{{tag>people presidents}}
====== Samuel Eliot ======

Samuel Eliot was the 6th [[presidents|president]] of Trinity College, from April 8, 1861 to June 29, 1864.

Born on December 22, 1821 in Boston, Samuel Eliot was the first individual to attain the presidency of Trinity College who was not a minister, though he was by contemporary accounts, a devout lay [[episcopal|Episcopalian]]. Eliot was first in the Harvard class of 1839. For about 10 years, he wrote books on history and literature, including several volumes about the early history of Rome. He came to Trinity College in 1856 to teach English literature and American History, though he also lectured on wide-ranging subjects such as Political Science, "Dante and His Times," and the sculptor Thomas Crawford. A splendid orator, Eliot was soon given a new Chair in History and Literature. He was also a founding member of the [[society_for_the_increase_of_the_ministry_sim|Society for the Increase of the Ministry]]. A wealthy man, Eliot was increasingly charitable, participating in groups like the Missionary Society of Christ Church ([[hartford|Hartford]]).

[{{:eliot_samuel.jpg?350 |Samuel Eliot, ca. 1860. Photo credit: [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.34926804|Trinity College Archives]]}}]

Upon the departure of President [[goodwin_daniel_raynes|Daniel Goodwin]] in 1860, Eliot was selected by a non-unanimous vote of a rump session of the [[trustees|Board of Trustees]]. He first declined, then was coaxed to accept the presidency of the College. Eliot had the misfortune, however, of ascending at the time of the [[civil_war|Civil War]], when Trinity's southern students departed in droves. A fracas also broke out among patriotic citizens and Trinity students who wished that the American flag fly over the College buildings. Eliot refused to approve any irreverence to buildings "consecrated to the worship of Almighty God," notably original [[seabury_hall_old_campus|Seabury Hall]] because it was the site of the [[chapel|Chapel]]. He eventually consented to a flagpole over [[brownell_hall|Brownell Hall]]. Later, in 1863, he led the civic delegation which met with Major General George B. McClellan during the latter's trip to Hartford. The American flag which may have flown over Trinity during the Civil War was donated to Trinity College by his grandson, Samuel Eliot Morison, in the twentieth century. 

Student discipline continued to vex Eliot during his term. Not long into the war, Eliot faced the troubling state of Trinity College's finances. Some Trustees were of the opinion that Eliot had done poorly as President. On February 16, 1863, he presented his resignation, but for the second time in a row, the Board of Trustees refused to accept a President's resignation. Only after his son died tragically, and he took a leave of absence to Europe, was his resignation accepted on June 29, 1864.

After serving as President of Trinity College, Samuel Eliot remained in Hartford, as the College made him Lecturer on Political Science and Constitutional Law, though his output was minimal. He did donate $2,000 to the College's endowment.

===== Preceded By =====

[[goodwin_daniel_raynes|Daniel Goodwin]]

[[brocklesby_john|John Brocklesby  H’45 (acting)]]
===== Succeeded By =====

[[kerfoot_john_barrett|John Barrett Kerfoot]]

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===== Sources =====
[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Eliot|Wikipedia:Samuel Eliot]]

[[https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/w_books/4/|The History of Trinity College]] (1967) by Glenn Weaver, pp. 101, 103, 118-119, 124-129, 131-137, 151, 325 fn. 46 and 94. 

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