plans in a timely manner. John was also running his church in Roxbury making it a very tiresome job but Eliot continued on while also translating tracts, catechisms, and the Bible into the native language.

John made Natick his training center for the thirteen other praying towns. New ministers and instructors would be taught at Natick before being sent out to the other towns so that it would be as consistent as possible and with continuity for the Puritan visitors. However the natives were still being hammered by epidemics and accidents which could also effectively be used as a tool for religious leaders and to show the natives that they were not trying hard or that they had been involved in sinning which caused these problems. They were often required to acknowledge their sins verbally and recant. Some of the sins were related to culture but Eliot was trying hard to have these natives live as Englishmen. A good sign to him was when the house had the proper dividers of rooms. The men were taught to farm which had been the female’s job and the women to weave. No longer could they hunt at will and take care of their families as they once had. By 1652 the Puritans had some grudging respect for what Eliot had done after attending several services, seeing the people attired in English clothing, attending schools, and for the most part living in what they considered appropriate homes. They also felt Jehovah was approving. The orchards were now planted, land fenced, crops planted, and completion of the town was becoming a reality. By 1651 John Eliot felt that Natick was ready for a formal government and Natick was recognized as a formal government by appointing Waban and Qahallavan along with tithing men to assume their responsibilities as leaders of Natick. A political covenant was written endorsing themes of law, wisdom, and kingdom. It would be only through Puritan order that natives could gain stability which had eluded them since before the arrival of the colonists. As a result, Natick had gained legal protection of their lands from English acquisition and a political structure that could safeguard procedures which in fact did work for some time. John Eliot at this time had begun publishing his books in the native language with a Bible published at Cambridge in 1663 and a children’s catechism which was published in 1654 along with many other items. John Eliot would be recognized by future linguists as a truly remarkable man but his intent at this time was to reach the Native Americans by use of their own language. Eliot would begin to become discouraged as he realized the Native Americans could not truly become Englishmen. He could see this in evidence of not all people building English style homes or interpreting the Bible in different manner and yet not seeing their position as wrong or incorrect. As a result of King Philip’s War all but four of the praying towns would disappear. Natick in the end would be the only town left and is still today connected with its original name, Natick. John Eliot would continue to preach up into his early eighties and was still respected by the natives even after King Philip’s War. He would still continue to preach until in his late age he would turn the ministry over to another person to minister. In looking at John Eliot he truly believed in what he was doing but being a man of his time, he felt that he had not succeeded in conversion. Although perhaps glamorized John Eliot truly believed in what he was doing and practiced what he preached. He was known for simplicity in dress, hair, and adhering to the tenets of his faith. Although disappointed in the end of the results of his his praying towns due to King Philip’s War and also to demise of the people due to illness and perhaps some disinterest, he was honest in his dealings and attempted to understand the natives in many ways such as speaking out against Native slavery which was certainly a bold step and an attempt to help the people. He spent much time raising money for the natives for supplies, and kept extensive records of what transpired in his praying towns. John Eliot can be given credit for giving us a viewpoint of that time and piece of history. In the end, he realized that the natives could not be assimilated into true English and give up their ways of life and beliefs.