John Eliot, Apostle of the Indians

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.

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