Editing Eli Whitney (section)

==Later life and legacy==
[[File:Eli Whitney 1940 Issue-1c.jpg|thumb|upright|Eli Whitney on US Postage [[Postage stamps and postal history of the United States#Famous Americans Series of 1940|Issue of 1940]], 1c]]
[[File:EliWhitneyGraveSouthSideGroveStCemeteryNewHavenCT04152008.JPG|thumb|right|South side of Eli Whitney monument in the [[Grove Street Cemetery]], [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], Connecticut]]

Despite his humble origins, Whitney was keenly aware of the value of social and political connections. In building his arms business, he took full advantage of the access that his status as a Yale alumnus gave him to other well-placed graduates, such as [[Oliver Wolcott Jr.]], [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] (class of 1778), and [[James Hillhouse]], a New Haven developer and political leader.

His 1817 marriage to Henrietta Edwards, granddaughter of the famed [[Evangelism|evangelist]] [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]], daughter of [[Pierpont Edwards]], head of the Democratic Party in Connecticut, and first cousin of Yale's president, [[Timothy Dwight IV|Timothy Dwight]], the state's leading [[Federalist]], further tied him to Connecticut's [[ruling elite]]. In a business dependent on government contracts, such connections were essential to success.

Whitney died of [[prostate cancer]] on January 8, 1825, in New Haven, Connecticut, just a month after his 59th birthday. He left a widow and his four children behind. One of his offspring, Eli Whitney III (known as Eli Whitney Jr.), was instrumental in building New Haven, Connecticut's waterworks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Family {{!}} The Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop |url=https://eliwhitney.org/museum/eli-whitney/family |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=eliwhitney.org}}</ref> During the course of his illness, he reportedly invented and constructed several devices to mechanically ease his pain.

The [[Eli Whitney Students Program]],  Yale University's admissions program for [[non-traditional student]]s, is named in honor of Whitney, who not only began his studies there when he was 23,<ref name="Yale Admissions">{{cite web |url=http://admissions.yale.edu/eli-whitney |title=Eli Whitney Students Program – A Program for Non-Traditional Students |work=yale.edu |publisher=[[Yale University]] |location=New Haven, CT |access-date=November 21, 2011 }}</ref> but also went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa in just three years.