Educator and clergyman; born in
Guilford, Conn., Nov. 7, 1685; son of Joseph and grandson of
John Eliot; graduated at Yale College in 1706, and from 1709 until his death he was minister of the first church at
Killingworth, Conn. He was a most practical and useful man, and did much for the advancement of agriculture and manufactures in
New England.
He strongly urged in essays the introduction into the colonies of a better breed of sheep.
In 1747 he wrote: “A better breed of sheep is what we want.
The
English breed of Cotswold sheep cannot be obtained, or at least not without great difficulty; for wool and live sheep are contraband goods, which all strangers are prohibited from carrying out on pain of having the right hand cut off.”
In 1761 the London Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce honored him with its medal, for producing malleable iron from American black sand, and he was made a member of the Royal Society of
London.
He was the first to introduce the white mulberry into
Connecticut, and with it silk-worms, and published a treatise on silk-culture.
Mr. Eliot was also an able physician, and was particularly successful in the treatment of insanity, and chronic complaints.
He died in
Killingworth, Conn., April 22, 1763.
