Representative women of New England/Mary E. Elliot

by Mary H. Graves

MARY E. ELLIOT

MARY ELVIRA ELLIOT, Secretary of the Department of Massachusetts, Woman's Relief Corps, for the past nineteen years, was born February 2, 1851, in Somerville, Mass., and is a daughter of the late Joseph and Zenora (Tucker) Elliot. She was educated at the public schools of Somerville and Cambridge and at a private school in Foxboro, Mass.

She is a descendant of Thomas Eliot, an immigrant of the seventeenth century, the ancestral line being: Thomas,¹ Joseph,² Nehemiah,³ Joseph,⁴ Joel,⁵ Joseph⁶ (her father).

Thomas Eliot was admitted a freeman of Swansea, Mass., February 22, 1669, and became a member of the Baptist church under the Rev. John Myles. He was one of the proprietors of the Taunton North Purchase. He died in Rehoboth, Masa., May 23, 1700. His wife, Jane, whom he married about the year 1676, died in Taunton, Mass., November 9, 1689. They had five children—namely, Abigail, Thomas, Jr., Joseph, Elizabeth, and Benjamin. Thomas Eliot served as a Corporal in Captain William Turner’s company in King Philip's War in 1675 and 1676. His sword, gun, and ammunition arc mentioned in the inventory of his estate.

Joseph, son of Thomas, was born in Taunton, March 2, 1684, and died April 21, 1752. He married July 22, 1710, Hannah White, daughter of John White, another soldier of King Philip's War. She died March 5, 1775, aged ninety-two years. In 1731 Joseph Eliot was chosen Treasurer of the North Precinct of Norton (now Mansfield). Afterward he was a Selectman. Nehemiah Eliot, his son, who was born March 8, 1719, and died December 8, 1802, was at one time Treasurer of Norton, North Precinct. He married September 23, 1747, Mercy White, daughter of Nicholas White. She was born July 7, 1723, and died May 8, 1780.

Joseph, son of Nehemiah, was born June 25, 1749. He married May 7, 1773, Joanna Morse, daughter of Elisha Morse. She was born September 17, 1751, and died December 6, 1837. This second Joseph Eliot was a minute-man of the Revolution, marching at the time of the Lexington alarm, April 20, 1775. He served through the siege of Boston and, re-enlisting, through campaigns in New York and New Jersey under General Washington, and as Corporal in the Saratoga campaign Under General Gates. He died of disease contracted in the service on December 15, 1777.

Joel, son of Joseph and Joanna, was born August 30, 1775, and died at Foxboro, Mass., July 23, 1864. His wife, Mary Murray Flagg, died January 23, 1865, aged eighty-three years. She was a daughter of Timothy and Sarah (Hicks) Flagg and grand-daughter of John Hicks, a member of the Boston Tea Party and one of the Cambridge minute-men killed in the battle of Lexington. Joel Elliot lived in Cambridge several years, having a store near Harvard . Square. He was at one time a member of the Cambridge fire department. In 1816 he moved to Foxboro, where he became a prosperous farmer. It was he who changed the spelling of the family name from "Eliot" to its present form.

Joseph, eldest, son of Joel and Mary and father of the subject of this sketch, was born January 1, 1807, in Cambridge, near the college grounds. He died in Somerville, Mass., July 7, 1874, aged sixty-seven years. He married at Mount Holly, Vt., December 24, 1835, Zenora Tucker, who was born in that town, February 10, 1809. In his early days Joseph Elliot was much interested in politics, and was offered offices which he declined. He was identified with the old Democratic party in its contest with the Whigs, but became a Republican upon the organization of that party, and voted its ticket the remainder of his life. When a young man he became a Univcrsahst, being the first of his family to embrace that religious faith, which was tar from popular. He was a very zealous believer, and had a wide acquaintance with the leaders of Universalism, among them being the Rev. Thomas Whittemore, editor of the Trumpet and Universalist Magazine, who was a frequent visitor to his home. Mr. Elliot was one of the first members of the First Universalist Church in Somerville.

He was devoted to his home and family and was interested in public affairs. He built a residence in Foxboro Centre in 1835, but a few years later went to Wrentham, removing thence to Maiden and in 1846 to Somerville, where for fifteen years he was station agent of the Prosjiect Street station on the P^itchburg Railroad. He was at one time a member of the Somerville fire department, and in early life belonged to the State militia. He was a man of social qualities, and hail a large circle of friends.

