John Elias Williams (; 1871 – 24 March 1927) was a missionary to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, he served with the

American Presbyterian Mission Presbyterian Mission Agency is the ministry and mission agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Founded as the Western Foreign Missionary Society by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1837, it was involved in sending w ...

for 28 years. He was also the vice president of the

University of Nanking The University of Nanking, known in Chinese as Jinling University (金陵大学, Jinling being the ancient name of Nanking) was a private university in Nanjing, China sponsored by American churches. Founded in 1888, it effectively become defunct i ...

. He was murdered in the Nanking Incident on 24 March 1927. Williams was born and raised in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He was a coal miner in his teenage years. He graduated from

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an ...

, Ohio, and Auburn Seminary,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He applied to the Presbyterian Board of Missions and was assigned to China. He married Cora Lilian Caldwell, daughter of missionaries in August 1899, and sailed with her to China that same month. They raised four children. Williams served several years as principal of the Presbyterian Academy in

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, a boys' school. He later taught for a year at

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

, Tokyo. He returned in 1907 to Nanking, where he helped open Union College, formed by the union of several mission schools. Williams served as acting dean of the college of arts and science and as vice president. Williams was shot and killed by a Chinese soldier on the campus of the university, during an outbreak of violence against foreigners, now known as the Nanking Incident.

References

John Elias Williams 1871 ~ 1927
bdcconline.net American Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in China 1871 births 1927 deaths American expatriates in China {{Christianity-bio-stub