Elias Boudinot was born near Rome, Georgia, about 1802. Like his cousin John Ridge, he was sent to Cornwall, Connecticut, to attend school. During the course of his journey he visited Elias Boudinot, the eminent jurist and diplomat, who was his patron and benefactor. As a compliment to him, this young Cherokee adopted his name. Several years after leaving the Cornwall school, he returned to that village to marry Miss Harriet Gold, whose acquaintance he had made while he was a student. He was one of the most progressive men in the Cherokee tribe. He labored with the missionaries in translating the Bible into the Cherokee language and he was the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, which was the first paper published for any Indian tribe. With Major Ridge and John Ridge, he was regarded as a leader of the Treaty Party and he met his death by assassination on the same day that they did. Several of his descendants have been prominent in the affairs of the Cherokee Nation. Stand Watie, the Cherokee Confederate leader, was a younger brother of Boudinot..
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Ann Maloney, Bartlesville, OK.
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