Francis Mason (April 2, 1799 – 3 March 1874),

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and a naturalist,Mabberley, D. J. (1985) William Theobald (1829-1908): Unwitting Reformer of Botanical Nomenclature? Taxon 34(1):152-156. was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England. His grandfather, also Francis Mason, was the founder of the Baptist Society in York, and his father, a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

by trade, was a Baptist

lay preacher Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presidi ...

there.

Early life

After working with his father as a shoemaker for several years, he emigrated in 1818 to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

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 The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Burma

In Burma, besides conducting a training college for native preachers and teachers at

Tavoy Dawei (, ; mnw, ဓဝဲါ, ; th, ทวาย, RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the northern bank of ...

, he translated the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

into the two principal dialects of the Karens, the Sgaw and the

Pwo {{for, Pwo languages, Pwo languages Pwo is a sacred initiation ritual, in which students of traditional navigation in the Caroline Islands in Micronesia become navigators (''palu'') and are initiated in the associated secrets. Many islanders in th ...

(his translation being published in 1853), and ''

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

'', ''

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

'', and the ''

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

'' into the Bghai dialect. He also published ''A

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

Grammar on the Basis of Kachchayano, with Chrestomathy and Vocabulary'' (1868). In 1849, he described a new species of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, ''

Tenasserim Pine ''Pinus latteri'', or Tenasserim pine, is a pine native to Mainland Southeast Asia. Description ''Pinus latteri'' is a medium-sized to large tree, reaching tall and with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is orange-red, thick and deeply fis ...

'' in the journal of the Asiatic Society.J. As. Soc. Bengal 18, p. 74 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 Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and briefly faced exclusion from his

work due to certain views held by his wife,

Ellen Huntly Bullard Mason Ellen Huntly Bullard Mason (12 January 1817 – 3 August 1894) was an American Baptist foreign missionary and writer. The founder of the Woman's Union Missionary Society of America for Heathen Lands, she was the first woman in the US to sign an agre ...

, one of them being that God's way of speaking to Adam was revealed in the designs of the Burmese women's dresses. 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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Francis 1799 births 1874 deaths American religious leaders Baptist missionaries in Myanmar Translators of the Bible into Tibeto-Burman languages American lexicographers English Baptists Baptist missionaries from the United States American naturalists English emigrants to the United States 19th-century Baptists 19th-century translators English Baptist missionaries American expatriates in Myanmar Clergy from York Missionary linguists 19th-century lexicographers