Eliza Grew Jones
Encyclopedia
Eliza Grew Jones is noted for having created a romanized script for writing the Siamese language, and for creating the first Siamese-English dictionary.
, Rhode Island. Presaging her future accomplishments, an early school teacher noted that she had an unusual ability in languages, learning Greek without the aid of a teacher.
She married Rev. Dr. John Taylor Jones
on July 14, 1830. Her husband was ordained in Boston two weeks later under the American Baptist Missionary Union
, and the couple was then assigned to work in Burma.
Her first large work was a Siamese-English dictionary that she completed in December 1833, after she had been transferred to Siam. It was not published due to the difficulty of printing with Siamese type. No extant copy is known to exist. Later, she also created a romanized script for writing the Siamese language. She wrote portions of Biblical history in Siamese
.
In Burma and Thailand, she gave birth to four children, two of whom died in childhood.
Jones died in Bangkok
of cholera
on March 28, 1838. She is buried in the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery
.
.
Biography
Born Eliza Grew to Rev. Henry Grew, Jones was a native of ProvidenceProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island. Presaging her future accomplishments, an early school teacher noted that she had an unusual ability in languages, learning Greek without the aid of a teacher.
She married Rev. Dr. John Taylor Jones
John Taylor Jones
Rev. Dr. John Taylor Jones was one of the earliest Protestant missionaries to Siam with his wife, Eliza Grew Jones...
on July 14, 1830. Her husband was ordained in Boston two weeks later under the American Baptist Missionary Union
American Baptist Missionary Union
American Baptist Missionary Union is an international Protestant Christian missionary society founded in 1814 in the United States...
, and the couple was then assigned to work in Burma.
Her first large work was a Siamese-English dictionary that she completed in December 1833, after she had been transferred to Siam. It was not published due to the difficulty of printing with Siamese type. No extant copy is known to exist. Later, she also created a romanized script for writing the Siamese language. She wrote portions of Biblical history in Siamese
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
.
In Burma and Thailand, she gave birth to four children, two of whom died in childhood.
Jones died in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
on March 28, 1838. She is buried in the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery
Bangkok Protestant Cemetery
The Bangkok Protestant Cemetery is a cemetery catering mainly to the foreign community in Bangkok. To date, the cemetery has over 1800 interments, and it is still accepting burials on a limited basis...
.
.
Further reading
- Dana Lee Robert, American Women in Mission: a social history of their thought and practice, Mercer University Press (1997)
- Eliza G. Jones, Memoir of Mrs. Eliza G. Jones, Cornell University Library (March 21, 2007)
- Sigourney, Lydia Howard. 1851. Letters to My Pupils: With Narrative and Biographical Sketches. (Her former teacher wrote of her on pp. 294–302.)