History of Hawley, (Franklin County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Jonas King, missionary, was born in Hawley, Mass., July 29, 1792; son of Jonas and Abigail (Leonard) King, and grandson of Thomas and Abigail (Warriner) King. He earned his college tuition by teaching school and was graduated from Williams college in 1816, and from Andover Theological seminary in 1819. He was employed as a missionary in Charleston, S.C., for six months, and was ordained evangelist there, Dec. 17, 1819, by the Congregational association. He was a foreign missionary to Egypt, Jerusalem and Palestine, 1821-25; was a missionary in South Carolina and Georgia, 1827, and in Greece, 1828-69. He was married, July 22, 1829, to Annette Aspasia Mengens, a native of Tenos, Greece, where they opened a school for girls. In December, 1830, he resumed his connections with the A.B.C.F.M. and in April, 1881, removed to Athens, where he labored until his death. He suffered persecution, his house was guarded by soldiers and he was forced to leave the country, spending 1847-48 in Switzerland and Italy. In 1848, in consequence of the revolution in France, the ministry at Athens was changed, and he returned to that city, and in 1851 was appointed U.S. consular agent. He was again brought to trial in March, 1852, and was condemned to fifteen days' imprisonment and to be exiled from the country, which decision was revoked after an investigation and protest by the U.S. government. He visited the United States, 1864-67. He received the degree of D.D. from the College of New Jersey in 1882. He is the author of: Farewell Letter to his friends in Palestine and Syria (1825); Defence of Jonas King (1845); Exposition of an Apostolical Church (1851); Religious Rites of an Apostolical Church (1851); Hermeneutics of the Sacred Scriptures (1857); Synoptical View of Palestine and Syria, with Additions (1859); Miscellaneous Works (1859-60), and translations of several religious books into modern Greek. He died at Athens, Greece, May 22, 1869.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Hawley, (Franklin County) Massachusetts

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