Overview
Andrew Eliot (1718-1778) was a respected minister of Boston's New North Church, and member of the Harvard Corporation. He graduated from Harvard with an AB in 1737 and received an AM in 1740. This collection of Eliot's papers consists of two interleaved almanacs from 1734 and 1739, correspondence, an annotated Harvard Triennial Catalogue, and an essay that highlights aspects of Eliot's life from his days as a Harvard undergraduate through his final years as a Boston minister during the Revolutionary War. The papers offer information about the daily life of a Harvard student, and the evolution of Eliot's religious beliefs from an early undated personal essay to his later viewpoints on the role of Providence in the Revolutionary War. In his correspondence, Eliot conveyed information about Harvard, as well as news about the Revolutionary War.
Dates
- Creation: 1734-1777
Researcher Access
The Papers of Andrew Eliot are open for research.
Copying Restriction
Copying of fragile materials may be limited.
Extent
.06 cubic feet (3 volumes and 4 folders)The Papers of Andrew Eliot highlight aspects of Eliot's life from his days as a Harvard undergraduate through his final years as a Boston minister during the Revolutionary War. The papers offer information about the daily life of a Harvard student, and the evolution of Eliot's religious beliefs from an early undated personal essay to his viewpoints on the role of Providence in the Revolutionary War.
The records are arranged in four series: diaries, correspondence, Triennial Catalogue, and an undated essay. The diaries, written in 1734 and 1739 while Eliot was a student at Harvard, hold short, sporadic entries about Eliot's daily activities. The undated essay explores Eliot's personal religious beliefs, and also appears to have been written while Eliot was a student. The Harvard Triennial Catalogue includes occasional biographical annotations by Eliot. The three pieces of correspondence written by Eliot between 1769 and 1777 offer information about his involvement with Harvard and the Revolutionary War. In the two later letters, written in 1774 and 1777, Eliot provides both news and personal perspectives on the War.
Biographical Note
Andrew Eliot was born in Boston on December 21, 1718. He received from Harvard an AB in 1737 and an AM in 1740. He was ordained the pastor of the New North Church of Boston on April 14, 1742, and began a lifelong career as a respected and well-known minister. In 1758 he was appointed the clerk of Harvard’s Board of Overseers, and was elected to the Corporation in 1765. Eliot weathered the Revolutionary War in Boston, and at the request of General Washington made the official thanksgiving sermon on March 28, 1776. He died on September 13, 1778. The first of his eleven children shared his name, and graduated from Harvard in the Class of 1762.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into four series:
- Diaries, 1734-1739
- Correspondence, 1769-1777
- Triennial Catalogue, 1776
- Essay, undated
Acquisition information
Specific acquisition information is noted at the series or item level. The provenance of the diaries is unknown.
Online access
All of the papers have been digitized and are available online. Links accompany detailed descriptions.
References
- Shipton, Clifford K. Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts, Volume X 1736-1740. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1958.
Inventory update
This document last updated 2018 November 26.
Processing Information
The material was first classified and described in the Harvard University Archives shelflist prior to 1980 as individual items. The correspondence and undated essay were removed from the HUG 300 Quinquennial File for Andrew Eliot. The material was re-processed in 2010 and formed into the Papers of Andrew Eliot. Re-processing involved a collection survey, rehousing, and the creation of this finding aid.
This finding aid was created by Diann Benti in June 2010.
Preservation and description of the Papers of Andrew Eliot was supported by the Arcadia-funded project Harvard in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
- Title
- Eliot, Andrew, 1718-1778. Papers of Andrew Eliot, 1734-1777: an inventory
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua18010
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461
archives_reference@harvard.edu