Miss Elliot's maternal grandfather was Stephen Tucker, .Ir., who was born in Charlestown, Mass., February 14, 1765. During the battle of Bunker Hill his mother with her children fled to Mystic (now Medford), where they, with other inhabitants of the burning city, were cared for. His father, Stephen Tucker, Sr., was a sea captain, and was then absent on a voyage. Stef)hen Tucker, Jr., moved from Littleton, Mass., to Mount Holly, Vt., about 1795 or 1796, and was one of the pioneer settlers of Rutland Coimty. He was elected Town Clerk, and was honored for his ability and integrity.

He married Sibbel Lawrence, whose ancestry is traceable through John Lawrence, of Watertown, to Sir Robert Lawrence, of Ash ton Hall, England, one of the Crusaders, knighted in 1191 by Richard Cneur de Lion for his bravery at the siege of Acre. One of her American ancestors was Lieutenant Eleazer Lawrence, who was prominent in the Indian wars; and a relative, Zachariah Robbins, serve<l throughout the Revolution, a part of the time in the army and part in the navy.

Joseph and Zenora (Tucker) Elliot had three children—Charles Darwin, Alfred Lawrence, and Mary E. Mrs. Elliot was a woman of progressive ideas and of literary talent. Several of her poems have been published. She was active in church and philanthropic movements and a highly esteemed member of several organizations. Her death occurred October 25, 1885, while she was on a visit to the home of her girlhood in Mount Holly, Vt.

Mary E. Elliot began writing for the press in 1867, and has published numerous articles and reports. From 1867 to 1885 she was active in temperance work, giving addresses in many places in Massachusetts and having a wide acquaintance with workers in the cause in other States. She inherited a love for patriotic principles, and, when invited to assist in organizing a Relief Corps in Somerville, readily accepted. This corps was formed in 1878 as an auxiliary to Willard C. Kinsley Post, No. 139, G. A. R., and was one of the first societies of the kind organized in the country on the basis of ritualistic work. She prepared the ritual under which its meetings were conducted, and was its president three years. This was a so-called independent organization, conducting its work on local lines only, until May, 1892, when it united with the Department of Massachusetts, and was reorganized on a broader basis. It was instituted May 11, 1882, as Relief Corps No. 21, and has ever since been connected with the State organization, being one of the leading corps among the one hundred an<l seventy-four of the State.

Miss Elliot was president of this corps nearly two years and secretary one year. In June, 1885, she was appointed by Mrs. M. Susan Goodale, Department President, to the office of Department Secretary, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Mrs. Sarah E. Fuller, who had been elected National President of the order at Portland, Me.

Miss Elliot has held the position of Department Secretary for nineteen years, having been annually reappointed by the succeeding Department Presidents. There being one hundred and seventy-four subordinate corps and over fourteen thousand members, her office is one of great responsibility.

She has participated in all the National Conventions since 1883, and in the performance of this duty has travelled in nearly all the States and Territories of the Union. In 1895 she was chairman of a committee to compile a history of the Department of Massachusetts, Woman's Relief Corps, a volume of four hundred pages.

Miss Elliot has delivered Memorial Day addresses in Massachusetts and New Hampshire by invitation of Grand Army posts, and has participated in several hundred patriotic gatherings. She is chairman of the Press Committee for the National Convention in Boston (1904), a position she held during the arrangements for the National Convention in Boston in 1890, and is also a member of the Executive Committee, Entertainment and other committees for that great gathering. She was recently presented a valuable gold watch and chain set with diamonds, a testimonial from members throughout the State, and her friends have also presented her portrait to department headquarters in the Boylston Building.

For nearly twenty years she has been a regular contributor to the military department of the Boston Globe, and has written extensively upon woman's patriotic efforts. She has in preparation a book giving historical and biographical data concerning the men in whose honor the posts of the Grand Army of the Republic are named. When published, it will be unique in character, as no such work has ever been issued in any State.

Miss Elliot is an officer of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts, and her name is on its first roll of membership. She is also a charter member of Bunker Hill Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, a member of the Somerville Historical Society, of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and of other organizations. She takes a special interest in historical matters. She is liberal in her religious belief, being a Universalist. Her brother, Charles Darwin Elliot, served in the Civil War on the staff of engineers in the Nineteenth Army Corps, under General Banks, and was in the Port Hudson campaigns, the Red River expedition, serving also in Texas and in other campaigns. He was the first city engineer of Somerville, and for three years was president of the Historical Society of that city.

Miss Elliot is one of the compilers of "Representative Women oi New England."