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Evan Jones (1788–1872) was born in Wales, where he worked as a draper and followed the Methodist religion. He married Elizabeth Lanigan and emigrated to the United States in 1821, arriving at Philadelphia.〔(Meserve, John Bartlett. "Chief Lewis Downing and Chief Charles Thompson (Oochalata). In: ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. Volume 16, Number 3. September 1938. ) Retrieved July 19, 2013.〕 Jones became a Baptist missionary and spent over fifty years as a missionary to the Cherokee people. The Baptist Foreign Mission Board initially sent him and his family to work among the Cherokees living in North Carolina, where he learned to speak and write in the Cherokee language, taught school at the Valley Town Baptist Mission, and became an itinerant preacher.〔(Jerry L. Faught, ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Evan Jones (1788-1872)." ) Retrieved July 19, 2013.〕 Jones volunteered to lead one group of Cherokees to Indian Territory, when they were expelled from their ancestral homeland by the U.S. government. When they finally arrived, he reestablished the Baptist Mission and school and resumed his missionary activities. With the help of his son, John Buttrick Jones, he continued his work preaching, translating religious books, and serving as an advocate for the Cheokees. One author claims that Evan and his son "...converted more American Indians to Christianity than any other Protestant missionaries in America".〔 == Life in North Carolina == Jones had been an adherent of Methodism in Wales, but converted to the Baptist church soon after he arrived in Philadelphia. He became a Baptist missionary and was sent to Valley Town, North Carolina, where he taught at the Baptist mission school. Among his pupils were the future Cherokee missionary, Jesse Bushyhead and a future chief of the Cherokee tribe, Lewis Downing. Jones' wife died at Valley Town on February 5, 1831. Their son, John Buttrick Jones, was born December 24, 1824.〔 There were apparently four other children who died at an early age, though there is little specific information available about them.〔 Evan married Pauline Cunningham after Elizabeth's death.〔 According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma, Jones was accused of committing adultery with her. He was also accused of murdering his sister-in-law, Cynthia Cunningham, and her baby, thus granting him the dubious distinction of being the first clergyman to be tried for murder in the United States. He was tried by a civil court and a church council and was acquitted in both.〔 Jones soon found that many of the older Cherokees, especially those who lived in the mountains, clung tenaciously to their old ways and culture. He wrote in his journal that people he called "conjurers" (actually, they were the ''adoniskee'' or medicine men〔McLoughlin, ''The Cherokees and Christianity''. p. 68〕) would spread rumors that the Europeans had furnished the Bible to lead the Cherokees astray from their old religion. They collected the prayer books and hymnals that Jones had given out and returned them to the mission. Sometimes they even threatened Jones with bodily harm. Jones persisted and, over time, these same people came to develop a tolerance for him and his work, while he exhibited a tolerance for their old ways.〔Minges, p. 44.〕 Jones and Bushyhead developed a close working relationship as missionaries, with Jones often preaching in English and Bushyhead translating the sermon into Cherokee.〔(Foreman, Carolyn Ross. "Aunt Eliza of Tahlequah." ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. Vol. 9, No. 1 (March, 1931). ) Retrieved June 19, 2013.〕 In 1832, Reverend Jones recommended to the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions that Bushyhead be appointed as an assistant missionary. The appointment was made, and Bushyhead served in this role for the next eleven years. He is said to have been the first Cherokee to have been ordained as a Baptist minister. He continued to work closely with Jones, not only preaching to the Cherokees, but translating the Book of Genesis and other religious books into the Cherokee language, using the Cherokee Syllabary.〔(Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Paulette Molin. "Bushyhead, Jesse." Encyclopedia of Native American Religions, Updated Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. American Indian History Online. Facts On File, Inc. )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Evan Jones (missionary)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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