Thomas D. Eliot

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title: "Thomas D. Eliot" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["members-of-the-massachusetts-house-of-representatives", "massachusetts-state-senators", "george-washington-university-law-school-alumni", "1808-births", "1870-deaths", "massachusetts-whigs", "massachusetts-free-soilers", "yale-family", "whig-party-united-states-representatives", "republican-party-united-states-representatives-from-massachusetts", "19th-century-members-of-the-massachusetts-general-court", "19th-century-united-states-representatives"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_D._Eliot" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
image name	Hon. Thomas D. Eliot, Mass - NARA - 525644 (3x4a).jpg
state	Massachusetts
district
term_start	March 4, 1859
term_end	March 3, 1869
predecessor	Robert Bernard Hall
successor	James Buffington
term_start1	April 17, 1854
term_end1	March 3, 1855
predecessor1	Zeno Scudder
successor1	Robert Bernard Hall
office3	Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives, and served in the Massachusetts State Senate
term3	1839
office4	Member of the
Massachusetts State Senate
term4	1846
birth_name	Thomas Dawes Eliot
birth_date
birth_place	Boston, Massachusetts, US
death_date
death_place	New Bedford, Massachusetts, US
spouse	Frances L. Brock
children	Caroline Dawes Eliot, Ida Eliot
signature	Thomas D. Eliot signature.png
party	Republican/Whig
::

| image name=Hon. Thomas D. Eliot, Mass - NARA - 525644 (3x4a).jpg

| state=Massachusetts | district=

| term_start=March 4, 1859 | term_end=March 3, 1869 | predecessor=Robert Bernard Hall | successor=James Buffington

| term_start1=April 17, 1854 | term_end1=March 3, 1855 | predecessor1=Zeno Scudder | successor1= Robert Bernard Hall

| office3= Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and served in the Massachusetts State Senate | term3= 1839

| office4= Member of the Massachusetts State Senate | term4= 1846

|birth_name=Thomas Dawes Eliot | birth_date= | birth_place=Boston, Massachusetts, US | death_date= | death_place=New Bedford, Massachusetts, US | spouse=Frances L. Brock |children=Caroline Dawes Eliot, Ida Eliot | profession= | religion= |signature=Thomas D. Eliot signature.png | party=Republican/Whig |}}

Thomas Dawes Eliot (March 20, 1808 – June 14, 1870) was an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He was a member of the prominent Eliot family.

Life and career

Eliot was born on March 20, 1808, in Boston, the son of Margaret Greenleaf (Dawes) and William Greenleaf Eliot. He was named after his grandfather Justice Thomas Dawes of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Eliot attended the public schools of Washington, D.C., and graduated from Columbian College in the District of Columbia, (now George Washington University in 1825. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

In 1834 Eliot married Frances L. Brock of Nantucket.

Eliot served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and served in the Massachusetts State Senate. He was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Zeno Scudder and served from April 17, 1854, to March 3, 1855. He declined to be a candidate for renomination. Eliot was a delegate to the Free Soil Convention in Worcester in 1855.

He declined to be a candidate for nomination by the Republican for Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1857. He was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1869). Eliot served as Chairman of the Committee Freedmen’s Affairs (Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses), and the Committee on Commerce (Fortieth Congress). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1868. He resumed the practice of law and died on June 14, 1870. His interment was in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Eliot's daughter Ida M. Eliot was a notable educator and writer. Thomas Eliot's younger brother was philanthropist and Unitarian minister, William Greenleaf Eliot. His granddaughter Julia Meriam Stetson married with Dr. Leroy Milton Yale Jr., of the Yale family.

References

References

1. Hurd, Duane Hamilton Hurd. (1883). "History of Bristol County, Massachusetts: with biographical sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 1". J. Lewis & CO..
2. "Sunday Morning. All well. Therm 60°".
3. (1899). "Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution".

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