Justin Perkins (March 5, 1805 – December 31, 1869) was an American
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a 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.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
. He was the first citizen of the United States to reside in Iran (formally
Qajar Iran
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
). He became known for his work among the people there as an "apostle to
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
," according to publications from the United States.
Biography
He was born in the Ireland Parish of West
Springfield, Massachusetts, in an area now within the city of
Holyoke, Massachusetts.
He was the son of William Perkins and Judith Clough Perkins, and a descendant of a John Perkins who arrived in Massachusetts in 1631 and eventually settled in
Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1633. He spent his early years on the farm.
At the age of eighteen, he had a
religious experience
A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, or mystical experience) is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. The concept originated in the 19th century, as a defense ...
and enrolled at the Westfield Academy,
going on to graduate with honors from
Amherst College in 1829.
[Justin Perkins (AC 1829) Papers, ca. 1830–1869 Finding Aid](_blank)
/ref> He then spent a year teaching at the Amherst Academy, two years studying at the Andover Theological Seminary
Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...
, and one year as a tutor at Amherst College, before being ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
a Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister in the summer of 1833. At roughly the same time, on July 21, 1833, he married Charlotte Bass of Middlebury, Vermont
Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History.
History
On ...
, with whom he would eventually have seven children. Six of those children would die in Persia, including their daughter Judith, about whom an anonymous person wrote the book, ''The Persian Flower: a memoir of Judith Grant Perkins of Oroomiah, Persia'' (1872) published in Boston. Only one child, Henry Martyn Perkins, survived Persia and moved with his parents to the United States, where he later wrote a memoir about his father.
In Qajar Iran
The Americans had used the term "Nestorians" to describe Christian Assyrians in the late 19th century, however that is no longer a preferred term. In September, 1833, he set sail for Qajar Iran as a sponsored missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...
, his specific appointment being for the remaining members of the Assyrian Church of the East in northwestern Iran.
Perkins found that the people he was to serve were living lives of poverty and ignorance, functioning as virtual serfs to their Muslim rulers. To address these matters, he established a missionary center in 1825 in Urmia
Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an al ...
, with himself, Asahel Grant
Asahel Grant (August 17, 1807 – April 24, 1844) was one of the first American missionaries to Iran.
Asahel Grant was born at Marshall, New York, studied medicine at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and practiced in Utica, New York. In 1835 he went ...
(an American physician), and their respective wives Charlotte (née Bass) and Judith (née Campbell). Perkins was taught by Qasha Auraham and Mar Yohannan, the latter the Assyrian Church of the East bishop of Urmia.
Mar Yohannan visited the U.S. with Perkins in 1843. Perkins' mission there would continue for 35 years. He then began preaching, generally with the full consent of the local Assyrian church clergy, and often in their churches. He also established a boys' school there, which was the first school to use the learning by teaching
In the field of pedagogy, learning by teaching (German: ''Lernen durch Lehren'', short LdL) is a method of teaching in which students are made to learn material and prepare lessons to teach it to the other students. There is a strong emphasis on ac ...
method in central Asia. He shortly followed this with several other schools for boys and girls in the surrounding villages, and, later, at the express request of the Muslim government, established similar schools for the Muslim population.
He was also the first to reduce to writing the vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
of the locals, the modern Syriac language. Thereafter, he produced several volumes in that language for the edification of the people. He established a printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
at Urmia, and used it to produce several works, eighty of which Perkins himself either translated or wrote. These included a magazine ''Rays of Light'', which was devoted to "Religion, Education, Science, Missions, Juvenile Matters, Miscellany and Poetry", and which would continue to be produced until his death. He translated portions of the Christian 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 ...
which appeared at various times. Primary among these were a translation of the New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
which appeared in 1846, of the Old Testament in 1852, and a referenced version of the Old Testament in 1858. The first two of these contained the text in ancient and modern Syriac in parallel columns. His other works included books for regular and Sunday schools, hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...
books, and translation of religious works by the likes of Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the ...
, John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...
, Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter.
Early life
Philip Doddridge was born in London the last of the twenty children of ...
, and Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...
.
He was widely recognized at the time as a scholar of the Syriac language. The high esteem in which he was held by both the Muslim and Christian populations made it possible for him to acquire various older documents which have been very valuable to scholars over the years.
Legacy
Perkins' presence set the tone for the American presence in Iran during the second half of the 19th century when the missionary-led American presence took responsibility for a broad network of primary and secondary schools in northwest Iran that served to bring literacy among the indigenous Christian Aramaic speakers – members of the Assyrian Church of the East. Following his example, Americans concentrated on improvements in education, book and periodicals publishing, and especially in establishing the first medical college in Iran (1879). The Americans may also be credited with creating the opportunity to put into writing the vernacular Assyrian neo-Aramaic of the Christians of northwest Iran and producing the first periodical in all of Iran (1849), produced in the language at the American Mission press in Urmia
Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an al ...
.
Perkins was not only a trained missionary, but he was also an ethnically aware watercolorist
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
whose drawings of men, women and children belonging to the various ethnic groups of northwest Iran survive in his books as well as in unpublished drawings. These provide a colorful presentation of ethnic costumes, colors and fabrics available to local populations during the mid-19th century. Perkins and other missionaries in the active Protestant mission in Urmia were probably among the first to present lectures about Iran in the United States as well as being the first Americans with whom the general Persian population had contact. While not officially a diplomat, Perkins, and later missionaries acted much as did provincial consular officers at later times.
Publications
He described his experiences in his writings ''A Residence of Eight Years in Persia among the Nestorian Christians with Notices of the Muhammedans'' (1841), and ''Missionary Life in Persia'' (1861).
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Contributions and articles
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Notes
Further reading
* (published anonymously)
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External links
Justin Perkins (AC 1829) Papers
at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
1841 Syriac Bible, at Andover-Harvard Theological Library
The Americans of Urumia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Justin
1805 births
1869 deaths
Amherst College alumni
People from Holyoke, Massachusetts
American Presbyterian missionaries
American expatriates in Iran
Presbyterian missionaries in Iran
Missionary linguists