English philanthropist, born in Boston, MA, on the 5th of April 1649. His father was Thomas Yale, who was one of the original settlers of New Haven, CT, in 1638; who, later, removed to Massachusetts; but who returned in 1651 to England, followed thither in the following year by his family. Elihu, at about the age of twenty-two, went to India to engage in trade, where, in 1687, he became governor of the East India Company’s settlement at Madras, which post he occupied until 1692. Having become wealthy, he returned to England in 1699. While he did not afterward return to New England, his birthplace, he became interested in the “Collegiate School” at Saybrook, CT, to which at different times he contributed books and money to the value of about eight hundred pounds. In 1745 the name Yale College was, in his honor, given to the institution. He died in London on the 8th of July 1721, and was buried at the seat of his family at Wrexham, North Wales.
