Francis Mason

For the English Anglican Archdeacon of Norfolk, see Francis Mason (priest).

Francis Mason

Francis Mason (April 2, 1799 – 3 March 1874), American missionary and a naturalist,^[1] was born in York, England. His grandfather, also Francis Mason, was the founder of the Baptist Society in York, and his father, a shoemaker by trade, was a Baptist lay preacher there.

Early life

After working with his father as a shoemaker for several years, he emigrated in 1818 to the United States, and in Massachusetts was licensed to preach as a Baptist in 1827. In 1830 he was sent by the American Baptist Missionary Union to labor among the Karens in Burma.

Burma

In Burma, besides conducting a training college for native preachers and teachers at Tavoy, he translated the Bible into the two principal dialects of the Karens, the Sgaw and the Pwo (his translation being published in 1853), and Matthew, Genesis, and the Psalms into the Bghai dialect. He also published A Pali Grammar on the Basis of Kachchayano, with Chrestomathy and Vocabulary (1868). In 1849, he described a new species of pine, Tenasserim Pine in the journal of the Asiatic Society.^[2] In 1850 he published a book of great value on the fauna and flora of British Burma titled The natural products of Burmah, or notes on the fauna, flora and minerals of the Tenasserim provinces, and the Burman empire. It was published by the American Mission Press at Moulmein. An improved edition appeared in 1860 under the title Burmah, its People and Natural Productions, and a third edition (2 vols.) revised and enlarged by William Theobald in 1882-1883.

Personal life

He was a Freemason and briefly faced exclusion from his missionary work due to certain views held by his wife, one of them being that God's way of speaking to Adam was revealed in the designs of the Burmese women's dresses.^[1] He died at Rangoon. See his autobiography, The Story of a Working Man's Life, with Sketches of Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa and America (New York, 1870).

References

1 2 Mabberley, D. J. (1985) William Theobald (1829-1908): Unwitting Reformer of Botanical Nomenclature? Taxon 34(1):152-156.
↑ J. As. Soc. Bengal 18, p. 74
↑ "The Code Online". International Council of Zoological Nomenclature.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Christianity in Burma

Denominations	Assemblies of God of Myanmar Chin Baptist Convention Christian Reformed Church in Burma Church of the Province of Myanmar Kachin Baptist Convention Karen Baptist Convention Lahu Christian churches Lisu Church Methodist Church, Upper Myanmar Myanmar Baptist Convention Myanmar Lutheran Church Presbyterian Church of Myanmar Roman Catholicism in Burma True Jesus Church in Burma

Missionaries	George Boardman Sarah Hall Boardman Nathan Brown Emily Chubbuck Eliza Grew Jones John Taylor Jones Adoniram Judson Ann Hasseltine Judson Eugenio Kincaid Francis Mason William Orison Valentine Calista Vinton Justus Vinton

Protestant missions to Southeast Asia

Background	Christianity Protestantism Missions timeline

People	George Boardman Sarah Hall Boardman Adoniram Judson Ann Hasseltine Judson Francis Mason Eliza Grew Jones John Taylor Jones Emily Chubbuck Dan Beach Bradley Daniel McGilvary Eugenio Kincaid Margaret Landon Justus Vinton Calista Vinton

Missionary agencies	London Missionary Society American Board Church Mission Society Baptist Missionary Society OMF International Borneo Evangelical Mission US Presbyterian Mission Mission to the World SEND International

Portal:Christianity

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 66563413 LCCN: n88643823 ISNI: 0000 0000 8146 1191 SUDOC: 033766789 BNF: cb124598565 (data)

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