John Eliot (1604-1690) was a Puritan minister known as the "Apostle 
to the Indians."  Educated at Cambridge, he emigrated to Boston in 
1631, settling in Roxbury.  After establishing his ministry, he learned 
the Algonquian language and began preaching to local Indian tribes 
in their own tongue.  He believed that Christianity and civilization 
went hand in hand and in the course of his life established fourteen 
towns and six Puritan churches.  Eliot also translated the Bible into 
Algonquian and established an indigenous Indian ministry.  The 
outbreak of King Philip's War in 1675 disrupted his efforts and 
greatly diminished his zeal thereafter.