1811 – William Greenleaf Eliot Jr. was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard Divinity School in 1834, he went to St. Louis, Missouri, to bring Unitarianism to the frontier. In 1835, the First Congregational Society of St. Louis was organized. Eliot served as its minister until his resignation in 1869. In the civil war he supported the Union and opposed slavery. His passion was education; he served on the St. Louis School Board and founded Washington University. Read more about William Greenleaf Eliot Jr.