Neahkahnie Mystery

EliotFamily

The Eliot kids in spring 1919, at the W.G. Eliot vacation cottage in Hood River, Oregon (left to right): William G. Eliot III ’19, Calista Eliot ’20, Craig Eliot ’24, Ruth Eliot ’21, Mignon Eliot ’22, and Ted Eliot ’21.

In the latest issue of the Reed magazine, I read the letter to the editor “Etched into the Rocks.” The author, a parent of a current Reed student, alludes to carved initials on Neahkahnie Mountain: “T.S. + M.E. Eliot, 1925.” He was wondering who they might have been. This piqued my curiosity, so I looked through the T.L. Eliot family file this morning and found a possible answer. My best guess is Theodore Sessinghaus Eliot ’21 married to Mignon Hoover Eliot ’22—Ted was T.L. Eliot’s grandson and William G. Eliot Jr.’s son. 

—Mark Kuestner

Special Collections, Reed Library