Editing Eli Whitney (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Coat of Arms of Eli Whitney.svg|175px|thumb|left|Coat of Arms of Eli Whitney]]
Whitney was born in [[Westborough, Massachusetts|Westborough]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]], on December 8, 1765, the eldest child of Eli Whitney Sr., a prosperous farmer, and his wife Elizabeth Fay, also of Westborough.

The younger Eli was famous during his lifetime and after his death by the name "Eli Whitney", though he was technically Eli Whitney Jr. His son, born in 1820, also named Eli, was known during his lifetime and afterward by the name "Eli Whitney Jr."

Whitney's mother, Elizabeth Fay, died in 1777, when he was 11.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newenglandancestors.org/database_search/Vital_records.asp|title=Westborough Deaths|date=2001–2008|work=Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850|publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society|page=275|access-date=April 17, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415125328/http://www.newenglandancestors.org/database_search/Vital_records.asp|archive-date=April 15, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> At age 14 he operated a profitable nail manufacturing operation in his father's workshop during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]].<ref name=MIT />

Because his stepmother opposed his wish to attend college, Whitney worked as a farm laborer and school teacher to save money. He prepared for [[Yale University|Yale]] at [[Leicester Academy]] (later [[Becker College]]) and under the tutelage of Rev. [[Elizur_Goodrich_(clergyman)|Elizur Goodrich]] of [[Durham, Connecticut|Durham]], Connecticut, he entered Yale in the fall of 1789 and graduated [[Phi Beta Kappa]] in 1792.<ref name=mssa>{{cite web |url= http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/exhibits/elms/18th_item01.html|title= Elms and Magnolias: The 18th century |access-date=March 19, 2008 |date=August 16, 1996 |publisher=Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library}}</ref><ref>[http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_InfoView.aspx?t=&id=59 Who Belongs To Phi Beta Kappa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103230618/http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_InfoView.aspx?t=&id=59 |date=January 3, 2012 }}, Phi Beta Kappa website, accessed October 4, 2009</ref> Whitney expected to study law but, finding himself short of funds, accepted an offer to go to South Carolina as a private tutor.
[[File:Petition of Eli Whitney to Selectmen of Westborough Massachusetts.jpg|thumb|Petition by Whitney to the [[selectmen]] of Westborough, Massachusetts, to run a public school, with sample of his penmanship]]

Instead of reaching his destination, he was convinced to visit Georgia.<ref name="MIT"/> In the closing years of the 18th century, Georgia was a magnet for New Englanders seeking their fortunes (its Revolutionary-era governor had been [[Lyman Hall]], a migrant from Connecticut). When he initially sailed for South Carolina, among his shipmates were the widow ([[Catherine Littlefield Greene]]) and family of the Revolutionary hero Gen. [[Nathanael Greene]] of Rhode Island. Mrs. Greene invited Whitney to visit her Georgia plantation, [[Mulberry Grove Plantation|Mulberry Grove]]. Her plantation manager and husband-to-be was Phineas Miller, another Connecticut migrant and Yale graduate (class of 1785), who would become Whitney's business partner.