Elisha Capen Monk

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Elisha Capen Monk.png

| name = Elisha Capen Monk

| caption =

| state = Massachusetts

| state_senate = Massachusetts

| district = 1st Norfolk

| term_start = 1866

| term_end = 1867

| predecessor =

| successor =

| state2 = Massachusetts

| state_house2 = Massachusetts

| district2 = Norfolk

| term_start2 = 1856

| term_end2 = 1857

| predecessor2 =

| successor2 =

| party = Free Soil, Republican

| birth_name =

| birth_date = April 25, 1828

| birth_place = Stoughton, Massachusetts

| death_date = {{death date and age|1898|01|22|1828|04|25}}

| death_place = Stoughton, Massachusetts

| death_cause =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Shoe manufacturer

| residence = Stoughton, Massachusetts

| partner =

| signature = Elisha Capen Monk signature.png

| website =

}}

Elisha Capen Monk (1828-1898) was an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. A Republican, in 1856 he was elected to serve in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. From 1866 to 1867 he served in the Massachusetts Senate.{{Citation |last = Hurd| first = Duane Hamilton | title = History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Vol I.| pages = 422–424 | publisher = J.W.Lewis & Co. | location = Philadelphia, PA | year = 1884 }}

In 1870 Monk went to Colorado where he was one of the founders of the Union Colony of Colorado and Greeley, Colorado.

== Massachusetts ==

Monk's was given a classical education, including work with a private tutor. As a teenager he learned to make boots, and used that skill to earn a good living into adulthood. In 1872 he became the agent of the Stoughton Boot and Shoe company, a significant employer in his home town.

Politically, he was a well-known advocate against alcohol and slavery. His election in 1856 to the Massachusetts legislature was due to his work with the Free-Soil movement. During the Civil War, he recruited soldiers from Stoughton for the Union Army.