The family's membership includes 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 a myriad of 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)