Samuel Atkins Eliot (politician)

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Samuel Atkins Eliot
Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
In office
1837–1840
Preceded bySamuel T. Armstrong
Succeeded byJonathan Chapman
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1834–1837
Personal details
Born(1798-03-05)March 5, 1798
Eliot family

Samuel Atkins Eliot (March 5, 1798 – January 29, 1862) was a member of the notable

Boston, Massachusetts, who served in political positions at the local, state and national levels.[1]

Early life

Eliot was born in

Thomas Hopkinson Eliot. He attended the Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard University in 1817 and from Harvard Divinity School in 1820. His father had wanted to see him become a minister, but he died the year of his graduation and Samuel stopped short of the pulpit. Instead he traveled Europe for two years, gaining great knowledge in music and singing, and developing interests in parks and playgrounds.[2]

Career

His interest in music led him to become president of the

Nahant, Massachusetts, where he had earlier built a classical Greek revival summer home at 40 Steps Beach on Nahant Road. He served as the first president of the Boston Provident Association, one of the first organizations to aid the poor. He assisted developing the Prison Discipline Society, becoming its treasurer and president to reduce the miserable conditions found in the houses of correction.[3][4]

He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1834 to 1837. Elected three consecutive terms between 1837 and 1840 as Mayor of Boston.[5] During his administration a riot took place, caused by a collision between a volunteer fire company and an Irish funeral procession. The disturbance was suppressed by the promptness of Mayor Eliot, who was on the ground at the first alarm, and immediately took measures for calling out the militia. The result of this affair was the establishment of a paid fire department and a day police.[6]

Eliot served in the Massachusetts Senate in 1843–1844. He was elected as a Whig to the 31st United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Robert C. Winthrop, and served from August 22, 1850, to March 3, 1851; he declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1850.

He was Treasurer of Harvard University from 1842 to 1853.

He published a Sketch of the History of Harvard College and of its Present State (Boston, 1848), and additionally was editor for

Dr. Francis W. P. Greenwood
, with a memoir (2 vols., Boston, 1844). He contributed writings to the North American Review and the Christian Examiner.

Samuel Atkins Eliot Summer House, 40 Steps Beach Nahant MA, Circa 1830

Personal life

On June 13, 1826, he married Mary Lyman the daughter of Theodore Lyman (1753-1839) born in York Maine, and his second wife Lydia Pickering Williams of Salem Massachusetts, the daughter of George Williams and niece of Colonel Timothy Pickering, the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams.

Lyman became prosperous in the East India trade and an influential merchant in Boston, building a country estate known as the "Vale" (Lyman Estate) in Waltham, Massachusetts, where his daughter Mary and Samuel would be married. The East Side Ballroom was added to the house for their wedding. The marriage produced four daughters and two sons, including Charles William Eliot, a future president of Harvard University.[7][8][9][10]

Between 1829 and 1830 he built a lavish house at 31 Beacon Street, now the western edge of the

Massachusetts Statehouse lawn.[2]

He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 29, 1862, and his body was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery.[11]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Henry James (1930). Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University 1869-1909. p. 27.
  2. ^ a b Henry James (1930). Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University 1869-1909. p. 11.
  3. ^ Edward H Cotton (1926). The Life Of Charles W. Eliot. p. 12 13.
  4. ^ Henry James (1930). Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University 1869-1909. p. 7.
  5. ^ Mayors of Boston: An Illustrated Epitome of who the Mayors Have Been and What they Have Done, Boston, MA: State Street Trust Company, 1914, p. 15
  6. ^ Henry James (1930). Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University 1869-1909. p. 11.
  7. ^ Henry James (1930). Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University 1869-1909. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Theodore Lyman, New England Historical Society". 22 May 2017.
  9. ^ Edward H Cotton (1926). The Life Of Charles W. Eliot. p. 5.
  10. ^ "Lyman Estate, Historic New England".
  11. ^ Edward H Cotton (1926). The Life Of Charles W. Eliot. p. 7.

References

Further reading

  • Eliot, Samuel A. (1937). "Being Mayor of Boston a Hundred Years Ago". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 66: 154–173.
    JSTOR 25080323
    .
Political offices
Preceded by
Samuel T. Armstrong
Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts

1837–1839 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district
August 22, 1850 – March 3, 1851 		Succeeded by
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