John Layton Wilson

John Layton Wilson (born 1809 ; died 1896 ) was an American missionary who was mainly active in West Africa .

biography

Originally from South Carolina, John Layton Wilson was ordained in 1833 and traveled to West Africa for the first time that year. He returned in 1834 to get married and then went back to West Africa, where he settled in Cape Palmas in Liberia , where he and his wife established a missionary station . They developed a written form of the native language Grebo and translated the gospels St. Matthew and St. John into this language. In 1842 he established the headquarters of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign (Presbyterian) Missions on the Gabon River in what is now Gabon . Here, too, he developed a written form for the Mpongwe who lived here and translated parts of the Bible into this language. In 1852 he wrote an essay against the slave trade in West Africa , on the basis of which the British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston ordered the Royal Navy off the coasts of West Africa and was able to successfully end the trade in this region within a few years.

In 1853, Wilson returned to the United States due to health problems and became Secretary of the American Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. In addition to some essays on his missionary work, Wilson also published the book Western Africa in 1957 . Its History, Condition, and Prospects. With the outbreak of the Civil War he resigned and returned to South Carolina, which was part of the Confederate States of America . Here he became secretary of the Foreign Missions of the Southern Presbyterian Church and remained so until 1885.

Dedication

In his first description of Epixerus wilsoni , the French African explorer Paul Belloni honored Du Chaillu Wilson by naming the species after him. Today it is classified as a subspecies of the African palm squirrel ( Epixerus ebii ).

supporting documents

1. ^ ^{A b c d} "Wilson, JL" In: Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; P. 447; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .
2. ^ Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 211-212. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1

literature

• Wilson, JL In: Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; P. 447; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .