Note 1) The following is black and white photograph of another version of this portrait in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which is also inscribed in the upper left: "JOHN ELLIOT./THE APOSTLE OF THE INDIANS/NASCIT. 1604; OBIT. 1690" is an oil on canvas. and measures 39 in. x 32 5/8 in. and is catalogued as: "Portrait of a Man (said to be John Elliot)" by an "Unidentified artist, British, third quarter 17th century." Provenance: Anonymous dealer; by 1851 E. W. Radcliffe (from an anonymous dealer); 1851 William Whiting (from Radcliffe); Mrs. William Whiting, Roxbury, MA (presumably by inheritance); by 1896 Miss Rose Standish Whiting (presumably by inheritance); 1896 MFA (gift of Whiting) (Accession date: October 6, 1896)

	Note 2) If one reads the following article from Wikipedia, entitled "John Eliot (missionary)," such a reader will readily recognize that this portrait is of true historical significance and that the above presale estimate for such a portrait is reasonable and justified. John Eliot
	Puritan missionary to Native Americans
	Born	1604 Widford, Hertfordshire, England	Born	1604 Widford, Hertfordshire, England
	Died	May 21, 1690	Died	May 21, 1690
	John Eliot (c. 1604-21 May 1690) was a Puritan missionary born in Widford, Hertfordshire, England.
	English education and Massachusetts ministry John Eliot attended Jesus College, Cambridge. He arrived in Boston, Massachusetts on November 3, 1631, on the ship Lyon, and became minister and "teaching elder" at the First Church in Roxbury, also studying under the charge of Thomas Hooker. In that town he founded the Roxbury Latin School in 1645. From 1649 to 1674, he was assisted in the Roxbury ministry by Samuel Danforth. ^[1] [edit] Highlights of his career John Eliot and fellow ministers Thomas Weld (also of Roxbury) and Richard Mather of Dorchester, are credited with being the editors of the Bay Psalm Book, which was the first book published in the British North American colonies. He participated in the examination, excommunication and exile of Anne Hutchinson, whose opinions he deplored. He was instrumental in the conversion of Massachusetts Indians. To help achieve this, Eliot translated the Bible into the Natick language and published it in 1663^[2]. In 1666, his grammar of Massachusetts, called "The Indian Grammar Begun", was published as well. As a cross-cultural missionary Eliot was best known for attempting to preserve the culture of the Native Americans by putting them in planned towns where they could continue by their own rule as a Christian society. At one point in time, there were 14 of these towns of so-called "Praying Indians", the best docu- mented being at Natick, Massachusetts. These towns were mostly destroyed by furious English colonists during King Philip's War (1675). Although restoration was attempted, it ultimately failed. The praying Indian towns included: Littleton(Nashoba), Lowell (Wamesit, initially incorporated as part of Chelmsford), Grafton (Hassanamessit), Marlborough (Okommakamesit), Hopkinton (Makunkokoag), Canton (Punkapoag), Mendon-Uxbridge (Wacentug), and Natick (Emphasis added). Eliot was also the author of The Christian Commonwealth: or, The Civil Policy Of The Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ, considered the first book on politics written by an American and also the first book to be banned by an American government. Written in the late 1640's, and published in England in 1659, it proposed a new model of civil government based on the system Eliot instituted among the converted Indians, which was based in turn on Exodus 18, the govern= ment instituted among the Israelites by Moses in the wilderness. Eliot asserted that "Christ is the only right Heir of the Crown of England," and called for the institution of an elected theocracy in England and throughout the world. The accession to the throne of Charles II of England made the book an embarrassment to the Massachusetts colony, and in 1661 the General Court banned the book and ordered all copies destroyed. Eliot was forced to issue a public retraction and apology. (Emphasis added)." Eliot School In 1689 John Eliot donated 75 acres (300,000 m) of land in Jamaica Plain to support the Eliot School, founded in 1676. Under the donation, the school was required to accept both Negros and Indians without prejudice, a great excep- tion for the time^[4]. The school survives near its original location to this day as The Eliot School of Fine and App- lied Arts (Emphasis added). Death He died in 1690, aged 85, his last words being "welcome joy!" A monument to John Eliot is on the grounds of the Bacon Free Library in Natick. Works The Christian Commonwealth: or, The Civil Policy Of The Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ Brief Narrative of the Progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England, in the Year 1670. (Emphasis added; text of footnotes omitted).” Note 2) See a brief version of "John Eliot: Apostle to the Indians" from a Natick perspective: John Eliot (1604-1690) was born in Widford, England and educated at Christ College, Cambridge. He immigrated to New England in 1631 and was pastor of the church in Roxbury from 1632 until his death. Eliot began preaching to the Indians at Nonantum in 1646, first in English and later in their own language. He was instrumental in the founding in England of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England by Parliament. He assisted in the organization of 14 Christian-Indian communities. King Philip's War caused the decline of the "praying villages," after the Indians were sent to Deer Island where they endured such hardships that few returned. Eliot also helped write the Bay Psalm Book and was the author of many other books and religious treatises, including the Bible that he translated into the Algonquian dialect. Compiled by Anne K. Schaller from files at the Natick Historical Society, located in the Bacon Free Library Building, 58 Eliot Street, South Natick, Massachusetts 01760
On the actions and career of John Elliot Natick was established in 1651 by the Puritan missionary, John Eliot, who settled a group of "Praying Indians" here on land granted by the General Court which was part of the Dedham Grant. To the Indians it was a "Place of Hills". The Speen family (Indian) owned much of the land in the Natick area and they deeded it to the Praying Indians taking house lots for themselves. In the area now called South Natick, the Indians settled on both sides of the Charles River. Over the river they built a wooden bridge with a stone foundation that was eighty feet long and eight feet high to withstand the high water during floods. Next, three streets were laid out. To the north Eliot and Union Streets, and to the south Pleasant Street, as they are now called. The Indians then built a meetinghouse with the help of an English carpenter. The two story building was used as church, school, and warehouse, and as a place for Eliot on his fortnightly visits. The building, which stood about where the present Eliot Church stands, was palisaded with a circle of tall trees. For more than twenty years Eliot instructed and preached to the Indians. A school was set up, a government established, and the Indians were encouraged to convert to Christianity. Eliot learned their language and with the help of the Indians, who had no written language, transcribed the Bible into the Algonquin language. A copy of the 1865 edition is on display at the Natick Historical Society Museum. The prosperity of the village was destroyed when King Philip, son of the chief, Massasoit, attacked the white settlers causing such fear among them that in 1675 the Indians were restricted to their villages, which made it difficult for them to farm or to tend their livestock. In October of that year, over Eliot's protests, the General Court ordered the Natick Indians sent to Deer Island. Many Indians did not survive the lack of food and the cold and those who returned seven months later found their homes destroyed. The Praying Indians did not flourish after their return to Natick and Eliot died in 1690. An Indian named Takawampbait had been ordained by Eliot and he carried on until his death in 1716. Two other Indians preached before the New England Company sent first Rev. Oliver Peabody and later Stephen Badger to fill the Indian church pulpit. The land in the Natick Plantation was held in common by the Indians until 1719. "A Brief History of Natick" provides a more detailed Natick perspective when twenty men were named as Proprietors to oversee any division of land. Eliot had given the Indians their form of government and they held their own town meetings and elected their own officials. However, they were under the Guardianship of the Court and had to have permission to sell land.